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October 4, 2012Superintendent Edition
ESC Region 13
Curriculum Council Blog:
http://www5.esc13.net/thescoop/cc/
KARLA A SCHULTZ
SummaryKarla Schulz of Walsh, Anderson, Gallegos, Green, and Trevino, PC, spent time discussing the connection between curriculum and re-ligious activities regarding freedom of speech. In a case involving kindergarteners, the court ruled that schools can regulate speech in a classroom, during school hours, when curricular activities are being super-vised by teachers. In addition, the courts have ruled that districts can regulate student speech that is, or would appear to be, district sponsored (e.g., student newspaper). More details can be found in her presentation on the Curriculum Council website.
The Interplay Between Curriculum And Religious Topics
• Busch v Marple Newtown School District
• Mother of child sued school, alleging that her right to free speech had been violated because the school did not al-low her to read from the Bible in a presen-tation to students
• The court said that schools can regulate speech because they are a limited pub-lic forum:
• In a classroom, during school hours, when curricular activities are being su-pervised, speech may be regulated in certain situations:
‣ the younger the students, the more control a school may exercise
‣ restrictions on student religious ex-pression must be related to curricu-lum
‣ speech that is, or would appear to be, district-sponsored
What it means for you• Districts can limit student speech that
might appear to be district sponsored like student newspapers
• Districts can limit music class/choir pro-grams and performances, for example, holiday music shouldn’t all be religious
• Motivation behind the limiting action should be to ensure compliance with the Establishment Clause
Action Items
1. Ensure staff understands requirements and pitfalls of restricting, as well as allowing, religious expression.
Legal Update
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Contact Information
Karla A SchultzWalsh, Anderson, Gallegos, Green & Trevino, P.C.512-454-6864
What if the School district solicits speech? (assignments)• District or school may require that the solicited speech re-
spond to the subject at hand, the assignment, or conform to the mode of the presentation requested
What about Religious text in classes or curriculum?Any district’s use of religious speech must:
• have a secular purpose; used for a valid curricular pur-pose
• not have a primary effect of advancing or inhibiting relig-ion
• not foster an excessive government entanglement with religion
• not persuade or compel others to participate in religious exercise or give the appearance of doing so
• not endorse religion in public schools, or give the appear-ance of endorsement
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CATHY DOGGETT, D ’ANNA PYNES, KRISTEN HILLERT & KARISSA POSZYWAK
SummaryCollege readiness begins in pre-k. Early edu-cators can support their students to build col-lege and career skills through intentional teaching, open-ended experiences, guided play, and activities that strengthen social and emotional skills. These skills continue to build throughout a student’s school career, with each grade building on prior grade learning. Project Based Learning is one way to realize rigorous instruction and learning. David Conley, whose research guides much of our current thinking around Project Based Learning, has defined four dimensions of col-lege and career readiness:
• Contextual Skills and Awareness
• Academic Behaviors
• Key Content
• Key Cognitive Strategies
From School Readiness to College Readi-ness• College readiness standards are about
helping kids to apply what they know to the real world
• Looking for opportunities for kids to have open-ended opportunities for applying their knowledge
Four Things to look for• Intentional teaching
‣ planning of lessons
• Open-ended experiences
• Guided center play
‣ environment: tying center play to core subject matter and sending a message of intentionality
‣ interactions: persistent questions
• Experiences that strengthen social and emotional skills
Pre-K to Physics Strategies• Intentional Teaching
• Inquiry
‣ intentional exploration
‣ purposeful elaboration
• Collaborative learning and problem solv-ing
Action Items
1. Ensure that systems and processes for career and college readiness are aligned, beginning with pre-K.
Curriculum Updates
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Contact Information
Cathy DoggettEducation Specialist: School Readiness [email protected] HillertEducation Specialist: Science - [email protected]’Anna PynesEducation Specialist: Elemen-tary [email protected] PoszywakEducation Specialist: [email protected]
• Alignment of standards from Pre-K all the way to CCRS like problem solving
Strategies for Interactive ClassroomsProject Based Learning
Good PBL includes:
• Need to know
• Driving question
• Student voice and choice
• 21st century skills
• Inquiry and Innovation
• Feedback and revision
• A publicly presented project
Aspiration Gap• 90% of students say they want to go to college
• Only 44% of those students go
• Reality aspirations not alined with outcomes:
‣ underrepresented populations
‣ lack of knowledge about the system
‣ encourage self-efficacy or self-advocacy
Resources• David Conley: College and Career Ready
• TSTEM PBL Online Workshops
• Balloon Powered Race Car McGraw Hill Stemie Challenge: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_VjQcG260t8
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http://bit.ly/pZDhQR
Project Based Learning: Explained
STEVE FRANK
SummarySteve Frank discussed the College and Ca-reer Readiness Planning Guide offered by the Texas College and Career Readiness Support Center. Based on the Texas College and Ca-reer Readiness Standards, the Planning Guide was funded by the Texas Higher Edu-cation Coordinating Board, and developed by vertical teams. For more information, go to txccrsc.org.
Profile Planning GuideDeveloped by a broad spectrum of people including K-12 teachers, post-secondary edu-cators, workforce recruiters, administrators and others.
This tool is meant to develop you campus im-provement plan and guides you through 6 steps. Help bring a focus, strategic ap-proach to all of your other initiatives.
• 6 step process
Action Items
1. Ensure that the district improvement plan and campus improvement plan address the Texas College and Career Readiness Standards.
2. Facilitate conversations regarding the intent of the CCRS to develop common understanding
Texas College and Career Readiness
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Contact Information
Steve FrankCollege and Career Readi-ness [email protected]
• Tool to guide decision-making
• Designed to coordinate locally-driven priorities
• Designed to empower campuses and districts
What does it do?• Creates the campus improvement plan
• Prepares teachers and students for STAAR and EOC
• Builds on current CCR effortsGuide Structure
• Here’s what
1. Build a foundation of common understanding
• professional development available
2. Gather Data
• traditional data
• career and post-secondary data
• So What?
3. Perception: how do stakeholders feel?
• survey for all faculty
4. Strategic leadership discussion
• help all faculty to understand how CCRS applies to them
• Now What?
5. Priority goals
• 49 goals in all, split into 5 domains
6. Engage in action planning
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http://txccrsc.org
LAURA ABBOTT
SummaryLaura Abbott offered an overview of Region 13’s efforts to help districts align their AU and AYP data around PBMAS. Region 13 will offer a Combined Accountability System Work Ses-sion on October 30 at no cost to districts. Dis-trict teams are invited to bring their own data for an opportunity to work together , in-cluding available assistance as needed. De-
tails may be found on the Curriculum Council website.
AU/AYPFor both Campus and District:
Use Texas Accountability Intervention System (TAIS) process will be implemented for Prob-lem Solving
Action Items
1. Consider sending teams to Region 13 PBMAS work session.
PMBAS
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Contact Information
Laura AbbottEducation Specialist: Special [email protected]
• Campus Intervention team and district leadership team also utilize one DCSI, who is to be the person in the know in the district who reports to the Superintendent and have authority to change curriculum
• One TAIS guidance Document (AU &AYP) and One set of tools
PBMASOnly measured at District level intervention in these federal programs:
• BE/ESL
• CTE
• NCLB
• SPED/RF
You can be staged as:
• Baseline
• Continuing Implementation
• Year After Onsite
• Not Assigned after onsite
• Escalated oversight interventions & sanctions
PBMAS/AU/AYP• You would still have DCSI
• 2 guidance documents:
‣ TAIS Guidance Document
‣ PBM Guidance Document (RF guidance Document)
• Two sets of tools
• One corrective action plan
• Woven together into 1 district improvement plan
Resources:• PMI SOS LiveBinder: http://bit.ly/PMISOS
• Combined Accountability Work Session: October 30. 2012 FA1224148
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VARIOUS
15% STAAR EOCIn continued conversation around the 15 per-cent requirement for end of course assess-ments, Jennifer Drumm shared conversion models from two ESC Region 13 districts.
Two Examples• Example I
• Anything below a Level II would be 69
‣ Anything above Level II would be 100
‣ Intent to not punish students with the grades
• Example II
• Level I below minimum: 65
• B/W minimum and passing
• Level II 85
• Level III 95-100
Action Items
1. Continue to reinforce current policy regarding the 15 percent requirements.
2. Visit http://TexasSuccess.org and click "Getting To Know Us" under each of the Math and Reading features. Get answers to most implementation questions by clicking on the FAQ at that same link
General Updates
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Texas Success
Lannon HeflinProgram Manager: Technology Integration [email protected]
STAAR EOC
Jennifer DrummSenior Coordinator for Cur-riculum and [email protected]
Texas SuccessTexas SUCCESS is FREE State-funded, mathematics and read-ing online resources for all Texas public school students in grades 3-8. These engaging and interactive online programs support students at all skill levels and, most importantly, en-courage and enable progress and achievement as they move through the activities and curriculum.
Each of these programs will:
• assess individual students according to his/her skill level
• automatically assign and deliver appropriate curriculum tai-lored to each student’s abilities
• inform teachers and parents when students might need ad-ditional help or confirm a student is on the right path
• additionally, Think Through Math provides live bilingual tu-tors to engage and assist students that might be struggling with certain math concepts
With free 24/7 access to these online adaptive programs, teachers, students and parents will be equipped with the nec-essary tools to build confidence and promote academic suc-cess.
http://texassuccess.org
http://texassuccess.org/reading/get_to_know_istation
IStation
http://texassuccess.org/math/get_to_know_ttm
Think Through Math
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