Wolverine Weekly Page 1 September 8, 2015

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1 Leading the Pack

1 Calendar of Events

2 Celebrations and Kudos

3 Prof. Learning Snippet

September 2015

S M T W T F S

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Week-at-a-Glance

This Week

First Week of School

Wolverine Time Freeze (all week)

Monday, 9/7

Labor Day Holiday

Tuesday, 9/8

Silver Day (1,3,5,7)

Wednesday, 9/9

Blue Day (2,3,4,6)

Thursday, 9/10

Silver Day (1,3,5,7)

Friday, 9/11

Blue Day (2,3,4,6)

First Home Football Game vs. Edison (7pm, Dietze Stadium)

Upcoming Events

Monday, September 14th—First Day of Late Buses for 2014-2015

Thursday, September 17th—College Information Night and Grades 10-12 Back to School Night (no late buses on this day)

Thursday, September 24th—Fall Academic Awards Ceremony (7pm, Springbank Auditorium)

Qtr 1 Religious Events

September 14-15th—Rosh Hashanah Observance

September 22-23th—Yom Kippur and Eid-al-Adda Observance

My thanks to each and every faculty member for investing in their professional learning during our work week last week. In a year with several changes (new gradebook software, later school start times, etc.), what I most admire is that you have openly embraced what is new and different this year.

For me, a new year is an opportunity to think strategically about where we are and where we are going. Our graduation rate is among the highest in school history. We outperform several FCPS schools and the state averages on end-of-course standardized tests. Last week, we celebrated that our math scores increased 10 percent in one year, regaining us full state accreditation. We are also increasing access to rigorous coursework for all students. We offer world class electives, academy courses, clubs and athletic programs. Finally, we have outstanding teachers and school leaders and we enjoy support from parents and an amazing community. In short, there are many reasons to be proud of our school at present.

This is not to say that we are without challenges. We have several areas in which we must improve performance on state end-of-course tests. We see English Language Learner (ELL), special needs, and low income student populations all growing. Our campus and buildings continue to be overcrowded. Yet I also know we will meet our current obstacles head on. We will ensure that every Wolverine, regardless of background, receives a best-quality education. By collaborating together, we will see all students master our curriculum at a high level and exit future-ready and prepared for higher learning and/or opportunities in the world of work.

So, let us carry the professional learning and positive energy gained last week as our students join us this week. Remember that we only get one chance to make a first impression and that relationships are the most important part of engaging instruction’s three-legged stool (rigor, relevance, and relationships). From the greetings we deliver by standing at our doors each period to the time we spend getting to know our students in class, we must not underestimate that the culture we build and the values we teach are as important as the content we teach.

I shared at our first faculty meeting that by being the best versions of ourselves every day, we will extend our current successes, embrace our current challenges, and achieve our mission of being world’s greatest high school. This faculty is made up of the best in all subject areas and fields. I can’t wait to see what we will accomplish together this year.

Best to you this week and always,

Wolverine

Wolverine Weekly Page 2 September 8, 2015

Staff Celebrations

9/1 Becky Chill Social Studies Department 9/2 Nancy Mantelli West Potomac Academy 9/7 Elizabeth Christensen CTE Department 9/8 Aaron Helmick Administrative Team 9/9 Kathy Bowdring Administrative Team 9/9 Iris Cox SPED Department 9/9 Stephen Rezendes Science Department

Kudos to Chris Beal, Zina Facemire, Sal Olivo, and Michelle Lyttle, among others for aiding the FCPS Social Studes In-Service last Wednesday.

Kudos to the many WPHS educators whose expertise was tapped to present at the FCPS county-wide in-service day. Presenters from WPHS included: Laura Pendleton & Dana

Hubbard (Human Anatomy) Yamalie Colon (Spanish) &

Dan Fitzgerald (French) Maren Hoover & Rob Kerr

(Social Studies) Kamy Bodaghi, Kati Ellsberry,

& Courtney Fyfe (English and Special Education)

Tracy Sawyers & Amy Galitzer (Math)

Kudos to Leslie Dorsey, Monique Murray, and our school counselors for ensuring all new students were registered. The school population starts at 2,513!

Kudos to Britney Corbett and her honors and AP math colleagues for considering retake policy opportunities last week!

Kudos to all involved in the 2015 Wolverine Welcome. Special thanks goes to Kevin McMahon and our Student Services team. Thank you also to our wonderful administrative assistants for ensuring schedule distribution and forms collection went smoothly. Thank you to security for selling parking passes. Thank you to the Health and PE Department for selling gym uniforms. Thank you to the Wolverine Athletic Booster Club for sponsoring a pep rally after the orientation. We also must recognize Nicole Borghard and Jana DeCoster for organizing student leaders who helped spearhead the whole day. A tremendous event and a great way to start the year! Kudos and thank you to our New Teacher Induction team of Drew Hamlin, Michelle Lyttle, Mary Mathewson, and Jessica Landon for planning an outstanding site-based day of the Great Beginnings program. They then helped introduce new colleagues to the faculty last Monday.

We will impact the lives of over 2,500 students this year. Our responsibility is great and our work is most serious. It is also incredibly fun. Don’t forget to enjoy yourself to the fullest as we get the 2015-2016 school year going. It is a great time to be a Wolverine!

Wolverine

Wolverine Weekly Page 3 September 8, 2015

This is the time of year when a number of questions commonly arise about class size. It is true that our master schedule is often tightest at the onset of the year. Director of Student Services Kevin McMahon and his team are allowing limited schedule changes, even from honors and AP courses, for a brief period of time at the beginning of this school year to help protect class sizes around the building. We know there are certainly examples of extremes in our school this year. Still, we are proud that West Potomac classes—on whole—sit well below the FCPS high school class size average of 31.5 students per class (this is actually the ratio used to allocate our teachers). Our class size is lower than other high schools because the administration uses the needs-based staffing allocated to our school (tied to our free and reduce priced meal demographics) and the extra high school staffing that results from many students taking academy classes to keep class size as low as possible. It is important to recognize these facts as the FCPS Budget Task Force must consider options like raising class size overall (again), eliminating or reducing needs-based staffing, and/or deducting base-school staffing to help close the budget gap that may exist headed into FY2017. Read more on the budget outlook at: http://www.fcps.edu/news/fy2017/taskforce/index.shtml. For a blunt, but interesting summary of current thinking on class size, see the below.

Does class size really matter? By Richard Bruford, August 28, 2015 http://connectedprincipals.com/archives/11811

Class size is frequently a topic for discussion. Even when we end up in a school that has lower class size averages compared to other schools, the class size issue does not always appear to go away; we perhaps do not recognize it when conditions are good. So, why is there such a debate over class size?

Firstly, student numbers in classes are perceived to be directly proportional to teacher workload. Secondly, it is claimed that when class sizes are too big teachers cannot give the same individual attention and feedback to students than if there were smaller classes. Subsequently, there is the call for smaller class sizes because this would improve teaching and learning. Logically speaking, this makes sense but if class sizes were lowered would there be a difference in student learning and achievement outcomes? Unfortunately, research suggests this is not necessarily so.

John Hattie undertook a meta-analysis of factors that influence student achievement. The aim of the study was to analyze as much research as possible to rank the practices that have the biggest effect on student achievement. While his work has been criticized in some corners, we can still draw a lot from it and it is a great starting point for reflecting on what we need to do in our schools to improve student learning. Hattie argues class size does not have much impact on student achievement. Of all the interventions that we could put in place to positively influence student achievement, class size had the least impact when compared to other strategies. This is not what teachers expect or wanted to hear. Unfortunately, policymakers also misinterpreted Hattie’s research to justify increases in class size or no reduction.

If all schools were to reduce class sizes tomorrow, while pleasing some teachers in terms of their perceived workload, it could possibly have little impact on student learning for the following reasons:

1. If professional practice is poor, the number of students in a room may not matter too much, as teachers struggle and statistically get mediocre outcomes with 15 students just as much as working with 20. Therefore, a student would be better off having a good teacher in a large class than a poor teacher in a small class.

2. When class sizes are lower, some teachers do not modify instruction accordingly. Many of the methods used with large class sizes are not always effective with smaller groups.

3. When it comes to individual feedback, sure, smaller class sizes help the teacher spend more time with each individual. This, however, relies on the assumption that with small class sizes, the teacher will give more time to feedback. This hasn’t always happened and we do not know if feedback is actually going to be effective.

Taking a closer examination of the contact hours teachers have with their classes was found to be much more significant in improving student learning. This may actually be a better way to go than reducing class size. If teachers have less contact time / less classes then they can spend more time with collaborative work and professional learning that improves classroom practice. Obviously, this is difficult to do also, owing to the budgets given to schools for staffing. Yet in essence, if class sizes do not get reduced, there are plenty of ways we can improve, as teachers and schools, to work with the numbers. This post does not mean that class size is not important but without effective teaching it does not make much difference other than to personal workload in terms of marking and, possibly, teacher classroom management. Yes, most teachers do work very hard, administrators work hard too, but we always must ask ourselves the question, as reflective educators, are we working as smart as we work hard?