Blog

This month Susan Harris looks back on the year and takes lessons learned for the next year.

In September we began the Year of Sofia. We talked about how Sofia tested in all four domains—listening, speaking, reading, and writing. Even though Sofia isn't an actual student, her story mirrors the many students for whom TELL is used to help progress monitor literacy skills. Her story is told through the eyes of her 2nd grade teacher, Susan Harris.

As a principal, you're not only a strong, proven leader, but you're also a longtime educator. Your role is rooted in the improvement of learning and teaching and the continued advancement of your school.

Data-Driven Decision Making in Your Multi-Tiered System of Supports (MTSS)

For students to prosper within your school’s multi-tiered system of supports (MTSS), collaboration between different teams of educators is a necessity.

Ana Applegate and her English Learner Program team for the San Bernardino City Unified School District faced a massive challenge. They had nearly 14,000 English learners at all levels of English proficiency and their teachers were not sure of each student’s language ability or how to assess it.

Effective Early Numeracy Assessment Measures

Because numeracy skills are so imperative to learn in the first few years of a child’s schooling, early assessment is pivotal in grades K-1. We know that acquiring a sense of numbers and numeracy skills is essential to a child’s later understanding and performance in mathematics and critical thinking. But how do we go about accurately assessing such early skills?

Throughout the past year, new requirements from the Office of Special Education Programs (OSERS) have been placed on your school's Individualized Education Programs (IEP). IEP goals must align with grade-level content standards for all children with disabilities - helping make certain that students with learning differences are prepared for college and career.1

You collect student data all the time. From small efforts like spot-checking for understanding and asking students to respond in class, to large endeavors like end-of-year targets, the collection of informative data is a constant in your school.