1 Archdiocese of New York Academic Initiatives

Overview of Academic Initiatives Pre-existing/Ongoing Initiatives  Initiatives 1,2,3,4,6 & 7 ADNY Priority Initiative for  Initiative 5 Additional New ADNY Initiatives for  Initiatives 8, 9, 10 & 11 2

Initiative # 1: Communicate last spring’s state test results with principals, parents, regional school boards and other stakeholders. Strategy:  Superintendent provides PowerPoint presentation at Principal meeting this fall.  Regional Superintendents provide PowerPoint presentations at Town Hall meetings this fall.  Regional Superintendents provide PowerPoint presentations at regional board meetings this fall. Timeline: Fall

Initiative # 2: Create 2 interim assessments for Math and ELA during the year. Assessments will be aligned to the state testing in content and format. Teachers will be given immediate feedback of student results (on-line) and provided summary reports to help analyze the test data. Strategy: Contract with Catapult, Inc. to create assessments and summary reports for teachers. Timeline: Interim assessments are being created and will be administered in October and January. 4

Initiative # 3: Foster the development of a culture of data driven instruction throughout the Archdiocese. Strategy:  The Archdiocese will implement its Annual Data Day in early September (using work sampling in K, ITBS in Grades 1 to 3, and NYSED exams in Grades 4 through 8)  The Archdiocese will continue to implement an abbreviated Data Day(mini-Data Day) protocol to facilitate the analysis of the results of the Interim Assessments during faculty meetings.  Regional Superintendents will strongly encourage principals to utilize the mini Data Day protocol during their November and March faculty meetings. Timeline:  The Superintendent’s office will distribute the Data Day protocol by the end of June.  The Superintendent’s office will distribute the abbreviated Data Day protocol resources to the Regional Superintendents by the end of September. 5

*Initiative # 4: Increase the amount of ELA and Math instruction at all schools. ELA Strategy:  All schools will teach ELA (including spelling, composition, grammar, reading, listening, and speaking) for a minimum of 90 minutes per day.  All schools will launch Home Literacy Initiatives that encourage parental involvement in student literacy. Math Strategy:  All schools will teach Math for a minimum of 60 minutes per day.  All schools will establish an After-School Math Program that meets at least twice a week. Timeline:  90 minutes of ELA instruction and 60 minutes of Math instruction begin in Fall  Home Literacy and After-School Math Programs will be operational by October. See attachments 1 and 2 for suggestions on how to implement these programs in your school. *This initiative directly supports initiative 5, the ADNY priority initiative. 6

ADNY Priority Initiative for *Initiative # 5: Transition to the use of the EngageNY ELA and Math Modules. Strategy:  All Regional Instructional Specialists will continue to support teachers in the implementation of EngageNY at grade level meetings and during school visits.  Each school will receive bimonthly coaching targeted towards the implementation of EngageNY. This will include in school push-in support once a month and targeted professional development once a month throughout the school year. The coaching staff will be determined at a regional level.  Principals will receive professional development on how to support the implementation of EngageNY in their schools regularly at their Regional Principal Meetings. Professional Development will be conducted by the Regional Instructional Specialists in collaboration with the Superintendent of Schools Office.  The Superintendent of Schools Office will provide EngageNY module guides for ELA and Math and recommended module supplementary text lists for ELA. *Initiatives 4,6,7,8, and 11 complement initiative 5 and will also help support teachers and administrators transition to the use of the EngageNY ELA and Math Modules. Timeline: Module guides will be shared electronically with all school principals and posted to the BuildBoldFutures website by late August. Coaching and professional development will begin in early September. 7

*Initiative # 6: Encourage cross curricular literacy instruction. Strategy:  Principals will require all teachers to include at least one Common Core Learning Standard for English Language Arts and Literature in daily lesson plans for all content areas. In the upper grades (5-8), teachers are to include the Common Core Standards for Literacy in History/ Social Studies, Science, and Technical Subjects in their lesson plans in those content areas.  Principals will arrange faculty meetings to include common planning time for teacher cross-curricular collaboration.  The Superintendent’s office will release monthly nonfiction reading comprehension exercises aligned to the grade 3-8 Social Studies and Science curricula as an instructional resource for teachers. Timeline:  All strategies above will be initiated in Fall *This initiative directly supports initiative 5, the ADNY priority initiative. 8

* Initiative # 7: Provide teachers with readily accessible instructional materials to enhance ELA and Math instruction Strategy:  The Superintendent’s office will continue to distribute reading comprehension exercises that are directly aligned with Common Core learning standards for grades 2-8 in monthly s.  The Superintendent’s office will continue to distribute sample math unit test questions for grades 3-8 in monthly s.  The above resources will be posted on the BuildBoldFutures website and on Instructional Specialists’ local online platforms. Timeline:  The first set of reading comprehension exercises and math unit test questions will be distributed by the end of September *This initiative directly supports initiative 5, the ADNY priority initiative. 9

*Initiative # 8: Enhance the quality of teacher-created assessments, including quizzes, summative assessments, and mid/end-term exams. Strategy:  All teachers will be required to indicate the standards assessed on all tests in the school year. The Superintendent’s office will distribute model tests in early September. Model tests will also be posted to the BuildBoldFutures website.  The Superintendent’s office will distribute mid and end-term exam guidelines by early November. Principals will reinforce adherence to these guidelines with their teachers.  Instructional Specialists will continue to support teachers’ understanding of assessment creation by providing ongoing professional development at cohort meetings.  Principals will review all ELA and Math summative assessments before they are administered to students. Timeline:  Model tests will be distributed in September  Mid and End-term exam guidelines will be distributed in November *This initiative directly supports initiative 5, the ADNY priority initiative. 10

Initiative # 9: Institute an Archdiocesan-wide grade weighting policy. Strategy:  The Assessment Resource Manual will be amended to reflect changes to the grade-weighting policy. All schools will weight the distinct categories of summative assessments, quizzes, classwork/participation, and homework equally. Timeline:  The Assessment Resource Manual will be issued to all principals by the end of June  School Cornerstone administrators will be provided with directives regarding how to update the grade weighting functionality of Cornerstone during Summer of

Initiative # 10: Prepare teachers and administrators for the implementation of the new ADNY report card in Fall of Strategy:  Initiatives 8 and 9 anticipate Archdiocesan-wide changes that will need to be made in Fall of 2016 in accordance with the new ADNY report card and will help prepare teachers and administrators for the new report card.  9 schools will pilot the report card during the school year.  Superintendent’s office staff will present the new report card and pilot group findings to principals at regional principal meetings in April Principals will be provided with a protocol for report card professional development that they can “turnkey” during May and June 2016 faculty meetings. Timeline:  Professional development around assessment will be ongoing during the school year.  Principals will receive report-card specific professional development in April

*Initiative # 11: Support parent understanding of the Common Core Learning Standards in Math and ELA. Strategy:  The Superintendent’s office will update the parent portal on BuildBoldFutures to include resources parents can use at home to help their children master all Common Core Math and ELA learning standards. Parents will be able to select standards by grade level and subject and will be directed to a variety of useful resources for each standard. Timeline:  The BuildBoldFutures website will be updated by late August *This initiative directly supports initiative 5, the ADNY priority initiative. 13