Greetings!
With only about two months left in the school year it is a great time to celebrate successes and build momentum. Forest Grove and Sherwood school districts are getting attention from the US Department of Education, Mollie Dickson, our blogger, is achieving amazing results with her students, and we have first-year CLASS results for you to share with your friends and colleagues.
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CLASS In The News
 On April 3rd the Oregonian published an editorial entitled, "Race to the Top: Oregon School Leaders Lacking Needed Energy, Drive" in which CLASS was highlighted as
a local innovation that could spark state-level changes. The editorial states:
"Many districts and individual schools in Oregon have shown
signs of true innovation. The Tillamook School District in coastal Oregon, for example,
has made breakthroughs with students by embracing a grassroots program called
CLASS, intended to help schools define and reward effective teaching.
This program, a brainchild of the ever-persistent nonprofit
Chalkboard Project, has expanded to 12 districts in Oregon with eight more
reportedly on the waiting list. Done right, bottom-up efforts like this can
help compensate for inertia at the top -- and even spark systemic change over
time."
Thank you, CLASS districts, for leading courageous
conversations about education in Oregon.
Learn more about CLASS: http://www.chalkboardproject.org/what-we-do/class.php
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USDOE Visits CLASS Districts
Last Monday, April 12th, Linda Pauley, the US
Department of Education's Regional Director, spent the day with Chalkboard
learning about the organization and specifically about the CLASS Project. In
the afternoon Ms. Pauley visited the Sherwood School District and met with
teachers and administrators to hear firsthand how the CLASS Project is impacting
teaching and learning in their district.
Forest Grove School District is also garnering national attention; USDOE Deputy Assistant Secretary John White visited last week. Forest Grove High School is being recognized for its dramatic improvements in student achievement, and will be featured in a video as part of the "What's Possible: Turning Around America's Lowest-Achieving Schools" program. While many urban schools have already been filmed, FGHS is the first rural high school to be included in the program. The video should be completed and on the USDOE's website by the end of May. Learn more about the visit via the Oregonian.
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Way to go, Pencil Pushers!
 Mollie Dickson, our Ready, Set, Teach Blogger and amazing seventh grade teacher, shared a great story on her blog about getting her students excited to take the state writing exam. Her students came together as a community, as a team to support one another, and even came up with a name for themselves: Pencil Pushers! Read her story here: http://bit.ly/cW6XcR
This week Mollie found out that her work to engage her students in a positive way had an impact: 97% of Sherwood's 7th graders met or exceeded the state benchmark on the writing exam. Last year only 64% of Sherwood's 7th grade students met or exceeded benchmark on the same test and the state average is 48%. Way to go Pencil Pushers!!
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CLASS Materials
If you haven't already seen our new CLASS materials, or even
if you have, download them, share them with your friends, and start a
conversation about the importance of supporting teachers to do their best work
in the classroom.
 CLASS Prospectus: An
overview of the project and the importance of strengthening teacher
effectiveness C  LASS Snapshot of Success:
Narrated highlights of the first-year student achievement and teacher effectiveness data from Sherwood, Tillamook and Forest Grove |
Our Voices, Our Schools
 Terrel Smith is a Sherwood High School Technology Teacher
and the President of the Sherwood Teacher's Association. Terrel was Oregon Technology Educator of the Year in 2007 and was recently elected to the Board of the
Oregon Education Association.
You have been a teacher for over three decades. What do kids
need to learn in high school in order to be prepared for college and career?
And would your answer have been much different in your first years of teaching?
Students need to have the fundamentals of a good, liberal
arts education. They need to be able to problem solve and communicate
effectively. In the information age, it is important that kids walk out of high
school with an employable skill as well. This is where electives are very
important. One of the problems we face with the lack of school funding is that
electives are often the first to go. These are the classes that provide those
employable skills that are necessary for them to move to the next level of
education and employment. Electives also add value to and enrich the high
school experience. In many cases electives help motivate students to work
harder in the core classes. My
answer would have been the same 30 years ago regarding a liberal arts education
with emphasis on problem solving and communication including an employable
skill. But the need for a high
level of education is more important now because of our information based
economy.
Chalkboard often cites research about the impact a teacher
has on student achievement in the classroom. How would you describe the
difference teachers make in the lives of kids?
I've always said that it takes a village to raise/educate a
child. The teacher is a significant factor, but not the only factor. Early
childhood preparation and family involvement are the biggest factors in a
child's success in school, followed by the teacher. Teachers need to be
able to connect with students on a level that helps the student understand that
the teacher cares. Once that
caring connection has been established learning can move to the next level. When
class size gets too large it interferes with that connection. We as a society
need to realize that the quality of the educator in the classroom has
significant influence on student learning and success. Resources need to be put into teacher
training, collaboration and support. When the teacher is empowered and valued, student learning and success
will increase.
As a teacher leader, what opportunities do you have to
influence quality teaching and learning in your district?
In Sherwood in particular, through the CLASS Project, we
have had the opportunity to examine the teaching career and effectiveness of
our educators, certified and classified. I truly believe in relevant and
targeted staff development that is focused on student achievement and quality
teaching. As a teacher leader I have helped shape this process by looking at
the national research, bringing best practices back to the district and
developing a model of supporting effective teaching that is specific to our
local educational culture. As a result, we have improved our curriculum
delivery, and created an evaluation system that is formative and valued by
educators. By developing a new compensation model, we are also able to reward
teachers for the things they do inside and outside of the classroom to raise
student learning and success. By doing this we have improved the business of
education in Sherwood.
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National Board Certification Information Meeting
Meet
National Board Certified Teachers (NBCTs) and ...
· Learn how to become a National Board Certified Teacher
· Learn how to use the Take One! option.
· Learn how to build an effective teacher team in your school
· Learn how to develop your area of expertise
· Learn how to receive financial support during the process
Date:
Saturday, April 24, 2010 Time:
2:00-3:30 PM
Location:
421 Lancaster Dr. NE, Salem
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New CLASS Coach
This month we are welcoming Candace Stevens to the
Chalkboard Project as our newest CLASS coach. Candace has been an educator for
30 years and has spent the last 24 in the Beaverton School District as a
Principal and Professional Development Administrator. Candace will bring
tremendous experience working with teacher leaders and implementing high
quality professional development to her new role with the CLASS districts.
Welcome Candace!
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What's Next for Chalkboard...
April 29-30
Teacher Evaluation Training
May 6
Central Oregon CLASS Meeting
May 10
Oregon City / Vernonia CLASS Meeting
May 12
Salem-Keizer CLASS Meeting
May 13
Advisory Committee Meeting
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