February 2016 Academic Update

February’s Assessment & PD Calendar - Summary of Events

● January 11 - February 12 NWEA Winter Administration (Grades K-10 & 11 ELL)

● January 27 - March 5 K-12 LAS Links Administration

● February 1 Quarter 2 - Grades due in PT & Intervention Logs Completed

● February 1 Quarter 2 - Grades due in PT & Intervention Logs Completed

● February 2 Quarter 2 - Admins Verify Grades & Intervention Logs

● February 3 K-5 ELA Curriculum Check-In at Gaffney & Vance (3:45-4:45)

● February 5 K-8 Report Cards Distributed for Quarter 2

● February 8

○ NBHS Report Cards Mailed Home for Quarter 2

○ Board of Education Meeting at NBEAC - 6:30pm

○ Middle School Math Planning Session - Grade 8 - Slade Middle School - (8:00-11:00am)

● February 9: Middle School Math Planning Sessions

○ Grade 6 - Slade Middle School - (8:00-11:00am)

○ Grade 7 - Slade Middle School - (12:00-3:00pm)

● February 10

○ K-5 ELA Curriculum Check-In at Holmes (3:45-4:45)

○ K-5 Library Media Specialist Meeting (4:05-4:45pm)

● February 12-15 No School

● February 16 Building Based Testing Team Training at Pulaski Media Center - (9:30-11:30)

● February 16-26 NWEA Goal Setting Reports Printed

● February 16-March 12 Grades 3-8 Smarter Balanced Practice Test Window

● February 17

○ Building Based PD - For ALL Schools and Grades not assigned below

○ Light’s Retention Scale Forms mailed to all K-8 buildings

○ NBHS Well Managed Classroom Training - (12:35-3:20pm) (TENTATIVE)

○ Kindergarten PD for Kindergarten Teachers from Chamberlain, Gaffney, Holmes,

Jefferson & Vance ONLY at Roosevelt Cafeteria - (1:45-4:45pm)

○ 8th to 9th Grade Placement Meeting for Middle School Guidance Counselors at NBHS -

(12:00-1:00pm)

○ 8th to 9th Grade Placements for 8th Grade Teachers at NBHS - (1:35-4:00pm)

○ Gr. 6-7 Slade Teachers - Building Based PD - (1:00-4:00pm)

○ Gr. 6-7 Pulaski Teachers - Topic: ‘Compass’ - (1:05-4:00)

○ Psychologists & Social Workers PD at AC - (1:30-3:30pm)

○ Paraeducator PD:

■ Gr. 9-12 at NBHS (12:30-2:15pm)

■ Gr. 6-8 & DiLo at Pulaski Auditorium (1:15-3:00pm)

■ Gr. K-5 at Chamberlain Auditorium (2:00-3:45pm)

○ K-5 PE Teacher PD at Vance (1:45-4:45)

○ PreK PD at Roosevelt - (2:00-4:00pm)

○ K-8 Media Specialist Curriculum Writing/Inventory

■ Gr. 6-8 at Slade (1:00-4:00pm)

■ Gr. K-5 at Chamberlain Media Center (1:45-4:45pm)

● February 22 TEAM Meeting- Slade Media Center (3:15 HS & MS, 4:15 Elem) - Module 5

● February 24 PreK-8 Sped Department Meeting at Roosevelt (3:00-4:00 MS, 3:45-4:45 Elem.)

● February 22-26 Grade 5 Sages Testing at HALS

● February 25 Administrator PD at Slade Media Center - (8:00-4:00pm)

● February 26

○ SSP Middle School Assignment #2 Evaluations Due in TaskStream (soft date)

○ PPT Coordinator Meeting at AC - (9:30-11:00am)

● February 29 SSP High School Literacy Claim #1 Due

● February 29-March 4

○ Grade 4-8 Classroom Grade Level Spelling Bee

○ K-5 Reading Foundational Benchmark Administration for Q3

○ K-8 Math Fluency Administration for Q3

UNLOCKING EVERY STUDENT’S POTENTIAL THROUGH LITERACY - Literacy Essentials Conference -

Saturday, April 2, 2016 @ Central Connecticut State University. Go to www.reading.ccsu.edu/LEECED to

complete an online Registration Form (echeck, Mastercard or Discover).

Report Card Verification Page Updated

The verification page in PowerTeacher has been updated. When you click on ‘Verify Grades’, it now

takes you to a page that includes all classes and quarters. Scroll down the screen to the term you want

to verify, and click on the quarter icon next to the class to access the verification page. Verify grades as

you have in the past and then click on the next class you need to verify.

Smarter Balanced Assessment & CMT/CAPT

● All Accommodations Binders are due to be returned to Heather Barrett at Central Office by the

end of the day Monday, February 8th

● All LCIs, for the CT Alternate Assessment (CTAA) and/or the CMT/CAPT Science Skills Checklist,

must be completed in the Data Entry Interface by the end of the day Monday, February 8th

● The District Testing Team will meet with all Building Based Testing Teams on Tuesday, February

16th, from 9:30-11:30 at Pulaski Media Center, to review Smarter Balanced and CMT/CAPT

changes.

Connecticut SAT School Day

● Replaces the Smarter Balanced Assessment for 11th graders

● Test Administration Date: March 2nd

● School Test Center Supervisors:

● NBHS: Liz Crooks & Kerri-Lynn Major

● SCA: Idalia Crespo-Villarini

● ACS: Candace Ward-McKinlay

● NBTC: Sue Girolomoni

● Accommodations:

● College Reportable Accommodations Deadline: 2/8/16

● Connecticut Specific Accommodations Deadline: 2/15/16

● Building Based SSD Coordinators manage student accommodations:

● SPED: Anne Marie Niedzwiecki

● ELL: Iwona Pruski

Leonardo da Vinci Bowl Information

● Tuesday, March 29 - Elementary Leonardo da Vinci Bowl at Pulaski Middle School 6:00-8:00 p.m

● Wednesday, March 30 - Middle School Leonardo da Vinci Bowl at Pulaski Middle School 6:00-

8:00 p.m

The qualification criteria for each school’s Leonardo da Vinci Bowl Team is determined through analysis of the Spring 2015, Fall 2015, and Winter 2016 NWEA Test Scores. It is important that all teachers communicate to their 4th-8th grade students the importance of working hard while taking their NWEA tests. These data points should paint an accurate picture of each student’s math capabilities. Once again this year, there will be no paper and pencil qualifying test for the Leonardo da Vinci Bowl. Students will be notified if they have qualified for the competition later this month, after the close of MAP testing.

Spelling Bee

The Department of Academics is holding its sixteenth annual District Spelling Bee for elementary and

middle school students.

The elementary competition consists of grade 4 and grade 5 students from the elementary schools. The

event is being held on Tuesday, April 26, 2016, in the Smith Elementary School auditorium.

The middle school bee will feature sixth, seventh and eighth grade students from the middle schools.

The event will be held on Wednesday, April 27, 2016, in the Louis P. Slade Middle School auditorium.

Both competitions begin at 6:30 p.m.

All participants who compete in the District Spelling Bee have been finalists in their respective classroom

and grade level school spelling bees. Each grade will have a winner at the district level.

The following are the dates for the different levels of the 2016 Spelling Bees.

Classroom Level February, 29 - March 4, 2016 School Level March 14 - March 18, 2016

District Level for Elementary Tuesday, April 26, 2016

District Level for Middle Schools Wednesday, April 27, 2016

Recap of January Half Day Professional Development time - Middle School

Teachers met in Subject Area Groups:

Language Arts teachers spent time working on argumentative writing strategies using Clark Consulting

Guidelines. They are working with students on reading nonfiction text, using Grammar Extraction to

identify the Central Idea of an article and identifying the important information. Students then create

syntactically correct sentences using Single Picture Text Webbing which generates 7 sentences. These

sentences are then combined to create a piece of writing that states the topic, thesis, reasons for the

assertion, a counterclaim, restatement of the thesis and a call to action. Students then use these

strategies to produce rigorous writing samples.

Middle School Math teachers spent time discussing ways to improve the math fluencies, especially to

align with instruction and assessment. Grade level teams spent time discussing benchmark and unit

assessments, planning and pacing, and technology. Grade 6 teachers from Slade shared the Front Row

Ed app with Pulaski teachers, and a site, http://www.sowashco.org/ro/pages/studentlinks/map/ was

shared which provides sites on which students may practice math skills that correspond to their RIT.

Middle School Social Studies teachers learned about Inquiry in the newly adopted Social Studies

Frameworks from State Department of Education Social Studies Consultant, Steve Armstrong. The

feedback from Mr. Armstrong’s session was overwhelmingly positive. We will be inviting him back for

further professional learning.

Science teachers in grades 6 to 8 took some time to explore various resources related to the Next

Generation Science Standards, including background instructional videos (for teachers), posters, and

resources to extend the understanding of argument. They read and discussed an article on argument,

and will be using the information it contained to make a generic template. The teachers agreed that the

Scholastic Science World magazine is a very useful resource that is being used regularly in the classroom.

Templates teachers are using with students are being created for upload to BYOC. The supply list for

2016-2017 was analyzed and revised.

Elementary Language Arts Check-in

The CITs are attending a faculty meeting at each elementary school this year. Their purpose is to enrich

the Language Arts curriculum by having teachers share extension activities they have created for

Journeys lessons. These activities will be uploaded to BYOC where all grade level teachers will have

access to them.

MS Math Coaching

Our grant-funded days with Math Coach Sue Renehan from CREC are wrapping up this month. Sue has

encouraged teachers to be reflective practitioners through video analysis, goal-setting, and planning.

On the heels of this work, Slade and Pulaski administrators have collaborated to offer jointly-funded

professional development to grade level teams, districtwide. The PD will utilize a model similar to that

used with our English Language Enhancement program, and will be tailored to the Connected Math

Program used district wide in grades 6 - 8. Emphasis will be on lesson development, common

misconceptions and how to address them, differentiation, flexible grouping, and time management. The

goal is to align middle school math learning and instructional delivery to increase student success.

Middle School Math Teachers will receive four half day training sessions and 10 coaching sessions with

Sue Renehan of CREC between February and May. Training sessions will be a grade level collaboration

of district wide teachers. This model promotes the ongoing teacher support and development as

requested through teacher survey data 2015. Check the PD and Assessment Calendar for specific dates.

Well Managed Schools

● In last month's staff meeting, NBHS staff identified the positive and challenging changes they

have observed since implementing WMS. They identified what makes their students unique,

what they need assistance with and what the term ‘Hard Hittin’ New Britain means to them,

their students, and the community in an effort to assist our trainers in getting a better handle on

what the school needs to focus on at the February Well Managed Schools training. Key findings

will be shared then.

● Smalley, Northend, Smith, DiLoreto and Lincoln principals are asked to continue working on the

building specific WMS goals they set in January with Boys Town’s Courtney Dealy and let Ryan

Morgan know of needed data tracking support mechanisms. These goals should be included in

next year’s school improvement plans.

● Additional consultant/coaches trainings are being planned for March and April. Ryan will be

working with building leaders at Smalley, Northend, Smith, DiLoreto, and Lincoln to identify the

candidates who will be trained to work with the coaches previously trained in December.

Characteristics of a good coach include: Someone who believes all children can succeed and

learn behaviorally, is a high implementer of WMS strategies, is organized, self-motivated, has

credibility, can deliver feedback to/coach colleagues, has the availability to observe teachers 3-4

times a year, and can collect and interpret data through data sweeps.

Update from Boy’s Town Consultant Walkthroughs:

Here are some recent successes:

At one school, in October, about 18% of teachers met the Boys-Town-recommended rate of a 4:1 praise

to correction ratio. In January, 36% of teachers had a 4:1 ratio! In October, about 45% of teachers

praised students once a minute. By January 55% were praising students once a minute! This praise has

translated to 91% of classrooms having a 91% on-task or more. Another school has experienced a

significant increase in on-task rates as well. We recommend that 91% of students be on task. In

October, 61% of classrooms met that benchmark and in January, there was an increase to 90% of

classes!

● In October, one school had about 71% of classrooms meeting the recommended rate for

behavior compliance after being corrected. In January, that percentage had increased to 86% of

classrooms!

● In October, coaches noted that about 87% of teachers had good relationship-building

components with their students. In January: 100%!

● Some schools have so many teachers that are high implementers and believe all students can

succeed and learn, that there are many teachers waiting in the wings hoping to be trained to be

a WMS coach!

● In one school, teachers created a set of focus skills for their students that they felt would better

meet their needs!

● Some schools have seen a significant reduction in high-end, on-going non-compliant behavior.

This has translated to students being removed from classrooms less and in classroom more

often where learning can occur!

In Boys Town’s experiences, teachers usually have a good bank of low-level corrective tools. But for

students with more-persistent behaviors, oftentimes teachers don’t know more supportive forms of

correction to address that behavior. At one school, in October, teachers relied on lower forms of

correction 94% of the time. In January: only about 87%! Teachers turned to higher forms of

correction…Corrective Teaching use went from 0.79% to 8% of the time! Consequently, students

corrected their behavior about 88% of the time (up from 59%)!

One kindergarten classroom went from a praise to correction ratio of 1:1 to 4:1, went from not having

relationship-building components in place to building positive relationships with her students, and

students are more likely to be cooperative and are learning so much!

Some teachers and administrators have reported that there is a notable difference in the way their

school and/or classrooms feel: the culture has improved, a more positive attitude is present, students

are more likely to cooperate, and staff and students alike are less stressed.

Administrators are beginning to think of measurable goals to objectively see the impact of using these

strategies. Goals include referral data, data from tier 2 and tier 3 students’ behavior charts, measuring

teachers’ exhaustion, students’ internal motivation and self-management skills, and teachers’ use of

higher forms of praise to impact students’ learning.

Keep up the good work!

Revisions to the Intervention Log and Updating the RTI Procedures

A district RTI Team has been formed which consists of a cross-team of administrators and teachers from

elementary and middle schools. They began meeting in January with the goal of improving our RTI

practices, based on input and feedback from interventionists and teachers. The revisions to the RTI

process will be available by the end of the year to be implemented in September 2016 forward. All

feedback is welcome.

New Reports in PowerTeacher

A new area (link) is now available in PowerTeacher that will house reports specifically for teachers. The

area is titled ‘sqlReports4’ and can be found on the left side of your screen after sign-in. One report

housed in this area is titled ‘Contact Totals for a Teacher’ and can be accessed by:

● Click ‘sqlReports4’

● Click ‘Contact Log Reports’

● Click ‘Contact Totals for a Teacher’

● Click Submit

This report lists each student for whom a contact has been reported in PowerTeacher, and includes the

total number of contacts. The report also breaks down how many contacts were academic, attendance-

related, SEL, Good News and/or Conduct. This report can be exported as a PDF.

District Wide Reminders

1. Schools with Well Managed Training - We are asking all building principals to schedule 5-10

minutes as an agenda item at one staff meeting per month to give your school consultants time

to review Well Managed Schools. This may include data discussion or program updates. Well

Managed Schools is not just about posters in the classrooms. This monthly conversation will

reinforce the importance of the way we interact with our students and what the data is telling

us.

2. All interventionists (including Special Education Teachers and Reading Teachers)

who were trained in Leveled Literacy Intervention (LLI) in the Summer of 2014 and the Summer

of 2015 must be using the program for a minimum of one group of students that are currently

being serviced with a tiered intervention.

3. Retesting students on NWEA MAP Assessments

● If an individual assessment taken by a student results in a valid score as determined by NWEAs

system, the student should not be retested during the test window. Invalid test events can be

related to the standard error being too high or the student taking the test too quickly.

● There are very few reasons to have a student take an assessment more than once during a

testing window. One reason would be that the student was not given accommodations

documented on their IEP and needs to be retested with the appropriate accommodations in

place. In this limited situation, please contact Steve Bugnacki or John Taylor to facilitate

allowing the student to retest.

● Detailed information on test reliability and validity: Reliability and validity can be measured in

multiple ways, and they refer to both statistical properties of the assessment and the use of the

assessment. NWEA has been working with student assessments for decades and ensures that its

assessments meet and exceed all accepted standards for assessment quality.

NWEA analyses show that the test-retest reliability is above .80. The internal consistency

(reliability) is in the low to mid .90s. This is an indication of how well the test items agree with

one another over the course of the test. Validity describes how an assessment is aligned with its

intended purpose. The district ensures validity by advising that any individual assessment result

be used along with other information in making instructional support decisions for students.

Reflections on Executive Functioning and Intentional Play in our five elementary schools

Kindergarten Board of Education Visit

On January 28, 2016, acting Superintendent of Schools, Paul Salina, Board of Education President Sharon

Beloin-Saavedra, Board Member Merrill Gay, and Gaffney Principal Anita Fazio joined Principal Jane

Perez and Director of Teaching and Learning Nancy Sarra on a walk -through of Chamberlain’s

kindergarten classrooms. Students in these classrooms are part of the Executive Functioning/Purposeful

Play initiative started this year in five of our ten elementary schools. The visitors were able to observe

Message of the Day, Linear Calendar, Question of the Day and Purposeful Play. The students were

actively engaged in all aspects of their learning and their excitement was evident as they took on roles of

veterinarians, animal owners, animal groomers and pet store employees. Students were eager to help

their visiting “customers” find their perfect pet along with the corresponding accessories and grooming.

All the visitors were extremely impressed by the students’ knowledge and enthusiasm for their roles as

well as the teachers and administrators support of this new initiative. A huge thanks to Ms. Monfredo,

Ms. Ballard, Ms. Nolan, Mrs. Leupold and Ms. Perez for their warm reception during our visit.

Grade Level Transitions:

Kindergarten Transition Plan - The Transition to Kindergarten Workgroup has been working on their

plan for all incoming Kindergarteners. Maegan Adams, School Readiness Liaison, will share the work

group's progress at the next Administrator PD on February 25th.

5th Grade to 6th Grade Transition Plan - The 5th to 6th Grade Transition Committee Workgroup has

begun developing a plan for all incoming sixth graders. Spring visits to the middle schools will take place

in May. Additionally, 5th grade teachers will make course recommendations for their outgoing students.

Multiple data points, in conjunction with teacher recommendations, will be used to make decisions

regarding course placement at the middle school. Criteria for course recommendations will also be

provided. The timeline, activities and responsibilities will be presented to both the Middle School teams

and the Elementary School teams shortly.

8th Grade to 9th Grade Transition Plan Update - We are continuing to follow our 8th to 9th grade

transition timeline for 2015 - 2016. We are in the process of tweaking the documents, uploading scores,

and preparing for student placement. On February 17th, collaborative middle school teams, including

guidance counselors, will be trained in course offerings at the high school level and will spend the Staff

Development time completing placement recommendations for their 8th grade students. The timeline,

activities, and responsibilities will be reviewed and discussed with the administrative teams from the

Middle Schools and the High School at the next Administrator PD on February 25th.

News from the Fine Arts Department…

Were you a music student? Have an old instrument in your home? Donate it to the New Britain Music

Department! We are always looking for all string and band instruments for our students. Want more

information? Email Leona Clerkin at clerkin@csdnb.org to learn more about how your used instrument

can benefit a worthy student.

Rehearsals for the spring musical, Legally Blond, are underway. Legally Blond is running March 18 & 19

at 7pm and March 19 at 2pm. If you are interested in supporting the NBHS Music Department through

an ad, please follow the directions on the form (see PDF). You may send the form to either myself at

HALS Academy or Jason Ferrandino &/or Brian Germain at New Britain High School Music Department.

Thank you, in advance, for your support.

Connecticut Arts Day, Wednesday, March 2, 2016 at the State Capitol. Local and national speakers,

attend workshops, performances, be a part of interactive experiences and to network with others from

the Arts community. Sponsored by the Department of Economic and Community Development and the

Office of the Arts. “Moving the Arts Needle from Nice to Necessary!”

NEASC

The NBHS NEASC accreditation visit is a month away. During the four-day process, central office staff,

building and sending school administrators, teachers, support services, students and parents will take

part in panel discussions with the visiting committee. Each member of the visiting committee will

shadow a student, including going to lunch in the cafe with them. Throughout the four days, the visiting

committee will be examining student work and evidence provided by the staff to support the self study.

The first day of the visit is Sunday, March 6th. The day will include a panel presentation by staff and

students to highlight sections of the self study, meetings with the Board of Education and parents, one-

on-one interviews with 32 teachers, and a welcoming reception with refreshments provided by the

NBHS culinary students.

SSP

Submissions and Evaluations so far this year.

Submissions: 1,861 submissions by students in grades 6-8 and 4,981 submissions by students in 2016-

2019 Cohorts

Evaluations: 1,259 evaluations completed for grades 6-8 and 4,175 evaluations completed for Cohorts

2016-2019

MS Due dates: Requirement 2 for grade 6-8 was due on January 29th, however, due to the NWEA

window closing on Feb. 12th, some students might not have been ready to complete their goal setting.

Please keep in mind that these are soft due dates and if the timeline needs to be adjusted, the Building

Based SSP team at your school can make adjustments.

NBHS Due dates:

DEPARTMENT CLAIM WINDOW

Evaluation

Deadline

SOCIAL STUDIES

Claim 1 Literacy - Read Critically

FEBRUARY March 18th Students will read closely and critically to comprehend a

range of increasingly complex literary and informational

texts.

ENGLISH/ELD/

WORLD

LANGUAGE/

Claim 2 Literacy - Communicating effectively MARCH April 29th

Students communicate effectively by employing writing,

FINE ARTS speaking, and listening skills for a variety of audiences and

purposes.

February English Language Development & World Languages

Department Update

2016-2017

REMINDER: It is the responsibility of the teacher to complete an extended-duty form for

training sessions. Extended-duty forms must be signed by the school administrator and

submitted to ELD Department no later than two weeks prior to training session. It is also

the teacher's responsibility to contact Kelly Services for substitute coverage upon

training notification.

Spanish Language Development Training & Coaching for DiLoreto

February 22nd Coaching Location: DiLoreto Time:8:00-3:00 pm

February 23rd Training/Co-planning Location: BOE 5th Floor Time: 8:00-3:00 pm

February 24th Coaching Location: DiLoreto Time:8:00-3:00 pm

February 25th Coaching Location: DiLoreto Time:8:00-3:00 pm

*Teachers notified by Mrs. Cassada via email on 1-19-16

English Language Enhancement Training & Coaching for Slade ELA Teachers

February 22nd ELE Training Location: Slade Time: 8:00-3:00 pm

February 23rd ELE Coaching Location: Slade Time: 8:00-3:00 pm

*School administration notified by Mrs. Cassada via email on 1-19-16

English Language Enhancement Training & Coaching for Pulaski ELA Teachers

February 24th ELE Training Location: Pulaski Time: 8:00-3:00 pm

February 25th ELE Coaching Location: Pulaski Time: 8:00-3:00 pm

February 29th ELE Coaching Location: Pulaski Time: 8:00-3:00 pm

*School administration notified by Mrs. Cassada via email on 1-19-16

English Language Enhancement Coaching for Slade and Pulaski

February 26th ELE Coaching Location: Slade & Pulaski Time: AM Pulaski

PM Slade

*Please note, in case of school cancelation, February 26th will be used as a makeup date for any

of the ELE Training or Coaching session at either site.

*School administration notified by Mrs. Cassada via email on 1-19-16

English Language Enhancement Coaching Development Practicum for Slade

February 29th ELE Coach Practicum Location: Slade Time: 800-3:00 pm

*School administration notified by Mrs. Cassada via email on 1-19-15

Districtwide English Language Development Teacher Coaching

February 29th ELD Coaching Location: Schools Time: 8:00-3:00 pm

*Schedules emailed out by ELD Coaches on 1-20-16

English Language Enhancement Coaching Development Practicum for Pulaski

March 1st ELE Coach Practicum Location: Pulaski Time: 8:00-3:00 pm

*School administration notified by Mrs. Cassada via email on 1-19-16

LAS Links English Language Proficiency Assessment Testing Administration will begin on Wednesday, January 27th through Friday, March 4th,

2016

*Refer to memos emailed to ELD teachers by Mrs. Cassada on 1-19-16

Instructions for Accessing EL Information in Power Teacher

Any teacher can look at any class section and see every student on a class list along with their

EL state code and its descriptors, EL case manager, their most recent LAS Links overall scale

score and overall score by reading, writing, listening and speaking and link to a webpage for

appropriate support level strategies. This means a teacher no longer has to request this

information from the ELD Department. They can simply log into Power Teacher,click a class

backpack and then click on the clipboard and then click on “ELL Support Roster.”

This information is available to ANY teacher who has a list of students! Click on ELL or LAS

Support and you will be able to filter LAS Links data and create a spreadsheet.

*All teachers are required to identify their EL students who are enrolled within their class or

courses.