• Editor’s note: This is Part 2 of a two-part story on schools’ planning process. Part 1 talked about the first three of four professional collaboration and waiver days, in which educators discussed dealing with disruptions in the classroom, as
• Editor’s note: This is Part 2 of a two-part story on schools’ planning process. Part 1 talked about the first three of four professional collaboration and waiver days, in which educators discussed dealing with disruptions in the classroom, as well as outlining performance and extracurricular expectations for students, and teaching strategies to maximize student retention.
Because Koloa Elementary School decided on two waiver days and two professional collaboration days at the beginning of the school year, students there start school on Aug. 2. Educators responsible for mapping out the school year, however, report in late July.
Interim principal Debbie Lindsey said she spent part of her staff’s opening day introducing herself to her faculty and staff and talking about her hopes and intended focus.
Complex area superintendent Daniel Hamada shared the school’s No Child Left Behind status and talked about the progress made by teachers and students.
The teachers developed common agreements for classroom and school-wide management. They also spent time on electronic school information training. This year, school attendance, lunch count and report cards will be done online. As part of the Electronic School Information System phase-in program, Koloa School teachers received desktop computers to assist them in the electronic reporting.
Koloa teachers spent one of their staff development days looking at their Benchmark Tracker scores, an online program that uses questions aligned with the Hawaii State Content and Performance Standards to assess student progress. Koloa School assesses students quarterly using the Benchmark Tracker.
With the Benchmark Tracker assessment information, teachers identified strength areas and areas of need in reading and math. They compared the assessment information with the instructional focus areas from last school year to determine growth areas and areas needing more emphasis.
“They identified key learnings, key activities, key prerequisite skills and extended learnings and assessment tools (in order to) take standards forward this year,” Lindsey said.
Two staff development days will be used to work on curriculum maps for language arts and math.
“Curriculum maps are like a travel guide or road map,” Lindsey said.
They show how and when curriculum will be taught in order for students to successfully learn. It starts out with what students know and adds what they need to learn to be successful in accomplishing the big, overarching learning goals like reading comprehension, Lindsey said.
Curriculum maps show how students will learn across grade levels, so how comprehension is taught in kindergarten relates to how comprehension is taught in the first grade and so on. It is done in stair-stepping fashion, Lindsey said.
Completed language arts and math curriculum maps for the first quarter must be submitted to the Complex Area Superintendent by Aug. 17; second quarter by Sept. 29; second semester by Nov. 17. Schools have from the end of November to the end of the school year to complete curriculum maps for science and social studies.
“It’s a pretty tight timeline,” Lindsey said.
Kaua‘i complex area resource teachers and school renewal specialist Barbara Baker are assisting teachers with the curriculum maps. On-site support is provided by Jackie Yanagi, Koloa School’s Title I specialist.
On the fourth staff development day, facilitators from the consortium on reading excellence will work with the faculty to reinforce the work done in reading last school year. They will set up reading routines for the first 28 days for small group instruction for targeted groups, including those students who are not proficient in meeting reading standards.
“There’s a lot of new systems learning going on,” Lindsey said.
Lindsey also had to learn quickly. She came to Kaua‘i from the Big Island on July 2, started as vice principal at Chiefess Kamakahelei Middle School on July 6, then was assigned as interim principal at Koloa Elementary on July 11.
“It’s intellectually invigorating seeing the staff come together and do the kinds of work that they are doing,” she said. “It is very rewarding to see the growth and see the enthusiasm for what they have to do this year.”
The complex area is working on contracting an external learning coach to assist Lindsey and the school. Linda Lenertz, the independent contractor, will be participating in the two remaining professional collaboration days scheduled for September and January, Lindsey said.
• Cynthia Matsuoka is a freelance writer for The Garden Island and former principal of Chiefess Kamakahelei Middle School. She can be reached by e-mail at aharju@kauaipubco.com
