Rainshadow Community Students enjoy the 2nd anCharter High School nual end of year staff student Vol.

III Issue 2 kickball game!

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To Do L Climate Accred Upcom nd the ASC ist pect 1 of Res 2 2 4 5 5 5

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3 Years In Need of Improvement: What Does It Mean?

the school has not met the AYP goals for 3+ years, the school must begin a process for evaluating why they are not meeting the goals and how they can eventually meet the goals. Nevada Comprehensive Curriculum Audit Tool for Schools (NCCAT-S) In the 2010-2011 school year, when Rainshadow was in year 3 for needing improvement in mathematics, we completed an audit of our curriculum. We were asked to look at our curriculum and determine how effective we

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Dont S weat th eS Stuff mall

Making Annual Yearly Progress Rainshadow has struggled making Annual Yearly Progress (AYP) for the past 3 years in English Language Arts (ELA), Mathematics, and Other Indicator. In the 2010-2011 school year, we had a goal of an 87% pass rate for ELA, and the school had 70% of its students pass this assessment. For mathematics, the goal was a 71% pass rate and our students passed 45% of the time. Finally, the other indicator (in this case our graduation rate) was not met either. Once

were/ are at fulfilling our obligations as instructors and administrators. We will complete a similar survey this year as well, as this summary data is analyzed and updated on an annual basis. Targeted Technical Assistance In addition to a curriculum audit (which is self-reported), we as a school will be receiving support through the Washoe County School District Office of School Performance and Public Policy

Rainshadow Community Charter High School

2011

Creating Empowered Community Members Through Real World Education As staff and faculty, we work hard to expose students to a variety of experiences in the local community. We want our students out learning from the world and feeling empowered to have an active voice in changing the world. Our students should be out there getting their hands dirty and their minds active as they grow as young adults.

To Do List For This Staff Development...

26 September 2011
Accountability and Assessment. This will take on the form of monthly visits from an Achievement Steering Committee (ASC). The goal of this committee and these meetings is to gather student data on a monthly basis to establish some effective interventions and develop individual plans. In addition, this team will identify specific professional development needs and solutions. Once a month, as an instructor, you will see members of this ASC coming through the school and evaluating. The evaluation criteria will be something that we as a staff set, as we control the focus of the evaluations. Think of the ASC as a group of fellow educators with a new set of eyes. Using real time data collection tools, the team will be able to share information and provide feedback with the rest of the staff very quickly. One of the first orders of business is to inform the parents of our students of this status. In addition, we will need to begin this process by collecting benchmark survey data from all stakeholders (students, staff members, and families). In addition to this, staff and faculty members should begin to think about what types of criteria should be the focus of the data gathering.

AYP and the Achievement Steering Committee (Steve West) Leadership Team Upcoming Events (Alissa Wilmet Curriculum Goals: Positive School Climate Ideas (Toby Wiedenmayer) Accreditation Review (All Staff)

Benchmarking the School, Intervention Time (All Staff) Infinite Campus (Kim Frazier) General Housekeeping (Dave Fontes)

It is beneficial for you as an instructor to be involved in what ever way you are able to be involved. The dates for the meetings (which are subject to change) include: 10/20/11: 8-10 11/17/11: 8-10 1/19/12: 10:30-12:30 2/2/12: 8-10 4/19/12: 8-10 5/17/12: 8-10 If you have a prep period, feel free to stop in and introduce yourself and/or take part in the process. Other members of the ASC team include: Michael Doering, Frank Selvaggio, Mary Hardin, Edith Gaw, Kris Gingras, Brian Pruitt, and Brucie Ingram. The first meeting, held this past Thursday 9/22/11, highlighted the process for these meetings. In addition, an overview of the school was shared including some of the roadblocks we have faced and how we are attempting to break through those roadblocks. The first two action items included working on transportation options for students who may have difficulty getting to and from school. Ideas for potential evaluation criteria was also shared, including looking at 2

how many positive comments are provided by teachers in a classroom, and looking at appropriate student engagement with technology, peers, and staff members. As we continue with this process, please feel free to ask questions if you are not understanding the process or what is happening during these ASC meetings. They are meant to be helpful and supportive, even though we may feel they are intrusive and punitive. In conclusion, please think about what types of evaluation/walk through criteria you think would show us how successful we are in the classroom. We can create our own list specific to Rainshadow. The Honeymoon is Over: Creating a Climate of Respect So, youre in week five of the school year. Count day is over, and the new students entering has slowed down to a trickle. The early excitement over coming back to school has started to dwindle, and some of the real issues are beginning to appear. This is the time of the school year when the school climate can really start to deteriorate.

The first step in looking at the school climate is to identify what makes for a positive school climate. The authors of this article highlight the key elements of a positive school climate. In such a climate: 1. People are engaged and respected. 2. Students, families, and educators work together to develop and contribute to a shared school vision. 3. Educators model and nurture an attitude that emphasizes the benefits and satisfaction of learning. 4. Each person contributes to the operation of the school and the care of the physical environment (National School Climate Council, 2007) To get to this ideal image, the authors of this article propose four key goals. Goal 1: Create a Democratic Community Listen to your students and families. Think about ways to involve students in the decision making processes of the school. What does Rainshadow do? Is it effective? Goal 2: Support Students and Teachers A common reason people act disrespectful is because they feel disrespected themselves. Emotions are contagious. When we feel listened to, taken seriously, appreciated, and respected, we tend to put forth the same behaviors towards others. But it is

not only students who need to be supported. Teachers need to have nonjudgemental forums for sharing ideas and concerns. Opinions and ideas need to be shared and valued. Goal 3: Ensure a Safe School Having a safe school means that both teachers and students feel socially, emotionally, intellectually, and physically safe. If students or teachers feel unsafe, it can undermine any kind of respectful norms the school aspires to. To promote safe schools, we must help students, parents, and school personnel become upstanders, that is people who notice and respond in socially responsible ways to cruel, mean, or bullying behavior (Cohen, Cardillo, and Pickeral, 2011). Rather than promoting upstander behavior through signs, posters, or pledges, it may be important to promote more visible learning objectives into curriculum to address school safety. Goal 4: Promote Student Engagement Students who are engaged, rather than bored, are more likely to feel safe and supported to foster positive change in their school community in authentic and rich ways. Students who are engaged have bought in to the model of the school, and are therefore more protective of it. As you look to create a positive climate in your classroom, remember these things: respect fosters respect. There are many ways that your students will feel respected. One key way is for your students to feel as though 3

they have a say in the way that the school and classroom are operating. This doesnt mean that all the school norms should be changed, but it does mean that subtle changes can be made to the classroom to invite more student involvment. Create opportunities for group decision making, and discussion. Think about using more group projects in your class. Find ways to allow more students to share their ideas in the classroom, not just through speaking and writing. Finally, open communication lines with a little conflict in the classroom. Discuss a controversial issue, and show students how to have an appropriate conversation that is productive and centers on the issue and its potential solutions. As an instructor, you have a job to pay attention to how you are interacting with students and how they are interacting with each other. Promote a positive climate through your words, behaviors, and actions in the classroom. Students will model your behaviors.
Cohen, J., Cardillo, R., & Pickeral, T. (2011). Creating a Climate of Respect. Educational Leadership, 69(1), 80-82.

Accreditation Review Rainshadow is in year four of the accreditation process, and as it is the start of the year, its important to review some of our goals for this year. We have achieved many of these goals already, yet it is time to evaluate how well we have met the goals and what we can do to improve them further.

Goal 1: Improve Attendance and Retention Action Steps: Increase parental and community involvement 1. Form positive partnerships with businesses colleges, and cultural organizations by developing student internship opportunities. 2. Provide opportunities for community to use new facility after school hours for events and fundraising (Sierra Arts, Holland Project, etc.) Action Steps: Improve Cultural Sensitivity 1. Offer after-school tutoring for students and parents that are limited English proficient Action Steps: Improve School Climate 1. Development of an onsite school store that will share student-made creations, and may be open to public. Goal 2: Improve Measures of Academic Accountability Action Steps: Alternate Assessments 1. Implementing entrance and exit surveys for parents and students 2. Opportunities for teachers to check for inter-rater reliability of all assessments, including portfolio elements. 3. Develop a researched body of work that describes Rainshadow methods of assessing student outputs, as well as the Rainshadow style of curriculum development. This should be made public through the website. Action Steps: Improve Portfolio Expectations 1. Determine effectiveness and rigor of current Rainshadow portfolio components, and edit where necessary. Action Steps: Improve Progress on State Mandated Assessment 1. Evaluate effectiveness of the previous action steps (i.e. breakfast, after school tutoring, and test taking skills). Action Steps: Post School Outcomes 1. Development of a college track for students who view college as their next step. This track could be the form an interdisciplinary class, or a separate course selection. 2. Continue to investigate the curriculum, and develop and enhance interdisciplinary units so that the focus is on higher level thinking.

Take a look at the above chart and think about what weve done already, and what we still need to do. The key areas of focus from a curriculum standpoint include: 1. Improving the rigor of the portfolio system, including some inter-rater reliablity measures on our portfolios. 2. Enhance interdisciplinary units so that the focus is on higher level thinking (Depth of Knowledge, and finishing the matrix for the four-year Rainshadow plan.)

Improvement is an ongoing process, and one that we as a staff and faculty are consistently working to improve. That is what makes Rainshadow such a dynamic place to work. As you have time, please feel free to e-mail me your curriculum and portfolio changes so I can update these items in our curriculum matrix. Thank you all for all your hard work! We have certainly come a long way! What we are working toward will both be helpful to the school as well as the accredita4

tion process. If you are new to this process, check out the Northwestern Association of Accredited Schools. You will gain some insight into the accrediation process, which we will be undertaking in a year.

Upcoming Events:

28 31

October
5 or 12 6 24-27 27
Tentative Open House with Parents Antibullying T-Shirt Dying Ghost Grams for sale by Leadership Team End of Quarter, Half Day

Tentative Dance Professional Development Day

December
26-Jan 6
Winter Break, No School

November
1-4 26
HSPE Retest (11 and 12th graders)

24, 25

Thanksgiving Break Professional Development Day Dont Sweat the Small Stuff, a Reminder:

Technology Apps and Sites

Cool Apps! (Yes, apps... we are moving forward!)

eCove: You can download this as for your general education, special education, or A humorous reminder to not take your administration needs. It allows you to monitor your classroom collecting real-time life too seriously. Seeing the challenges you face as opportunities to data. grow rather than as a series of battles that must be won in order to survive Classroom DOJO: If you are having behavioral issues in your classroom, this means you are more able to roll with app will allow you to collect data on a day to day basis to show how your class is the punches. Otherwise, you will functioning. only be satisfied when everything is perfect (which occurs almost never.) Socrative: Use as an instant student response system on either your phone or Seeing your struggles as tests computer! There is an app for students and an app for the instructor. Students login to a classroom (designated by a number) and you can ask questions for them allows you to reframe your goals. Challenge yourself to lighten up and to instantly respond to. The information is stored in your account. Really neat! let go, and youll find that you are having more success. How Stuff Works (HSW): Great little snipits that you can read about, or watch, that describe how stuff works. One of the statements I often make to my husband is that life is not MoMA: Museum of Modern Art App that shows works of art and tells their story. brain surgery. Dont make it so difficult! Its easy to get caught Youth Group Games: Team builders galore! Check it out for descriptions of all up in all the must dos, and must kinds of team building experiences and ice breakers. bes. Letting go, however, allows for greater growth and greater joy Cool Websites in your life. Online Poster Creation: www.glogster.com or www.glogster.edu Smart Student Response System: www.socrative.com Possible portfolio option: www.jux.com Free educational films: http://learning.snagfilms.com or snagfilms.com (This site features free documentaries.) Math tutoring: www.motuto.com Real-Time Classroom Updates to Parents: http://snappschool.com
Carlson, Richard. Dont Sweat the Small Stuff and Its All Small Stuff. (1997).

Life is a test. It is only a test.