Rebuild Rockport School Update - 9/151/17

The Rockport, Texas area and Aransas County Independent School District bore the full force and fury of Hurricane Harvey.  Their buildings were battered but their spirit remains intact.  Just read the update from the Superintendent below.

To assist ACISD in their rebuilding process, for every PowerWalks classroom observation conducted between August 25, 2017 and September 30, 2017, Lead Your School will donate 5¢.

As of today, there have been 21,556 PowerWalks completed. This means that the current donation total stands at $1,077.80.

LYS Nation, keep stepping up!

ACISD Superintendent Field Report

Thank you so much for your patience as we work through the details of our recovery plan. We know that families are making critical decisions about their children's education with very little information. We seek to only provide accurate information, and that has required great patience. We have categorized this message by topic and will continue to share applicable information as pieces unfold. 

ACISD Facilities
After today's meeting with North Star Recovery Company, we feel like we have a much better understanding of the necessary work required to reopen our schools. It is with great relief that we may now announce that we will begin to phase in the reopening of our schools in approximately 30 days with a possible start date of October 9, 2017. North Star is working diligently to ensure that our buildings are not only structurally safe for students and staff but that they also meet all required environmental standards for safety so that water-damaged buildings do not impose health risks. That said, the report revealed that our facilities suffered more damage than originally assumed and will require full commitment from the North Star team. Returning ACISD students and staff to their home schools is North Star's highest priority.

The high school and middle school suffered the most extensive damage and will require a minimum of 6 months to restore. Fortunately, the team has been able to secure 80 portable classrooms, which we will position on the practice soccer fields next to the bus barn. These portable building will provide classroom space for middle and high school students for the majority of the remaining school year.

The three elementary schools should be ready for use in approximately 30 days as well.

ACISD Teams and Performing Groups 
Fellow superintendents and I have made numerous phone calls to UIL to propose a plan that best serves our students, and UIL has devised a unique plan that suits us best. UIL will allow students displaced by Hurricane Harvey to attend other school districts during the restoration period while still competing as Rockport-Fulton Pirates. Aransas County ISD Board will approve a memorandum of understanding between the receiving districts of our displaced students and ACISD. This agreement will ensure that our students are provided the opportunity to maintain their school identity for UIL purposes while attending school elsewhere.

I urge all parents to enroll children into one of these two school districts. GPISD and Sinton ISD are both quality school districts and have made significant strides to provide the very best transition for children displaced by the hurricane.

The loss of 40 instructional days while waiting for our school to re-open could put these students at a significant academic disadvantage.

Student Transportation
Bus transportation will be provided by ACISD to GPISD beginning Monday, September 11, 2017. Your child must already be enrolled at GPISD to receive bus transportation. This includes all grade levels. There will be one central drop-off and pick-up location. Students in grades K-12 will load the buses at 6:30am.  Buses will return to the district at 4:00pm.

#PirateStrong

Visit Classrooms – Rebuild Rockport Schools!

Common Bad Practice - Finals Exemptions

Though I find it mind boggling, exempting students from finals is now more common, than not. If you are doing this, STOP. It is bad practice.  And don’t give me the “It’s a student motivator or it gets kids to come to school” excuses. That is lazy and weak.  You are better than that.

So why is this bad practice? Because at the end of the Fall Semester, you need the data and you need to disguise your mid-year benchmark test.  The Fall Semester Final should be common (for the content area) and cumulative. When all students take the final, the performance data will inform the instructional staff on pacing issues and will aid in the identification of successful and unsuccessful instructional practices.  Additionally, if the campus/district embeds Spring Semester content questions in the Fall Final (do not count these questions towards the student’s grade) then there is no need to administer an early Spring benchmark test. This simple act will recapture 2 to 4 instructional days in the January.

There is a little leeway for the Spring Semester Final.  For state tested and /or AP courses that provide performance data reports, we suggest not having a final. Simply have an end of unit test. For all other courses there needs to be a common and cumulative (for the Spring Semester) Final. As is the case for the Fall, the performance data will inform the instructional staff on pacing issues and will aid in the identification of successful and unsuccessful instructional practices. Additionally, the teachers in the receiving grade are able to use the Spring Final data to make better intervention and re-teaching decisions. This will also negate the need to administer an early Fall benchmark test. This simple act will recapture 2 to 4 instructional days in September.

Exemptions only made sense in the pre-data era. That era is getting smaller and smaller in our rear-view mirror.

Think. Work. Achieve.

Your turn...

• Call Jo at (832) 477-LEAD to order your campus set of “The Fundamental 5: The Formula for Quality Instruction.” Individual copies available on Amazon.com!  http://tinyurl.com/Fundamental5 
• Upcoming Conference Presentations: The Fundamental 5 National Summit (Keynote) 
• Now at the Apple App Store: Fun 5 Timer (Fundamental 5 Delivery Tool); PowerWalks CLC (Networked Formative Observation Tool) 
• Follow Sean Cain and LYS on www.Twitter.com/LYSNation  and like Lead Your School on Facebook

A Reader Asks... Is the Writing Critical

A LYS District Curriculum Specialist asks the following:

SC,

My colleague and I have both heard you speak and have read your explanation for determining if students are writing critically. We have reached two different conclusions. She still thinks most writing in ELAR is not critical. She refers to it as mostly free writing. 

But my take is that it depends on the task.  Now, I am not an ELAR specialist, so I am a little confused at what a free write is exactly.  If a student is given a task or prompt where they have to do a mind map, a thought process of how their own experiences relate to the task or prompt, connect their thoughts into writing and then they revise (usually through reflection with self and peers) then this type of task could be critical.  I hate to keep asking the same questions, I am just seeking clarification.

SC Response

I’m not surprised that this pursuit has led to some debate.  We too find ourselves debating when is a writing task critical and when is it not. To answer definitively, I would have to see the prompt.  Without seeing the prompt, I would venture to say that you are both probably right.  

Most writing in ELAR is not critical writing.  It is just getting words on paper.  A lot of warm-up and journal writing would fall in this category.  Along with the all too common, “Write about what you did for Spring Break” writing assignments, which are really just extended time fillers.  

Which is why you have to look at the prompt and determine: 

1. Does it force a connection between the content (taught today) and something else?

2. Does it force the student to think at the application level of cognition or higher?

If the answer to either of these questions is “no,” it is safe to assume that the writing will not be critical.  If the answer to both questions is “yes,” move to the next set of "look for’s."

You then have to look at what the students are writing and determine:

1. Are the students making some connection(s)?

2. Does the writing indicate thinking at the application level or higher?

If no, the writing is probably not critical.  If yes, you have a Critical Writing winner.

Finally, I will admit that the final test is your gut.  Throw the rules aside and just look. Everything may look wrong and your gut will tell you that it is critical writing, and vice-versa.  Trust your gut and then develop the vocabulary to explain why your gut is right.

   

Think. Work. Achieve.

Your turn...

• Call Jo at (832) 477-LEAD to order your campus set of “The Fundamental 5: The Formula for Quality Instruction.” Individual copies available on Amazon.com!  http://tinyurl.com/Fundamental5 
• Upcoming Conference Presentations: The Fundamental 5 National Summit (Keynote) 
• Now at the Apple App Store: Fun 5 Timer (Fundamental 5 Delivery Tool); PowerWalks CLC (Networked Formative Observation Tool) 
• Follow Sean Cain and LYS on www.Twitter.com/LYSNation  and like Lead Your School on Facebook