November 2014

In the spirit of this Thanksgiving week, I would like to share two of the many things for which I am thankful professionally.

The first thing I am thankful for is that in the recent grant cycle, the Oostburg Community Education Foundation (OCEF) Board approved funding for six grants from Oostburg School District teachers in the amount of $20, 010. The specific grants include:

At a recent CLC principal’s meeting, I learned about what some schools are doing to improve their class ranking processes, and we have begun some discussions with our faculty to understand and test the impact of these ideas. We want to keep parents informed about these discussions in the hope of hearing your views as well. Ultimately, how we calculate class rank is a matter of Board policy, so any decisions would be made at that level and would be implemented with some delay, but at this point we simply want to explore some interesting ideas that may lead to improvements.

For some time now, many schools have used ACT scores and Strength of Schedule measures to break ties, especially for Valedictorian and Salutatorian. More recently, schools have begun to include some of these measures in the ranking process. (Actually, many schools who used weighted grades have included a strength of schedule measure in their rankings for some time as well.) Admittedly, we are intrigued by the idea of including ACT scores and a form of Strength of Schedule measure in our ranking because it would support our school goals of improving our students’ college and career readiness as measured by the ACT. We also believe that when students take rigorous college level classes while in high school, and do well in them, those students are well prepared for college or technical training programs.

With this in mind, we are studying a class rank process that would combine grade point average (GPA) with a Strength of Schedule measure and ACT scores. These student scores would be compared against a standard—such as their ACT score as a percentage of the perfect ACT score(36)— versus against their peers.

Our motivation in studying and discussing this sort of change is not only that it would likely produce a more complete and equitable ranking formula, but it would also reinforce the types of student/parent decisions that are good for learning. Including Strength of Schedule measures would encourage students to take challenging courses that–absent this measure in the rankings–are sometimes avoided to protect GPAs. And including ACT scores, which we are focused on improving in all of our students, would remind students that the ACT score is still the best measure we have of their preparation for the future.

If you have thoughts on this subject or would like to share your perspective, please give me a call at (920)564-2346 x1001. It would be great to hear from parents on this subject.
Scott

In recent years, University of Pennsylvania psychology professor Angela Duckworth has studied spelling bee champs, Ivy League undergrads and cadets at the U.S. Military Academy in West Point, N.Y.—all together, over 2,800 subjects. In all of them, she found that grit—defined as passion and perseverance for long-term goals—is the best predictor of success. In fact, grit is usually unrelated or even negatively correlated with talent.

Prof. Duckworth believes that grit can be taught. One surprisingly simple factor, she says, is optimism—the belief among both teachers and students that they have the ability to change and thus to improve. In a 2009 study of newly minted teachers, she rated each for optimism (as measured by a questionnaire) before the school year began. At the end of the year, the students whose teachers were optimists had made greater academic gains.

I took these paraphrased excerpts from an article that was recently shared with me by one of our faculty members, and I felt they were worth sharing with all of our parents as well. If the quality of grit is the best predictor of success for our students in their futures, then we certainly hope we are supporting parents in developing this characteristic in students. We know students develop grit when they persevere in challenging situations. One of our informal goals for this school year is to raise our expectations for learning across the school. Having more rigorous expectations or more demanding classes will not only be very good for student learning, it would also contribute to students developing more grit. And having higher expectations for students in the context of our teachers and parents holding the strong belief that all students can grow to meet those expectations is critical. As we demand more of students, we hope parents will partner with us to support students in working harder, persevering in difficult tasks, and growing to meet these challenges.

We hope to see many of your tonight (Monday) or tomorrow evening (Tuesday) between 3:00-7:00 pm for Parent/Teacher Conferences.

Scott

Good morning, Parents.

It seems a little surprising to share that the first quarter of the school year is coming to an end this Thursday. It does not seem very long ago that the students had just come back to school and were settling into their new classes. However, here we are preparing for the first grade reporting period of the year.

With the quarter ending on Thursday, November 6th, the HS teachers will be submitting their grades by early Monday morning. During the day on Monday, our guidance department will be processing each students report card, and they plan to have copies of the report cards available by 3:00 pm on Monday when the HS Parent/Teacher Conferences begin. When parents come to Parent/Teacher Conferences on Monday or Tuesday, you can pick up a copy of your child’s report card in the guidance office and go see your child’s teachers in their classrooms. We will also provide maps of the school designating where each teacher’s classroom is located. You do not need to schedule appointments for HS Parent/Teacher conferences because all of the teachers are available between 3:00 and 7:00 pm. Our turnout of parents visiting with teachers for conferences is generally mild—certainly not as busy as the Elementary School—so parents usually find they can talk with most of their children’s teachers in about 45 minutes. Occasionally you will encounter short wait times for certain teachers, but we will set up a few chairs outside each classroom so you can sit and wait comfortably for a few minutes until it is your turn. Our experience would suggest that the busiest times are after dinner from 5:00-7:00 pm, so if you can come earlier you will find you can be more efficient with your time.

We hope to see as many of you as possible for Parent/Teacher Conferences on Monday, November 10th and Tuesday, November 11th from 3:00-7:00 pm. We will also be offering sessions on how to use Infinite Campus as listed below in the HS Conference Room on Tuesday, November 11th. The Infinite campus demos/workshops will be at 3:30, 4:30, 5:30 and 6:30.

Hope to see you next week Monday or Tuesday,
Scott