Dr. Ryan Wise, Director of the Iowa Department of Education visits Central

Yesterday afternoon Central was visited by the director of the Iowa Department of Education, Dr. Ryan Wise.  Dr. Wise has been a key figure in Iowa's Teacher Leadership System and is making an effort to visit all Iowa school districts over a 5 year period.  In Dr. Wise visit we discussed STEM/PBL, Early Literacy, TLC, CTE, At-Risk/Drop-Out prevention funding, and Operational Sharing.  I'd like to share with our stakeholders what our leadership team and students shared with Dr. Wise.

STEM/Project Based Learning
Central's 4th/5th grade students shared their recent STEM project titled Mystery Build.  In this project students were placed into teams of three and were given a mystery build (rocking chair, swing-set, rocket, bridge, etc.) as well as a $10 budget.  They were given a list of materials they could use to meet the requirements of their build, each material coming with a cost.  Struxture Architects came to Central and launched the event discussing the challenges of remodeling our own K-12 building.  Students followed a scripted plan for their build and ended by presenting their final project to a panel of judges, their peers, and family members.

Students from Ms. Gritzner's Global Science classes also presented the many PBL projects they are currently developing and sustaining.  Last year Central received the Governor's Award for having the 1st student developed compost in Iowa, decreasing tons of waste at Central.  A team of students is now working on using worms to more efficiently break down the compost.  Other projects include but aren't limited to working with Clayton County Supervisors on recycling tires, working with Clayton County Pheasants Forever in developing habitat, energy efficiency, etc.

Early Literacy

Taken from 2016 IASB Convention

It was with great pleasure I was able to share Central's early literacy data with Dr. Wise.  Central Elementary has successfully implemented a new reading curriculum with aligned interventions that meet the needs of individual students.  Dr. Wise was impressed with our summer school data as well as our overall results with Fundations and Wilson.  Dr. Wise and I also discussed concerns with high stakes 1-minute tests (which I have previously written about) and he assured me I would be happy with new guidance coming from the Department of Education on this.  I shared retention based on a 1-minute test was simply unacceptable and we need our students to be more than just good test takers.

TLC

Dr. Wise met with four of our six full-time teacher leaders.  Again, Central is unique from the State as we are participating in a four district consortium for TLC.  While this has had challenges in regards to budgets, our teacher leaders shared how attending four different districts has grown their capacity and how they have been able to use that to help teachers and administrators in the consortium.  Everyone agrees this will have a positive effect on student achievement.

CTE

I shared with Dr. Wise the challenges of the new CTE guidance for rural schools.  Central students currently do not have access to a CTE center, which puts our students at a significant disadvantage compared to the districts that do have access to these centers.  I did share that we are partnering with Mobile Tack Solutions, Clayton Ridge, and NICC.  Through that partnership we will have one of Mobile Track Solutions certified welders teaching a welding class next semester.  I also asked for less restrictions on the use of our technology to teach classes, specifically offer/teach classes.

At-Risk/Drop-Out Prevention

Dr. Wise had the opportunity to meet Ms. Briggs, Central's new Family Liaison.  I shared that Ms. Brigg's position was created due to fewer restrictions on the At-Risk/Drop-Out Prevention funding streams.  Ms. Briggs is able to work with families in a way that previously Central was unable to meet those needs through current staffing.  With the rise in mental health concerns and poverty, it is crucial we maintain flexibility with that funding stream.

Operational Sharing

Lastly I hit the importance of continuing and extended Operational Sharing.  Currently Central shares a business manager, human resource manager, curriculum director, school counselor, and transportation director.  Without Operational Sharing we would not be able to maintain many of those positions.

I give a lot of credit to Dr. Wise for making an attempt to visit each school district in Iowa (and wish our politicians would do the same).  While I do not always agree with everything coming from the Iowa Department of Education, Dr. Wise and his staff have always been welcoming and willing to listen to my concerns/ideas.  It was a pleasure to "show-off" all the great things we are doing at Central-- even for myself it was nice to take a step back and reflect on all the wonderful things we are doing for our students.

Behavior Changes and Tracking at Central Elementary

Central Elementary Families,

Central Elementary has made some minor changes to our behavior system that I would like to share with all of you.  Hopefully everyone knows Central Elementary is a PBIS (Positive Behavior Intervention & Supports) school.  Our PBIS motto is CCS (Caring, Commitment, & Safety) and we hold CCS assemblies celebrating our students once a month where we welcome you and the community to attend. 

The focus of our PBIS training is to not concentrate on negative behaviors, but instead focus on the positives.  Research shows that almost all behavior (positive or negative) is attention seeking.  Think of a toddler crying, what happens more times than not when you leave the room they are in?  They quit crying until you come back into that room or they chase after you and start crying again once they see you.  This behavior is attention seeking and if you give negative behavior attention, kids will use negative behavior more.  Behaviors in schools are pretty much the same as behaviors at home and we work really hard to not give attention to the negatives, but instead focus on the positives.

Central is blessed with an excellent student body.  Because of that we often take behavior for granted here at Central Elementary.  Our team felt this year we needed to focus on being more consistent with behavior as a staff and more consistent upholding our common area expectations.  We purchased and have implemented a behavior curriculum called “Stop & Think” for all elementary grade levels.  At the elementary level, our most important step is to teach our students what is right and what is wrong. 

How we track behavior has also changed.  In the past, if a student got into trouble a referral was sent home.  A referral was sent home for both minor and major behaviors, using the same sheet.  This year we decided to do a better job of separating the two.  Students no longer receive a referral for minor behavior, instead students are given time to reflect on their behavior and a teacher is given time to reteach the student.  Depending on the grade level the student may bring their reflection home and share that with you, but remember this is not a referral.  Referrals still exist for major behavior problems.  If a student gets a referral, that means they have been sent to the office and I am now involved.  Depending on the level of severity I may call home or sometimes I may just send the referral home and ask for your signature back.

I’ve heard in the past from parents sharing concerns about tracking students.  Yes, we track behavior data and let me explain why.  Through tracking data I can see the following:

• Time of day behaviors occur
• Day of the week behaviors occur
• Staff member giving the behavior
• Behavior type
• Behavior location
• Consequence for behavior
• Number of behaviors a student has

The PBIS team uses this data to make staffing decisions, training for our staff, focus areas for our CCS assemblies, etc.  These decisions are not submitted to the State and typically behavior is not kept in a student’s permanent file, exceptions to this are if a student has a behavior plan and/or IEP.

I want to end by saying thank you for taking the time to read this and for your ongoing support at home.  We have had 59 days of school as I write this and only 12 major behavior referrals.  That is an awesome statistic!  Please remember if you have a concern about behavior to always start with your teacher first as more times than not I will not have the details they will have.  If problems consist after discussing with your teacher, please email me, call, or stop in.

Sincerely,

Mr. Trenkamp