Learning Cultures Survey

Programming Clarification

The development of the program is a tricky and multi-variable process. I've been doing NYC DOE school schedules since 1997.  My programming experience runs the gamut from an alternative transfer high school with kids whose credit needs spanned the map to the esoteric eccentricities of an elite performing arts school that had professional arts organizations like Alvin Ailey providing dance instruction for 3 hours a day to students.

Every school has their own unique needs and wants.  Ultimately, we are all striving to do the same thing which is provide the best structure for our kids to be safe, to thrive, and to learn.

Kelly and I have been avidly negotiating with the UFT consultation committee (Damon, Jen S, Adrienne, Jessica S, and Pamela).  They presented us with a hard-worked proposal from the staff.  The proposal asked for 60 min periods for all periods.  This program also asked for 4 sections each meeting 4 times per week with the remaining periods being left for push in.

PROPOSED SCHEDULE from Consultation Committee

Unfortunately, there were 2 dilemmas inherent in this proposal.

• The math of student need didn't match up with teacher request to teach 4 sections only 4 times per week.  In this program, there are 34 periods (7 periods per day * 5 days per week minus the early release day).  Under the proposal, each student would have
  
  Middle School        
  - 16 Core Courses Periods (Math/Sci/Reading/Writing)
  - 8 Breadth Course Periods (3 Carrerra + 2 Art + 3 Gym)
  - 5 Lunch Periods
  TOTAL = 29  (we need to make it to 34)
  
  High School        
  - 20 Core Courses Periods (Math/Sci/SocStud/English/Language)
  - 5 Breadth Course Periods (2 Carrerra + 3 Gym)
  - 5 Lunch Periods
  TOTAL = 30  (we need to make it to 34), thus the "????" periods in the above program
  

• Student Safety during the hour-long lunch period.  The passing time around lunch posed a safety issue for students.  Currently, middle school students have 50 minutes in the cafeteria.  Already this time is too long for students.  Now, we're proposing to buffer this time by 5 minutes at the beginning and end of the lunch periods.  We've been discussing many ideas with the consultation committee, but none of the ideas can guarantee personnel to staff the halls and cafeteria and ensure student safety.
  
  With these two unresolved issues, this proposal is not viable.

As a result, we presented you with the 1.5 period block program.  This program attempts to solve both of the problems listed above.

Program Option A

Pamela shared the results of your preliminary vote on this program which led us to develop contract-aligned program.

Program Option B

If the staff objects to Program Option A, then we will have no option but to move forward and implement Program Option B.  Option B is not an ideal program, but it is contractual.  

With respect to the original proposal, the consultation committee did recognize the need to give up the push in periods to make their program viable, but as of yet, we have not cracked the safety problem and supervision for students in the halls during lunch.  Ergo, that Option is still not viable.

We need to move forward.  Either we agree to vote in Option A by Friday May 3rd, or we will default to Option B on Friday May 3rd.  Friday May 3rd is the deadline for SBOs and submission of session times. 

To help you weigh the options more clearly, I've put together some pretty charts for you

Comparison of Teaching & Non-Teaching Time (total minutes per week)

Comparison of Class Minutes by Format

Projected Learning Cultures Mandates and Breakdown for Program Options

I hope that you are willing to consider Option A.  It is viable, it serves the best interests of kids, and it is fair for teachers.   If you disagree (or agree), please let us know by taking this brief survey here.  It is anonymous and only for purposes of understanding staff attitudes, desires, and needs.  Kelly and I will be out of the building part of the day Monday (Girl Inc Event) and Tuesday (Network Instructional Rounds visit to UA Green Careers).  Our next meeting with the committee will be on Wednesday.  Please do continue to share with them your thoughts and opinions so that they may bring your concerns and questions to our meeting on Wednesday.

Alphabet Post Part II: High School DRPs

The Results of the DRPs for the High School are in!To see the details and student level results, click on this link:  DRP High School Analysis March 2013

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Here are some useful graphics to contextualize the DRP levels

DRP Scale of Text Difficulty

Average DRP Level of High School Regents Exams

• By copying and pasting passages from the January 2013 Regents Exams, I was able to get estimated DRP levles using this link "Get the DRP Level" 
  The General Directions on the Front Page    - of All the Regents Exams = 64
  
  9th Grade (a P90 range of 62-69) - UAI Average 9th Grade DRP Level = 56
      - Living Environment Regent Exam = 69
      - Integrated Algebra I Regent Exam = 63
  
  10th Grade (a P90 range of 64-72) - UAI Average 10th Grade DRP Level = 65
      - Global History Regent Exam = 70
      - Chemistry Regent Exam = 68
      - Geometry Regent Exam = 53
  
  11th Grade (a P90 range of 67-72) - UAI Average 11th Grade DRP Level = 56
      - US History Regent Exam = 67
      - Algebra 2/Trignometry Regent Exam = 64
      - English Language Arts Regent Exam =  57
      - Physics Regent Exam = 70  

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So, what does all this mean?

When grading major assessments like Regents Exams, how many times have you had questions go through your head like "I know they know how to do this! How did they get that wrong?" or "We did this a million times in class, how could they miss that one?" or "Why didn't they just read the problem?"

If you've had these questions pass through your thinking, then hopefully these DRP scores shed light on some of these hows and whys.  With our kids reading at average levels that are below the demands of most of the Regents exams, reading instruction must happen hand-in-hand with content instruction.  Regardless of the content, every student needs to learn how to read and use genres specific to your discipline (e.g. language dictionaries, maps, charts and data tables, textbooks, primary documents, essays, novels, exam prep books, etc.).  Therefore, with reading levels like the ones presenting in our girls, we all have to have a hand in bringing our girls to grade level reading capacity.

Unison Reading is the tool we use to build this literacy in our content literacy in our high school classes.   Coupled with standards-based conferencing, we are seeing dramatic growth in our students - particularly in our 9th and 10th graders.  

We are still struggling with the girls who struggle the most, those in the lowest third.  Currently, Nicia & Lauren are working with the ISS teachers to develop their capacity in Unison Reading and Learning Conferences.  In particular, they are working with the team to build in strategies for reading intervention in these formats.

In addition, our PD committee is continuing to focus their PD work around Unison and targeting specific indicators to increase student engagement and intentionality.  On top of their work, we are having our 2nd Learning Cultures Booster day on Monday, March 11th and another visit with Cynthia on Tuesday March 19th.  

We have transitioned to being a Learning Cultures school, and the large majority of you are well along in the process of transforming from traditional to Learning Cultures teachers.  There is still much to learn, and these professional development experiences are excellent opportunities to extend your own understanding of the practice and theory underlying the formats.

If you're a host teacher for tomorrow's boost, the network of Urban Assembly Learning Cultures coaches will be working directly with you to focus on key rubric indicators in Unison Reading and Learning Conferences to maximize growth in these formats.  If you're listed as an observer, please print out this form to help you structure and learn from your observations.  Here's tomorrow's schedule of learning activities:

Alphabet Post part 1: SLCs - Student Led Conferences Next Week

SLCs - Student Led Conferences

Our Final round of Student Led Conferences are here

Please complete the appointment sheet by Monday, March 11th.  Because this is our last round, it's important to touch on the following points

• DRP Scores - for grades 9-11
  The link above will take you to the updated February DRP scores.  In order to be reading on grade level, students need to have the following range of DRP P90 scores:  9th Grade Range - 62-69;  10th Grade Rage - 64-72;  11th Grade Range 67-72.  Students reading in the 57-67 range are reading at the middle school level.  Students reading below 57 are reading at the elementary school level.
  
  Take a moment to look at the history of P90 scores for each of your advisees.  (please come see me for help if you need it).  If there are repeated occurrences of scores near each other (e.g. they've scored 43, 45, 44 in the last three DRP administrations), then the argument of "I don't take that test seriously" cannot hold.  Rather, this is a very serious delay in reading.  Please review the DRP scores with families, and for those students reading below grade level, establish reading goals with both parent and student for independent reading at home, together.  Reading independently and in quantity is the best, fastest way to build fluency and develop reading levels.
  
• Promotion in Doubt - for all grades
  We mailed all letters home and also gave them to students.  Please double check with families that parents received and signed the Promotion in Doubt letters and understand the annualization policy.  If your advisee is PID, you'll receive annualization letters to distribute and have signed.  For those students who are PID, it is especially important to get parents in for the SLC.
  
  In particular for seniors, if they are currently failing a course, they are not on track for graduation and are immediately suspended from Senior Activities for the 2nd Marking Period.  In addition, continuing to fail will result in not graduating and participating in ceremonies in June.
  
• Reflection on Work
  Students need to root their reflections in their work.  Make sure when students are reflecting on their progress, that they are referencing their work and pointing to aspects of work as evidence of their claims in their reflections.
  
  Prompt students to articulate the learning standards exemplified by the work.  For example, this work shows how I can do x, which is this learning standard y.  Also, Students should also be able to situate the work.  For example, they should explain what came before and after the piece they chose and how this piece fit into the unit arc.  Working with students to be able to reflect and articulate in this manner is the best and strongest preparation for our SLC.  This type of reflection should be echoed through the SLCs into your conferences and discussions in Unison.
  
• Goals for The Semester - Articulated Steps with Completion Dates
  Goals set should be a balance of academic and personal behavioral goals.  Personal goals are behavioral or character based.  Here are some examples
  - "I will come to school everyday on time" is a personal behavioral goal.
  - "I will ask questions or breach each time I don't understand something" is academic behavior -
      it's active participation in academic discourse.
  - "I will turn my work in on time" is a personal behavior.
  - "I will turn in my after having edited and checked for errors to make sure my work is the
      highest quality and it will be completed on time" is an academic goal.
  - "I will study for quizzes and major assessments" - can be both personal and academic. If you
      help students articulate what "study" means to being for example "I will set aside x amount of
      time before major assessments to review my notes/quiz myself/do practice problems and check
      my work" it becomes more of an academic behavior.
  
  The goals also need to have times associated with them.  Here's some examples
  - By x date, after following through on the personal/academic goals above, I should have improved my performance by y amount.
  - By X date, I should be getting Y types of grades on my major learning target assessments

These are just some examples to help you drive up the rigor and quality of student conferences.  I welcome you to reach out to your colleagues who do these everyday for more ideas.  Check out their conference binders and stop in to see some a conference - SLC or regular classroom conference.  Make the time to learn from one another.  You are each other's biggest resource!

Please reach out to me with any question you have regarding SLCs. 

Next Post:  Alphabet Post Part II - DRPs

Video

Mike from Kiri Soares on Vimeo.

Learning Cultures Rubrics

This is the post to which you should refer when looking for the rubrics during classroom visits and peer inter-visitation.

Unison Reading -
The Lesson -
The Learning Conference - 
The Classroom Environment - 
Independent Work Time -
Table Share

Happy New Year

Welcome Back from the Winter Break and a Very Warm and Welcome Happy New Year!

Hopefully, you all got a chance to relax and recharge.  To get us back into the groove and rhythms of our days, here are some announcements and reminders

• Winter DRP Administration in Humanities Classes this week
  Nicia will have already shared with the High School humanities teachers the details on how and when to administer the Winter DRP.  We use the DRP (Degrees of Reading Power) to chart reading growth.  During the DRP meetings in Advisory, a lot of teachers reported that students did not take this seriously at the beginning of the year.  Please stress to them now that these measures are used to help them succeed.  Trying their hardest and approaching the exam with seriousness and intent is what needs to happen so that we can get data to best help them.  Please announce in advisory and reiterate in your classes that the DRPs are important exams to help us understand what each of our girls need.
  
• PD this Month 
  During PD Tuesdays this month, we will be reviewing the data on the CBMs (Curriculum Based Measures) and discussing the use of this data in your classes and how to target and structure intervention centers.  To get a head start, go ahead and take a look at the data already on the site for our girls in the lowest third.  We will train you on how to interpret this information, but it will be much easier for you to follow along if you first experiment on your own with the data and what you see.  You'll also be able to start forming questions about what you see to make the session that much more informative and useful for you.  Please visit www.easycbm.com and log in using ksoares with a password of 283adams.
  
• January Regents List
  Nicia and I are finalizing the Regents list.  Students who have previously failed a required regent (Algebra I, Living Environment, English, Global, or US History) will automatically be signed up to re-take the exam.  Students who have previously passed, but have not yet earned the college ready marks of 80 for the Integrated Algebra and 75 for the English, will be signed up to retake the exam.  Please touch base with Nicia with your final list for all other exams not mentioned above.
  
• Regents Review After School Session
  Once we finalize the Regents List, we'll be able to finalize the After School Regents Prep schedule.  So far, the following people have responded with interest for the per session posting:
   - US History:  Brodie & Doris
   - Global:  Colleen, Darby, and Natasha
   - English:  Heather
   - Math:  Mike, Noam, and Hassan
   - Living Environment:  Damon
  Students will recieve test prep schedules on Friday
  
  
• Final Exams, Regents Week, and End of Term SLCs
  Final Exams will be on the 17th & 18th.  Nicia and I are still finalizing the schedule, and should have it out to folks by the end of the week.  Additionally, Nicia is working on the Regents Proctoring schedule and we'll review that with everyone during Tuesday's PD.   As you know, grading is off-site from here on out.  For this month, only the English and Algebra I exams are being graded off-site during the day.  All other exams are being graded through per session.

Welcome back everyone!

-k