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| Justin Howard, a digital arts teacher at Noel Community Arts School, helps students channel their creativity. |
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Equity and Empowerment: The School as the Unit of Change
Dear Educators,
I fully realize a few pages cannot capture everything about our goal of empowering schools nor clarify every question about the changing role of the district, instructional superintendents and networks. My hope is to add insight into the vision regarding the roles of school leaders, instructional superintendents and the district, as well as explain the why and provide more clarity than we have had before.
The next step is an ask for all leaders to host discussions with their teams. The goal is to ensure both our central support teams and our school-based teams have an understanding of this vision and can begin discussing implications for their work.
To assist in this, we have provided links to the document and two optional discussion protocols:
Please share reflections on implications and questions related to next steps with the senior member of your team so that, together, we can work on making progress in reaching this vision. I recognize there will still be unknowns that need to be surfaced and discussed as we focus on becoming a district in which every child succeeds.
Best,
Tom
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Whole Child Study Survey Data Now Available By School
This week, the Denver Board of Education discussed the results of DPS' first Whole Child student survey, administered in the spring of 2016. DPS is one of the first districts in the nation to attempt to define our Whole Child focus and to gather data on our students' perceptions in these critical areas.
We know that our students' academic progress should never be separated from their growth as whole children. That is why we have such a strong focus on supporting the Whole Child -- meaning students are challenged, engaged, supported, safe, healthy, and socially and emotionally intelligent. The Whole Child Student Survey is designed to provide meaningful data to track how well our schools are meeting our students' needs on each of these components.
2015-16 Results
The initial Whole Child results bring new insights into how our students are experiencing school. Key districtwide outcomes include:
- Confirmation that the link between Whole Child factors and success in school is strong -- students who reported strong Whole Child outcomes were more likely to meet academic expectations.
- Identification of schools with particularly strong Whole Child outcomes so that we can emulate their practices in other schools -- schools with particularly strong outcomes for African-American, Latino and low-income students worked to intentionally set a school culture that prioritizes and develops strong individual relationships with students.
- Highlighting critical areas for us to focus our supports -- including bullying, chronic absenteeism and out-of-school suspension disparities.
The full survey results are now available on the Whole Child website and are searchable by school.
Using the Results
The survey paints a clear picture for school leaders and educators, helping them tailor Whole Child goals and supports to best meet the needs of their unique and individual school communities. With this information, our school leaders have a clearer picture of areas of strength and opportunity for their kids. They will use the data to set goals and identify improvement strategies in their school planning processes so that appropriate supports can be aligned and progress can be measured over time. School leaders and educators can access resources and support available through the Whole Child Resource Bank to identify specific strategies in their focus area of choice. Each school's goals and strategies will be documented in their Unified Improvement Plan.
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Program Provides Clothes to Students in Need
The Clothes to Kids of Denver program provides free school clothing to students preschool through grade 12 who are in need. You can refer students by completing the
referral form
. To learn more about the program or eligibility requirements, visit the
Clothes to Kids website
.
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A feature focused on sharing your top questions from recent faculty meetings
Superintendent Tom Boasberg and Deputy Superintendent Susana Cordova visit schools to meet with teachers and specialized service providers throughout the year. Last week, they met with educators from Bruce Randolph, Stedman, Hallett, Grant Ranch, Traylor and Kaiser.
Q: We now have increased mental health services at our school. But we also have the reoccurring challenge of meeting student's needs who are recent immigrants. I haven't found anyone in the district who can give us training. Do you know if the district has a vision to move forward and address these issues?
A:
We have newcomer centers with transportation for those students who are new to the country and who have interrupted schooling. These newcomer centers are located at Isabella Bird, Place Bridge Academy, Merrill, Abraham Lincoln, DCIS Montbello and South.
Recent immigrant students who choose not to go to a newcomer center would be placed in an English Language Acquisition classroom with services according to their parents' choice. So they would receive ELA supports and a daily 45-minute block of English Language Development.
Additional supports for educators who work with newcomers who choose not to attend newcomer centers include:
- Guided Language Acquisition Development (GLAD) District Trainers. GLAD was developed for Newcomer students. Contact Valeria Praga ([email protected]) for more information.
- ELA Newcomer Coordinator, Sarah Klieforth-Williams ([email protected] ), can offer professional development and planning assistance with ELD and content teachers.
- ELA Newcomer Coordinators can offer curriculum resources to schools.
Please visit our English Language Acquisition website at
ela.dpsk12.org for more information.
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Superintendent Parent Forum to Focus on Early Literacy
Please consider encouraging your families to attend the Superintendent Parent Forum, an opportunity for all DPS parents and family members to engage with Superintendent Tom Boasberg and learn about issues that concern them. This month's forum will focus on the importance of early literacy and how the Denver Plan 2020 is developing strong early literacy practices and partnerships.
Following the forum, parents of English learner students are invited to stay and attend the monthly meeting of the ELA Districtwide Advisory Committee (ELA-DAC) Board, which addresses issues of importance to families with students learning English as a second language.
Crowne Plaza Stapleton
10 a.m. to noon
Wednesday, Oct. 26, 2016
Interpretation, meals and child care (ages 3-12) are provided at no charge. Advance registration is encouraged; parents can
register online.
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Resources for Guided Reading Plus Groups Using Okapi
Teachers using Okapi texts in their Guided Reading Plus groups now have access to additional resources. These resources accompany Okapi texts for levels 1-28 in both English and Spanish and are recommended for use during small group instruction embedded in the literacy block. You can access those resources via Google folders:
English Okapi Lessons
and
Spanish Okapi Lessons
are both available.
Resources will also be embedded in the scope and sequence documents. For questions, please contact
Jeanna McGonegal-Doung
.
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Specialized Service Providers Growth & Performance System Site Launches
Do you need more information on the Specialized Service Provider (SSP) growth and performance system? Visit the
new SSP Growth and Performance site on The Commons to find information on the professional practice frameworks and student learning objective (SLO) guidance for school counselors, school nurses, school psychologists, school social workers and other SSP groups.
As a reminder, beginning-of-year conversations should happen in the coming weeks and are crucial as they define expectations for performance throughout the school year. The conversation should focus on the identifying strengths and areas for growth that will most help drive student success. During this conversation you should discuss and agree on:
- Areas of focus for greatest positive student impact
- Growth areas for individual professional development
- Defining effective performance
- How observation/data collection will be completed and documented
- Timing and process for sharing feedback throughout the year
- SLOs for the year
You can also find the professional practice frameworks, conversation trackers and other resources on the
SSP GPS website.
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