Quarterly Report of John Avery Parker Elementary School, Exams of Mathematics

Download Quarterly Report of John Avery Parker Elementary School and more Exams Mathematics in PDF only on Docsity! Level 5 Schools Quarterly Report John Avery Parker Elementary School—1 3909_10/15 Level 5 Schools 2015-2016 Quarter 1 Report: John Avery Parker Elementary School School Information Student Enrollment and Demographicsa Location New Bedford, Massachusetts Total SY 2015–16 Enrollment 291 Current Status Level 5 Percentage SWDs 23% Receiver Name Dr. Pia Durkin Percentage ELLs 26% Year Designated Level 5 2013 Percentage Black 15% Year Designated Level 4 2010 Percentage Latino/Hispanic 40% Grade Span PK–5 Percentage Asian 0% Number of Full-Time Staff in SY 2015–16 32 Percentage White 37% Percentage Multirace 8% Priority Areas Priority Area 1: Increase the rigor of Tier I (universal for all students), Tier II (targeted for struggling students), and Tier III (intensive for highest need students) instruction. Priority Area 2: Create school structures and systems that support instruction and maximize time on task. Priority Area 3: Increase the use of data to drive instruction. Priority Area 4: Establish a school culture focused on achievement and engage families as partners in their children's learning. a Student demographic data, including percentages of students with disabilities (SWDs) and English language learners (ELLs) is from the 2014–15 school year due to the movement of students at the start of the school year. These data will be updated to reflect the 2015–16 school year in Quarter 2 reports. Content provided by Superintendent Pia Durkin Executive Summary On July 1, 2015, Principal Lynn Dessert began her tenure at Parker. In this role, she and her team implemented the second year of Summer Academy during the month of July. Summer Academy has two key components: (1) an academic program for students and (2) professional development and planning time for all Parker teachers and staff. While the Summer Academy is open to all students in Grades K–5 at Parker, some students were targeted for participation based on data from the end of year reading, English language arts, and mathematics data. This year, a key component of the student academic program focused on community partnerships with New Bedford Whaling Museum and Whaling National Historic Park. These partnerships enhanced the students’ learning experience by hosting field trips and lending materials. In addition to working with students during part of the day, the Summer Academy provided time for staff to receive professional development and to plan for the upcoming school year. Professional development programming for staff included large and small group sessions, grade-level team meetings, common planning time, individualized coaching, data review, preparations for upcoming school year, and team-building activities. The professional development focused on early literacy and included strategies for supporting struggling readers, especially special education students and English language learners. During the beginning of the school year, teachers began to familiarize themselves with the newly arrived science kits and will receive professional development on Level 5 Schools Quarterly Report John Avery Parker Elementary School—2 using and implementing these kits during whole-staff professional development and teacher collaboration time. Updates on Priority Areas Priority Area 1: Increase the rigor of Tier I, Tier II, and Tier III instruction.  Highlight: Summer Academy focused on literacy and mathematics instruction through the theme of “Discovering New Bedford.” Priority standards were identified from the end of the year Galileo Assessment results, and all reading material supported the theme and standards of focus. Literacy lessons used both fiction and nonfiction texts and artifacts to build literacy skills while seeking the answer to the essential question: “Who helped New Bedford become the city that ‘lit the world’?” Students in Grades K and 1 focused their studies on learning about whales. Students in Grades 2–4 studied life aboard a whaling ship and life in a whaling city. Instruction was aligned to the four literary objectives: (1) concept development, (2) vocabulary development, (3) close reading, and (4) formative assessments. Mathematics lessons were determined based on the end-of-year assessment data and were differentiated by grade levels. For example, kindergarten and first-grade students focused on mathematics facts and fluency; second- and third-grade students focused on solving one-step word problems using addition and subtraction; and fourth- grade students focused on rounding, decimals, and beginning fractions.  Highlight: Project-based learning, an instructional strategy that allowed staff to integrate Tier I, II, and III instructional strategies, was a key driver of the academic program during Summer Academy and was enhanced through community partnerships. During the student academic programming at the Summer Academy, students created community share projects with support and resources from community partners (including the Whaling Museum and the New Bedford National Park). Students participated in field experiences during the summer at no cost. In addition, both partners shared materials and personnel resources to support the planning and implementation of this year’s Summer Academy.  Highlight: Small-group professional development for teachers allowed Parker teachers to receive support in areas of need, as determined through last year’s classroom observations. Teachers participated in one of three small groups, called professional learning communities (PLCs). The three PLC areas of focus were (1) early literacy, (2) reading comprehension, and (3) best practices and instructional integration. In the early literacy PLC, classroom and special education teachers focused on early literacy acquisition, including strategies for supporting struggling readers, students with special education needs, and English language learners. The reading comprehension PLC, composed of classroom, special education, and English as a second language teachers, conducted a deep dive into research-based best practices for teaching reading comprehension through the guided study of targeted readings, discussions, and explorations. Finally, the best practices and instructional integration PLC included specials teachers and support staff and focused on planning for opportunities to integrate Reading Street units and themes into their art, music, and physical education instruction.  Challenge: The major challenge experienced during Summer Academy was getting the students who enrolled in the spring to attend the Summer Academy consistently for the