Steve Rippl and I have long held that technology should be used to make our instructional practices more effective or more efficient. Together as we’ve worked with teachers, our guiding principle has been use of technology must enhance our practice.
Many of our teachers have taken that to heart and we are excited about the effective uses of technology happening in classrooms across our district. We’ve seen strong momentum at Woodland High School in particular.
In anticipation of the growing use of technology in our district, Steve proposed a framework that better defines what it means to use technology to enhance instructional practice. That framework is the Triple E Framework.
The Es stand for,
The Triple E framework is an organized list of questions that help teachers vet whether a use of technology increases engagement, enhances the learning experience, or extends learning beyond what a lesson could offer without the technology.
Last month, we introduced this framework to high school staff in anticipation of possible increased chromebooks in their building. We provided the teachers with a survey that included the framework questions so they could evaluate current uses of technology and vet potential uses they are considering. We are looking forward to the results of the survey because it will offer us a compilation of best practices we can share across our district.
I’ve attached the survey for your reference.
Assessment Delink Bill
The delinking bill, E2SHB 1599, has passed and has been signed by the governor. This is news to celebrate! At our most recent assessment cohort meeting, directors discussed the implications of the bill. The topic with the greatest traction was how we’ll maintain solid student performance on state tests if kids don’t have incentive to pass it and there are competing factors (like attending Running Start classes, etc.) during test time. There are many creative ideas out there to help engage students in taking the test, but at the end of the day, we all agree HS scores across the state will dip as a result of low student investment in the test. I will be working with the high school administration to develop a plan to get as many kids invested in making and solid effort during testing season.
The timeliest relief in the bill is the restoration of the appeal process for students who have met all requirements for graduation except passing the state test. Current seniors now have the same opportunity to graduate as those in previous years by submitting an appeal to waive the test requirement. In past years, this helped many students and we are excited to see more hard working students achieve graduation as a result of this bill.
In brief, the bill:
Attached is a more detailed description of how the bill impacts our graduation requirements. While we see these shifts are positive, some areas of the bill that still unclear. We look forward to getting more information from the state over the next few months. In the meantime, we are processing appeals to ensure all who qualify graduate in June.