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Wednesday, March 22, 2017
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Third-grade teacher Becky Davis works on literacy with a small group of students at Samuels Elementary School in southeast Denver.
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Literacy Tools Support English Language Acquisition at Samuels Elementary School
For Becky Davis, being a teacher wasn't what she set out to do in her career. While working as an interior designer, she volunteered weekly in a DPS elementary school classroom. It was there she discovered she had a talent and love for teaching. That was more than six years ago. Becky launched her career in education by participating in the
Denver Teacher Residency program.
She is now in her third year of teaching third grade at Samuels Elementary School. Becky's
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Teacher Becky Davis
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classroom is orderly and her students are respectful of her and one another.
"As a school, we focus on building community and relationships, which really helps set the tone," she said. "Our staff and students are uplifted and celebrated, and you can tell the kids are happy."
She attributes a large part of that to the way students are valued at Samuels: "Each year, we start the school year with a celebration of cultures where students wear their native clothing, share food and participate in a parade. Celebrating the unique cultures of students and school values really creates a positive atmosphere for students to learn."
Working at Samuels is not without its challenges. With more than 30 languages spoken at the school, they have a significant number of second-language learners. In Becky's classroom alone, she has students from Somalia, France, Mali, China, Mexico and Sudan. With a strong focus on literacy, she starts each year evaluating every student using an early literacy assessment approved by the Colorado Department of Education. Becky then uses that data, along with
Developmental Reading Assessment (DRA) progress monitoring, to form and adjust reading groups.
A
literacy body of evidence
provides information on literacy skills and standards proficiency, as well as reading and writing progress. This information informs next steps in instruction.
Learn what is required
to create a literacy body of evidence.
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Using
multiple bodies of evidence has made it easy to monitor student progress and make
adjustments. "I assess each student regularly; however, for students who are behind grade level, I complete a running record more frequently and enter the data each month," said Becky. "We have a strong guided reading plan, and combined with rigorous tasks, it helps students continue to improve."
Becky depends on guided reading and running records to reveal what areas kids need to focus on. "If I read with a student, I can tell right away what area they need help with, whether it's fluency, comprehension or accuracy, and I can provide instruction to support them in those areas." Becky is also able to tell at a glance what level her students are and if they are growing by using a color-coded tracker tool created by literacy specialist Kira Withrown.
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Feedback Opportunities on Proposed ECE-3 Discipline Reform
DPS is hosting a series of opportunities for teachers and school leaders to provide input on and ask questions about our intention to dramatically reduce the use of suspensions and eliminate expulsions, except as required by law, in grades ECE-3.
The sessions will cover current data and resources available to our educators, provide opportunities for input and identify additional resources needed to successfully implement this change.
Input from these sessions will also help us draft a proposed policy, which the Denver Board of Education will consider later this spring.
Two of these feedback opportunities are webinar information/Q&A sessions and in-person focus groups. These will begin after Spring Break, which runs March 27-31, and will occur weekly throughout April. Please
click here to learn more.
Any online sessions will be recorded and made available for those who are unable to attend. You can also send your comments and feedback to
[email protected].
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Negotiations Update: LEAP Growth and Performance System
Teacher Evaluation Negotiations
DPS followed several guiding principles when writing this proposal. First, we want our contract with DCTA and our policies on LEAP to be clear and transparent for teachers.
Second, we want very robust and extensive contract language where high-stakes decisions are involved -- specifically, the performance improvement process and appeals of final ratings when a teacher may lose non-probationary status.
Third, we want to ensure that our contract language and policies provide enough flexibility to allow continuous improvement to LEAP based on input from you. We only negotiate our agreement with DCTA every three years. For that reason, we added contract language about the "
LEAP Fairness Guide." This is a resource guide published every year for teachers and school leaders that describes the entire evaluation process that teachers can expect to experience for that year and the rights that teachers have to raise and seek review of concerns associated with the evaluation process.
Fourth, we would like to ensure we have a structure to continuously guide our improvements of LEAP as well the development of related tools and resources. It is important to us that teacher and school leader voice is at the cornerstone of this structure. With this in mind, we proposed a Personnel Performance Evaluation Council that would review the LEAP Fairness Guide every year and advise on ways to ensure that our evaluation system is fair, effective and credible.
We encourage all teachers to review the current version of the
LEAP Fairness Guide to understand their rights during the evaluation process.
Student Discipline
You may have heard concerns from DCTA about the Board of Education's
resolution to move toward reducing or eliminating suspensions for ECE through third grade students.This concern comes from a part of our agreement with DCTA that says any amendments to our
JK and
JK-R discipline policies will include collaboration with DCTA. We want to assure teachers again that there have been no changes to these board policies. Instead, we have launched a 60-day feedback period, as noted above, and hope to hear from you. To learn more about feedback opportunities, please visit
this link.
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Professional Learning & Resources
End of Year Istation Training for K-3 Teachers
There will be four end-of-year training sessions for kindergarten through third-grade teachers in Istation schools. The sessions will review critical reports to identify areas of focus for the spring READ Act assessment window, ensure teachers can access the actual student assessment for their grade levels and review critical steps to ensure a successful end-of-year assessment cycle.
As space is limited, please register in the Educator Development section on Schoolnet by searching on 'Istation' and selecting 'End-of-Year Istation Training for Teachers.' Please contact Melissa Pace
with questions.
Transform Obstacles into Innovation at DPS Aspire
DPS Aspire is a two-day program designed for educators looking to refine and grow their leadership skills. Learn how to lead through the lens of cultural responsiveness, leverage your sphere of influence and reflect on your individual leadership capacity and style.
Register now
for a spring session:
- 8 a.m.-4 p.m. April 17-18
- 8 a.m.-4 p.m. April 25-26
Both sessions will be held at the Emily Griffith Campus, 1860 Lincoln St. For more information, please contact [email protected].
Guest teacher pay is available if needed.
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USC, Tulane University and Montclair State University Survey of Teachers
Researchers are conducting
a comparative case study of three cities (Los Angeles, New Orleans and Denver) where there are a variety of types of publicly-funded schools, including district-run schools and charter schools. The researchers hope their study can provide valuable information about how the move away from a single, centralized office to the management of a variety of autonomous governance models shapes what is happening in schools.
Selected teachers have been mailed a letter inviting you to participate in the study.
The letter provides a link to complete the survey online and $10 in advance
to thank you for your time. Your participation in this confidential survey is voluntary, and will provide critical feedback to this research.
If you have questions about the survey, please contact
Katrina Bulkley
or 973-655-5189.
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Sixth and Eighth-Grade Math Placement Assessments Set for May
Please be aware that site assessment leaders (SALs) will be receiving information in early April on assessments to ensure all sixth- and eighth-grade students are placed in the correct math course next school year. SALs should order assessment materials by April 14. The assessment should be administered after mid-May to all students enrolled in eighth-grade Algebra, and to only those fifth-grade students who have completed a full year of sixth-grade mathematics.
Eighth-grade teachers will enter the score and recommendation in the "High School Articulation" tab in Infinite Campus so high schools can schedule students appropriately. Please note, a recommendation must be entered for every eighth-grade student.
Fifth-grade teachers will enter the score and recommendation in the "Middle School Articulation" tab in Infinite Campus so middle schools have this information for scheduling purposes. Teachers who do not administer this assessment do not need to take action.
These placement assessments will be available via Illuminate and Schoolnet by May 1 and will include the rubrics for scoring and placement cut scores. If you have questions, please contact Accountability, Research and Evaluation.
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Don't Wait - Nominate!
This Friday is the last day you can nominate someone for a coveted Night of Honor award. If you work with a person or team who inspires you -- someone who leads the way and sets an amazing example for our kids -- please take this opportunity to recognize them by
submitting a nomination on their behalf:
- Leadership Lamp Award: Our most distinguished award designed to honor our Shared Core Values champions who model the way for DPS (four awards total)
- Excellence in Team Award: High-performing and effective teams making a difference (teams of three-12)
There is also an opportunity to recognize parents and families of DPS students who are making a positive impact in their school communities. Nominate a parent for the
Family Leadership Award, which will be presented at a Superintendent Parent Forum in May.
Nominations for all awards are due this Friday, so don't wait - nominate!
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