November LSAT & Advisory Team Meeting: Message from the Chair

At our November LSAT Meeting (Nov, 2, 2015), topics of discussion included:

1) Ramin Taheri, co-chair of the Outreach Committee, introduced our new community member, Anne Hyslop who lives in the neighborhood and works at the policy office at the US Department of Education on common core and NCLB.

2) Principal Burst met with his area superintendent today to set 5 school goals, as guided by DCPS. Our five school goals for the 2015-16 school year are:

  • 91% of students will be proficient or above on TRC (measures reading comprehension) assessment at the end of the year. (For SWS last year, 64% were advanced, which is exceptional).
  • 92% of students will be proficient or above on DIBELS EOY assessment.
  • 92% of students will be on grade level or above on iReady EOY mathematics assessment.
  • 1st and 4th Grade Students will reach a combined 3.5 average on the Lucy Calkins Writers Workshop informative and narrative writing rubrics (4-point scale).
  • 0% of students will be 2 grades or more behind grade level on the iReady mathematics assessment.

3) Facilities issues are getting attention from DCPS and DGS. We are focusing on pressing work, which includes health and safety issues of HVAC, sprinklers, locks on the doors.

4) DCPS budget process is starting this month, with a Chancellor’s budget meeting on Nov. 19 and the expectation that DCPS will release budget numbers in early February. This will allow 3 weeks to set the budget, which is longer than schools have ever had in the past.

5) SWS is using Response to Intervention to help all students perform on grade level. Kate Walsh presented key elements of RTI:

  • RTI is not based only on standardized direct assessments but also a lot of other information from teachers and other forms of assessment.
  • The RTI team is an impressive team, and the interventions are measurable and are working for our students.

6) Diversity Committee had its first meeting and have another planned. Discussed goals and talked about what it would look like if we were more successful at increasing diversity and promoting inclusion.

The next LSAT & Advisory Team meeting will be Monday, January 7th, 5:30 – 7:30 pm.

— Dave Stevenson, LSAT Chair