Mon Apr 11 2011, 7:00pm
District Meeting Room Portable
Regular Meeting

REPORTS TO THE BOARD

WIS Report

Woodland Intermediate School

Woodland School Board - Monthly Update

March 2011

 

Throughout the month of March our Monday morning professional development opportunities for staff have focused on our Title 1 School Wide Plan and common grade level math assessments. Staff members worked in cross grade level teams and grade level teams to identify achievements associated with our Schoolwide Plan made this year. At the conclusion of these activities WIS staff members were very proud of the work that they had done.

Their list of accomplishments included:

  • Academic Initiatives

          • A scheduling committee reviewed past schedules, sought out input and developed consistent academic schedules within each grade level team.

          • Developed an academic intervention block (45 minutes) for each general education classroom.

          • Work to develop consistency in grading and recording within each grade level.

          • Continued the use of a block style schedule in an effort to maximized instructional time throughout the day.

          • Study Island math is a supplemental educational program for students that is available for them to use at home on-line. WIS parents have received demonstrations, directions and reminders multiple times this year.

          • A standards based grading committee was developed and has spent the better part of this school year researching the transition from letter style grading to standards based grading.

          • Each grade level team has reviewed and revised their math scope and sequence this year. The objective of this was to create consistency in teaching as well as to ensure that all standards are being taught.

          • WIS staff spent an entire day learning about and participating in activities that were designed to increase our knowledge of differentiated instruction.

          • WIS staff hosted an informational reading night and book exchange.

          • Several staff members have participated in peer observations with a focus on differentiated instruction.

          • During the 2010/2011 school year 15 Monday mornings focused on common math assessments, the analyzing of student results and its impact on future math instruction.

  • Expanded upon our Title 1 math intervention that was implemented during the 2009/2010 school year.

 

  • Behavior Management/Social and Emotional Supports

          • Several WIS team members worked to develop and implement an intervention program (The Think Tank) with a focus on behavior management.

          • Multiple WIS team members worked to develop and implement a proactive intervention program (Fresh Start) that will provide students additional social and emotional support.

          • Multiple WIS team members worked to develop and implement school wide expectations associated with behavior management (EAGLE, SLANT, LINES and Voice Levels).

          • Developed and implemented a classroom meeting program at the 4th grade level. The meetings focus on problem solving, student behavior, expectations and teamwork. The classroom meetings are facilitated by the school psychologist and occur weekly.

                • Specific staff members were Right Response trained.

          • Why Try student support groups are facilitated by the building counselor.

  • Student Incentive Programs

    • WIS has partnered with Burgerville to develop and implement a monthly incentive program entitled The Burgerville/Eagle Award.

    • Quarterly Achievers will continue to be recognized. At the conclusion of each quarter students are publicly recognized for meeting specific criteria in four areas.

    • Students of the Month continue to be recognized at monthly assembelies.

We are continuing to prepare for MSP testing. All of our 6th grade students have spent several hours throughout the months of March and into April learning about and becoming familiar with online MSP testing. We are working to be as proactive as possible as we work to prepare our 6th grade students for the transition from paper/pencil to online testing. Communicating with parents is also an important part of this process. The parents of 6th grade students have been provided web site links and other valuable information so that they can practice and become familiar with online testing with their children at home. Online resources aligned with the paper/pencil tests have also been provided for the parents of 4th and 5th grade students.

The Standards Based Grading Committee has screened through several examples of standards based report cards. The committee has identified likes and dislikes from those examples. We are now in the process of developing a sample standards based report card that infuses all of the most positive aspects of those used by surrounding districts. A large part of this includes educating parents about this change and informing their understanding about how to interpret the information presented. This is being done as part of our work. This will continue to be the focus of the committee through the remainder of the year. When this is done we will be ready to share samples with our staff and move onto the next steps of our plan.

Student placement is one of the many important tasks that we take on each spring. Nearly every staff member at WIS plays a role in this task. Our timeline for activities associated with student placement start in mid April and conclude on May 23rd.