Ty Duncan, ESC 17 Specialist Francisco Rodriguez, ESC 17 Specialist Things Every Parent Should Know

Administrator’s Guide trator's%20Checklist%20Final%20(Abbreviated).pdf trator's%20Checklist%20Final%20(Abbreviated).pdf trator's%20Guide_Checklist%20Final.pdf trator's%20Guide_Checklist%20Final.pdf

Key Stakeholders “As we move the authority for decision-making down to those closest to children, we cannot afford to exclude parents and community members from the process of crafting new schools.” Patrick M. Shields

Why Learn to Communicate Well? Communication isn’t just done by talking; it’s also done by listening and responding. Learning positive communication skills will help them avoid the consequences of poor communication skills.

Communication is an Essential Ingredient in Parental Involvement

Develop A System!!! What verbiage do you and your staff consistently communicate in every form of communication? Get support staff to include this verbiage in all forms of communication? Use your automatic phone messaging system to communicate positive messages about the school. Make your system consistent with your mission.

Social Networks Great commutation networks for leaders. You can post times and event information but also post things parents needs to know. We have several districts using social networks. Ralls ISD and Muleshoe ISD use it often.

The Bell Curve is Dead!!!!! The Bell Curve demands someone fail It sifts and sorts kids into labels. NCLB and current legislation demands every child be successful and our school demands that as well.

The Bell Curve Norm-Referenced Tests e.g. ITBS, SAT, GRE, LSAT, Stat9, NAEP Purpose: To sort, select, classify, compare Information: How one compares with others Results reported as percentile (%) rank Always yields a bell curve Assumes a non-aligned curriculum “We reject the bell curve. It tells us nothing about what students did or did not learn; it tells us only about their demographic characteristics.”~ F. English

% Demonstrating Skill Criterion-References Tests e.g. ExCET, TAAS, license/certification, teacher-made Purpose: To determine knowledge of defined criteria Information: How much of defined criteria known Goal is to yield J curve Assumes an aligned curriculum Assumes most people can learn most things in time. Time The J Curve

You NEED Your Child to Get Post Secondary Education!!!! College Readiness needs to be stamped on every door, , and correspondence you send to parents. We need to explain clearly that the jobs of tomorrow demand post-secondary training. 80% of jobs by 2020 will demand some form of post secondary college. A college degree means a million dollars over the course of a lifetime in income. We must increase this number in Region 17.

Economic Realities

Assessment in Texas Is Changing EOC and Graduation Requirements need to be brought up at every Middle School and Junior High. The 15% grading issue will impact grades in a negative way. Many kids will be retesting and that is okay given the changing nature of instruction. Parents must understand that we are going to assess your kids and not just “test” them.

What do we know about STAAR? Will begin in Grades 3 through 8 First year 9 th graders 10 th and 11 th graders will still take TAKS 18

Grades 3-8 Reading – Gr. 3-8 Math – Gr. 3-8 Writing – Gr. 4 & 7 Science – Gr. 5 & 8 Soc. Studies – Gr High School COURSES MathEnglishScienceSoc Studies Algebra I Geometry Algebra II Eng I Engl II Eng III Biology Chemistry Physics World Geo. World Hist. U.S. History The high school level STAAR tests are COURSE tests, NOT grade level tests What tests will students have to take?

20 STAAR is an assessment of ACADEMIC READINESS

21 What does it mean to be an assessment of academic readiness?

Rigor is Not A Disease Many parents associate rigor with more work. The bottom line is classrooms will expect more this year and you are going to need parental support throughout this process. Expect that teachers demand rigorous, challenging from your child.

What does rigor mean? 23 STAAR will be significantly more “rigorous” than TAKS

What does “more rigorous” mean? The questions are more complex and require more thinking. What is most important for a student to learn in a grade level will have more questions on the test. The test will be longer. 24

4 th Grade

Things That You Want Your Children to Say “This work is hard.” “That teacher really makes me think.” “It is really hard in Ms. Jones class.” It is really a good thing for a child to come home and say, “Mrs. Jones is one great teacher mom. Nothing is difficult in her class.”

33

Bibliography Dr. Ervin Knezek, SIRC Training Lynn Erickson -- Concept-Based Curriculum and Instruction for the Thinking Classroom, 2007