Friday, June 10, 2016
Budget Validation Referendum Reminder
Just a friendly reminder to get out and vote on Tuesday! And as always, if anyone has any questions about the proposed FY 17 school budget - PLEASE ASK! My email address is heather.perry@gorhamschools.org and my office phone number is 222-1012. Thank you!
Monday, May 23, 2016
End of Year ALREADY?
So I'm looking at my calendar the other day and I notice that today is May 23! How did we get here so fast? It seems like just yesterday I was starting my new job here in Gorham, which is now 11 months ago! I guess the saying really is true that time sure does fly when you are having fun - and fun is what I've been having! It has truly been a pleasure to have served this great school system and this great community for almost a year now. Gorham is truly blessed to have such dedicated students, such incredibly talented staff, such caring parents, and such a supportive community!
Just recently, I was sent a copy of a video presentation done by a group of our Sophomores at GHS who had spent the year working with a group of Village Elementary School students on their reading skills through a program called Teen Trendsetters. To me, watching this video exemplifies what I am talking about when I talk about our great dedicated students, staff, and community. Check it out: https://youtu.be/lCXfaxiyfVo
Of course, this video is just one example of MANY MANY MANY things that our students do for each other, and for our community. Just a few weeks ago, I was walking to GHOP (Oh yes, I do LOVE GHOP) for a quick lunch and noticed groups of our high school students out and about all over the town cleaning up lawns, and doing other community service projects. It is one of the things I truly love about this community. You don't have to go very long to see evidence of our students in the community helping out or evidence of our community in our schools helping our children. As just another quick example, I was at Great Falls Elementary School just a few weeks ago for their Career Day. During this day, staff at Great Falls had worked to invite in many many local business people to set up shop in the cafeteria and the gymnasium to show off their careers and to talk to students about why they do what they do, and what they had to learn in order to be able to do it. Students in grades K all the way up to 5 came through and were thoroughly engaged by our community members' stories! I must have seen 100 or more newly deputized Gorham PD students walking around with their sticker badges! It was awesome to watch and I was so thankful to have been a small part of it.
We have so many things to brag about in our schools like:
* Gorham has been named one of the top 15 places to live in Maine with high rankings on School Excellence.
* Our HS offers 45+ clubs and activities for students with strong performances from those who participate. Our Girl's Gold Ball this year, and our Odyssey of the Mind champions and robotics champions are just to name a few!
* 96% of our graduating seniors went on to post secondary experiences last year - and its looking like we will match that number again this year!
* Village Elem. School was one of just 4 schools to qualify across the state as a Blue Ribbon School this year.
* GMS jazz band students won "gold" at their competition earlier this spring.
* GMS students provided happy holidays to more than 20 local families.
* Narragansett Elem. School won "gold" from Maine's 5-2-1-0 program exemplifying what it means to live a healthy lifestyle!
* Great Falls Elem. students raised thousands of dollars for local food pantry in their "empty bowls" project work this past fall.
I could just keep going. REALLY, I could! In Gorham, we have what is known as the Code of Conduct that drives the culture of all 5 of our schools. "The Code" as it is lovingly referred to by both students and staff describes the five core community values we hold that cut across all that we do here in our schools. Those five values are:
1. Respect
2. Honesty
3. Courage
4. Compassion
5. Responsibility
(You can read more about these by going to: http://www.gorhamschools.org/core_documents/code_of_conduct )
Our students work hard to exemplify this code each and every day. There are so many examples of this that again, I could go on for pages and pages, but I think one example comes to mind that really says it all about our Gorham students - and it's the example of one Great Falls student. Here's a quick peek:
Doesn't that example just say it all about our students?
Over the course of the year, I have had so much fun being invited into classrooms to read, or to participate in assemblies, or to watch band concerts, or athletic events, etc.
My father always told me that if you want to get a true sense of a place, just get out there and walk around, introduce yourself, talk with people, share stories, etc. He always gives the best advice. I feel like I have definitely gotten a true sense of this place and it is good! Have we had a few "bumps" in the road over the course of the year - sure, and I'm sure there will be more down the path - but overall I am proud to be a member of this community - serving its children every day!
Well enough of all that, I'm sure I'm "Preaching to the Choir" (another of my father's great sayings) and that you all already know what I'm trying to articulate here so I'll move on.
As the last school day quickly approaches, our schools are entering a "fever pitch" in trying to wrap up the year, get those last minute lessons in, and to celebrate all the great things that have happend in our schools. Below is an overview of some of the exciting end of the year events we have planned here in the Gorham Schools. Please know this is NOT an all-inclusive list as that would take many more pages to post! As I said earlier, we've got some awesome students and some incredibly dedicated staff, and it seems they all like to show off their stuff at the end of the year because there are many more events happening in our schools than I can possibly list. I would suggest strongly going to our website for each school to see a more comprehensive list of all the year events. In the meantime, here are just a few:
* Senior Internships - May 23 - June 3, 2016
* 5th Grade Elem. Field Day - June 3, 2016 at USM
* K Elem. Field Day - June 6, 2016 at USM
* Gr. 1 Elem. Field Day - June 7, 2016 at USM
* Gr. 2 Elem. Field Day - June 8, 2016 at USM
* Gr. 3 Elem. Field Day - June 9, 2016 at USM
* Gr. 4 Elem. Field Day - June 10, 2016 at USM
* Step up day for MS to HS - June 6, 2013
* Step up day at Elem. to MS - June 13, 2016
* 8th grade Celebration - June 10, 2016
* GHS Graduation - June 12, 2016
* Last Day of School - June 14, 2016
Again, each school has all kinds of things happening, so please reach out to your school's office to get the most up to date information on what's happening!
Finally, before I close, I just wanted to make sure everyone was reminded to GET OUT AND VOTE on June 14, 2016. On this day, our school's proposed FY 17 budget will need to be "validated" via public referendum. It's important that as many people as possible get out to vote. As we teach our students here in Gorham, our democracy is only as good as the individuals who participate in it! So be sure to save the date on your calendar so you can be an active part of our local democracy! I will be posting one more blog post in early June to review highlights of the budget one more time, and I will also be placing a one-page summary in the Gorham Times for the June 2nd issue so keep your eyes open for that. Also, you can find a complete copy of our proposed FY 17 budget by clicking here: http://www.gorhamschools.org/pbl/Proposed%20FY%2017%20School%20Budget.pdf
And as always, if you have any questions, please don't hesitate to reach out and ask!
Just recently, I was sent a copy of a video presentation done by a group of our Sophomores at GHS who had spent the year working with a group of Village Elementary School students on their reading skills through a program called Teen Trendsetters. To me, watching this video exemplifies what I am talking about when I talk about our great dedicated students, staff, and community. Check it out: https://youtu.be/lCXfaxiyfVo
Of course, this video is just one example of MANY MANY MANY things that our students do for each other, and for our community. Just a few weeks ago, I was walking to GHOP (Oh yes, I do LOVE GHOP) for a quick lunch and noticed groups of our high school students out and about all over the town cleaning up lawns, and doing other community service projects. It is one of the things I truly love about this community. You don't have to go very long to see evidence of our students in the community helping out or evidence of our community in our schools helping our children. As just another quick example, I was at Great Falls Elementary School just a few weeks ago for their Career Day. During this day, staff at Great Falls had worked to invite in many many local business people to set up shop in the cafeteria and the gymnasium to show off their careers and to talk to students about why they do what they do, and what they had to learn in order to be able to do it. Students in grades K all the way up to 5 came through and were thoroughly engaged by our community members' stories! I must have seen 100 or more newly deputized Gorham PD students walking around with their sticker badges! It was awesome to watch and I was so thankful to have been a small part of it.
We have so many things to brag about in our schools like:
* Gorham has been named one of the top 15 places to live in Maine with high rankings on School Excellence.
* Our HS offers 45+ clubs and activities for students with strong performances from those who participate. Our Girl's Gold Ball this year, and our Odyssey of the Mind champions and robotics champions are just to name a few!
* 96% of our graduating seniors went on to post secondary experiences last year - and its looking like we will match that number again this year!
* Village Elem. School was one of just 4 schools to qualify across the state as a Blue Ribbon School this year.
* GMS jazz band students won "gold" at their competition earlier this spring.
* GMS students provided happy holidays to more than 20 local families.
* Narragansett Elem. School won "gold" from Maine's 5-2-1-0 program exemplifying what it means to live a healthy lifestyle!
* Great Falls Elem. students raised thousands of dollars for local food pantry in their "empty bowls" project work this past fall.
I could just keep going. REALLY, I could! In Gorham, we have what is known as the Code of Conduct that drives the culture of all 5 of our schools. "The Code" as it is lovingly referred to by both students and staff describes the five core community values we hold that cut across all that we do here in our schools. Those five values are:
1. Respect
2. Honesty
3. Courage
4. Compassion
5. Responsibility
(You can read more about these by going to: http://www.gorhamschools.org/core_documents/code_of_conduct )
Our students work hard to exemplify this code each and every day. There are so many examples of this that again, I could go on for pages and pages, but I think one example comes to mind that really says it all about our Gorham students - and it's the example of one Great Falls student. Here's a quick peek:
Doesn't that example just say it all about our students?
Over the course of the year, I have had so much fun being invited into classrooms to read, or to participate in assemblies, or to watch band concerts, or athletic events, etc.
Well enough of all that, I'm sure I'm "Preaching to the Choir" (another of my father's great sayings) and that you all already know what I'm trying to articulate here so I'll move on.
As the last school day quickly approaches, our schools are entering a "fever pitch" in trying to wrap up the year, get those last minute lessons in, and to celebrate all the great things that have happend in our schools. Below is an overview of some of the exciting end of the year events we have planned here in the Gorham Schools. Please know this is NOT an all-inclusive list as that would take many more pages to post! As I said earlier, we've got some awesome students and some incredibly dedicated staff, and it seems they all like to show off their stuff at the end of the year because there are many more events happening in our schools than I can possibly list. I would suggest strongly going to our website for each school to see a more comprehensive list of all the year events. In the meantime, here are just a few:
* Senior Internships - May 23 - June 3, 2016
* 5th Grade Elem. Field Day - June 3, 2016 at USM
* K Elem. Field Day - June 6, 2016 at USM
* Gr. 1 Elem. Field Day - June 7, 2016 at USM
* Gr. 2 Elem. Field Day - June 8, 2016 at USM
* Gr. 3 Elem. Field Day - June 9, 2016 at USM
* Gr. 4 Elem. Field Day - June 10, 2016 at USM
* Step up day for MS to HS - June 6, 2013
* Step up day at Elem. to MS - June 13, 2016
* 8th grade Celebration - June 10, 2016
* GHS Graduation - June 12, 2016
* Last Day of School - June 14, 2016
Again, each school has all kinds of things happening, so please reach out to your school's office to get the most up to date information on what's happening!
Finally, before I close, I just wanted to make sure everyone was reminded to GET OUT AND VOTE on June 14, 2016. On this day, our school's proposed FY 17 budget will need to be "validated" via public referendum. It's important that as many people as possible get out to vote. As we teach our students here in Gorham, our democracy is only as good as the individuals who participate in it! So be sure to save the date on your calendar so you can be an active part of our local democracy! I will be posting one more blog post in early June to review highlights of the budget one more time, and I will also be placing a one-page summary in the Gorham Times for the June 2nd issue so keep your eyes open for that. Also, you can find a complete copy of our proposed FY 17 budget by clicking here: http://www.gorhamschools.org/pbl/Proposed%20FY%2017%20School%20Budget.pdf
And as always, if you have any questions, please don't hesitate to reach out and ask!
Friday, April 1, 2016
Gorham Schools Proposed FY 17 Budget Summary
Gorham School Department
Proposed FY 17 Budget Summary
Before we get into the “dollars and cents” of the proposed FY 17 Budget, I felt it would be important to give everyone a sense of what the process to get to this point has been thus far so that you can see just how much time, dedication, and effort has been put in by the staff, by the leadership team, and by the School Committee to get to this proposed budget.
As you can see from the chart outlined above, there’s been a lot of hard work that has gone into the development of this proposed budget thus far. The process has involved many “ups” and “downs” during our conversations. There have been lots of hard questions asked, and data shared, all with the ultimate goal of developing a budget that attempts to balance the needs of educating our growing student population, with the needs of the taxpayers who support our school system.
Below are some highlights of some of our budget conversations and where we wound up reducing costs, as well as adding costs in several ways. I hope you can see that, with the exception of our CIPS request, many of the increases that were allowed to remain in the budget were offset with decreases.
Reductions Found in the FY 17 Proposed Budget (highlights only):
• Copy/Print Management (due to new contract) -$20,000.00
• Workers Compensation Costs (due to focus on prevention) -$50,188.00
• Unemployment Costs -$13,405.00
• Retirement Stipends -$25,128.00
• Jump Start Program Stipends -$8,000.00
• Professional Course Reimbursements -$21,600.00
• Special Education Legal Lines -$14,786.00
• Out of District Placement Costs -$105,000.00
• Removal of Contingency -$60,000.00
• Gas/Diesel Costs -$86,250.00
• Reduction of LP Gas -$25,000.00
• Reduction of Bus Lease Costs -$35,940.00
• Reduction of WRVC and PATHS assessments -$5,928.00
• Reduction of Telephone and Computer Equipment -$16,000.00
Total Reductions -$487,225.00
“Additions” Found in the FY 17 Proposed Budget (highlights only):
• Increased rate of Pay for Substitutes +$44,789.00
• Transportation Office Clerical Asst. & PD days increase +$17,191.00
• Increased Central Office Support Staff (accountant) +$67,500.00
• Addition of .3 Elem. Music Teacher +$21,000.00
• Addition of .6 Elem. Library/Media Specialist +$42,000.00
• Addition of K-5 Library Book Replacements +$4,000.00
• Purchase of Pilot Pro-Social Curriculum Gr. K-5 +$5,000.00
• Addition of Part Time MS Athletic Trainer +$9,600.00
• Purchase of Chrome Books (35 as a pilot at K-5 level) +$9,000.00
• Phase II of Converting Ed. Tech. II’s to III’s +$8,500.00
• Change to Title II PD Funds & Positions +$8,079.00
• GHS New Software +$8,045.00
• GHS Textbooks (American Studies and Science) +$28,600.00
• Grades 3-5 “Making Meaning” Reading Curriculum +17,889.00
• Addition of 1 3rd Gr. Teacher at Village (enrollment) +$70,000.00
• Addition of 1 K Teacher at Great Falls (enrollment) +$70,000.00
• Increase in Capital Improvement Program (CIPS) +$560,000.00
Total Additions +$991,193.00
Many of our overall reductions were made possible by good management techniques that were able to decrease our Worker’s Comp and Unemployment rates significantly. Additionally, because we focus on improved health and wellness with our staff, our insurance rates were actually able to hold steady with a 0% increase. Both of these major factors are saving our community tremendous amounts of potential employer related costs.
Our overall expenditure increases were mostly due to either the Capital Improvement Plan (CIPS) increase to address some much-needed capital renovations and maintenance for our buildings or they were due to our need to address our growing student populations. The latter is a good problem to have as next year we will receive additional revenue for these students from the state through the EPS funding formula.
In summary, the proposed FY 17 Budget is $36,491,178.00, which represents an overall expenditure increase of $1,416,647.00 or 4.04%.
On the Revenue side (assuming an overall value increase of $10 million dollars), this proposed budget is expected to increase the mil by an additional .87 cents of 8.37% with a projected actual mil rate of 11.28.
If members of the public wish to voice your opinions on this proposed budget, we would encourage your attendance at either the April 13 School Committee meeting when the School Committee will be voting to approve the proposed budget, or you may also attend the planned June 7 Town Council Public hearing. Also, the “final vote” will be made by the community as a whole during the planned June 14th Budget Validation Referendum.
That was a lot of information to share, without the benefit of all the background conversations that have gone into this budget, so I suspect you will have questions. I know that members of our School Committee, and I are always open to questions and communications. Please feel free to reach out to me via email at heather.perry@gorhamschools.org or to your individual School Committee Members. You can find their contact information by going to our website: www.gorhamschools.org.
We look forward to your future participation in these very important discussions.
THANK YOU!
Proposed FY 17 Budget Summary
Before we get into the “dollars and cents” of the proposed FY 17 Budget, I felt it would be important to give everyone a sense of what the process to get to this point has been thus far so that you can see just how much time, dedication, and effort has been put in by the staff, by the leadership team, and by the School Committee to get to this proposed budget.
What’s Been Done:
|
What’s Left To Be Done:
|
· September – November, 2015 – Reviewed and discussed budget dev. Timeline with School Committee (SC), Finance Committee, and District Leadership Team (DLT)
· November, 2015 – SC and DLT “Dine and Discuss” event held and individual school and programs began budget development processes with their staff.
· December, 2015 – Superintendent worked with DLT and SC Finance Committee to establish district budget priorities for FY 17. School budgets were due to Superintendent Dec. 11 and Program Budgets were due Dec. 18.
· January, 2016 – Superintendent met multiple times individually with each principal and program director to review budget requests line by line. A Prioritized list of “new initiatives” was created with input from DLT.
· February, 2016 – Superintendent created the 1st “Status Quo” * budget and the 1st “Superintendent’s Proposed Budget”. Superintendent and DLT presented these proposed budgets to the SC on Feb. 22 and Feb. 29.
· March, 2016 – Superintendent, DLT and School Committee met for THREE budget workshop meetings held on March 14, 21, and 30 to review the proposed budget and to make changes as necessary.
*”status quo” budget is a budget developed to show what the approximate cost of operation of the schools would be in FY 17 to run the SAME programs as FY 16. This budget is used as a reference point only.
|
· April 13, 2016 – Final presentation of the Proposed FY 17 Budget will be made to the School Committee. Public comment will be accepted. School Committee will vote to accept the proposed FY 17 Budget (with or without changes).
· May 17, 2016 – Budget Workshop between School Committee and Town Council to review proposed FY 17 budget and adjust as necessary.
· June 7, 2016 – Town Council Meeting, public hearing on FY 17 Municipal Budget (including School Budget) and Town Council Vote to accept the proposed FY 17 Budget (with or without changes).
· June 14, 2016 – Public School Budget Validation Referendum on FY 17 proposed School Budget.
|
As you can see from the chart outlined above, there’s been a lot of hard work that has gone into the development of this proposed budget thus far. The process has involved many “ups” and “downs” during our conversations. There have been lots of hard questions asked, and data shared, all with the ultimate goal of developing a budget that attempts to balance the needs of educating our growing student population, with the needs of the taxpayers who support our school system.
Below are some highlights of some of our budget conversations and where we wound up reducing costs, as well as adding costs in several ways. I hope you can see that, with the exception of our CIPS request, many of the increases that were allowed to remain in the budget were offset with decreases.
Reductions Found in the FY 17 Proposed Budget (highlights only):
• Copy/Print Management (due to new contract) -$20,000.00
• Workers Compensation Costs (due to focus on prevention) -$50,188.00
• Unemployment Costs -$13,405.00
• Retirement Stipends -$25,128.00
• Jump Start Program Stipends -$8,000.00
• Professional Course Reimbursements -$21,600.00
• Special Education Legal Lines -$14,786.00
• Out of District Placement Costs -$105,000.00
• Removal of Contingency -$60,000.00
• Gas/Diesel Costs -$86,250.00
• Reduction of LP Gas -$25,000.00
• Reduction of Bus Lease Costs -$35,940.00
• Reduction of WRVC and PATHS assessments -$5,928.00
• Reduction of Telephone and Computer Equipment -$16,000.00
Total Reductions -$487,225.00
“Additions” Found in the FY 17 Proposed Budget (highlights only):
• Increased rate of Pay for Substitutes +$44,789.00
• Transportation Office Clerical Asst. & PD days increase +$17,191.00
• Increased Central Office Support Staff (accountant) +$67,500.00
• Addition of .3 Elem. Music Teacher +$21,000.00
• Addition of .6 Elem. Library/Media Specialist +$42,000.00
• Addition of K-5 Library Book Replacements +$4,000.00
• Purchase of Pilot Pro-Social Curriculum Gr. K-5 +$5,000.00
• Addition of Part Time MS Athletic Trainer +$9,600.00
• Purchase of Chrome Books (35 as a pilot at K-5 level) +$9,000.00
• Phase II of Converting Ed. Tech. II’s to III’s +$8,500.00
• Change to Title II PD Funds & Positions +$8,079.00
• GHS New Software +$8,045.00
• GHS Textbooks (American Studies and Science) +$28,600.00
• Grades 3-5 “Making Meaning” Reading Curriculum +17,889.00
• Addition of 1 3rd Gr. Teacher at Village (enrollment) +$70,000.00
• Addition of 1 K Teacher at Great Falls (enrollment) +$70,000.00
• Increase in Capital Improvement Program (CIPS) +$560,000.00
Total Additions +$991,193.00
Many of our overall reductions were made possible by good management techniques that were able to decrease our Worker’s Comp and Unemployment rates significantly. Additionally, because we focus on improved health and wellness with our staff, our insurance rates were actually able to hold steady with a 0% increase. Both of these major factors are saving our community tremendous amounts of potential employer related costs.
Our overall expenditure increases were mostly due to either the Capital Improvement Plan (CIPS) increase to address some much-needed capital renovations and maintenance for our buildings or they were due to our need to address our growing student populations. The latter is a good problem to have as next year we will receive additional revenue for these students from the state through the EPS funding formula.
In summary, the proposed FY 17 Budget is $36,491,178.00, which represents an overall expenditure increase of $1,416,647.00 or 4.04%.
On the Revenue side (assuming an overall value increase of $10 million dollars), this proposed budget is expected to increase the mil by an additional .87 cents of 8.37% with a projected actual mil rate of 11.28.
If members of the public wish to voice your opinions on this proposed budget, we would encourage your attendance at either the April 13 School Committee meeting when the School Committee will be voting to approve the proposed budget, or you may also attend the planned June 7 Town Council Public hearing. Also, the “final vote” will be made by the community as a whole during the planned June 14th Budget Validation Referendum.
That was a lot of information to share, without the benefit of all the background conversations that have gone into this budget, so I suspect you will have questions. I know that members of our School Committee, and I are always open to questions and communications. Please feel free to reach out to me via email at heather.perry@gorhamschools.org or to your individual School Committee Members. You can find their contact information by going to our website: www.gorhamschools.org.
We look forward to your future participation in these very important discussions.
THANK YOU!
Monday, March 28, 2016
Gorham Middle School 4th Quarter Proficiency Based Learning (PBL) Pilot
Good evening everyone! It's been about a month since my last post so I thought I'd take a moment to share a little of what we have planned for 7th graders at Gorham Middle School for this upcoming 4th quarter. During the 4th quarter we will be conducting a pilot of our Proficiency Based Learning (PBL) system with all 7th grade students in the content area of science.
Teachers across all content areas at GMS have been using our new Graduation standards, Performance Indicators, Learning Targets and Scoring Guides over the course of this whole school year in their classroom instruction, but this pilot is taking our work up to a whole other level in trying to put all the moving parts together into a cohesive unit!
OK, let's pause for a key terms explanation:
* Proficiency Based Learning - A system of learning whereby students must demonstrate skills and knowledge based upon the attainment of specific rigorous standards of learning.
* Graduation Standards - The "next to the largest" sized components of a proficiency based system. There are usually 3-8 graduation standards for each content area. These are what must be met in order to graduate from a proficiency based learning system.
* Performance Indicators - The "medium" sized components of a proficiency based system. There are approximately 4-6 indicators by grade/grade span or course/learning experience for each content area standard that move students toward the achievement of graduation standards.
* Learning Targets - The "smallest" components of a proficiency based system. These are the learning objectives that guide the design of curriculum units of study that move students toward the achievement of Performance Indicators.
* Scoring Guides - These are also sometimes referred to as "rubrics". They communicate expectations of quality around a particular task or skill attainment. In Gorham, we use what are called "I CAN" Statements. For example, if a performance indicator states that a student will use "algebraic concepts to solve complex math problems, then the Scoring Guide might be something like a "3" or "meets" means that "I can identify an unknown variable and create an algebraic equation to solve for that unknown."
All of these together might look something like this:
For this pilot, we will be assessing students toward meeting these performance indicators, and tracking student learning towards standards using our new standards-based grading software called "Jumprope".
Before I get too far into the details, let me take a moment to step back and help everyone to understand why we are piloting at the 7th-grade level and where this work fits in with the "grand plan" moving forward with our PBL implementation.
The Gorham School System has been working to create a proficiency-based system of learning for several years now. We believe that engagement and student achievement improve when the components of a proficiency-based learning (PBL) system are in place across all grades and content areas. Those components are: clear learning targets and performance indicators, aligned instruction and assessments, timely interventions, and grading/reporting that reflects this learning.
Parallel to this work, the state of Maine passed legislation requiring that the class of 2018 graduate from all public schools with a PBL diploma. Gorham applied for an extension that would require the class of 2021 (our current 7th grade) to be the first class to graduate from our system with a PBL diploma.
The major reason we are piloting with this class is that we believe it is important to pilot our PBL system before the current 7th grade gets to the high school, which is when our system must be fully operational for our students.
Change is most definitely a process and NOT a single event, hence the reason for this pilot with this grade and in this content area. We are trying to see how our system will work in enough of a "closed system" to identify what works well, and where our challenges are so that we can continue to support our strengths and focus our attention on improving our challenges. Our hope is that by the time this current 7th grade class moves into the 9th grade, our PBL system will be strong, and better able to prepare ALL our students for success in the complex world that awaits them! That is a goal, we all most definitely share!
During this pilot, students and parents will be able to access their grades via Jumprope, our new standards-based reporting software. Within Jumprope, students will still get a composite score on all performance in science. A "composite score" is like a "final grade" in the content area of science, but it is made up of the student's performance in all Performance Indicators contained within the content area. All grades for all performance indicators will be reported out using a 4 point scale where a range of scores between 2.5 - 3 will mean that the student has met proficiency. Parents will be able to see how composite scores are constructed. Our hope is that students and parents will have a clearer understanding of learning goals and what actions they need to take to acquire understanding. As an example, a student learning report in Jumprope might look something like this:
Additionally, student scores will reflect their academic performance and not include their performance on "Skills for Life" which will be reported separately. "Skills for Life" are things like being prepared for class, turning in work on time, and using class time effectively, etc. These are important skills, so rather than mixing them up with content area skills, we will instruct these, and report out on student learning in these areas separately.
Our plan will be to spend time during this fourth quarter to train students in how to use Jumprope so that they, in turn, can teach parents how to use the system. "Welcome" messages to open the parent portal will be sent out to student email accounts for all 7th grade students later this week. We will then send another message to all 7th grade parents letting them know that this information was sent and that their students have the email that will allow them to login. Parents who have difficulty, or whose student might have misplaced the email can call the office and we will assist to make sure all parents can access the portal.
Well, this blog post is long enough. .. but before I go - I just want to give a quick glimpse into how this pilot fits into the other work that is going on across all grades to create our PBL system. This year, K-5 teachers have been tracking student learning in Jumprope for ELA and Math; next year, student learning will be tracked in science, social studies, and the creative arts as well, but still reported out to parents using IC. This year, 7th grade science teachers will use Jumprope to track and report student learning progress during teh 4th quarter. Based on the results of this pilot, we will then determine the next steps for a larger pilot at GMS next year, as well as a small pilot with 9th grade at GHS for next year. Then, during the following year, we would "phase in" our full PBL system, complete with Jumprope reporting, across all 9th grade GHS courses and then continue to phase in through the high school as these students move up through the system. Eventually, all grades K-12 will fully implement our PBL system and be asked to utilize Jumprope to track student learning and to report that learning to students and parents.
During the course of this summer and the next school year our Grades 6-12 Grading and Reporting Committees will continue to work in order to finalize recommendations for full implementation of our PBL system. Decisions will need to be made in the following key areas: 1) Final Skills for Life Rubrics 2) Grading scales and associated implications for things like honor roll, athletic eligibility, class rank, etc. 3) GHS Transcripts and Profiles that will be sent to post secondary institutions, and 4) Guiding Principles rubrics.
All through this work, we will continue to emphasize parent communication and engagement. As always, if you have any questions about our PBL implementation, please reach out to your child's teachers, principal, or even myself! We are all very interested in helping to answer your important questions!
That's it for tonight (and isn't that enough. . . phew!). My next post will be an in depth review of the proposed FY 17 Gorham School budget and information on how you can get involved in the budget approval process if you are interested!
THANK YOU!
Teachers across all content areas at GMS have been using our new Graduation standards, Performance Indicators, Learning Targets and Scoring Guides over the course of this whole school year in their classroom instruction, but this pilot is taking our work up to a whole other level in trying to put all the moving parts together into a cohesive unit!
OK, let's pause for a key terms explanation:
* Proficiency Based Learning - A system of learning whereby students must demonstrate skills and knowledge based upon the attainment of specific rigorous standards of learning.
* Graduation Standards - The "next to the largest" sized components of a proficiency based system. There are usually 3-8 graduation standards for each content area. These are what must be met in order to graduate from a proficiency based learning system.
* Performance Indicators - The "medium" sized components of a proficiency based system. There are approximately 4-6 indicators by grade/grade span or course/learning experience for each content area standard that move students toward the achievement of graduation standards.
* Learning Targets - The "smallest" components of a proficiency based system. These are the learning objectives that guide the design of curriculum units of study that move students toward the achievement of Performance Indicators.
* Scoring Guides - These are also sometimes referred to as "rubrics". They communicate expectations of quality around a particular task or skill attainment. In Gorham, we use what are called "I CAN" Statements. For example, if a performance indicator states that a student will use "algebraic concepts to solve complex math problems, then the Scoring Guide might be something like a "3" or "meets" means that "I can identify an unknown variable and create an algebraic equation to solve for that unknown."
All of these together might look something like this:
| Gorham Middle School Science Scoring Criteria - 7th Grade | ||||
| Graduation Standard 1: Stability and Change: Explain how stability and change shape engineered or natural systems. | ||||
| Performance Indicators | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 |
| 7.1A Construct an argument supported by empirical evidence that changes to physical or biological components of an ecosystem affect populations (MS-LS2-4). | I can identify parts of an ecosystem | I can show the relationship between the physical and biological components of an ecosystem | I can construct an argument supported by empirical evidence that changes to physical or biological components of an ecosystem affect populations. | I can evaluate specific changes to and ecosystem and predict the effects it would have on a population. |
For this pilot, we will be assessing students toward meeting these performance indicators, and tracking student learning towards standards using our new standards-based grading software called "Jumprope".
Before I get too far into the details, let me take a moment to step back and help everyone to understand why we are piloting at the 7th-grade level and where this work fits in with the "grand plan" moving forward with our PBL implementation.
The Gorham School System has been working to create a proficiency-based system of learning for several years now. We believe that engagement and student achievement improve when the components of a proficiency-based learning (PBL) system are in place across all grades and content areas. Those components are: clear learning targets and performance indicators, aligned instruction and assessments, timely interventions, and grading/reporting that reflects this learning.
Parallel to this work, the state of Maine passed legislation requiring that the class of 2018 graduate from all public schools with a PBL diploma. Gorham applied for an extension that would require the class of 2021 (our current 7th grade) to be the first class to graduate from our system with a PBL diploma.
The major reason we are piloting with this class is that we believe it is important to pilot our PBL system before the current 7th grade gets to the high school, which is when our system must be fully operational for our students.
Change is most definitely a process and NOT a single event, hence the reason for this pilot with this grade and in this content area. We are trying to see how our system will work in enough of a "closed system" to identify what works well, and where our challenges are so that we can continue to support our strengths and focus our attention on improving our challenges. Our hope is that by the time this current 7th grade class moves into the 9th grade, our PBL system will be strong, and better able to prepare ALL our students for success in the complex world that awaits them! That is a goal, we all most definitely share!
During this pilot, students and parents will be able to access their grades via Jumprope, our new standards-based reporting software. Within Jumprope, students will still get a composite score on all performance in science. A "composite score" is like a "final grade" in the content area of science, but it is made up of the student's performance in all Performance Indicators contained within the content area. All grades for all performance indicators will be reported out using a 4 point scale where a range of scores between 2.5 - 3 will mean that the student has met proficiency. Parents will be able to see how composite scores are constructed. Our hope is that students and parents will have a clearer understanding of learning goals and what actions they need to take to acquire understanding. As an example, a student learning report in Jumprope might look something like this:
Additionally, student scores will reflect their academic performance and not include their performance on "Skills for Life" which will be reported separately. "Skills for Life" are things like being prepared for class, turning in work on time, and using class time effectively, etc. These are important skills, so rather than mixing them up with content area skills, we will instruct these, and report out on student learning in these areas separately.
Our plan will be to spend time during this fourth quarter to train students in how to use Jumprope so that they, in turn, can teach parents how to use the system. "Welcome" messages to open the parent portal will be sent out to student email accounts for all 7th grade students later this week. We will then send another message to all 7th grade parents letting them know that this information was sent and that their students have the email that will allow them to login. Parents who have difficulty, or whose student might have misplaced the email can call the office and we will assist to make sure all parents can access the portal.
Well, this blog post is long enough. .. but before I go - I just want to give a quick glimpse into how this pilot fits into the other work that is going on across all grades to create our PBL system. This year, K-5 teachers have been tracking student learning in Jumprope for ELA and Math; next year, student learning will be tracked in science, social studies, and the creative arts as well, but still reported out to parents using IC. This year, 7th grade science teachers will use Jumprope to track and report student learning progress during teh 4th quarter. Based on the results of this pilot, we will then determine the next steps for a larger pilot at GMS next year, as well as a small pilot with 9th grade at GHS for next year. Then, during the following year, we would "phase in" our full PBL system, complete with Jumprope reporting, across all 9th grade GHS courses and then continue to phase in through the high school as these students move up through the system. Eventually, all grades K-12 will fully implement our PBL system and be asked to utilize Jumprope to track student learning and to report that learning to students and parents.
During the course of this summer and the next school year our Grades 6-12 Grading and Reporting Committees will continue to work in order to finalize recommendations for full implementation of our PBL system. Decisions will need to be made in the following key areas: 1) Final Skills for Life Rubrics 2) Grading scales and associated implications for things like honor roll, athletic eligibility, class rank, etc. 3) GHS Transcripts and Profiles that will be sent to post secondary institutions, and 4) Guiding Principles rubrics.
All through this work, we will continue to emphasize parent communication and engagement. As always, if you have any questions about our PBL implementation, please reach out to your child's teachers, principal, or even myself! We are all very interested in helping to answer your important questions!
That's it for tonight (and isn't that enough. . . phew!). My next post will be an in depth review of the proposed FY 17 Gorham School budget and information on how you can get involved in the budget approval process if you are interested!
THANK YOU!
Tuesday, February 23, 2016
February Ramblings!
Good evening everyone! I hope you are all at home enjoying this wonderful February evening. Hard to believe that March will soon be upon us and that winter still could have another month or so of fun left in it still, especially when many of you may be seeing your crocus begin to pop out from under what little snow is left out there! It is also hard to believe that there is really only about three full months left of school this year (excluding April's vacation week, and the chaos that is often June). Although I'm sure if any of you are parents of HS seniors, you know exactly how much time is left in the school year, possibly down to the minute! To be honest, I think about all the things that I need to accomplish between now and the end of this school year and I want to add days! Of course, I'm thinking I would not be all that popular with the students if I suggested that, so I will refrain! :)
It has been about a month since my last post, so I wanted to take a moment to give a brief update to all of you regarding some important "happenings" in the district. First, I wanted to provide an update on where we are with our FY 17 budget development work. We have been working on developing our FY 17 budget in earnest since November when teachers and other staff began building their building and program level budgets that were due to me in December. In January, I met individually (and multiple times) with each building principal and each program director in the district to review their budget requests line by line. During these conversations, building principals and program directors had to be able to articluate a clear rationale for every request in their budgets, from colored folders to personnel requests to other new initiatives and everything in between. We then used all this information to compile two different budgets. The first budget that was developed is called the "status quo" budget. This budget is created simply to show the School Committee and others what it would cost to basically do the same things in FY 17 as we did in FY 16. No new initiatives, no new personnel, just keeping things about where they are now. This budget creates what I like to refer to as a "baseline" for comparison purposes as we then turn our attention to the second budget that was created. I lovingly refer to this second budget as the "Superinendent's Proposed Budget" or "HP1". It is in this "HP1" budget where we reflect any suggested increases for new initiatives. I label it "HP1" because over the course of the month of February and March, this superintendent's proposed budget will see several iterations and likely be at "HP5 or 6" before it is brought to the School Committee for full approval in April.
I share all of this to hopefully make it clear that where the proposed budget is now is NOT where it is going to wind up by the time we work our way through the process and get to a point where the School Committee votes to approve the budget in April. The proposed budget will be presented to the School Committee over the course of two workshop meetings. One occurred last night (2/22) and the other will occur this coming Monday (2/29) starting at 6:30 p.m. in the upstairs conference room. We are recording both meetings and will make sure that they are available on GoCat asap. After these two informational meetings are complete, the School Committee will then have three additional budget workshop meetings, during which significant changes can be made to the proposed budget. Those workshop meetings are open to the public to attend and are scheduled for 6:30p.m. on the following evenings:
* March 14
* March 21
* March 23
A proposed budget will then be brought to the School Committee for approval at it's April 13 regular meeting which is also open to the public and will be on camera. Once approved, the budget is then sent on to the Town Council by April 19. A joint workshop meeting between the Town Council and the School Committee (which is also open to the public to view) is scheduled for the evening of May 17th. The Town Council then has a public hearing and vote scheduled for the Town's Budget (including the school's budget) on June 7, 2016. The School's budget approval process then winds up with one last step - the validation referendum vote, which is scheduled for June 14, 2016.
That's a pretty lengthy and involved process, and one that involves a great deal of give and take as we work our way through. By the time we get to the public validation referendum vote, I have full faith that what is presented will represent the best work possible by all parties involved to put forward a budget to support the operatation of a comprehensive K-12 public education system that will meet the needs of our children, while balancing the needs of our taxpayers, who support our great system, to keep assessments as low as possible.
I will be sure to post updates via this blog, and via our website on where the proposed FY 17 budget stands as we move through this process.
I also wanted to make sure I reminded everyone about the Re-Visioning Process and our upcoming public forums. So far we have had some great responses from our online survey. Thank you to those who participated already - and if you haven't participated, please do so (Here's the link: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/RXCYSCS ). So far we've had 688 parents respond, and over 250 community members, but we'd love more! The survey will be closed on March 10 so that we can sift through all the data and develop themes that will be used to craft a brand new Vision, Mission, and set of core beliefs for the Gorham Schools. Exciting work, and we'd love your voice!
For those of you who might prefer a face to face conversation, I will be hosting a series of public forums on this process over the course of the next few weeks. Here's a link to the details of those forums - would love to see you there! (CLICK HERE) With the help of Gorham's Business Exchange and the Westbrook/Gorham Chamber, I am also reaching out specifically to area business people to participate in this process. So again, if you haven't completed the survey, and you are a local business person - we want your voice too!
Before I lose all of you with this lengthy post, I also wanted to share some of the great things going on in our schools right now. Of course, I could go on and on for pages so I'll select just a few! At GHS, we've recently had the one-act play "Asylum" make a big splash on the local drama scene! Good luck to our students who are taking this one act play on the road to regional competitions! Winter athletic programs are beginning to wrap up as well at the HS level. We've had some excellent performances by individuals and teams this winter. I have to say it has been a pleasure watching our students compete and hearing about their success! Our students really do represent our community so well! Anna Slager won the 1 and 2 mile competitions at the recent indoor state level track meet. Our boys b-ball team recently performed well in the tournament, although ultimately losing to neighboring Massabesic. Our cheerleaders did well in their respective competitions as well. Our boy's hockey team starts their playoffs tonight, and of course, our girls basketball team will be playing for the state championship this Saturday night vs. Edward Little. I know I've missed some accolades here - but to all our students who give their all for these activities and for our school. .. all I can say is we are proud of you and GO RAMS!
Finally, I really wanted to share this awesome video coming from our very own Great Falls Elementary School. I recently had the pleasure of spending some quality time at Great Falls reading "The One and Only Ivan" to several of the classes there, and got to know many of these great students and staff. On a day I wasn't there, however. .. they did an all school song celebrating diversity. It is definitely worth a view to brighten up your evening: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U_h3O0xb5wA
Well, that's enough writing for now. .. gotta go check the weather as it looks like it might be a little messy out in the morning! Stay tuned - you might be hearing from me earlier than you would like!
It has been about a month since my last post, so I wanted to take a moment to give a brief update to all of you regarding some important "happenings" in the district. First, I wanted to provide an update on where we are with our FY 17 budget development work. We have been working on developing our FY 17 budget in earnest since November when teachers and other staff began building their building and program level budgets that were due to me in December. In January, I met individually (and multiple times) with each building principal and each program director in the district to review their budget requests line by line. During these conversations, building principals and program directors had to be able to articluate a clear rationale for every request in their budgets, from colored folders to personnel requests to other new initiatives and everything in between. We then used all this information to compile two different budgets. The first budget that was developed is called the "status quo" budget. This budget is created simply to show the School Committee and others what it would cost to basically do the same things in FY 17 as we did in FY 16. No new initiatives, no new personnel, just keeping things about where they are now. This budget creates what I like to refer to as a "baseline" for comparison purposes as we then turn our attention to the second budget that was created. I lovingly refer to this second budget as the "Superinendent's Proposed Budget" or "HP1". It is in this "HP1" budget where we reflect any suggested increases for new initiatives. I label it "HP1" because over the course of the month of February and March, this superintendent's proposed budget will see several iterations and likely be at "HP5 or 6" before it is brought to the School Committee for full approval in April.
I share all of this to hopefully make it clear that where the proposed budget is now is NOT where it is going to wind up by the time we work our way through the process and get to a point where the School Committee votes to approve the budget in April. The proposed budget will be presented to the School Committee over the course of two workshop meetings. One occurred last night (2/22) and the other will occur this coming Monday (2/29) starting at 6:30 p.m. in the upstairs conference room. We are recording both meetings and will make sure that they are available on GoCat asap. After these two informational meetings are complete, the School Committee will then have three additional budget workshop meetings, during which significant changes can be made to the proposed budget. Those workshop meetings are open to the public to attend and are scheduled for 6:30p.m. on the following evenings:
* March 14
* March 21
* March 23
A proposed budget will then be brought to the School Committee for approval at it's April 13 regular meeting which is also open to the public and will be on camera. Once approved, the budget is then sent on to the Town Council by April 19. A joint workshop meeting between the Town Council and the School Committee (which is also open to the public to view) is scheduled for the evening of May 17th. The Town Council then has a public hearing and vote scheduled for the Town's Budget (including the school's budget) on June 7, 2016. The School's budget approval process then winds up with one last step - the validation referendum vote, which is scheduled for June 14, 2016.
That's a pretty lengthy and involved process, and one that involves a great deal of give and take as we work our way through. By the time we get to the public validation referendum vote, I have full faith that what is presented will represent the best work possible by all parties involved to put forward a budget to support the operatation of a comprehensive K-12 public education system that will meet the needs of our children, while balancing the needs of our taxpayers, who support our great system, to keep assessments as low as possible.
I will be sure to post updates via this blog, and via our website on where the proposed FY 17 budget stands as we move through this process.
I also wanted to make sure I reminded everyone about the Re-Visioning Process and our upcoming public forums. So far we have had some great responses from our online survey. Thank you to those who participated already - and if you haven't participated, please do so (Here's the link: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/RXCYSCS ). So far we've had 688 parents respond, and over 250 community members, but we'd love more! The survey will be closed on March 10 so that we can sift through all the data and develop themes that will be used to craft a brand new Vision, Mission, and set of core beliefs for the Gorham Schools. Exciting work, and we'd love your voice!
For those of you who might prefer a face to face conversation, I will be hosting a series of public forums on this process over the course of the next few weeks. Here's a link to the details of those forums - would love to see you there! (CLICK HERE) With the help of Gorham's Business Exchange and the Westbrook/Gorham Chamber, I am also reaching out specifically to area business people to participate in this process. So again, if you haven't completed the survey, and you are a local business person - we want your voice too!
Before I lose all of you with this lengthy post, I also wanted to share some of the great things going on in our schools right now. Of course, I could go on and on for pages so I'll select just a few! At GHS, we've recently had the one-act play "Asylum" make a big splash on the local drama scene! Good luck to our students who are taking this one act play on the road to regional competitions! Winter athletic programs are beginning to wrap up as well at the HS level. We've had some excellent performances by individuals and teams this winter. I have to say it has been a pleasure watching our students compete and hearing about their success! Our students really do represent our community so well! Anna Slager won the 1 and 2 mile competitions at the recent indoor state level track meet. Our boys b-ball team recently performed well in the tournament, although ultimately losing to neighboring Massabesic. Our cheerleaders did well in their respective competitions as well. Our boy's hockey team starts their playoffs tonight, and of course, our girls basketball team will be playing for the state championship this Saturday night vs. Edward Little. I know I've missed some accolades here - but to all our students who give their all for these activities and for our school. .. all I can say is we are proud of you and GO RAMS!
Finally, I really wanted to share this awesome video coming from our very own Great Falls Elementary School. I recently had the pleasure of spending some quality time at Great Falls reading "The One and Only Ivan" to several of the classes there, and got to know many of these great students and staff. On a day I wasn't there, however. .. they did an all school song celebrating diversity. It is definitely worth a view to brighten up your evening: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U_h3O0xb5wA
Well, that's enough writing for now. .. gotta go check the weather as it looks like it might be a little messy out in the morning! Stay tuned - you might be hearing from me earlier than you would like!
Thursday, January 7, 2016
Update on Our Proficiency Based Learning (PBL) Goals for 2015-16
In Gorham, we believe that student engagement and student achievement improve when the components of a "proficiency-based learning" (PBL) system are in place across all grades and content areas. Those components are: clear learning targets, aligned instruction and assessments, timely interventions, and grading/reporting that reflects those learning targets.
____________________________________________________________________
Side Note Before we go too much further, how about a few definitions:
* Proficiency Based Learning - A system of learning whereby students must demonstrate skills and knowledge based upon the attainment of specific rigorous standards of learning.
* Learning Targets - The "smallest" components of a proficiency based system. These are the learning objectives that guide the design of curriculum units of study that move students toward the achievement of Performance Indicators.
* Performance Indicators - The "medium" sized components of a proficiency based system. There are approximately 4-6 indicators by grade/grade span or course/learning experience for each content area standard that move students toward the achievement of graduation standards.
* Graduation Standards - The "next to the largest" sized components of a proficiency based system. There are usually 3-8 graduation standards for each content area. These are what must be met in order to graduate from a proficiency based learning system.
* Cross Curricular Graduation Standards - The "largest" sized components of a proficiency based system. These are the five guiding principles of Maine's Learning Results that are taught in all content areas - things like being an "effective communicator" or an "integrated problem solver", etc.
Here's a visual that will help see how these pieces relate:
You can also find more information on the MDOE website at:
http://www.maine.gov/doe/proficiency/
SORRY FOR SIDETRACKING THERE - JUST TRYING TO BUILD UP SOME UNDERSTANDING OF THE TERMS YOU'LL BE SEEING MORE AND MORE OF AS WE MOVE ALONG IN THIS WORK. Please know that we hope you continue to ask questions of teachers, principals and others to learn more for yourself what these terms mean and how they relate to the daily educational activities of your child - but that's probably a whole other series of blog posts - so we'll leave it here for now. Hope it helped! Now back to the update!
_________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________
Side Note Before we go too much further, how about a few definitions:
* Proficiency Based Learning - A system of learning whereby students must demonstrate skills and knowledge based upon the attainment of specific rigorous standards of learning.
* Learning Targets - The "smallest" components of a proficiency based system. These are the learning objectives that guide the design of curriculum units of study that move students toward the achievement of Performance Indicators.
* Performance Indicators - The "medium" sized components of a proficiency based system. There are approximately 4-6 indicators by grade/grade span or course/learning experience for each content area standard that move students toward the achievement of graduation standards.
* Graduation Standards - The "next to the largest" sized components of a proficiency based system. There are usually 3-8 graduation standards for each content area. These are what must be met in order to graduate from a proficiency based learning system.
* Cross Curricular Graduation Standards - The "largest" sized components of a proficiency based system. These are the five guiding principles of Maine's Learning Results that are taught in all content areas - things like being an "effective communicator" or an "integrated problem solver", etc.
Here's a visual that will help see how these pieces relate:
http://www.maine.gov/doe/proficiency/
SORRY FOR SIDETRACKING THERE - JUST TRYING TO BUILD UP SOME UNDERSTANDING OF THE TERMS YOU'LL BE SEEING MORE AND MORE OF AS WE MOVE ALONG IN THIS WORK. Please know that we hope you continue to ask questions of teachers, principals and others to learn more for yourself what these terms mean and how they relate to the daily educational activities of your child - but that's probably a whole other series of blog posts - so we'll leave it here for now. Hope it helped! Now back to the update!
_________________________________________________________________________
What teacher, student, or parent wouldn't want the things that students have to learn at every grade level and in every content area to be clear to all stakeholders rather than being kept some kind of a secret? Who wouldn't want the instruction and assessments used by teachers across all grades and subjects to be aligned to those learning targets and actually assess student skills in those areas instead of something else entirely? If a student isn't doing well, at any time, who wouldn't want an educational system that responds quickly and effectively to assist students in meeting learning targets before a student gets so far behind that they begin to lose confidence in themselves as learners? And finally, what teacher, student, or parent wouldn't want the grades that are earned and reported on to be a clear reflection of student achievement in these specific skills and not necessarily a reflection of time spent in a room or based solely on effort? The answer is no one. The components of a proficiency-based learning system are really just really good teaching practices. They are the time-tested things that have always worked in any successful educational system. The difference is that now we are really trying to pay attention to these components and are working diligently to build our entire K-12 system around meeting these ideals and making them a reality for our all our students rather than simply paying them lip service. Now, to be clear, I don’t think Gorham has ever been in a situation (at least not in recent history) where the majority of our students flounder, or where the majority of our teachers don’t use these really good teaching practices. But with a proficiency based learning system, we simply aren’t leaving it to chance and are building our entire system around these excellent practices so that all of our students experience the benefit of these common excellent practices.
Our overall goal here in Gorham is to fully implement our proficiency based learning system district-wide by the 2017-18 school year. Over the past few years we've done a great deal of work to move us closer to meeting this goal. We have created a draft of our graduation standards (which are being piloted and are still subject to change) that are aligned with Maine's Parameters for Essential Instruction. We have created performance indicators aligned to these graduation standards in all content areas in grades K-12. Currently, we are in the process of developing scoring criteria for the performance indicators as well as summative assessments that will enable students to show their level of proficiency at each performance indicator.
This year we have had several major focus areas at the K-5 level. The first has been to have teachers use our new standards-based grading software called "JumpRope" to track student progress in their learning of ELA and Math. Although parents have not yet interacted with this new software, the intent is for them to do so once teachers feel comfortable with JumpRope and have worked the "bugs" out of the system. This will make sure that the system is reporting clearly and consistently on student learning before opening it up to parents. Once the parent portal is open, parents can see how their children are performing and what skills they are learning in real time. So far this work has been going well with K-5 teachers. They are finding the areas of the system that need to be tweaked and improved and are learning how to utilize the system to track student learning efficiently and effectively.
Another major focus area at the K-5 level has been to finish up work on creating performance indicators and scoring criteria aligned to our graduation standards in the areas of science, social studies, art, music, and physical education so that next year we may also be able to track student learning in these areas via JumpRope. This work is moving along nicely as teachers utilize Early Release afternoons and other professional release time for this purpose as well as to create aligned summative assessments.
The hope is that once this "infrastructure" work is complete (the creation of performance indicators, scoring criteria, and common assessments aligned to our graduation standards in all eight content areas), we will be able to utilize JumpRope to fully track all student learning, and to open up the JumpRope grading and reporting system to parents who can then become true partners with teachers in the learning process. Additionally, by making this learning clear and transparent, students will also be able to utilize JumpRope to track their own learning, identify their own areas of strength and challenge, and better understand what they are learning, why they are learning it, how they can be successful in their learning, and what comes next in their learning once they have mastered a particular skill.
This year's focus areas for grades 6-8 are to finalize performance indicators and scoring criteria aligned to graduation standards in all eight content areas, to pilot the use of JumpRope in grade 7 during the fourth quarter, and to improve our intervention systems for students.
Middle school teachers are working diligently during our Early Release afternoons to finalize performance indicators and scoring criteria in all eight content areas and to create and revise aligned summative assessments. So far, so good in this area. In fact, a team of grade 7 teachers are on track to pilot the use of JumpRope in science during the fourth quarter. Parents of 7th graders will be provided with training on how to utilize the system and how to make sense of the new reporting formats to stay informed on their student's learning. The intent will then be to pilot JumpRope more broadly at the middle school level during the next school year. A group of teachers at the middle school are also working closely with Principal Riley to review how the current EICAL block can be better utilized as a method to provide middle school students with timely and effective interventions.
There are also proficiency based learning goals for the 6-12 grade span for this school year. A lot of work is being done to bring consistency across the 6-12 system. One area of focus is on the alignment of grading practices within our proficiency based learning system, including how to separate out skills for life (things like turning homework in on time, or taking pride in one’s work, etc.) from academic skills. Another goal is to improve teachers’ ability to develop high quality assessments in all content areas and at all grade levels.
A "Grading and Reporting" committee has been developed at each of the two schools comprised of administrators and teachers both to improve assessment literacy for teachers and to align grading practices at these grade levels to our proficiency based learning system. These two committees are being overseen by a "6-12 Committee" that is working to make sure these practices are implemented consistently across grades 6-12. Additionally, the 6-12 Committee is working to develop a plan for how to separate out skills for life from academic skills at these grade levels. The intent is for this plan to be piloted starting at the middle school during the next school year.
Additional goals for this school year at the high school level only are to develop performance indicators and scoring criteria in all GHS courses, and to figure out how to expand effective intervention opportunities for high school students during the school day. Summative assessment work is also being done during early release afternoons and inservice days by high school staff with the hope that these assessments will be piloted during the next school year. A scheduling committee is currently reviewing the GHS schedule with the intent of implementing changes during the next school year that will allow for additional intervention time to be built in during the school day.
In addition to all this internal infrastructure work, the Gorham School Committee has begun a process to "re-vision" its district mission/vision and core beliefs. A steering committee has been created consisting of teachers, administrators, students, parents, and community members to guide this work. This group is focused on gathering appropriate feedback from all key stakeholders that will be used to guide the development of our vision and to refine our Proficiency based learning system implementation for the school district over the course of the next 5-7 years. The first stages of this feedback collection will begin in earnest later this month and be conducted over the course of this winter and later this spring, culminating in the creation of a new mission/vision and set of core beliefs for the Gorham Schools by June.
By sharing this update with all of you, my hope is that you gain an understanding of the work we are undertaking here in Gorham to implement a proficiency based learning system that will meet the requirements of Maine's statutes, and more importantly, will improve student engagement and student achievement within our schools. I also hope that you get a sense of the direction of this work, the intended timelines, and just how hard all of our staff are working to make our system better for all of our students. As always, if you have questions, please reach out to your child's teacher, your school's principal, or to me directly and we will all do our best to answer them.
Thank you!
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