DYK: Even though the lion is sometimes referred to as the “king of the jungle,” it actually only lives in grasslands and plains. The expression may have come from an incorrect association between Africa and jungles or may refer to a less literal meaning of the word jungle.
DEEP THOUGHTS:
"The emphasis should be on why we do a job." - W. Edwards Deming
In this week's "Article of the Week", M-Live reports on State Rep. Tim Kelly's plan to push the legislature back into an A-F scorecard to report school accountability. State Superintendent Whiston has proposed a "transparency dashboard" approach to school accountability, citing concerns that the scorecard approach doesn't tell the whole story.
This is the conversation that is going on while Michigan students continue to collectively fall behind students from other states. Perhaps I'm getting a little bit cynical as I age, but I think it's doubtful, if not impossible, that this conversation to move the needle when it comes to preparing students for college and careers. The continued focus on accountability, rather than on school improvement, will likely continue to produce the same results.
What we know is that the work we do is challenging, dynamic, and complex. We know that true school improvement occurs when we are able to support teachers, provide a challenging curriculum, and engage our students in rich, meaningful work. None of these, in my opinion, will be accurately reflected by a dashboard, nor evident on a scorecard. This accountability model has, and will likely continue to, fail to provide the necessary framework for our schools to improve to better educate our students.
It would be irresponsible to ignore accountability measures from MDE and I'm not suggesting that we do so. I'm also not suggesting that we shouldn't measure student progress. I don't think, however, that only focusing on accountability scores will help us do better work for our students.
What we are doing, that I happen to think makes a lot of sense, is working to provide the supports and structures necessary to help teachers and principals continue to improve, to educate, and to make sure that classrooms continue to evolve to meet the needs of our students to be productive citizens and to be more than adequately prepared for college or career. It's long past the time to move past the old "gotcha" model and to truly embrace one of support and a growth mindset.
(SPOILER ALERT: here is where I am going to start writing about the Blueprint😊)
TCAPS is installing the MI-Excel blueprint to help increase the great things that are going on in our schools and to help build systems that support students, teachers, and schools. It is a research-based, comprehensive school improvement model. The systems and drivers installed last year have laid some important groundwork for where we are now - installing an intense student support network, instructional infrastructure, and focusing in on high quality, subject-specific instruction. It is through these systems that we are going to be able to truly impact college and career readiness in a positive way.
This work, though exciting, is hard. There aren't really any shortcuts and we'll have to take a close look at the things we do and why we do them, being ready to change practices and to try new approaches to achieve greater results. If we are able to stay disciplined, implement the Blueprint, and make needed modifications over time, I'm confident that we will be able to amplify the great things we are doing for kids.
TCAPS has great teachers, principals, and support staff who are working hard every day to do their very best for students. The goal of the Blueprint is to help support that work, help us all continue to grow and develop professionally, and to improve our ability to make college and careers a reality for every student who walks through our doors.
Article of the Week:
Michigan lawmaker pushing for revised A-F school accountability system
How to Define Public Schooling in the Age of Choice?
Thanks and Appreciation:
- Christine Guitar...reunification with my prized coffee cup! THANK YOU!!
- Thank you to everyone who worked, volunteered, and helped organize this year's Patriot Game!
- Even though none of them are reading this, thank you to our awesome students! It is so great to have them back in school, reminding us of why we do what we do!
- Thank you to our bus drivers, mechanics, and transportation department support staff!
- Thanks to our food service staff who feed and care for our students and staff each and every school day!
- Thank you Janna Deering for your leadership in offering LEAP programs and enrichment activities, hiring and training coaches, scheduling, handling phone calls, and generally making school more fun, more engaging, and more connected for so many of our students.
- Thank you Erich Wangeman and the TC Westmen for the video of this great performance of The Star Spangled Banner!
- Teacher Evaluation Timeline
- Read the memo regarding PLC Meetings for 2017/18
- The next Board Curriculum Committee Meeting is Thursday, September 21, 2017 at 7:30am in the Board Room at the Admin Building.
- Curriculum leaders will be meeting shortly to make final revisions to the HQV checklists. Stay tuned for additional information.
- Tuesday, September 19th is National Talk Like a Pirate Day. Seriously!
The Michigan Department of Education (MDE) is
- awaiting approval of the Every Student Succeeds Act
- (ESSA) plan with the United States Department of
- Education (USED) and will delay the district publishing
- deadline of the Annual Education Report (AER) until
- the appropriate data are available. It is currently
- anticipated that data necessary for the creation of
- AERs will not be ready until Winter 2017. As such,
- please note that the general report information,
- cover letter templates, and combined report data on
- MISchoolData.org
- have not been updated for AERs to
- reflect the materials to be used for the 2017-18 school
- year AERs.
- Further details will be provided to schools and districts
- as it becomes available.
The Instructional Infrastructure system is concerned with implementing and supporting a vision of high quality, ambitious subject specific instruction to impact student/teacher performance in schools.
The district describes and communicates explicit high quality subject specific instructional practices that are aligned with the district’s specific student-learning targets. This creates a shared understanding of the quality of instruction to which we aspire to deliver in every classroom every day for every child.
TCAPS curriculum leaders along with the DAN committee are reviewing the current HQV Checklists to more closely align with HQV documents and to improve inter-rater reliability.
Parker's Calendar
This Week:
Monday
- Huddle
- Bond Election Capital Planning
- Soma/Parker/McCall
- Board Meeting
Tuesday
- ET
- HMH Training for New Teachers
- Soma/Parker Bi-Weekly
Wednesday
- HMH Principals Training
- Huddle
- Westwoods Visit
- Curriculum Leaders
Thursday
- Huddle
- Student Support Network Meeting/VanLoo/Tisdale/Chandler
- Bond Election Capital Planning
- Online Class/High School Credit Meeting
Friday
- DAN
- Elementary Principals Meeting
- Assorted work, catch up, email, phone calls, and generally productive and goal directed behaviors
Next Week:
Monday
- Huddle
- MI-Excel Leadership Academy - Day 1
- Joint Principals Meeting
Tuesday
- ET
- MI-Excel Leadership Academy - Day 2
Wednesday
- WSH Academic Awards
- Huddle
- MASA Conference
Thursday
- Board Curriculum Committee Meeting
- MASA Conference/ Blueprint Presentation
- Curriculum/Technology - B. Reynolds
Friday
- DAN Meeting
- Assorted work, catch up, email, phone calls, and generally productive and goal directed behaviors
This Week in Photos:
#ironman
#rowtheboatberger
#principalslearningmath
#houghtononthemic
#notsofastkip
#toldyouthiswasblogworthy
#mathwhisperer
#whoknewthismuchaboutnumberlines
#bigfanofresearch
Thanks for all you do. Have a great weekend!
