Newsletter

The Principles of Learning (POL) form the basic understanding of the teaching and learning we strive for in South Kingstown. It provides a consistent view of education that is common to all our schools, all our grades. We began implementing the POL last year, and during the coming school year will expand and build on last year’s work. Earlier newsletter issues provided an overview of the POL and a description of one component, Clear Expectations. This issue looks at another component – Accountable Talk, and an implementation strategy – Learning Walks.

Clear Expectations, just from its name, is easy to understand. Accountable Talk, however, seems more like education jargon, but yet is very important, in fact, essential to implementing a rigorous curriculum. A lot of conversation goes on in classrooms. To get the most out of that conversation it must be linked to the content to be learned and push thinking. Below is an excerpt from POL materials:

Talking with others about ideas and work is fundamental to learning. It gives us the opportunity to organize our thinking into coherent utterances, hear how our thinking sounds out loud, listen to how others respond and, often, hear others add to or expand on our thinking. But not all talk sustains learning. For classroom talk to promote learning it must be accountable to the learning community, to accurate and appropriate knowledge, and to rigorous thinking.

Accountable Talk is talk that seriously responds to and further develops what others in the group have said. It puts forth and demands knowledge that is accurate and relevant to the issue under discussion. Accountable Talk uses evidence appropriate to the discipline (e.g., proofs in mathematics, data from investigations in science, textual references in literature, documentary sources in history) and follows established norms of good reasoning. Accountable Talk sharpens students' thinking by reinforcing their ability to use and create knowledge.

So what does Accountable Talk look like in a classroom? Some examples:

· Students hold each other accountable to knowledge. When someone makes a statement about a piece of literature, they should expect to be asked to point out the place in the text that supports their view.

· Students link their talk to what others say. A student indicates that they have something to say that expands on another student’s statement, showing that they listened, understood, and can build on knowledge.

· Students are accountable to rigorous thinking. Students are asked to explain how their evidence supports their statement, to explain their thinking.

There are things teachers do to create an environment that supports Accountable Talk in their classroom. Some examples:

· Establish a clear conception of the academic goals for the lesson, so that it is clear what the key concepts are and how they relate to what has come before.

· Pick instructional tasks that provide multiple entry points for students with a high cognitive demand, expanding the number of students who access to knowledge.

· Chose an instructional format (for example, small group, whole group, partner work) that best supports the academic goals.

Learning Walks are central to implementing the Principles of Learning in a school and district. They are quick, snapshot visits that provide a view of classroom learning, visits that are compiled over time to give feedback on progress made in implementing the POL. In short, Learning walks provide a picture that develops over time of:

· How teachers teach

· How students learn

· What gets taught to whom

· How a school is organized so effort creates ability

The brief visit provides a very limited view of any one classroom, but the recursive nature of Learning Walks, the multiple observers of multiple classrooms on multiple occasions, amplifies their power. Learning Walks become a part of a schools’ professional development program, part of the school improvement cycle.

How does that work? If a school is focusing on strategies that support Accountable Talk, it will ask the observers on a Learning Walk to look for evidence of those strategies. Learning Walks provide information about what is evident in classrooms and ask thought-provoking questions encouraging reflection on new practices that could result in higher quality teaching.

During last year, our principals and many teachers prepared for and participated in Learning Walks in either other schools or their own buildings (or both). During this coming year, we will visit other districts to participate in Learning Walks and educators from other districts will do so here in South Kingstown. Learning Walks will grow and become a routine part of our professional development program.

The South Kingstown Education Foundation (SKEF) has met a challenge from the Rhode Island Foundation: raise $25,000 to get another $25,000. Sue Velicer, SKEF Board President, said the foundation’s board has been “hard-working, generous, and determined to succeed in meeting the $25,000 challenge offered by the Foundation.” Each board member personally donated at least $250, she added. The Rhode Island Foundation will manage the resulting permanent endowment.

Other board members include: Gail Dromgoole, owner of Brushstrokes, serves as vice president and assistant treasurer; Dr. Henry Schwarzbach, URI accounting professor, serves as treasurer; Marie Fonseca, parent and president of West Kingston Elementary School PTO; Attorney Chris Little, prior South Kingstown Town Council and School Committee member; Arthur Campbell, former South Kingstown Superintendent and director of the RI School Superintendents Association; Dr. William D. Metz, former URI History Professor and distinguished civic leader; Dr. Jayne Richmond, Dean of URI’s University College and Special Academic Services; and real estate agent and civic leader John Vincze. Superintendent Robert Hicks is an ex-officio member.

The mission of the new South Kingstown Education Foundation, which was unveiled at the beginning of the last school year, is to “support education projects and activities that inspire student excellence and strengthen the relationship between the public schools and the community in the town of South Kingstown.” To carry out its mission, the board set three goals –

· To support the breadth of experience available to students

· To extend support for students in the core program beyond the school day and school programs

· To provide “venture capital” for initiatives

With the first $50,000 of its endowment in place, the foundation is now able to add grant awards to its agenda in addition to raising funds to expand the endowment. Announcement of the first awards are imminent. While the first awards are small, they are but the beginning. The SKEF board established a committee chaired by Judy Wood and Ellie Dane, retired South Kingstown teachers, to review proposals and make recommendations for funding. Funded proposals should -

· Bring the schools and the community closer together.

· Have a way of determining effectiveness.

· Have a reasonable expectation of success.

· Provide a reasonable opportunity for impact.

· Have educational merit.

· Support the national, state and local commitment to high achievement for all students.

Finally, the Board is asking community members to become a part of the foundation. With a contribution of $1.00 or more you will become a member for 2004-2005. To join, send your check payable to “South Kingstown Education Foundation” to SKEF, 153 School Street, Wakefield, RI 02879. Interested individuals are invited to attend the South Kingstown Education Fund’s first board meeting of the new school year on Tuesday, September 21, 7:30 am in the conference room at the Hazard building, 153 School Street.

Visit www.skschools.net for:

· Our new Reading, Writing, and Mathematics Curricula

· “Curriculum in a Nutshell” – a family friendly version

· School Committee Meeting Agendas and Minutes

· Links to school web sites

· Athletic Handbook

· Past issues of this newsletter

· Links to RIDE data on school performance and spending

· School calendar

· Employment forms

· A progress update on the district strategic plan

· Much, much more

Strategic Plan Update

In the spring, the School Committee reviewed progress on the district’s strategic plan. The district’s administrative team compiled the update and it reflects implementation of the action plans developed in 2002. While the complete update is available on the district web site, here is a summary of key points.

· Curricular action plans (Strategy #1) moved forward. Specifically, the adoption of performance standards, improving communication and integration of curricula and implementation of a standards-based instructional model, instituting a common literacy assessment and development of a coaching model are notable. The challenge remains to continue this development and ensure consistent implementation across schools and grades.

· The increase in professional development in Strategy #2 shows progress. Specifically, policies and mechanisms that are in place, an expansion of professional development models, middle level coursework, and fiscal analyses of professional development expenditures. The challenge remains to institutionalize professional development and create additional opportunities for schools to build activities into their schedules and structures.

· Strategy #3, focused on community relations, has seen district action with respect to CARES, Family Advocacy, community communications, and an expansion of relationships though school-based actions. The challenge remains to take the school-based outreach activities and make them a coordinated district-wide effort.

· The creation of intervention and support services for students (Strategy #4) is visible in Personal Literacy Plans (PLP’s), high school literacy intervention, and extended day kindergarten. The challenge remains to coordinate our special and regular education interventions in an effective and efficient manner.

· To establish a district data management system with benchmarks (Strategy #5) software was purchased and is in the final stages of implementation. Training took place throughout the installation. The challenge remains to identify the data points against which to measure progress. This process began in the fall.

Aspiring Principal - South Kingstown’s First

The School Committee recently appointed Debra Zepp as Principal of Matunuck Elementary School. Deb is our first teacher to participate in the Principal Residency Network (PRN) and we are very pleased that she successfully completed the program and is now a member of our administrative team. She spent last year at West Kingston Elementary School, training with Principal Nancy Nettik. She’s taught at Wakefield Elementary School since 1987 where she served on the School Improvement Team. She also served as a Teacher-in-Residence for GEMS-Net, providing support for science curriculum implementation to teachers and schools throughout southern Rhode Island.

The PRN is in its fourth year and serves as a “break the mold” strategy for preparing school leaders. In the PRN, aspiring principals spend a year working in a school alongside an experienced, successful principal. Coursework goes along with the intensive training year, as there are summer and evening commitments along with a portfolio and projects to complete. The program is based on the Interstate School Leaders Licensing Consortium (ISLLC) standards, as is South Kingstown’s principal evaluation instrument. Graduates receive credit from Johnson and Wales as well as Rhode Island principal certification. A Masters degree is required for participation in the program.

While Deb is the first South Kingstown teacher to complete the PRN, she is not the only SK administrator with ties. Peace Dale Principal Debra Pendola trained in the program in Westerly as did Curtis Corner Principal Michele Humbyrd in Coventry, and Wakefield Principal Michelle Little served as a mentor principal, as Nancy Nettik did this year. There is also growing district interest school leadership, as four teachers looked to participate in the PRN, which, unfortunately, budget restraints prevented. Additionally, several faculty members are part of an on-site principal preparation program offered by Rhode Island College in South Kingstown.

This appointment marks the continuing progress of South Kingstown in developing its own leaders. Over the last year, the Wakefield Principalship was filled by Michelle Little, an SK teacher and administrator; at Broad Rock Middle School, Guidance Counselor Sheila Sullivan became its Principal; and Alicia Thayer, High School Science Teacher, became Assistant Principal. Internal leadership development is one important component of a stable leadership system.

Today’s Teenagers – Some Things You Might Like to Know

In South Kingstown we’re very proud of our students and their accomplishments. Beyond their honors and talents, they are also great people. When looking at the larger picture, their cohorts across the country, a similar positive picture emerges. Now called the “Millennium Generation,” those born after 1982 are proving to be different from the generations that immediately preceded it. Here are some facts that help describe the students in high school today.

· Today’s teens are more optimistic then their predecessors. Nine out of ten describe themselves as “happy,” “confident” and “positive.”

· They have reason to be so, teen crime rates are the lowest since the 1960’s, teen suicide rates are falling, and teen pregnancy has fallen at the fastest rate ever recorded.

· They do more schoolwork - minutes per week spent on homework have nearly tripled since 1981 (from 44 to 123) and they take more and more difficult high school classes (compared to students of the 1980’s they are three times as likely to take calculus).

This information has been published in several places, but one source where it is together is in Millennials Rising, by Neil Howe and William Strauss.

Math Curriculum Update

When will students begin to use mental math? The process starts in kindergarten. Kindergarten students will be expected to add or subtract an amount that is one more or less than the original number. By second grade, students will be expected to mentally add or subtract to a sum of 20. But number and operation is just one portion of South Kingstown’s new math curriculum. It also includes measurement and geometry, data, statistics and probability, and algebra concepts.

Creation of the new math curriculum began a year ago. Teachers in grades K through 12 met weekly to determine what students should know and be able to do in math at each grade level. They drew on many sources to help guide them: national math standards, state and federal guidelines and Rhode Island’s own grade level and grade span expectations. Reliance on these resources, and most especially the grade level and grade span expectations, will insure consistency from school to school and grade to grade. The end result of our work provides classroom teachers with a framework to guide their instruction and establishes clear expectations for everyone.

So, what changes can you expect to see this year as a result of our new document? The first change will be the heightened expectation at each grade level. Students will be exposed to challenging materials sooner. This breakdown in geometry and measurement provides a brief overview of that change:

Level	Example
Elementary	The concept of area had been introduced in grade 3. Now, grade 2 students will be expected to demonstrate conceptual understanding of both perimeter and area.
Middle	Grade 8 students were expected to choose appropriate units of measurement and convert between like units. Now, grade 6 students will be expected to meet this standard.
High School	Our high school students were expected to know and use formulas for perimeter and circumference. The expectation now is much more specific. Our students will now need to demonstrate conceptual understanding of perimeter, circumference, or area of two-dimensional figures in problem-solving situations on or off a coordinate graph.

But changes will occur even beyond grade level expectations. Middle school students will have new math materials. Many elementary students will pilot new materials in order to determine the best program for us to adopt for the 2005-2006 school year. The high school will examine supplementary materials to support the increasing number of students taking a third year of math.

Finally, it is not enough to simply create a new curriculum. Professional development must be part of the process, and to that end, teachers will work with math facilitators at both the district level and at the building level to design units of instruction and common assessments that will complement our grade level expectations.

State Releases New Standard Test Results

Extra, extra! Read all about it. South Kingstown’s most recent test scores deserve to be headline news. The 2004 New Standards Reference Exam results are in, and we see real cause for optimism. Our continued upward trend affirms the direction we are taking as a district, and while we see many significant gains, some are especially noteworthy. First, at grade 8, district reading scores have increased 10 percentage points over last year’s scores and are now almost 20 points higher than the state average. The trend continues in math. Grade 8 scores are well above our 2003 results, and for the 2004 testing cycle, scores are at least 20 points higher than the state average in every category.

Grade 8	2004 District Results	2004 State Results
Math skills	80 % achieved the standard	57 % achieved the standard
Math Concepts	47 % achieved the standard	27 % achieved the standard
Problem Solving	53 % achieved the standard	32 % achieved the standard

The middle level is not the only area to show dramatic growth. Our fourth graders continue to make significant gains. In reading analysis and interpretation, our grade 4 students scored almost 20% higher than the state average, and in math we outscored the state in every category.

Grade 4	2004 District Results	2004 State Results
Math skills	80% achieved the standard	70% achieved the standard
Math Concepts	64% achieved the standard	44% achieved the standard
Problem Solving	49% achieved the standard	38% achieved the standard

The high school’s gains are equally remarkable. Problem solving at the high school level is a full 17 percentage points higher than the state average and almost 10 points higher than our last year’s average. In reading, our 11^th graders out performed the state in every area and surpassed their own impressive showing in 2003 by almost 10%.

Grade 11	2004 District Results	2004 State Results
Basic Understanding	69% achieved the standard	49% achieved the standard
Analysis and Interpretation	64% achieved the standard	45% achieved the standard
Writing Effectiveness	62% achieved the standard	50% achieved the standard
Writing Conventions	81% achieved the standard	69% achieved the standard

These aggregated scores reflect our overall progress. Rankings, however, are based on disaggregated results. This last piece of data has yet to be released. In the meantime, we can review these overall scores as evidence we are moving forward as a district and supporting the needs of more and more of our students. It truly is cause for celebration!