TEACH Newsletter -- November 2016

Learning and Teaching - TEACH

TEACH is an e-newsletter from the Learning and Teaching division of the Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction.


ESSA Update: Draft State Education Plan Available

The ESSA draft Consolidated Plan is available now. You can read the full text of the plan. The plan details how the state will implement the federal Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA). The public comment period has been extended an additional 60 days to mid-February 2017. Those who wish to learn more about the draft Consolidated Plan and provide public comment can do so by visiting http://www.k12.wa.us/ESSA.

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Computer Science Learning Standards Adoption

OSPI is pleased to announce that Superintendent Dorn will formally adopt the CSTA K-12 Computer Science Standards as Washington’s K-12 Computer Science Learning Standards on December 8, 2016. 

In coming months OSPI will identify districts that have implemented computer science programs successfully, particularly those that have integrated computer science with math and science curricula. OSPI will reach out to districts to determine what technical support is most needed. 

For more information visit http://www.k12.wa.us/ComputerScience/default.aspx.

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ELA and Math Menus of Best Practices: What I Wish I had Known

Former teachers Kristi Coe and Amy Thierry are two of the OSPI staff who prepared the ELA Menu of Best Practices and Strategies and the Mathematics Menu of Best Practices and Strategies. Although these resources were developed to support the Learning Assistance Program, there is something in each menu for everyone. We encourage you to take a look!

We asked Kristi and Amy to think about, as classroom teachers, what they wished they might have known about the menus. Here are their responses.

The menus include educator focused practices and strategies that impact student outcomes and are aligned to TPEP.

  • Balanced Literacy
  • Family Engagement
  • Instructional Coaching
  • Professional Learning Communities
  • Targeted Professional Learning

The content philosophy of the menus contains valuable resources for classroom teachers.

  • English language arts foundational literacy skills
  • Learning Pathways in Numeracy
  • Number Talks
  • Washington State Early Learning and Development Guidelines

The menus include key components of a core instructional program.

  • Multi-tiered systems of support
  • Assessment types and how to use them system-wide
  • Effective implementation

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A New View: Proficiency and Student Growth Percentile Data

The new presentation of assessment analytics allow for comparisons of student proficiency and growth across subgroups, schools, and districts.

What can you do to engage in conversations about these data in your district?
Who would you want to share this information with?
Who should be part of the conversation?
What would you want to learn from other districts that are getting better results?
What factors are affecting student performance, and how can your district impact them? 
How can you use these new ways of looking at data to inform your district’s efforts to improve equity?

To access these data, along with supporting materials and recorded presentations, visit the OSPI Performance Indicator website.

Questions? Contact:

  • Data access: Susan Canaga, Data Governance Program Manager
  • OSPI’s performance indicators: Tim Stensager, Director of Performance Management
  • Student growth percentile data: Ashley Colburn, Data Analyst, Student Information
  • Assessment analytics: Erica Ferrelli, Data Analyst, Student Information

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Is your district interested in Open Educational Resources? This event may be for you...

Open Educational Resources (OER) are free to use, edit, and share. They have the potential to align curriculum more closely with the Common Core State Standards and engage teachers more fully in curricula, allowing them to adapt content to support quality instruction and student engagement.

Join OSPI’s OER, Learning and Teaching, and Educational Technology departments to discuss how to include OER as an important part in your district’s instructional material strategy. Your team will have an opportunity to learn more about OER, consider your district needs, and explore how OER resources can support instruction.

January 11, 2017, 9am-4pm | ESD 112, Vancouver

Register your team by January 2, 2017 (spaces available until full): https://www.pdenroller.org/ospi/Catalog/Event/12954  

Attendance is FREE
Clock hours are available
Lunch and breakfast provided

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Work Underway: Instructional Materials Selection and Adoption Toolkit

OSPI is working to revamp guidance for the selection and adoption of instructional materials. There’s a growing body of research finding that instructional materials can have as large an impact on student outcomes as teacher quality or reduced class size. Today’s instructional materials include resources available via different delivery platforms and carrying different types of licenses outlining permitted use. The criteria to determine alignment to state learning standards and district requirements must be the same regardless of whether the materials are print, digital, open, or all rights reserved.

The new toolkit will provide useful resources and practical advice for choosing core instructional materials for a district, as well as supplemental materials for use by individual teachers and schools.

Educator Input is Needed: Please submit your suggestions about what resources would be most useful to include in the toolkit to Barbara Soots, Open Educational Resources (OER) and Instructional Materials Program Manager. With your help, we look forward to developing an evolving toolkit that will meet the needs of our state.

Meanwhile, as we update the toolkit, please remember to always know your need, search critically, review with recognized rubrics for the evaluation of instructional materials, and understand your level of permitted use when considering any resources.

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Social Emotional Learning (SEL) Online Educator Module

Development of an SEL training module per ESSB 6620, Sec. 4 to create an online training module for educators, administrators, and other school staff has begun. This task must be completed by September 1, 2017 and shall be based on the recommendations of the SEL Benchmarks workgroup to promote students’ self-awareness, self-management, social awareness, relationships, and responsible decision making. The 2016 SEL Workgroup Report and other updates are available at http://www.k12.wa.us/WorkGroups/SELB.aspx.

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Utilizing the NEW Health and Physical Education Standards in Your Teaching: An Active, Healthy Professional Development Opportunity

Take a deep exploration of the new Health and Physical Education K-12 Learning Standards, participate in lessons using new learning outcomes, and understand how existing OSPI assessments can be aligned to new the standards. Participants will receive an HPE Standards notebook with lesson plan templates. Free clock hours will be provided.

December 8, 2016, 9am-4pm | Renton Technical College

Register at: https://www.pdenroller.org/Catalog/Event/22835

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Arts Graduation Requirement

For students in 9th and 10th grades this year (Classes of 2019 and 2020), the arts graduation requirement has increased from one (1) credit to two (2) credits. For more information about this requirement, other graduation requirements, and the requirements for those graduating in 2016-2018, please visit http://www.sbe.wa.gov/graduation.php#.VgA0Xjbn_DC.

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19th Annual Drawing and Literary Contest for Students of Spanish

Districts and World Language teachers are encouraged to view information about this year’s “Drawing and Literary Contest for Spanish Students”. All entries for the Drawing contest are due by Monday, February 27, 2017 and all Literary contest entries are due prior to 1 p.m., Tuesday, February 28, 2017. Each entry must be submitted with a cover sheet. The 2017 topic is: “The world is a book and those who do not travel read only one page.”

Instructions and information about the drawing and literary contests can be found on the OSPI Spanish Center website or by contacting Ana García-de-Jalón, Education Advisor, Embassy of Spain, Center for Spanish Studies, at spnrectr@uw.edu.

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