IEM January 2011 ES Agenda—3 Hour meeting

Please read the agenda, along with each of its highlighted links, then print out as a guide for this month’s ES job duties. The agenda quiz must be completed in your ES WEBfiles BEFORE attending your ES meeting!

This agenda has been posted 1/12/2011 and the agenda quiz is due 1/24/2011.

 

Please note that if you must miss your ES meeting, you should inform your Area Facilitator and ES Advisor and make arrangements with another AF to attend another meeting that month. (All meeting times and dates are posted in the ES handbook along with AF e-mail addresses and meeting date, time, and location). Your AF is listed in ES Webfiles on the ES Welcome page. If you miss the meeting altogether, you will be reminded of your responsibility to attend and will be held responsible for the information given at the meeting. If you miss another meeting, it will become a discipline issue and may result in a drop in your student load. We do not believe that you can effectively serve your students if you miss critical information about the school and your job. Thank you for making these meetings a priority as you schedule your time for this school year!  The ES Support Department.

 

1) Dates to Remember and Dated Duties

a) January 5, 2011:  Is the start date for all your students who require a SME to be enrolled with a SME for 2nd semester if they expect to earn 5 credits. Change the start date if you are enrolling them late, but not prior to the student's enrollment date in our school!

 

b) January 7, 2011: For all ESs with students enrolled in SME courses, was the last day to send to your SME All the Supporting documentation requested for 1st semester courses.

 

c) January 14, 2011: For all May 21, 2011 graduates, send/email to your ES Advisor information needed for a 2nd semester graduates preliminary assessment (See Grad Procedure in ES Handbook).

 

d) January 14, 2011: Phase 2 of the Materials import cleanup is to be completed.  See Nov agenda for details.

 

e) January 19, 2011 & February 15, 2011 at noon: The Payroll Snapshot will be run.  Any forms not entered by the office by this date will not be paid in the end of month paychecks (but will be reconciled in later pay periods—no pay for active student days is ever lost to the ES). The office needs 3 days to get paperwork entered after they receive it.

 

f) January 21, 2011:  1st semester Report Cards due. All HS and requested GS report cards are due to be submitted in ES Webfiles.  Mark Ready and Send for the HS report cards, after checking that the HQT section is accurate (remember this is reported to the state now! The office does not mail these out, we rely on our ESs to print and provide to your parents ASAP after completion. (See recorded Webex "HS Courses/Credits/Grades" in ES Video section for reference as needed). Important Reminder: Any 19 year old student (as of 12/21/2010) who did not complete their required 25 credits (as listed on their report card/transcript for Fall) may no longer be eligible for enrollment in a regular high school and be dropped effective December 21, 2010—contact your advisor for help with your specific situation! Adult student policy is posted at: http://www.sscs.cc/Handbook/highschool/adultpol.htm .

 

g) January 21, 2011: K-8th LR Assessment Statements for 1st semester are due. Final day to email to your advisor a list of your students with the date of the LR that contains assessments for each course taken.

 

h) January 24, 2011: Deadline to take and pass your January ES Agenda 2011 Quiz in ES Webfiles!

 

i) February 1 & 2, 2011: CAHSEE for all 10th graders and those 11th/12th graders who qualify to take the assessment again. Remind your families now!

 

j) February 10, 2011: Complete transcript coding in ES Webfiles for any 9th to 12th grade students with transcripts not currently sub-coded.

 

k) February 25, 2011: Complete mid-year check and email to your advisor.

 

l) February 28, 2011:  By this date, send the parent assessment letters as directed in the assessment section below, then check that it is done on the Parent Checklist (PALTR). 

 

m) February 28, 2011: All 2nd to 11th grade students have been assigned to a STAR test site on your Assessment page in ES Webfiles.  If you have a student who needs to test in a location other than their local area, you can email that information prior to Feb. 28 to Fina at assessmentclerk@ieminc.org. Be sure to indicate the student’s name, number, and the site where they need to test.  (Note: This is only for unusual circumstances!).

 

n) February 28, 2011: Phase 3 of the Materials import cleanup is to be completed.  See 3d below for details.

 

o) March 1 & 2, 2011: Please remind your 4th and 7th grade students this month of their upcoming STAR Writing assessment on these dates. Again, the school must have 95% participation; therefore do all you can to make your students/parents feel comfortable with this upcoming assessment. We hope the school writing assignment was a help again this year for this.

 

p) March 4, 2011:  Have all Writing Scores entered in ES Webfiles and also the Postmark date for original writing samples with scored rubrics to be sent to the school office (See 2a below).  Mail originals to:  SSCS/OGCS Writing Samples, 1166 Broadway, Suite Q, Placerville, CA  95667.

 

q) March 4, 2011: Complete and email/mail your ES Self Evaluation to Your ES Advisor by March 4th. (See 2c below)

 

r) March 14, 2011: This is the last day to sign a SA and start a student for the 2011 school year. This enrollment cut-off date is based on state funding, and the minimum amount required to support a student’s enrollment in our school until May 20.

 

s) March 18, 2011:  Final date to make assessment duty trades and notify the assessment department of your trade.

 

t) March ES Group Meeting:  All 2011 perfect portfolios are due!

 

2) Things to Do

a) 2011 Expository WRITING ASSIGNMENT:

·         COLLECT: In December, you collected the last of your students’ Expository writing assignment samples and the writing assignment prompt they wrote from.

·         COPY: Make your student writing sample copies before you do the below “ATTACH” step.  The original writing sample will go to the IEM office.  You will want 1 copy to return to the parent for discussion purposes; you might need a copy to send to your SME; you may want to use a copy as a portfolio sample. 

·         ATTACH:  Print out the corresponding grade level rubric http://www.sscs.cc/Handbook/writing_2011/exp_rubrics/exp_ru_index.dwt, completing the info at the top and bottom (if applicable) of the rubric form.  
STAPLE THE PACKET IN THIS ORDER:  Rubric, school-wide writing assignment prompt, student writing sample.  DO NOT SCORE!

·         BEFORE YOU COME TO YOUR ES GROUP MEETING:
Plan to watch the ES video on Scoring the 2011 Writing Assignment, posted in the ES Videos section of the website. 

·         BRING:  Remember to bring these prepared assignment packets to your January ES Group Meetings where you will check the appropriate Rubric category boxes and complete the Rubric scoring. Do not attempt to score any of the writing assignments prior to your meeting!

·         SCORING - AT THE MEETING:
If two ES’s scores were used to arrive at the student’s final score, two rubrics (a rubric from each scorer) needs to be completed with their own total scores.  Put the second rubric on top of the packet, and in the lower right corner write the “final averaged score” and circle it.  The packet will have the rubric with the “final averaged score” on top for easy viewing.

·         AFTER SCORING - AT HOME:  While at home after scoring, you will prepare two packets:

1.)  Parent Packet: Staple going from top to bottom, a copy of the scored Rubric(s) with the rubric having the “final averaged score” on the very top of the packet, the writing prompt, and a copy of the student’s writing sample. Give this packet to the parent for feedback and discussion purposes. 

2.)  School Packet:  Staple going from top to bottom, the original scored Rubric(s) with the rubric having the “final averaged score” on the very top of the packet, the writing prompt, and the original student writing sample.  You will also enter the score (or the “final averaged score”) in WEbfiles.

·         STUDENT/PARENT WRITING ASSIGNMENT FOLLOW-UP:

At the February Learning Record meeting, provide your parents/student with the parent packet of the student’s scored writing sample (listed above).  Use this activity as a productive time for your parents/student. Plan to explain to them why the student received the scores and final score they did by reviewing the completed Rubric and Scoring Checklist, and give them suggestions as to what they can do to improve their student’s writing overall.  It would be a good time to provide some helpful curriculum ideas and/or weblinks for further practice, especially for your 4th, 7th, and 10th grade students. You might want to ask your students to do a rewrite based on their scoring feedback and offer to score it for them at the end of the year (This rewrite does not need to be sent to the school, nor is it a school requirement). Webpage writing helps are posted at: http://www.sscs.cc/Handbook/writing_2011/wr_exp_index_11.dwt  

·         Complete all & mail packet to the school by March 4, 2011 (address above in 1p).

 

b) Go to ES Webfiles to a Mid-year “self” check of your records this month on or before Feb 25, 2011. Follow the directions on the OG/SS Mid-Year ES Records Check  for this records review. Resolve any problems now so that the end of the year checkout goes smoothly!

 

c) ES Self Evaluation: (http://www.sscs.cc/Handbook/esjob/esevalprocogss.htm)

Complete and send your ES Self Evaluation to Your ES Advisor by March 4, 2011. First watch the Webex: PG: ES Goals Requirement and Writing ES Professional Goals  posted on the ES Protected page/ES Videos button . Then enter your final Progress Report on your 2011 goals listed in Webfiles (View/ES Detail, OG/SS Prof. Growth Goals tab, enter 2011 for school year) by this date as well. After reporting on your 2011 goals, enter 2012 at the top for the school year and select your 2012 goals for next year. (ESs hired this school year only, you will not need to complete this self-evaluation, as you have already/or will soon receive your preliminary evaluation—ask your advisor if you are not sure. You only need to complete your 2012 professional goals.) This document may help you to choose your goals prior to entering them in ES Webfiles http://www.sscs.cc/Handbook/profgrowth/teacherstandards.pdf.

 

d) Sample Emails posted in ES Resources: Remember to use already approved school emails for various purposes when emailing your families from this ES Resources webpage: http://www.sscs.cc/Handbook/samples/indexiem.html. Read carefully for accuracy before sending, as you may need to make small changes to the email to fit your situation or the details for this school year (we post templates, but do not necessarily update yearly). Any more that would be helpful--bring ideas to your meeting to be shared with us. We are adding to these as requests are made; otherwise, we do not know what you need!

 

e)Work Flow Reminder: Do not refer your parents to the office for questions they wish to ask.  You, their ES, are their "answer person"!  If you do not know an answer, consult with your advisor!  Or if they insist on talking to someone else, refer them to your advisor themselves.  If they need to be referred on after talking to your advisor, your advisor will take care of that referral. Never refer them directly to the office--the office refers them right back to you or your advisor, which might make them unhappy with our school service.  Please do your job and serve their needs locally as we have designed this to work!

 

3) Training Items

a) Commission on Teacher Credentialing Info

·         Reminder: The CCTC now will only provide credentials, certificates, and permits through an online view and print process. Watch for your confirmation email from the CCTC after you renew and forward a copy of it to: Cary in Personnel (personnel@ieminc.org) and Linette (iemtraining2@ieminc.org). At that time, a document may only be printed from the Commission’s website at: https://teachercred.ctc.ca.gov/teachers/index.jsp .

·         Renewal must also be done online at: https://teachercred.ctc.ca.gov/teachers/RenewableSearchProxy .  Even though it is online, do plan ahead!

 

b) CALSTRS: Please check the CALSTRS website for info periodically.  Here are some websites you may want to visit:

·         Log into the newly updated My CALSTRS website if you haven’t for your personal information: https://my.calstrs.com/MyCalSTRSWebUI/Root/Pages/Login.aspx

·         Sign up for a local workshop based on your years of service: http://www.calstrs.com/Counseling%20and%20Workshops/LGBO.aspx. These workshops are very valuable for you as you progress through your years of teaching service and prepare for retirement—very much worth your while to set time aside to attend, no matter where you are in your teaching career!

·         Get CalSTRS newsletters electronically. Just check the box under "Newsletters" on the preferences page of MyCALSTRS after you log in.

 

c) NCLB/ESEA:

NCLB is now being referred to as the “ESEA”—Elementary and Secondary Education Act.  For those still completing their highly qualified teacher paperwork, you will note that the form no longer is called NCLB Compliance, but ESEA Compliance.  The requirements are almost the same….  The Federal Government promises to work on this topic this year, so watch for more changes to come (or I will let you know when we hear of any that affect you directly). Attached (http://www.sscs.cc/Handbook/esjob/ESEACodes.pdf ) is a chart of the current ESEA core subject areas, how the certification can be obtained, and what that certification allows you to teach as the Highly Qualified Teacher of Record.

Note these changes (make changes now on your 2nd semester report cards if needed):

·         Newly obtained Science certifications are subject specific, therefore the only means to obtain an overall science certification now is by taking a Science VPSS class. The state CDE “made a deal” with the Federal Department of Ed and traded “individual” subject science certifications for 1 Social Science certification.  This does not affect anyone who has already obtained a NCLB certification—those are still good to go!

·         “Dance” no longer requires an HQT!  Dance is now considered solely a PE standards course (even when used to fulfill the VAPA requirements), and as such should be coded as HQT:  0=n/a on the report card line for this VAPA standards course.

·         “Theater/Drama” is now covered by the English HQT certification, and does not require a stand-alone Theater/Drama HQT certification.  If you have one, it is still good to go. If you were short credits in order to obtain your English Certification, but you did have some theater/drama classes on your college transcripts, contact Linette Harris immediately for a reevaluation to see if you now qualify for your English ESEA certificate now, which will include Theater/Drama. Your older NCLB English certificate now works for Theater/Drama—no need for any new certification form.

·         Coming soon will be a new ESEA Plan form (will replace the current NCLB Plan form) for those who do not have all of their core NCLB/ESEA certifications complete (that conforms to these changes). Details to come as it is ready to go.  This will be due as a part of ES Checkout in May.

 

d) School Materials, phase 3:

·         Continue with the directions from the November ES Agenda and complete that part on or before Jan 14.

·         Then proceed to the next step:

Ø  Concentrate on completing transfers of items still on your list to the current ES who has those materials—either because you have transferred students and the items stayed with you, or because you gave those items to another ES.  Hopefully you kept a copy of that transfer on a “Materials Transfer form”.  If not, email ESs and ask.  If emailed by another ES, please check carefully (check your checkout records for your families for that item, or ask your family) and respond quickly.

Ø  Hint:  If you have an item on your list that says “math book”, and you transferred ES X has a math book in their home but not one currently on their list, but you are not sure if this is it, call it the right one and transfer to them now.  You do not need to research POs, unless this is your last resort.

Ø  Ask your advisor for help if you are stumped about an item or are not getting a timely response from another ES.

Ø  Ask you advisor for help on any other issues from other months if you are stumped.

Ø  Complete by Feb 28

·         Remember to stay current from this point on as you transfer materials around to your families.

·         Put items not being used on the Bulletin Board!  You can now select a button when the transfer is being done to have the item shipped! Check the bulletin board first for items you may need before placing a PO.  At this time of year when IF is short, especially for newly enrolling students, having items to select from for free on the BB is important and one of the main reasons for creating this process!

·         Important FYI: Items that are consumable on your list will automatically disappear from your list at the end of 1 year. You only need to actually go into your consumable list to mark them “consumed” for the following reasons:

o    They were imported as non-consumables, but were actually consumed, and are not with a family currently—we want them marked consumed and purged from our current system.

o    A family drops the school (for any reason)—we want their “list” totally clear or everything left on it marked “lost” or “damaged” and submitted as a MM. Therefore if items have been consumed, you will need to mark them “consumed” so they leave their list before the year is up.

o    If you will be collecting a “consumable” to share with other families, then move it to the non-consumables list as soon as you receive it (or mark it on your PO when you place the order) so it does not “disappear” when you still want to track it.

·         Coming next month:  A way to enter items that no one has on their list after all items have been transferred!

 

e) Leave of absence

·         If you need to think about taking a leave of absence from your position, always start first with the most up to date information available in the Employee Handbook (SSCS; OGCS).  After that, inform your advisor of your concerns.  They can help you think through your options and will refer you on to the school director if you do need to request a leave. Of course, if you encounter an emergency, go directly to your school director with your request.  For official leave requests, there are forms that must be completed and filed with the Personnel Office.  A leave can only be approved by your School Director, in accordance with State and Federal laws and school policies and practices. Failure to inform us of your need to be unavailable for a length of time from the first day of school until you have officially “checked out” for the school year may constitute “abandonment of the job”. Please inform your close family or friends of their need to contact us ASAP in the case of an emergency and you are not able to do so yourself.

·         The school does not have “substitutes” as in regular public school classrooms.  For another ES to take over your position for a period of time, our policy is to transfer the students to the ES who will be serving those students. Check with the personnel office for information as to how this will affect your benefits, should you be taking school benefits. Always be sure you are fully informed before you make a decision.

·         Most of the “leaves” we encounter each year are what we refer to as a “Planned Short Term Unavailability”, and are not truly qualified as an official “leave”.  Read this link for information of what we expect as a school during this time.  http://www.sscs.cc/Handbook/esjob/PlannedShortTermUnavailability.htm

 

f) Report Cards:

If you have questions about report cards, review the ES Resources documents online (http://www.sscs.cc/Handbook/repcardtrans/indexssog.htm ), watch a report card Webex training, or for specific questions after that, ask your advisor!  Remember, you as the Highly Qualified California credentialed teacher (this includes the SME if you are only the supervising ES for that subject) of record are the only one authorized to assign grades and credits for your students.  You can set your own grading criteria, but do confer with your parents/students at the beginning of each semester about what your grading criteria for each course will be. If you have a student doing an a-g course, please be sure you understand the following:

A-G COURSES and Grades:

·         All students taking an a-g course through independent study must take an ES administered midterm and final exam for each course. This year there are many different options for this.  If you have a question, contact Teri Alves, guidance@ieminc.org.

·         Students must receive a semester grade of “A” or “B” or "C" in order for the semester to be counted as an a-g course.

·         It is HIGHLY recommended that a student complete all 5 credits of an a-g course in one semester, but we have verified with the UC system that they may now do a different split of credits, as long as all 10 credits in an a-g course are completed in no more than 2 consecutive semesters.

·         If a student doing an a-g course receives a D grade or lower for their semester grade, the course title that the ES assigns to the report card/transcript must revert and be shown as a “Regular” course prior to marking that course line “Ready” in the report card file. (If you need a correction to an already submitted course, follow the correction process.)

·         Highly qualified teachers must uphold high standards when “weighting” the a-g midterm and final exams.  We want to maintain our charter school’s a-g status.  Highly qualified ESs can view the HQT SME syllabuses to see how those HQT SME’s are weighting exams as a guideline.

For all HS courses:

ü  Remember that in our school, we assign the grades and credits that a student earned in that semester, even if they did not complete the 5 credits they were attempting.  If a student earned 2 credits, award the 2 credits and they can attempt the next 3 of the course in the next semester. We do not give incompletes or wait to give credit until they finish the course. Use the course standards as a guide for awarding credits.  We assume that to earn all 10 course credits a student will complete 90% to 100% of the course state standards. Note to remember: It is the amount of standards that they have covered which determine the credits; the amount and quality of work determines the grade. WE are NOT a "time based", but "performance based" school by charter.

ü  Check your HQT coding carefully BEFORE marking your report card line as “ready”, as this will be reported to the state and we need to report totally accurate info.  All certifications done by Jan 4 should be entered into FRED prior to the report card due date so that you can select yourself as the HQT.  No line under HQT should be left blank!  The default of: “1-ES is certified” should be selected first if you are HQ, even if it is an online or a CC course.  If you are HQ, only selcte #1.  (Note:  This is different from selecting a CC for an a-g course –you can be #1 HQ and CC for a-g, yes!)

ü  Do not automatically use any formula to assign credits for a HS course when you are using a college course to complete the standards.  We are performance based and the number of credits awarded should be based on the same standard as the first checkmark.  If 90% of a course’s credits are completed, then yes, award all 10 credits (if the student actually did work for all 10 credits).  This usually works well for college upper division math courses.  For English, this typically does not work.  One semester of a college level English course typically finds a HS student earning 5 credits. 

For ROP Report Cards: Do NOT mark "done" on report cards with ROP courses listed! Leave those courses on your report card list (for SA, LR and Portfolio purposes) but never add grades/credits and do not mark "done" as the grades/credits come directly from the ROP office.

For HS Algebra 1 RCs for students NOT earning Algebra 1 credits: Do not delete Algebra 1 RCs, but as for ROP RC entries, do not add grades/credits and do not mark Done. DO enter the HQT info for that course (yes, a SME is required if you are not math HQT!)

For a dispute with the grades/credits awarded by the SME: First discuss this with the SME to see if you can come to an understanding of why the grades/credits were assigned.  If not, then contact your advisor for help. You cannot override the SME’s final determination, as they are the Teacher of Record.

 

4) Messages from School Departments

a) Assessment

·         STAR Student Assignments: 

ü  All 2nd to 11th grade students have been assigned to a STAR test site on your assessment page in FRED.  By February 28th, you will need to print out and give to your students/parents the STAR assessment letter that lets them know where and when they are assigned to take the STAR.  You can find this in FRED under View>Testing>STAR tab>Attendance tab.  Click on the bright yellow “STAR Letter” button and the letter will print out with the student’s assigned site, date, and instructions.

ü  If you have a student who needs to test in a location other than their assigned site, you can email that information to Fina at assessmentclerk@ieminc.org no later than February 28th.  Be sure to indicate the student’s name, number, and the site where they need to test.  (Note: This is only for unusual circumstances!).

ü  If you have a student who is scheduled for a set of days at a site (For example days A-L) but for some reason can only attend the other days (M-Z) at that SAME site, please make a note in FRED (View > testing > star attendance > Under CST comments use the green section) so that the accountability coordinators are aware of why the student is absent on their assigned day.

·         ES Proctor Assignments:  The chart with proctor assignments has been updated and uploaded to the ES protected page. Please make sure you check your proctor assignments carefully as some have changed. Remember if you cannot make your assigned day/location it is your responsibility to find someone to switch with you, then to let us know of the switch.  To find the testing locations and dates check the Assessment page.

·         February 1 & 2, 2011: CAHSEE for all 10th graders and those 11th & 12th graders who qualify to take the assessment again.  We must have 95% participation from our 10th graders at this test session in February for our schools’ API and AYP. Please do all you can to ensure your students will be at their required test session – sites are assigned in FRED.  (To receive the school assessment reward for this year, all 10th graders must attend the CAHSEE assessment and the STAR assessment).

·         CAHSEE reminder for you to tell your students:  Please make sure that your students know to show up to the CAHSEE by 9am!  They cannot come anytime between the testing hours, they need to be there at the start time otherwise we must report their tardiness to the state.  If you have a special case where the student might be late, please contact the students CAHSEE site coordinator by e-mail.  Also, please remind your students to bring their ID card.  Here is the link to the February CAHSEE sites:  

ü  SSCS- http://www.sscs.cc/assessment/SSCAHSEESite210.htm 

ü  OGCS- http://www.ogcs.org/assessment/ogcahseesites211.htm

·         4th & 7th STAR Writing:  Test will be held on March 1 & 2, 2011. Students may attend either day but there are no additional make ups.  (EXCEPTION: San Jose location is divided up by students last names A-L on the 1st and M-Z on the 2nd due to room size constraints). Please note that these tests generally only take a couple hours so parents should be available to pick up the students throughout the late morning.

·         EAP: Any 11th grade student that is signed up to take the Early Assessment Program have been assigned to their nearest STAR writing site and should take their EAP writing test at the testing site. ES’s may test the students individually as long as the tests are done by March 31st.  These need to be priority mailed to the office ASAP after that date. The multiple choice portion of their EAP will be taken when they complete their STAR tests. Make sure to remind your students that they will need to complete the additional EAP section of the STAR test. (English multiple choice portion of the EAP is found in the ELA CST booklet. Math multiple choice portion of the EAP is found in the Algebra II or Summative Math EOC test. Students not taking one of those EOC tests will not be able to take the math portion of the EAP.)

·         Note--Graduating seniors: with an active IEP/504 plan who have not yet passed the CAHSEE but will fulfill all their other requirements by the end of this school year need to have their name and student ID number emailed to the office by February 1. In order for a special ed student to receive a diploma without passing the CAHSEE school board approval is required. OG email bwallace@ieminc.org. SS email ssatterfield@ieminc.org .

 

b) Curriculum

·         PARENT CURRICULUM WORKSHOPS
Share the schedule of 2011 PARENT CURRICULUM WORKSHOPS being offered this spring at:  http://www.ieminc.org/handbook/curriculum/gencurres/curric/parent_wkshp_2011.pdf
To sign up for these WebEx workshops, have the parent email Shelley Ross, curriculum@ieminc.org

January

Topic: Middle/High School History

Thursday, January 27th

1:00pm - 2:00pm

Recommended California standards-aligned, middle and high school history textbook programs will begin our discussion. Vendor website resources and activities will be demonstrated. Parents will be shown how to teach history using cross-curricular and mutli-media resources and activities including the Learn 360 video streaming program. Parents will be oriented to the school website history resources, pacing guides, correlations, and standards review materials.

Age/Grade Focus: Grades 6-12

February

Topic: Online Standards Review

Thursday, February 24th

1:00pm - 2:00pm

Two online standards review vendors will be discussed and demonstrated: Kaplan (CAHSEE Prep) and Study Island (K-8 Standards Review and CAHSEE Prep). The remaining time will be used to answer other questions you might have, or to discuss other standards review materials.

Age/Grade Focus: Grades K-12

March

Topic: Science

Thursday, March 17th

1:00pm - 2:00pm

Parents will be oriented to various science curricula, science supply vendors, science kits, and the parent science website resources, 6-12.

Age/Grade Focus: Grades 6-12

April

Topic: Curriculum Question and Answer

Friday, April 8th

10:00am - 11:00am

·         STANDARDS REVIEW MATERIALS

1.      Ordering and pricing information by grade and subject

Ø  Grades K-12 Math and Reading:  Please Note:  The vendor for Buckle Down is Triumph Learning, LLC.

Ø      http://www.ieminc.org/handbook/curriculum/cresource/standardsrevieworderinfo.pdf

Ø  Grades 6-12 History: 

Ø      http://www.ieminc.org/handbook/curriculum/gencurres/curric/HI_6-12/hi_stds_rev.dwt

Ø  Grades 6-12 Science: 

Ø      http://www.ieminc.org/handbook/curriculum/gencurres/curric/SC_6-12/sc_stds_rev6-12.dwt

Ø  Grades 1-5 Science: 

Ø      http://www.ieminc.org/handbook/curriculum/gencurres/curric/SC_K-5/sc_stds_revK-5.dwt

Ø  Curriculum Associates has standards review workbooks that mimic STAR test questions formatting aligned to the CA Standards. 

Ø  They are inexpensive and well formatted, but there is no re-teaching in their workbooks.

Ø  Buckle Down Publishing’s standards review workbooks are more expensive, but they include re-teaching which is very helpful.  Order Buckle Down products from Triumph Learning, LLC.

2.      Textbook vendor published standards review materials

Ø  All of the mainline textbook publishers offer standards review materials that are aligned to the CA standards.

Ø  The advantage:  they tie back to the curriculum textbook for re-teaching.

Ø  Some textbook standards review ordering and pricing information can be found in ES Only, Vendor Info, Pricing and Ordering Information by grade and subject. 

Ø  If you need help with textbook standards review info, please feel free to contact your advisor or Shelley Ross.

3.      CST Released Test Questions by the California Department of Education (CDE) are another way for students to review for their STAR CST’s.

Ø  They are FREE and quick to access.

Ø  They cover the CA standards.

Ø  Students get to experience actual STAR test question formatting.

Ø  The disadvantage is that there is no built in re-teaching…just the questions and answers.

Ø  Parents can access the CST Released Test Questions with answer key by going to, http://www.cde.ca.gov/ta/tg/sr/css05rtq.asp

4.  Study Island (online)
     This vendor continues to be great way for students to review the standards for subjects K-8

     and the CAHSEE.  All licenses expire in June of each school year.  Full year licenses cost $25

     and pro-rate down from there until the end of May.  Call the vendor for pro-rated pricing before

     creating your PO.

·         WEB LINKS

Living Math
Literature for learning math concepts. Math literature lists by topic.
http://www.livingmath.net/ReaderLists/tabid/268/Default.aspx
Digital History
Online American History Textbook, links to primary sources, lesson plans and guides, student inquiries and activities, and multi-media.
http://www.digitalhistory.uh.edu/database/hyper_titles.cfm
Penn State University's Electronic Classics Site
Read the classics online! Scroll to the bottom of the page for the links to this vast list of online classics.
http://www2.hn.psu.edu/faculty/jmanis/jimspdf.htm
Paper Rater
Automatic online paper grader website that does editing, a grammar check, a spell check and a plagiarism check. Simply go to the website, enter the title of the writing sample, the works cited, the grade level of the student-author, the genre of the paper, and agree to the terms of service. The report will cover Originality/Plagerism Detection, Spelling Suggestions, Grammar Suggestions, Word Choice Suggestions, Style Suggestions, Vocabulary Suggestions, and Writing Tips.
http://www.paperrater.com/free_paper_grader#   

 

c) Guidance:

·         Concurrent Enrollment – This year we have had a large increase in the number of student wanting to take classes at the community college.  Talk with your families about this option early.  If they would like to take a class for fall 2011, March and April are ideal times to start processing that paperwork for admission into the college.  Remember, you need to send the pre-concurrent and concurrent paperwork to the Broadway office for signature approval before the student can enroll in college courses. Guidance currently has 11 pre-concurrent enrollment forms without the college paperwork.  This is very time consuming to match up all the paperwork.

Starting this semester, only one pre-concurrent enrollment form needs to be filled out per year. Keep the copy in your file and send the copy attached to the subsequent college forms. This way Guidance will know the family has been informed and agrees to the Concurrent Enrollment Guidelines.  If the copy of the Pre-Concurrent Enrollment Form is not attached, the college forms will not be processed.  In addition, Pre-Concurrent Enrollment forms will be mailed, scanned and emailed and only faxed if there is an extreme emergency. 

·         CalGrants and FAFSA – Now is the time to have your graduates apply for CalGrants.  A student could get up to $9,800/yr of free money for college.  To get CalGrant money, the application requires students to fill out the FAFSA online and complete the GPA Verification Form.  That form is printed up by the student and mailed to the Broadway office (Guidance Department, 1166 Broadway, Suite Q, Placerville, CA 95667) for official GPA certification.  The form is mailed back to the student and the student mails it off to the CalGrant office.  Here is a great resource for this: http://www.fafsa.ed.gov/  The application deadline for FAFSA is March 2nd, 2011. It is recommended that the student get proof of mailing from the post office. (See handout here: http://www.sscs.cc/Guidance/colladmreqmt/FAFSAdir.htm )

·         Important Notice!!!  CAL GRANTS – the deadline to submit Cal Grant applications is March 2nd.  Steps to getting CalGrant money:
1)  Go to http://www.fafsa.ed.gov/  à  click “FAFSA on the Web Worksheet” à print out this worksheet and give it to your graduating seniors
2)  Have the family use last year’s tax returns to help them answer the questions on the worksheet;  have the family use the worksheet to complete the online FAFSA application
3)  To apply for a CalGrant, students must also get an official GPA verification form signed by our school’s Guidance Department (http://www.csac.ca.gov/pubs/forms/grnt_frm/march2_11-12_gpaform(fillable).pdf).  After the Guidance Department signs the GPA verification form, it is mailed back to the family.  The GPA verification form needs to be sent into the office by February  25, 2011.  It is suggested that you print up the GPA Verification form and FAFSA worksheet and give those to your graduating seniors.  Additional information about applying for Cal Grants and access to the required forms is available at their website http://www.calgrant.org/.  

·         Guidance has been getting many Academic Competitive Grant applications from Community Colleges on behalf of our students.  These are grants ranging from $750.00-1300.00 based on A-G course requirements, State Scholars Requirements, Golden State Seal Merit Diplomas, IB exam scores and AP exam scores.  Students who complete rigorous course work and attend community colleges are able to get some of these grants, but all of the grant requests so far haven’t been approved because our students simply aren’t taking enough A-G courses.

 

d) Vendor Relations & POs

·         New Vendors by School:  SSCS   OGCS

·         Preview PO Vendor Notes Field:  When creating a PO, remember to read the Vendor Notes section for info for your school. Be sure to follow instructions listed specifically for your school, as there may be differing instructions provided for CW, SM, than for OG/SS.  Depending on the vendor, OG/SS instructions may be listed last in the section.  The Learning Springs vendor, for instance, has instructions for the other schools listed first--be sure to scroll down where it states All Schools and then OG/SS instructions for your correct ordering information. The Educational notes are kept current by the school ed admin staff, therefore, please always read that section (if there are any notes) for important information/directions/special deals for you.

·         Service PO Reminder: It is your responsibility to NOT submit a PO that is against school policy!

Educational Activity Policy:
1. The vendor must be approved through the regular school vendor process.

2. The educational activity must conform to all school policies, be approved by the ES, and be submitted prior to the event (Note: Allow 2 weeks for a Pre-Pay only event, and mark the PO as "pre-pay" in the description line).

3. The school does not pay for season passes, memberships,  performance fees, costume rental fees, team sport registrations, uniforms, etc. but for specific events, educational services and activities only.

The service cannot start until the vendor received the PO from the IEM PO department.  DO NOT TELL A PARENT OR A VENDOR THAT CLASSES MAY START!  This is never your job.

4.  We are in process of creating a new FRED form/process to notify service vendors when a student has dropped from a class/the school.  Watch for information on this new FRED process to help you in this job duty (which is yours to do).

·         Reminder: Educational Activity payment checks are for a school year only, and must be used within a school year only. If a check is not used, the ES must get the check back from the parent and return it to IEM, Accounting department. If the check is used, then a receipt must be sent in immediately to IEM, with the PO number written on it. Keep the PO handy in your student’s file to remind you to ask about the check at the LR meetings, and please be sure this is taken care of in as timely a manner as possible for school accounting purposes. If they have not yet used it by the last day of school, collect the check from the parent and mail to IEM, Accounting department in Placerville.

 

e) IT/Database:

·         What should I do when the CUT & PASTE  Feature does not work in FRED?

If you experience a malfunctioning clipboard chain (when you cannot copy and paste anymore between a local applications and FRED). The cause is not clear. It seems to have to do with interactions between the hosted applications and Citrix. It is common enough that someone at the Citrix forum created a repair tool application. You can download and run this RepairCBDChain.exe utility, which restores clipboard functionality.

There are two different versions of the RepairCBDChain utility available:

32Bit – RepairCBDChain.exe      (Works on Windows XP, Vista and Windows 7 32bit platform)

64Bit – RepairCBDChain64.exe  (Works on Windows XP, Vista and Windows 7 64bit platform)

Download the correct executable file(for your computer) to your local computer's desktop and whenever this problem occurs run the repair application by double clicking on the file. You should get a reply that clipboard functionality has been repaired. This is the best repair that we have available at this time.

·         There is a new computer icon at the top of the ES Resources webpage.  You can use that to access Citrix. (Some web browsers are not compatible, but the bugs are being worked out.)

 

f) Liaisons:

·         GEA’s

Please communicate often with your parents in regards to GEA’s that they have signed up for.  With our increase in enrollment, we have very full GEA’s and we need to have accurate numbers.  Remind your parents (or you, the ES) they need to get back to me in a timely manner when requesting adult tickets for GEA’s—or they may not be available.  Also, we need to know if they are cancelling.  This is an ongoing problem this year and we will have to start collecting parent monies in advance if we continue to have no shows and parents not letting us know they are coming.

·         Fundraising

Please continue to encourage parents to sign up for escrip at www.escrip.com

·         Graduation

SSCS: Graduation will be May 21st, at First Covenant Church in Rancho Cordova.  Please make sure you have clicked the correct graduation date (year/semester) and whether or not a student is participating in the ceremony in FRED for both 8th graders and 12 graders!

·         OGCS GEAs:

ü  February 18 – The Tech – Body Works Vital-GEA# 20751 $14 per student 10am to 5pm Registration closes January 21st

ü  Students will view IMAX "The Human Body" at 10am and then enter the "Body Works Vital" at 11am. The IMAX film does show the birth of a child from the side, so make sure parents are aware of this before they commit. We will meet at the side door of the museum at 9:30 to check everyone in and hand out tickets. For more information on exhibit go to http://www.thetech.org/

ü  March ? – The school is registered for tickets to free symphony concerts in Santa Clara and Monterey. The final dates have not been sent to me. I will forward that information as soon as I receive it.

ü  May 6 – Great America; Physics, Science and Math Days GEA #20752 $23 per student 9:00am-5:00pm. Registration closes March 4, 2011  Tickets are pre-paid and will be sent to the students' home address found in FRED the middle of April. Tickets will not be mailed until Permission Slips are received by Mary Ann Shapiro at 2530 Berryessa Rd., #142, San Jose, CA, 95132.  For more information on the events of the day, please go to http://www.cagreatamerica.com/events/event_detail.cfm?event_id=45&ec_id=13

ü  Opera – La Boheme April 21st – I still have 7 free tickets to this opera. Please contact ogliaison@ieminc.org if you or any of your students are interested.

ü  Spelling Bee – Thursday, January 27th, 1-3 p.m.  Ocean Grove Resource Center - All fourth through ninth grade students are eligible to participate. All students will compete in a round robin fashion. The top two spellers in the 4-6 and the 7-9 grades will participate in the Santa Cruz County Spelling Bee which will take place in early March. . (That is four spellers in all)  The winners of the County Bee will go on to compete in the State Spelling Bee in late April or early May. Please email ogliaison@ieminc.org with the names, grade, and contact info of all students wishing to participate.  FYI for ESs – This is not a preliminary to the Scripps Howard National Spelling Bee due to problems with eligibility for OGCS. This issue has been cleared up for next year, but not this year.

ü  Science Fair – Tentative date is Thursday, March 10th, 10am to 2pm, Ocean Grove Resource Center.  Synopsis Outreach Foundation has donated 50 display boards to our school for use in a science fair. The plan is to start simply and build an annual event for our school. The event is open to all students and the guidelines will be sent out in a week or two with registration information.

 

g) EL Instructors: (From SSCS EL Instructors, but good info for those in OGCS working with EL students—please also follow the suggestions below with your EL students!)

January is here and the focus with our EL High School students is preparing for the ELA CAHSEE. In working with this population of students, we are finding that many of these students are not listening/speaking in English on a daily basis for at least one hour per day. This is an area that must be addressed in order for our EL students to make progress in acquiring the English language.  We ask that when you meet with your students who are EL, you encourage a plan to practice speaking and listening to English for at least 1 hour per day and then ask them what they are doing each time you see them. Rosetta Stone English level one is ideal for beginners, as it meets the listening and speaking requirement. The cost for level 1 is $249. Another exciting tool is a new addition to the Brainpop family: Brainpop ESL. This provides the students with a fun engaging environment loaded with activities carefully designed to take a student through each level of mastering English. They offer a free trial and it is one for all to see! The cost is $75 for one user and $115 for multiple users (up to three) in a home.

As always, please send questions to nthomas@ieminc.org or agarcia@ieminc.org.

 

h) Enrollment & Missing Materials: If you receive a new prospective student, who has been with us before and still has an outstanding Missing Materials list, you may ONLY provide basic core curriculum until they have returned those items or paid their school bill.  No computers or other equipment, no “supplemental” items, no classes or GEAs, etc.

 

5) Networking:  

a) Score the group’s writing assignment samples: You will watch a Webex in preparation for your group's scoring activity. Then score your group's samples together!

 

b) Discuss help needed from each other for textbook ideas, CP classes, tutors, and other curriculum.

 

6) Peer Tips:

Good Ideas from December 2010 AF Meetings

ES “Gifts” to share with all:

·         www.thinkfinity.org has a wealth of lesson plans and materials of very high caliber.

·         SSCS Recommended Vendors/Tutors – Lisa Phenix travels to students’ homes to teach piano, guitar, and voice lessons. She works mostly with beginning and intermediate levels. Olga Beliy does math and English tutoring, and students have been very positive about working with her. Joanna Yanez does math tutoring. Charlene Bastian (ES) does CP courses for art courses that meet VAPA requirements. Erica Higashi is a great tutor for ESs needing tutoring for VPSS math.

·         ES Recommended websites for students to find video clips to better understand a variety of specific concepts for different subject areas: www.hippocampus.org; www.khanacademy.org

·         Other free websites: www.sourceforge.net – free software downloads; www.sketchup.google.com – 3-D modeling (architecture)

·         homeschooling.about.com   Several families and ESs have found this to be a great resource for ideas, worksheets, and curriculum suggestions.

·         colorwithleo.com is a good website for students to learn about famous artists

·         The Brain in a Box game reviews standards. It can be purchased from Rainbow Resource.

·         Brain Pop Junior is an affordable program that is great for grades K-2.

·         OGCS vendor: ERMCO finally bought insurance so their pony classes and animal classes are now approved.

·         One ES asks her parents to save their library check out receipts each month. The parent can mark which ones each child reads and doesn't have to rely on memory for LR info.

How do ESs keep track of the 30% limit for restricted courses?

·         Put a note in the student folder.

·         Write a note on the PO reminder of how much of the funding they have used thus far and how much remains.

·         Figure out how many months/weeks total the student has available for each restricted course, give the family that total, and then let them decide which months/weeks they want the school to place a PO for and which they want to cover on their own. 

·         Keep a running tab, set PO up month to month, create 1 PO using only 30% funding.