REPORTS TO THE BOARD

Woodland Primary School Report

To: Michael Green

From: Ingrid Colvard

Date: December 12, 2018

RE: Monthly Report Woodland Primary School (Grades PreK-1)

Holiday Concert & Gallery Walk: Children in each classroom have been carefully practicing their songs for the concert this coming Tuesday evening, December 18th at 6:30 pm. Students are learning about holiday and winter traditions around the world and are so excited to share their music with the community!

In addition to music, WPS students have been working hard on art that is of such high quality for young learners. They are very proud and feel quite accomplished. Their enthusiasm for the arts is truly enhanced by preparing for performance and exhibition. Please share the date and time with anyone who wishes to support Woodland students by attending this very special evening.

WERA Conference: The Washington Educational Research Associates annual conference was held in Seattle last week, and as always, inspired those who attended to continue with research-based best practices, to be willing to innovate and embrace creativity, as well to make intentional partnerships with educators across the state and nation. These connections with other practitioners and leaders are invaluable, informing our work in many ways. Here are some of the most important “takeaways” from WERA this year:

• Partnerships with early learning (preschool) are a powerful intervention for equity, promoting school readiness for all children.
• Within the school definition of poverty, free and reduced lunch status, there is a significant difference in educational impact among that group. Understanding the level of poverty is extremely important when supporting students and families.
• iReady "stretch goals" can be a significant tool to help plan for bridging the achievement gap for a child.
• Using achievement data (iReady) as a tool for pacing improvement expectations for each child based on expected growth patterns is an important function of the assessment.
• Educator consumption of research is a significant indicator of professional quality and efficacy.
• Continued community education regarding instructional programs is an ongoing and important factor in family engagement.
• Educators who are highly effective are engaged in mentoring relationships that last over many years, or even a lifetime.
• The math level a student is assigned to in early in middle school is a gatekeeper to college.
• Listening to the voices of children should drive teacher reflection. Instruction should be modified as a result of reflection, but so should assessment.

The title of the WERA conference this year was " Disrupting the Status Quo: Ensuring Equity, Engagement, and Achievement for all Washington Learners". Disruption is transformation! We are working continuously on transforming our practice at WPS and creating an educational environment for children that is nurturing and highly effective. We will continue to reflect, refine, and improve- our learners deserve the very best!