Biology Intervention Strategy

The Biology PLC at my school created a Strategic Intervention Plan for the material covered in the first "Benchmark", a district-wide assessment for every six-weeks of material.  The three teachers examined student data and organized their students into three groups.  Those groups, created from their common assessment data, were: "successful (level III,IV)", "low performing (level II)", and "lowest performing (level I).  Biology in an End of Course exam provided by the state of North Carolina.  Here was the summary of the three-day intervention, followed by the resulting data:

	November 16, 2011			November 17, 2011			November 18, 2011
	Teacher A	Teacher B	Teacher C	Teacher A	Teacher B	Teacher C	Teacher A	Teacher B	Teacher C
Period 1	Lowest performing students – review 1st 4 weeks of Bio Info	Low performing students – review 1st 4 weeks of Bio info	½ successful students do lab with Teacher C	Lowest performing students – review wks 5 & 6 of Bio Info	Low performing students – review wks 5 & 6 of Bio Info	½ successful students with Academic Coach  and tutor review 1st 6 weeks of Bio	Students retake Benchmark I	Students retake benchmark I	Students view GATTACA w/ Enrichment activity
			½ successful students with Academic Coach  and tutor review 1st 6 weeks of Bio			½ successful students do lab with Teacher C
Period 2	Lowest performing students – review 1st 4 weeks of Bio Info	Low performing students – review 1st 4 weeks of Bio info	½ successful students do lab with Teacher C	Lowest performing students – review wks 5 & 6 of Bio Info	Low performing students – review wks 5 & 6 of Bio Info	½ successful students with Academic Coach and tutor review 1st 6 weeks of Bio	Students retake Benchmark I	Students retake Benchmark I	Students view GATTACA w/ Enrichment activity
			½ successful students with Academic Coach and tutor review 1st 6 weeks of Bio			½ successful students do lab with Teacher C
Period 4	Team teach all low performing students 1st 4 weeks of Bio info		Successful students do lab with Teacher C	Team teach all low performing students wks 5 & 6 of Bio info		Successful students review 1st 6 weeks with Teacher C	Students retake Benchmark I		Students view GATTACA w/ enrichment activity

Biology Intervention Results

Overall Growth	+425 points
Average Growth per student	+6.54 points
Level I à Level II	6 students
Level II à Level III	22 students
Positive Growth	50 students
Negative Growth	13 students
No change in growth	2 students

67 students took both benchmark 1 and the retest. Numbers in table above will be based on these 67 students. (waiting on bubble sheets from 2 students – finished in academic support class, therefore based on 65 students as of 11/18/11)

2 students took the benchmark for the first time and made a level III.

1 student took the benchmark for the first time and made a level II.

2 students took the benchmark for the first time and made a level I. Note: 1 student missed 1 of the two remediation days before the retest. 1 student missed both of the remediation days before the retest.

I just wanted to share an example of a very effective intervention initiated by my staff (which I am extremely proud of).

Thanks for reading and please follow me via Twitter @CSmithGoBlue

CS


The opinions shared in this blog belong to Craig Smith and do not represent the school or district in which he works.

Positive Student Recognition

In the "Weekly Update" to my staff, I recently asked teachers to send me the name of one student that deserved some positive recognition that may not otherwise receive it.  The past few years, I have found that much of an Assistant Principal's time is spent 1:1 with students that have discipline issues.  This year, I made it one of my goals to this every 9 weeks throughout the school year.

I have to give some credit to my Twitter PLN for assisting in my motivation to do this:  @justintarte, @northeagles, and especially @MrBernia: (PLN: Say one extra kind word to a student tomorrow. Record the experience at #kindword. Feel free to retweet.)

My plan was to call these students down to my office and speak to them, not only about the kind words provided by their teacher, but just to talk about things in general.  It is quite entertaining to see how nervous these students were when they enter my office.   The best part of this experience was meeting these students for this FIRST TIME (I am new to my school this year). 


I provided my top five, with info sent by the teacher (The names have been changed):

Shannon is an awesome kid.   He has an excellent grade in my class,  he's an awesome and thoughtful writer, he participates in everything we do, he helps others, and he's just the kind of young man that you can count on.  This is his first year at Ashbrook and he's a senior. That's tough all around but he has made the best of it.  While meeting with this student, he informed me that he lives completely on his own, moving from out of state because of a "difficult situation".  He lives in an apartment, maintains a part-time job, and is 100% responsible for coming to school every day.

Shannon is working very hard, completing all assignments and her behavior and focus have improved tremendously.  I called mom last week to share the good news (historically phone calls have not been very positive).  She truly cares about her grades and was thrilled to receive a 93 on her interim.  This is only her third year in U.S. schools and she has come A LONG way!!  I am very proud of her.  This is an English as a Second Language student.

Shannon has made significant strides in presenting projects to the class. He shared an amazing childhood project story about his father passing away and how it changed his personality. Since that moment, it seems to have energized him to put more input into the class and his group work. He has really impressed me.

My student is Shannon.  As you can see by his grades, Shannon struggles mightily in U. S. History; but, he works harder than almost any other student in the class.  He generally passes most tests, but only with the aid of test corrections.  Yet, I have never seen him waver in the effort he puts forth.  Last Friday Mohammad scored 80% on the World War I test.  I have never seen a student prouder of an accomplishment, and believe me, I was quick to compliment him.  I only wish some of the others in that classroom would follow his example.  This is also an ESL student.

The student I want point out is Shannon. She is in my Tech Math I/II combination class. She has been having some personal issues that have made her absent for several times this six weeks. Despite this, she has one of the higher averages in the class. This is due to her desire to succeed. When she is here, she gets to work, asks questions, and completes her assignments. She almost always turns in homework the day it is due. If she absent, she comes to me to learn what she missed and makes it up quickly. She recently even discussed with me the option of making up the absences through Saturday school. Basically, I wanted to highlight her because despite being absent, she currently has an 82 for this six weeks--all because of her drive to graduate and her commitment to the course.

I sure hope these students truly felt the appreciate that I hold for every one of them.  I can't wait to have more of these conversations throughout the year!

CS

The opinions shared in this blog belong to Craig Smith and do not represent the school or district in which he works.

Joblessness for Servicemembers: Could this impact the Teacher Workforce?

I read a very interesting article in this weekend's USA Today in the "Nation" section dealing with the tough job market that servicemembers return to after serving in Iraq and Afghanistan (I hope all those that serve were able to feel celebrated on Friday--THANK YOU cannot be said enough).  Here are some of the statistics included in the article:

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, 29.1% of Veterans ranging from ages 20 to 24 are jobless.  The national rate is 9%. 

Special partnerships have been created in Michigan, Utah, and Minnesota, aimed at getting veterans back to work.  This caused me to think if any program exists to assist servicemembers in the field of education.

"Troops to Teachers" (http://www.dantes.doded.mil/Sub%20Pages/TTT/TTT_Main.html) provides "services to military personnel in beginning a second career...as a teacher".  Funding for this program comes from the Department of Education and managed by the Defense Activity for Non-Traditional Educational Support (DANTES)....which is funded by No Child Left Behind.  In 2005, there was a Policy Revision that related the funding to those to taught before registering for "Troops to Teachers."

According to the USA Today article, more than 1 million servicemen and servicewomen will enter civilian life in the next five years.  The number of vveteran's that have some sort of teaching experience is impossible to predict, but think about the characteristics you look for when filling a position within a school.  I tend to think that many of our proud servicemembers possess those qualities, short of a teaching license.  But I can't think of a better candidate for a "Lateral Entry" position, which allows an individual to teach with a degree in a related-field while completing required courses in a given timeline.  In actuality, some of the best teachers I have worked with have been Lateral Entry.

It's currently a difficult time for anyone to find a job, especially in the education field.  Colleges and Universities are graduating thousands of teachers with Bachelor's degrees with barely any teaching jobs available, not to mention districts across the country cutting positions due to their respective budgets. 

All I hope is that some of our troops, once returning home safely, will consider entering a profession that provides the opportunity to impact so many lives in a positive way.

Thank you to all those who serve and secure the freedom for this great Nation.

CS


The opinions shared in this blog belong to Craig Smith and do not represent the school or district in which he works.

No More "Prepayment" for Educators in NC

My post this week has to do with a topic that has strongly hit home in the Smith household (my wife is a high school English teacher--an outstanding one, at that!).  This will also be effecting every teacher, counselor, and public school staff member that is considered a 10-month employee in the Tar Heel State.

This past summer, the North Carolina General Assembly passed a law that prohibits prepayment of salaries, effective July 1, 2012.  Therefore, beginning with the 2012-2013 school year, LEAs will change the way all 10-month employees are paid.  A copy of House Bill 720 is provided (page six, lines seven through nine)http://www.ncga.state.nc.us/Sessions/2011/Bills/House/PDF/H720v3.pdf.

The key component of this is that there is no reduction in pay, but simply a transition in the pay dates in accordance to State law.  My district, like many of the districts in North Carolina, pay their salaried employees once per month, at the end of the month.  This means that teachers receive a full paycheck at the end of August for days worked PLUS days "assumed to be worked."  For employees who do not sign up for twelve-month installment pay, the August paycheck is always badly needed after summers of part-time tutoring, camps, etc. 

What does this change mean for the 10-month employees of North Carolina?  Basically, no paycheck until the second month of our school year in 2012-13.

Disclosing that I am incorporated into this change as well (my district reduced APs from 11-month to 10.5 month employees two years ago for budget purposes), I have to admit that I agree with House Bill 720.  The fact of the matter is that whenever this bill was implemented, there was going to be a year where all employees would have big adjustments.  But logically, doesn't it make sense for employees to receive payment after they have actually worked?  Isn't this consistent with the majority of the work force?

My primary question/concern/interest is the communication of House Bill 720 for all of our employees throughout the state.  I spoke to a teacher in another district today and asked if anyone had mentioned this change at their school.  They had no idea and quickly met with the principal to inquire.  Not too much later, I received an email from the teacher: "My principal would like you to send them any information you have on the change." 

Could you imagine that little surprise come spring:

     Great job this year staff.  By the way, I hope you saved up a little extra...you won't get paid until 
     September 28th, instead of August 30th.  Have a nice summer!

My district did a great job communicating this change with every employee through an All Employee Memo sent out on Monday, but it was too late for any employee to change their 10-month pay schedule to a 12-month.

My biggest fear is that way too many teachers, counselors, administrators, and other staff are unaware of this change.  IF YOU ARE NOT SURE, INQUIRE TO THE APPROPRIATE PERSON IMMEDIATELY!

I am also curious how other areas handle their employee salaries.  Is NC ahead of the times, or behind?

I appreciate any responses related to this point, as I continue my calculations/estimations of how we are going to budget for August/September.  Good thing I love statistical analysis...(former math teacher)...

Thanks for reading and please follow me via Twitter @CSmithGoBlue

CS


The opinions shared in this blog belong to Craig Smith and do not represent the school or district in which he works.