Parent / Teacher Conferences

Sandburg Families,

Parent / Teacher Conferences are approaching ... 

What should parents expect?

• An emphasis on the collaboratively-designed Ready, Set, Goal targets
• An emphasis on building on a student's strengths
• A deep knowledge of the broad range of academic and social skills that we teach, including:
  • The Common Core State Standards (near-national goals for math & literacy)
  • Various curricula, where appropriate (Mondo for literacy, Investigations for math, Second Step for social / emotional learning) - many differences apply, based on grade-level and program
  • Various assessments (again, based on grade and program), such as
    • Measures of Academic Progress (MAP) and Wisconsin Knowledge and Concepts Examination (WKCE) for grades 3-5
    • Text Reading Level (TRL), Running Records, and AIMSWeb for literacy K-5
    • Fact Fluency Assessment (FFI) and Number Development Assessment (all students, depending on developmental level) for math
• Objectivity, an emphasis on data, and a professional demeanor
• Honesty and sensitivity, in identifying areas of concern

How should parents handle conflict?

Conflict is a natural part of working with other people - how it is handled is what makes the difference.  Even though we have considerable skill and talent at Sandburg, the staff realize that being in the education profession means a lifelong commitment to learning, and they are willing to learn, adapt, and change to ensure the success of all students.  Therefore, here are some key ideas if you feel your child is not being successful:

• Operate with positive assumptions.  The staff at Sandburg are good people who want all children to be successful, and they work hard, for long hours and little pay and too little appreciation - nationally - than I believe they deserve.  They want your child to succeed.
• Get involved.  If you have concerns, you are strongly encouraged to spend time in the classroom.  Parents' observations are much more meaningful than hearsay from elementary school-aged students.  We are always open and welcoming to visitors and volunteers.
• Offer ideas: Teachers want to meet the needs of all students.  If you have an idea for how something can be done differently - or better - to meet the needs of your child, say so. 
• Realize that Parent / Teacher Conferences are formal opportunities for sharing, but you are always encouraged to be in touch with your child's teacher - whether there are formal Parent / Teacher Conferences or not.
• If conflict does arise, it should be addressed with the teachers first (in almost all situations).  There are few circumstances in which speaking with the principal first is the appropriate choice (Parents - think about your workplace ... Would you prefer to have a complaint delivered to you first, before your supervisor?).  As a general rule, concerns should be raised with teachers first to give them a fair chance to respond appropriately.  If concerns are not being addressed satisfactorily, please include the principal.  
• Do a quick search of the internet to pull up resources for having a successful Parent / Teacher Conference, like this.

I want all students to be successful, and I believe that the success of all students depends on the ability of parents and teachers to work well together, communicate openly, and handle conflicts appropriately when they do arise.  I believe we can do this.

Brett

Rating Schools

As previously stated in this blog, the new state report card measures student performance on tests, and labels schools on a range of how well they are "meeting expectations" based on that student achievement.

This article from the New York Times summarizes research showing a national trend of an expanding achievement gap between families living in poverty and those not.  This research clearly articulates some of the many factors that influence student achievement, and is evidence, in my opinion, that the state report card which labels our school as "meeting few expectations" is an oversimplification of a complicated process.

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/02/10/education/education-gap-grows-between-rich-and-poor-studies-show.html?_r=3&src=me&ref=general

Brett  

State Report Card

This is an updated version of a previous post.

Dear Parents and Guardians,

Recently you received information about the state’s new School Report Cards.  Today, the state issued a report card for every public school in Wisconsin, and we want to give updated information about Sandburg’s results.

Like any school, Sandburg has areas in which it can improve, and the staff at Sandburg embraces the challenge of continuous work and learning to improve what we do on behalf of students.  High-quality school improvement efforts are based on useful and meaningful data.  While the data in the school report cards are data that we part of what we use for improvement, we want to make sure you understand the much larger context of data which tells us how all of our students are doing at Sandburg. The school report card will be one of many tools we use to gauge our progress and make plans for school improvement.

Here is some information which, I hope, provides needed context to understand this very public slice of school data:

• The achievement data cited in the school report card is based on the state mandated WKCE (Wisconsin Knowledge and Concepts Examination).  This is a test given in English to 3rd through 5th graders in the fall. We receive results in April. In other words, it is challenging for us to gauge the quality of our instruction for grades 4k through 2 and for the nearly 50% of our population who learn in Spanish but are tested in English using this one measure of assessment.

• However, we do collect additional data throughout the school year on student's academic and behavioral success such as the AIMSWeb assessment, the Phonological Awareness Literacy Screening (PALS), Measures of Academic Progress (MAP, math and reading), running records, Text Reading Level (TRL) using the Rigby system, Fact Fluency Interviews, Number Development Assessments, the Primary Language Arts Assessment (English and Spanish), the Scholastic Reading Inventory, ACCESS test, CogAT (Cognitive Abilities Test), and all of the assessments embedded within curricula like Mondo, Estrellita, Words Their Way (spelling), Units of Study (writing), Investigations (math), FOSS science, and our social studies curricula. One worth highlighting is this:  We have a team of UW-Madison researchers who are testing ALL of our students multiple times per year using the AIMSWeb progress-monitoring system.  This testing is being done in both English and Spanish, and the results are immediately available online, which helps us adjust our instruction to best meet students' needs. In other words, there are many tools in addition to the school report card that provide meaningful, useful data which informs our school improvement efforts.

• The District supports the Dual Language Immersion program, and so does Sandburg.  Even though we project that students who are learning in Spanish might underperform their peers in English-medium classes on a test given only in English (especially in 3rd grade), we believe in the intellectual, academic, social, and cultural benefits of the program, and support them whole-heartedly, even if school data suffers for a short time.

While each of the assessments we use and the school report cards are important tools, we want to assure you that we know there is more to your child’s education than any single test score.  

Our students are engaged in their learning through unique programs like our school garden or our robust arts and music programs.  All students at Sandburg are learning important 21st century skills through the use of technology like iPads, netbooks, and laptops.  About half of our students are learning to be fully bilingual (Spanish / English), and all students are learning important lessons about multi-cultural communication and understanding.  All students learn about positive emotions and behaviors, self-regulation, and wellness.  And students engage in a variety of unique learning opportunities, like field trips, observing firefighters in training, assemblies, and thousands of other unique, but un-assessed, opportunities.

While the school report cards summarize the achievement of an entire school, we believe that what really matters is the success of each individual child.  Rather than focus on a school-wide measure, we encourage you to be involved in your child's education, to engage with his/her teachers, to let us know if you have any concerns with your child's performance, and to work with us to ensure that each child reaches his/her full potential.  

  

When released, the school report cards will be available on DPI’s website: dpi.wi.gov/oea/acct/accountability.html.  

I look forward to hearing your questions or feedback about the school report cards.

Sincerely,

Brett Wilfrid

Behavior - What parents need to know!

Teaching students appropriate behavior is one of the biggest jobs we have in elementary schools.  As stated in the MMSD Code of Conduct, "Schools must be places where effective learning can occur."  It goes on to state that "students and school personnel have a right to a safe and orderly learning environment" and that "prompt and effective disciplinary action must be taken to correct ... behaviors" which "are illegal, life or health threatening, or ... impede the orderly operation of the classroom or school."

The Code of Conduct goes on to describe student responsibilities (like active participation and obedience to laws and rules) and Parent Responsibilities:

1. Support school officials in their efforts to develop and maintain well-disciplined schools
2. Teach the child socially acceptable standards of behavior
3. Teach the child to have respect for law, authority, and the rights and property of others
4. Teach the child to be accountable for his/her own actions and help the child to grow and develop into a self-controlled, self-disciplined citizen
5. Share the responsibility for student conduct with the school
6. Maintain an active interest in the student's school work and activities
7. Advocate for quality education for the child
8. Require prompt and regular attendance at school

The Code of Conduct also describes parent and student rights, responsibilities of school staff, and the potential consequences (including suspension) for inappropriate behavior.

At school, staff accept the responsibility to keep students safe and free of bullying and distractions.  One of the most persistently challenging parts of our work is teaching students to be appropriate advocates for themselves.  We try to keep things easy for students by reminding them frequently that their job, when someone is doing something that they do not like ... is to
Say "Stop" and tell a teacher!

Too frequently, students remain silent or retaliate against negative behaviors, putting themselves at risk for bullying - or for consequences for engaging in negative behavior.

We also accept the responsibility to teach appropriate behaviors, which we do mostly through our work with Responsive Classrooms and Second Step curricula.

Finally, we realize that there are students who publicly display negative - and at times destructive - behavior at Sandburg.  We wish that were not the case, and we are committed to helping them learn more appropriate ways of behaving.  The frequently-asked question is, "What can be done?"  One thing that clearly can not be done, after a new state law in April 2011, is to physically restrain or seclude any student unless they are presenting an "imminent" and credible threat of harm to themselves or others.  For many of us in an older generation, we would have been physically stopped from engaging in significant property damage in our schools (for example, someone would have held our arms so that we wouldn't destroy property).  That is currently illegal in Wisconsin, and it is important for families to know that property damage and disruption are suspendable offenses in the MMSD Code of Conduct.

Parents - the degree to which you understand the Code of Conduct, the expectations for students, the language that is used at school ("Say "Stop" and tell a teacher") and the legal realities of our work, the more effective our schools' teaching, learning, and discipline will be.  Please feel free to contact us with any questions or concerns.

On Charter Schools

I'm all for variety in schools, specific themes (like magnet schools), and for experimenting to figure out "what works."  But I'm committed to public education, for all students, and for schools being crystal clear about who they intend to serve.  Diane Ravitch, a leading educational scholar, points out that many charters "skim the easiest to educate students, spend more, and then claim success:"
http://dianeravitch.net/2012/08/21/do-charters-serve-the-same-students-no/

The Achievement Gap

Key ideas:

• Students come to school with an Achievement Gap, predicted by income.
• Students who are behind before school starts are more likely to miss a lot of school.
• Research shows that students progress at a similar rate during the school year, but the gap widens over summer.

Solving the "Achievement Gap" is not just about schools, testing, and accountability.  There are community- and national responsibilities to ensuring that all kids show up at school, and leave school prepared to succeed.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sAvSYKvzdJ8&feature=youtu.be

Unclear "Focus"

Sandburg, along with several other schools in Madison was labeled a "Focus" school in the Spring of 2012. This is from the DPI's website: "Wisconsin identified 10 percent of Title I schools statewide which would benefit from additional training, professional development, and resources designed to improve student outcomes for a portion of their student population.". The most glaring of the many problems with this business is that we were identified because of a reading gap between English Language Learners and native English speakers. Not only is this a national (and natural, in many cases) trend, but we are actually on the progressive front-end of language education by promoting Dual-Language Immersion. And as the DLI program expands, and more students are learning in Spanish, but state- and federal mandates require testing to be in English ONLY, it could appear that our performance is slipping. It is my sincere hope that we can move beyond the cycle of school- and teacher-bashing and, as a nation, have a real - and messy - conversation about what we value (like bilingualism), what works in schools, and what is a reasonable approach (like testing students in the language they are being taught in). http://dpi.wi.gov/focus/index.html