ELLINGTON PUBLIC SCHOOLS DISTRICT INSTRUCTIONAL PLAN OCTOBER 2010 1.0 Status of Initiatives Data from Kindergarten Inventory- Baseline administration Skill assessed Performance Language Arts Identify upper and lower case letters Average number of known letters = 39 Range = 1 - 52 Name sound for given letter Average number of known sounds = 10 (21 letters used) Range = 0 - 21 Mathematics Number of students who demonstrated this skill in % of students September Rote count to 20 124/200 62.0% Count to 10 (1:1 match) 169/200 84.5% Count backwards (10 to 1) 139/200 69.5% Identify numbers 0 - 10 134/200 67.0% Identify shapes (circle, square, 161/200 80.5% triangle, rectangle) Fall Writing Prompt Scores Grade Total # of students % of students % of students % of students Below Score of 6 Proficient at or above Goal 3 212 11% 39% 49% 4 217 10% 47% 43% 5 205 25% 46% 26% 6 232 18% 51% 30% Baseline data- Fall Reading Assessments Grade Percentage of Students Achieving Benchmark Independent Reading Levels Basic or Below Proficient Goal Advanced 1 15 29 38 17 2 24 13 36 26 3 18 14 43 28 4 29 16 29 25 5 37 17 20 25 6 39 12 26 22 Karen Bailey, a consultant from the Connecticut Academy for Mathematics and Science, met with teachers in grades 1-4 to discuss updating the science curriculum to include more inquiry and more common assessments across the district. She will also offer sessions on inquiry-based instruction in science for teachers who have not yet had this training. Dr. McGurk, Mrs. Mancuso, and Mrs. Kline met with elementary teachers in grades K-6 in October. Grade level meeting topics included report card expectations, assessment protocols, benchmarks for oral fluency, and curriculum updates related to Connecticut’s adoption of the Common Core State Standards. Data teams at Crystal Lake School have completed the following thus far this year: The kindergarten data team is working on its first data team cycle, the percentage of kindergarten students scoring at proficiency or higher in letter identification will increase from 63% to 86% by the end of November as measured by kindergarten inventory administered on November 25. The grade 1 data team is working on its first data team cycle. Their SMART Goal is 76% of first grade students will master 90-100% of the pre-primer words by December 10th as measured by a teacher created assessment. The grade 2 data team is working on its first data team cycle. Their SMART Goal is the percentage of students scoring at proficiency or higher in identifying the value of a digit in a two digit number will increase from 26% to 55% as measured by the Trailblazers Unit 3 assessment. The grade 3 data team has completed its first data team cycle. Their SMART Goal was, the percentage of third grade students scoring at proficient or higher in solving a make a table word problem will increase from 70% to 90% as measured by a problem-solving post-test. The team exceeded their goal with 91% of students proficient or higher on the post assessment. The grade 4 data team has completed its first data team cycle. Their SMART Goal was, Fourth grade students scoring at proficiency or higher in Reading Comprehension: Making Connections will increase from 11% to 70% by the end of the unit, as measured by a teacher created assessment administered on October 22, 2010. The team exceeded their goal with 82% of students proficient or higher on the post assessment. On October 4, the Crystal Lake School PTO’s Reading at Home program was kicked- off with Mr. Larkin visiting each classroom to explain the program and conduct a read aloud. This year the PTO program has a space theme, Blast into Reading! Mr. Larkin read a spaced-theme book to each class. On October 8, Crystal Lake School celebrated Fire Prevention Week with representatives from the Crystal Lake Fire Department. On October 14, Crystal Lake School grade four students initiated a year-long community service project by making their first visit to Evergreen Nursing Home in Stafford. Grade four teachers Christine Marshall and Nancy Connelly coordinate this each year. At the Crystal Lake School October PTO meeting, Nancy Connelly did a SMART Board presentation demonstrating the many ways in which the SMART Board is used throughout the day. Also at this meeting, Mr. Larkin reported on the school’s 2010-2011 Instructional Plan. On October 21 Crystal Lake School held its annual Barnes and Noble Book Fair in Manchester. Erin McGurk, Louise Kelly, Laurie Brookes, Lisa Garofalo and Michael Larkin all served as guest readers for patrons and the Crystal Lake School families in attendance. Penny DeFrino also attended the book fair. On October 25, the first Crystal Lake School Town Meeting Assembly was held. Town Meeting assemblies are held every other month to celebrate the learning taking place in our classrooms each day. This month grade three students shared poems with the school. We also distributed the weekly CARES awards with fourth grade helpers, Michael Shuman, Grace Hurlburt, Alex Judkins, Trevor Johnson and Olivia Guard reminding the school what each letter in our CARES acronym stands for: Cooperation, Advocacy, Respect, Empathy and Self-Control. On October 26, the district held its first Open Choice Meet and Greet at CREC in Hartford. Two Crystal Lake School families were in attendance at the Meet and Greet. Staff members Louise Kelly, Martha Terrion and Celinda Weber all attended the Meet and Greet and welcomed the families. The first annual Crystal Lake School PTO Harvest Party was celebrated on Friday evening, October 29th. Parent volunteers Cindy Johnson, Darcy Murphy, Mary Beth Lipman, Beth Ludwig, Diane Dobrowolski, Guiliana Mudano, Colette Aldrich, Michelle Terry, Kendra Roy, Kerrie Alberts, Jeanne Zulick-Ferruolo and Candy Williams all helped organize the Harvest Party which hosted over 150 children and their families. Center Teachers met with Principal Trudie Luck Roberts for Goal Setting Conferences, creating individual and team SMART goals aligned with the district and school goals for Professional Growth Options for this school year. A school-wide goal in reading achievement will complement the full implementation of Readers Workshop throughout the school. Each grade level also began planning for the first of three data cycles using the Data Driven Decision Making protocol. The School Instructional Plan was reviewed and revised collaboratively at the faculty meeting. Firefighter Brian Blotniski presented the Fire Prevention Assembly during Fire Prevention Week where children were able to review home safety procedures and observe the firefighters wearing full equipment for familiarity and assurance. A dozen families are gathering for the first three of seven weekly Parenting with Love & Logic Evenings with Principal Trudie Luck Roberts. Conversations concerning solving typical family problems and power struggles were facilitated in the relaxed setting of the media center. Babysitting was arranged and organized by P.T.O. parent Lori Caron. A very successful P.T.O. Book Fair was held in October at Center School. Melissa Abruzzese organized over 30 volunteers to support the Scholastic Book Fair. The community was further involved when the Dads & Donuts sale brought fathers in before school to purchase books with their youngsters. Many P.T.O. Room Parents under the direction of P.T.O. Vice President Lori Caron helped with Center School’s Harvest Parade and Party on October 29th. Families and community members admired the costume display as the Pre-K through 4th grade students paraded around Arbor Park. A Pasta Supper was hosted by the P.T.O. on October 2nd. Natalie Lapointe, Brenda Samson and Tracy Thibert organized a delicious pasta and meatball meal for over 250 parents and their children. Many local businesses and community members donated food and items for the dinner. The Reading for Fun store opened in October, supporting student reading at home. Center Students will be able to attend the ‘store’ as a reward for logging hours of at-home reading time. P.T.O. parent Toni Bannock organizes this monthly event. The P.T.O. Wrapping Paper Fundraiser was highly successful, thanks to the efforts of Marie Einsiedel and Tracy Thibert. The Center School Recess Mileage Club was begun in October with Cathryn Couzens setting up parent volunteers on the playground to help children track their laps and building physical fitness and stamina. As part of the Windermere Instructional Plan, a list of grade 1 and 2 students who are substantially below grade level expectations in reading and/or mathematics has been created. A list of grade 3 students who are either proficient, basic, or below basic in reading and/or mathematics has also been completed. An instructional need for each student who was identified as scoring proficient, basic, or below basic in reading and/or mathematics was determined and resource allocated for that specific instructional need. Collaborative professional growth objectives have all been submitted and finalized. The staff wrote SMART goals that align with district goals in reading and mathematics. The essential area of each collaborative goal is as follows: kindergarten – Implementation of the Reading Workshop model; first grade – Implementation of Pre/Post Assessments in Mathematics; second grade – Flexible Grouping with Pre/Post Assessments in Mathematics; third grade – Differentiated Instruction in the area of Mathematics; fourth grade – Flexible Grouping with Pre/Post Assessments in Mathematics ; fifth grade – Math achievement on Strand 25 of the CMT and Reading Achievement; and sixth grade – Improved Vocabulary through the use of Word Study Lessons. Each elementary grade level and intermediate teams are continuing to utilize weekly collaborative meeting time to plan the actions necessary to complete the collaborative professional growth objective.