• Teachers:  We have many resources to support your content and are always looking for more ideas from you.  Social studies is leading with the number of resources, all categorized for your convenience.  Science is running a very close second with multiple STEM resources.  In addition to content support, we have multiple resources for approaches to learning, including AIW, formative assessments, and competency-based education, including all the resources from the conference this summer.  Grade-level teachers might want to check out the resources for second or third grade.  We are working on grades 4 and 5 and would welcome help from our members in assuring a user-friendly page!  And while are resources for school counselors and media specialists are fewer, we believe they provide excellence information for you.  Help us make our resources for educators even stronger.  Send your list with brief descriptions to Lou Howell. 
• Curriculum Leads:  Be sure to check out supports for the functions of our work as well as a  calendar and all the resources from the Iowa ASCD Curriculum Leadership Academy.  We even have a special issue of The Source that is dedicated to curriculum leads and their work.
• Superintendents:  A "must-read" article for you and your work is Marzano's "High Reliability Organizations in Education."  Our May issue of The Source provided a summary as well.
• Principals:  As the functions of your work constantly increase, we want to assure resources for you that are meaningful and at your fingertips.  Take a look at Especially for You as well as the support for professional learning communities, open resources, and RtI. 

If you have additional websites or want additional connections to a certain area in education, please contact us.  We want to serve you with quality! 

"Getting to the Core of K-8 Literacy"

Learn how to:

• increase student motivation in literacy
• help K-8 students meet the Iowa Core literacy standards
• organize reading and writing around real purposes for kids

Time: 9:00-3:30

Mark your calendars now!  October 8, 2013!  Register for the Conference on the Iowa ASCD web site.  The fee is $120 for members and $165 for non-members.  All participants receive the book, Reading and Writing Genre with Purpose in K-8 Classrooms.   

You can read the first chapter of her book. It will convince you this is a MUST learning opportunity for you to impact your students and their learning.  

• Register on line at the Iowa ASCD events website.
• Mail a check/purchase order with date/name of conference and names of participants to Bridget A. Arrasmith, Drake University School of Education, 3206 University, Des Moines, IA  50311.
• E-mail a purchase order with name/date of conference and names of participants to Bridget A. Arrasmith at bridget.arrasmith@drake.edu. 
• FAX purchase order with name/date of conference and names of participants and grade level/role to Bridget A. Arrasmith at 515.271.2233.     

"Nell Duke - a favorite of the State Wide Reading Team!! She shares both practical information on best practices and the literacy research behind them. You'll come away from the institute with real-world solutions and a deeper understanding of what's needed to bring the Iowa Core standards in reading, writing, and language to life in your classroom."  Rita Martens, Iowa Department of Education

We encourage you to register now and follow the tweets starting in mid-August on Nell Duke and her book, Reading and Writing Genre with Purpose in K-8 Classrooms.

Are you wanting to create and/or access performance criteria for your students' work.  Bryan Goodwin and Elizabeth Ross Hubbell's have a great new book, The 12 Touchstones of Good Teaching:  A Checklist for Staying Focused Every Day, that contains a chapter on creating/clarifyng expectations for your students. 

They remind us as we create rubrics that we identify proficiency first and then build the rest of the rubric around the acceptable score for showing adequate performance or clarity in understanding.  They also remind us to focus on growth!  Students need to know and see the exemplars for each level of the rubric.

Check out these online tools to help you develop rubrics with performance criteria for your students. 

• iRubric
• Rubistar
• Teacher Planet
• University of Wisconsin

You might also want to review Jon Mueller's (author of Assessing Critical Skills)  Authentic Assessment Toolbox.  It's a  great resource for understanding and developing holistic and analytic rubrics. 

Be sure to click on the green above and/or access these resources on the Iowa ASCD webpage on assessments. 

• Students whose families are involved in their learning earn better grades, enroll in higher-level programs, have higher graduation rates, and are more likely to enroll in post-secondary education.
• When families take an active interest in what they're learning, students display more positive attitudes toward school and behave better both in and out of school.
• Students do best if parents can play a variety of roles in their learning:  helping at home, volunteering at school, planning their children's future, and taking part in key decisions about the school program.
• Middle and high school students whose families remain involved in these ways make better transitions, maintain the quality of their work, develop realistic plans for the future, and are less likely to drop out.
• Children from diverse cultural backgrounds tend to do better when families and school staff join forces to bridge the gap between home and school cultures.

A few strategies we might use as educators to assure a strong partnership include these:

• Contact the parents of your students with a positive message early in the school year.  It builds an alliance that positively impacts future conversations.  One principal in Iowa did this with the families of 650 students and attributes these visits to a 50% drop in office referrals.  A high school English teacher sent a positive note or call to each of her 150 students in the first three weeks of school and could not believe the support she got from parents throughout the year that impacted homework completion and quality of work by her students.
• Work to keep kids actively involved in learning outside the school day.  One key difference between high- and low-achieving children is how and with whom they spend their time outside of school.  Strive to offer an after-school program for elementary and middle school students.  Encourage the involvement of kids in after-school clubs and programs within the school or partner with outside agencies (e.g., churches, the Y, Boy Scouts, Girl Scouts).
• Develop student goals with the students and parents involved in the process.  Monitor closely and report often progress (or lack of it) with both the student and the parents.
• Develop with parents a "job description" of "involved parents" in their children's learning.  You might even use the "My Job/Your Job/His or Her Job" as a technique to identify the role of educator, parent, and student in learning.
• Honor parents knowledge about their child.  At the parent/teacher/(student) conference, remind parents, "You are your child's first teacher; tell me about your child."  
• Develop mutual relationships with parents - after all, you both share time with the child and want the best for him/her.  "Watch your language!"  Instead of saying, "Have your child follow my directions about their homework," say something like, "Here are some ways to monitor your child's homework and build their skills.  Are there other techniques that you have found helpful?"

A few tools you might access include these:

• A Toolkit for Educators:  This tool was designed to assist school leaders in creating a culture that welcomes, honors, and connects with families in ways that result in a joint effort to design strategies and actions for the classroom at school and at home to help each child maximize his/her learning.  
• Parent Engagement Articles:  This site provides theory and practice that increases engagement of parents.   
• Harvard Family Research Project:  This site offers tools, activities, and research to support family involvement.
• Teachers - Partnering for Success:  This site especially for teachers provides information for promoting partnerships with parents and families.