Well, did you think I had abandoned the blog?!? To tell you the truth, I haven't had time during the day to write a posting and when I finally reach my warm, cozy home at night, the last thing I want to do is to get back on the computer. I will try to do better!
For those of you who continue to write with questions about standards-based report cards, please let me refer you to Dr. Peggy Connell's blog. It is her department who began that initiative prior to my coming to Muscogee County School District and she can fill you in on the progress of that project. Her blog is full of information that I would only be repeating here.
This past Saturday, the Board of Education met in a retreat setting for the administration to share with them our progress on all things SPLOST! We met for three hours and discussed with them the tremendous amount of work we have been doing so that we can move forward. It is very important that we plan laboriously and that we think of all of the details involved in getting everything in place. We wanted to make sure that we were heading in the direction that the Board of Education wanted us to go and that we were keeping them informed. They provided consensus on our direction and we are moving ahead!
Let me share a few of the items with you. We discussed the pros and cons of different project delivery methods such as design-bid-build, construction-management-at-risk, and bridging. As we prepare to complete each project, we will make a recommendation to the Board about the delivery method we would like to use. Now that the Board has heard the presentation, they will have the information they need to consider our recommendations.
We also talked about whether or not we needed the assistance of an outside project manager. We have a construction department which has done a great job managing projects, but the department personnel is limited, not in their knowledge, but in their time. We will have over $200 million worth of projects and we want to provide them the support they need to keep those projects moving in a productive way. The board agreed that we would develop an RFP for some specific assistance, but we would not hire a program management firm who would be fully responsible for carrying out the projects. Our construction team will continue to lead the way with outside assistance on specific areas.
We also discussed the relocation of Carver students. We shared with the Board our decision-points on the recommendation that we brought to them to move Carver students to Baker Middle School and moving the Baker students to Marshall where they will operate as a school within a school while Carver is being built. There have been many hours of determining how and where we would accomodate the Carver students while the new Carver is being built. We feel confident that this recommendation is the best one and was made after many internal discussions.
We talked about the individual projects and discussed the phases of the projects. We don't have a specific timeline yet because our bond underwriter and financial partner hasn't been selected yet. That firm will assist us in developing our projected cash flow and then we can insert dates into the phases. That recommendation will be coming to the Board at the December 7 meeting.
I will write about the phases in my next posting and tell you our thinking behind the way we developed that. You can see an overview in last Sunday's Ledger-Enquirer article.
As you can see, we have been busy working on strategy, planning this retreat, and getting everything done that we possibly can prior to collecting the first penny on the 2010 SPLOST. Thinking through to the strategic details takes time and effort and the staff has done a great job. The work we are doing now is critical. We have started "with the end in mind" as Stephen Covey teaches and we are working backwards to make sure everything is in place. In the "end" all of the projects will be completed, on time and within budget! That is our goal!!!! I will keep you posted!
Monday, November 23, 2009
Thursday, September 24, 2009
Standards-Based Report Cards
I was asked to post a blog about Standards-Based Report Cards. There is so much to talk about on this subject and I am pondering where to begin. I suppose I will begin with the definition of standards:
Standards: Standards are written descriptions of what a child should know or be able to do in a particular subject in a particular grade. For example, a third grade writing standard states: students will write in a variety of genres, including narrative, informational, persuasive, and response to literature. (Third grade students love the word "genre" and like to say it over and over!) A high school Math I standard is that students will investigate properties of a geometric figure in the coordinate plane.
Teachers develop rubrics, similar to checklists, will all of the elements of the standards and they compare student work with the rubrics to determine if a student has mastered or learned the standard and to what level the student has learned the standard.
After this occurs, the teacher must determine how to communicate to the parents how well the child has learned. That is where standards-based report cards come in. The traditional report card and assessment reflects an average of the student's work over time. A standards-based report card should reflect how far along the continuum of mastery of the standard the student has come. The standards-based report card lists all of the standards for each subject taught. That is why it is lengthy and will take up many pages.
The problem that parents face with understanding the standards-based report card is that they are accustomed to seeing an A, B, or C or a percentage (90, 78, 88) as a grade for their child. Parents understand this grading system because it is familiar to them. With a standards-based report card, parents often ask the question: How well did my child learn the content? Did my child learn 70%, 80%, or 90%? Is my child at the top of his/her class, in the middle of the class, or at the bottom of the class? These questions that parents want answered make it difficult to implement true standards-based assessments.
In Muscogee County, all elementary schools are using standards-based report cards for grades K-3. The program was piloted for several years prior to going system-wide. We will continue to monitor the implementation of these communication tools with parents. Your input and comments are appreciated.
For more information on standards-based classrooms, Muscogee County School District has published a brochure entitled Understanding Standards-Based Report Cards.
This is a short explanation. There have been many books written on this subject that are available for parents and educators. Hope this explanation provides you with the beginning of the answers to your questions.
Standards: Standards are written descriptions of what a child should know or be able to do in a particular subject in a particular grade. For example, a third grade writing standard states: students will write in a variety of genres, including narrative, informational, persuasive, and response to literature. (Third grade students love the word "genre" and like to say it over and over!) A high school Math I standard is that students will investigate properties of a geometric figure in the coordinate plane.
Teachers develop rubrics, similar to checklists, will all of the elements of the standards and they compare student work with the rubrics to determine if a student has mastered or learned the standard and to what level the student has learned the standard.
After this occurs, the teacher must determine how to communicate to the parents how well the child has learned. That is where standards-based report cards come in. The traditional report card and assessment reflects an average of the student's work over time. A standards-based report card should reflect how far along the continuum of mastery of the standard the student has come. The standards-based report card lists all of the standards for each subject taught. That is why it is lengthy and will take up many pages.
The problem that parents face with understanding the standards-based report card is that they are accustomed to seeing an A, B, or C or a percentage (90, 78, 88) as a grade for their child. Parents understand this grading system because it is familiar to them. With a standards-based report card, parents often ask the question: How well did my child learn the content? Did my child learn 70%, 80%, or 90%? Is my child at the top of his/her class, in the middle of the class, or at the bottom of the class? These questions that parents want answered make it difficult to implement true standards-based assessments.
In Muscogee County, all elementary schools are using standards-based report cards for grades K-3. The program was piloted for several years prior to going system-wide. We will continue to monitor the implementation of these communication tools with parents. Your input and comments are appreciated.
For more information on standards-based classrooms, Muscogee County School District has published a brochure entitled Understanding Standards-Based Report Cards.
This is a short explanation. There have been many books written on this subject that are available for parents and educators. Hope this explanation provides you with the beginning of the answers to your questions.
Friday, August 28, 2009
Eighteen Days Until SPLOST Vote
We are eighteen days away from the SPLOST vote. I dread the morning of September
16th and I anticipate the morning of September 16! On that day we will know if we can move forward with the selection of architects and plans for new schools or if we will have to renew our thoughts on how to take care of over 4000 new students without any additional brick and mortar buildings. Either way, there will be plenty of work to do! My hope and desire is that anyone who has not yet decided how they will vote will make their decision based on the facts.
I hope that this vote will be the line that separates the angst and distrust of the past and the sunrise of the future. I hope that we are truly entering an era when we earn more and more of the community's trust by the way we conduct our business in the school district.
It is amazing that every day we transport, feed, and teach over 32,000 students and many days without a single, frightening incident. Our bus drivers get their children to school safely day after day. Our teachers prepare and deliver their lessons consistently day after day. Our food service staff prepare and serve countless meals in a safe environment day after day. Yes, there are complaints that make their way to my office, but the percentage of complaints compared to the number of people we serve is minimal. Yes, we can improve on all of our processes and the way we deliver instruction. Continuous improvement must be our constant desire.
We have increased our sense of urgency in every building. The principals are focused on student achievement. As I have visited PTA Open Houses throughout the district, I have seen families coming into the schools by the hundreds eager to support our work and their children. We are moving in the right direction. I will be glad when September 16 gets here. The results of the vote on the 15th will define where we go from here. I can hardly wait!
16th and I anticipate the morning of September 16! On that day we will know if we can move forward with the selection of architects and plans for new schools or if we will have to renew our thoughts on how to take care of over 4000 new students without any additional brick and mortar buildings. Either way, there will be plenty of work to do! My hope and desire is that anyone who has not yet decided how they will vote will make their decision based on the facts.
I hope that this vote will be the line that separates the angst and distrust of the past and the sunrise of the future. I hope that we are truly entering an era when we earn more and more of the community's trust by the way we conduct our business in the school district.
It is amazing that every day we transport, feed, and teach over 32,000 students and many days without a single, frightening incident. Our bus drivers get their children to school safely day after day. Our teachers prepare and deliver their lessons consistently day after day. Our food service staff prepare and serve countless meals in a safe environment day after day. Yes, there are complaints that make their way to my office, but the percentage of complaints compared to the number of people we serve is minimal. Yes, we can improve on all of our processes and the way we deliver instruction. Continuous improvement must be our constant desire.
We have increased our sense of urgency in every building. The principals are focused on student achievement. As I have visited PTA Open Houses throughout the district, I have seen families coming into the schools by the hundreds eager to support our work and their children. We are moving in the right direction. I will be glad when September 16 gets here. The results of the vote on the 15th will define where we go from here. I can hardly wait!
Four-Day Week?
I have had many bloggers ask me if the school district has considered a four-day week. The answer is yes, some board members have expressed interest and some employees have expressed interest. We must think very carefully about the impact of this before we seriously consider it. The State Board of Education passed a rule last year stating that school systems had to have school the equivalent of 180 days. This means that you don't have to go 180 days but you must go the same number of hours. This frees local school districts to be more flexible with their calendars. Peach County and Murray County have lengthened their school day and trimmed some days off of their 180 day calendar. Yes, this saves a lot of money as far as transportation costs and operating costs in the district, but where does it create expenses?! It creates child-care expenses for the families. In the case of Muscogee County, there are 32,000 children and thousands of these are under the age of 12. Most of their mothers and daddys and guardians work. The burden of day-care expenses for these children would be difficult for many of these families. The other issue to think about is how productive would we be in that last hour of school if we extended the school day? Could five and six year olds continue to learn at high levels another hour a day? Would teachers have the energy to be creative and continue to engage students for one more hour? Many of the excellent teachers that I know are exhausted at the end of the current day.
A four-day week is certainly something to consider and if the current economic crisis continues to bring budget cuts, this solution may certainly be one that we study with interest. We need to think of all of the issues that surround it. It will be interesting to see how things work in Peach and Murray.
A four-day week is certainly something to consider and if the current economic crisis continues to bring budget cuts, this solution may certainly be one that we study with interest. We need to think of all of the issues that surround it. It will be interesting to see how things work in Peach and Murray.
Sunday, August 2, 2009
First Week of School
Tomorrow is the first official day back for teachers although many of them have been coming in for several weeks now to get their rooms ready for the students. Thursday is the big day! First day of school. Get to meet your new group of students. Students are nervous and are wondering how it will be. Guess what?! Teachers are a bit nervous, too! I have shared my story with many teachers through the years and most of them begin laughing and nodding their heads because they have done the same thing! Let me tell you about it!
When I taught first grade I would work all summer on lesson plans and units and think about how I would do things differently in the new school year. I would work hard during pre-planning to make my classroom as inviting as possible. The night before the first day of school, I could not sleep. I would stay awake and go through everything I was going to say the first morning back. I would rehearse how I would greet the children, how I would gently usher their mothers out the door so I could have them all by myself, and what I would say on the important first day of school. I would go over my plans in my head, rehearsing, retooling, and working on it. The morning of the first day I would be so excited, yet worn out from lack of sleep! I would get in the classroom and try to make that first day the day of all days - the tone-setter for the rest of the year!
Several years later as I reflected on my career, and by that time, had children of my own, it dawned on me one day! What was I thinking?! Those first graders were just six years old - I could have said anything! I could have made stuff up on the spot! Would they have known the difference?! It's funny now that I look back on it, but even though I laugh, I know how important planning for that first day is. Yes, they were only six, but it is so important for the teacher to be ready for them! I guarantee you they are ready for the teacher!!!!!
I hope all of the teachers who greet students this Thursday will be ready for their students! What a great opportunity to have a fresh start! I pray for safety and that we begin our school year with a sense of urgency that lasts 180 days!
When I taught first grade I would work all summer on lesson plans and units and think about how I would do things differently in the new school year. I would work hard during pre-planning to make my classroom as inviting as possible. The night before the first day of school, I could not sleep. I would stay awake and go through everything I was going to say the first morning back. I would rehearse how I would greet the children, how I would gently usher their mothers out the door so I could have them all by myself, and what I would say on the important first day of school. I would go over my plans in my head, rehearsing, retooling, and working on it. The morning of the first day I would be so excited, yet worn out from lack of sleep! I would get in the classroom and try to make that first day the day of all days - the tone-setter for the rest of the year!
Several years later as I reflected on my career, and by that time, had children of my own, it dawned on me one day! What was I thinking?! Those first graders were just six years old - I could have said anything! I could have made stuff up on the spot! Would they have known the difference?! It's funny now that I look back on it, but even though I laugh, I know how important planning for that first day is. Yes, they were only six, but it is so important for the teacher to be ready for them! I guarantee you they are ready for the teacher!!!!!
I hope all of the teachers who greet students this Thursday will be ready for their students! What a great opportunity to have a fresh start! I pray for safety and that we begin our school year with a sense of urgency that lasts 180 days!
Friday, July 24, 2009
To Furlough or Not to Furlough!
Well, so much for trying to have a quiet, smooth, unemotional, well-organized opening of the school year! This past Tuesday, superintendents received an email from the Governor's office that he would meet with us via conference call at 3:00 p.m. that afternoon. At that point, we knew it was bad news - he wasn't just calling to chat- but we didn't know how bad! The Governor began the conversation thanking superintendents for our work and led right into the purpose of the call. With continued decline in State revenues, it is necessary for school districts to be cut another 3% in state funding. For Muscogee County that is $5,321,769. That news was bad enough, but he wasn't finished with the conversation. He then began to talk about furloughs. The Governor doesn't have the authority to furlough teachers, but the legislative leadership has given him the authority to withhold funds; therefore, he will be withholding the funds for three days of salaries and requested that school districts furlough personnel for three days prior to December 31, 2009. The money will be withheld during the next five months. Three days of QBE salaries for our district is another $2,182,76l! The total to be withheld from us will be $7,504,530! Given this amount of budget reduction, we are really having to make some tough decisions.
A teacher posted this question? If we furlough, does that mean we work and don't get paid? No, if we furlough, we wouldn't work and we wouldn't get paid. We would not be asking employees to work without pay. We would shut all schools and all school offices down; no work, no pay for three days. We are still looking at all of our options. Stay tuned!
A teacher posted this question? If we furlough, does that mean we work and don't get paid? No, if we furlough, we wouldn't work and we wouldn't get paid. We would not be asking employees to work without pay. We would shut all schools and all school offices down; no work, no pay for three days. We are still looking at all of our options. Stay tuned!
Friday, July 10, 2009
School Transfers
There is alot of concern about school transfers right now - specifically the transfers to Northside and Hardaway. I understand that concern. The bottom line is that No Child Left Behind requires the district to allow parents the choice to transfer their child to a school within the district making Adequate Yearly Progress when the school in which their child is enrolled doesn't make Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP). Lack of capacity at a school is not a reason for not allowing transfers. We are told the district "must create capacity;" therefore, modular units will be placed on those campuses.
What is the solution? The solution is for every high school to make AYP. Then the district doesn't have to offer choice under No Child Left Behind, but only under the new State law which requires us to offer choice. The difference between the Federal law and the State Law is that the State Law allows us to define capacity and we do not have to transfer students to schools which we have determined are full.
The guidance for NCLB states that districts can come up with creative and ingenious ways to create capacity. Believe me, I am searching for those creative ways, but I am not sure that parents will like the creative ways any better than they like the increased usage of portable classrooms! Time to brainstorm with some of my Superintendent buddies who are also dealing with this problem. I will keep you posted!
What is the solution? The solution is for every high school to make AYP. Then the district doesn't have to offer choice under No Child Left Behind, but only under the new State law which requires us to offer choice. The difference between the Federal law and the State Law is that the State Law allows us to define capacity and we do not have to transfer students to schools which we have determined are full.
The guidance for NCLB states that districts can come up with creative and ingenious ways to create capacity. Believe me, I am searching for those creative ways, but I am not sure that parents will like the creative ways any better than they like the increased usage of portable classrooms! Time to brainstorm with some of my Superintendent buddies who are also dealing with this problem. I will keep you posted!
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