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Part of our continued work this year is to continue to strengthen core instruction with a strong emphasis on:

~The Instructional Leadership Framework:

Hallmarks of Advanced Literacy (Daily use of engaging texts, student led discussion, writing within lessons with student and teacher use of target vocabulary throughout), structured workshop model lessons to include a mini lesson with explicit modeling and think aloud (I do), active student engagement (we do), independent student practice/guided reading/small strategy groups (you do)-“Teaching for Transfer” The Instructional Leadership team conducts cycles of visits classrooms to with a lens on the Hallmarks and EAA classroom implementation assessment with debrief follow-ups.

- EAA protocol data analysis and teacher EAA formative self-assessment of their practices

Differentiation and Assessment is ongoing and flexible- teachers meet with grade level and vertical instructional teams to create learning progressions including exemplars and success criteria at grade level as well as the former and latter grade levels to meet students where they are and provide extension opportunities to excel in reading and writing based on the Next Generation standards; students are taught how to use the progressions to articulate their learning and determine successes and next steps.  Teachers use the EAA protocol to analyze unit assessment data and determine strengths, next steps and action plans for SWD, ENL and general education students; grade trends are also analyzed and recorded.

-Special Education/ENL:

Reducing related service pull outs by determining the success and necessity of the service, IEP and data reviews are frequently conducted to ensure students are being instructed in the least restrictive environment, flexibly programming students in LRE based on success in ELA or Math, declassifying students with IEPs when they are independently and successfully meeting/exceeding the standards, grouping or removing paraprofessionals as appropriate-over the past few years our para population has decreased from 24 to currently 11.  Of our 29 ENL students, which equates to 7% of our population 8 have achieved ‘commanding’ status.  25% of our students have an IEP, one student has mainstreamed from 12:1 to ICT, 10 are currently flexibly programmed and three students have been declassified so far this school year, in preparation for next school year three students will mainstream from a 12:1 class to an ICT.

~Setting High Expectations in the Mathematics Classroom:

Our teachers are utilizing various strategies to modify EnVisions workbook math problems to create more high quality, rich, engaging tasks with multiple representations and lessons which include questioning and student led discourse and self/peer assessment.

-Ongoing Professional Learning to support these initiatives is provided by our Instructional Coach, Universal Literacy Coach, UFT TC, SIBOD31 Instructional Leads and Professional Learning Opportunities, Book Study Groups, NtN, A4A, Weekly ILT and grade team meetings.

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Since our school opened its doors in 2009, our fundamental founding principles are based on  equity and excellence for all students. Our leadership process and growing STEM program are instrumental in fostering equity.  Although the DOE Core Curriculum for science and social studies haven been revised to support the "equity for all" initiative, ELA and Math Core Curriculum have not. We are looking to update our resources in these subject areas to support and continue this important work.
As part of our professional development series, we are assisting our teachers to understand content better by working to to find and provide creative ways to learn. We are encouraging more discussion increasing academic vocabulary and are utilizing instructional supports to make students more comfortable with asking questions, and supporting each other.
With the additional of visual cues, graphic representations, gestures, and pictures tied into the various cultures and individual background knowledge of our students, we hope to bridge the gap in these areas.

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Please see the link for how we are continuing our work with SWDs through the use of vertical case study protocols and developing capacity through our special education leads.

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Last year’s action research centered around the high number of English Language Learners being referred to Special Education.  As a result of last year’s project, we identified some trends:

-       Most students were being referred for reading below grade level and struggling in writing.

-       The majority of students being referred had been ELLS for 3 years or less (not enough time to attain proficiency)

-       The referrals were coming mostly from monolingual classroom as opposed to Dual Language  classrooms

We noted that an area of need for our staff was a lack of understanding of second language acquisition and ENL pedagogy.  Last year’s action research project was the springboard for this year’s case study.

In order to support teachers in this area, it was important that I focus on a target population through the Case Study Protocol. The case study aligns with Priority Focus Area #2: Know Every Student Well.

I decided to ground my case study in Mary Capellini’s Balancing Reading and Language Learning. I selected 3 students, English Language Learners, from a second grade ICT class who did not have IEPs. I administered the Language Assessment to get a more accurate picture of their language needs and how this related to their current reading level, the books they were being given and their writing.

As part of the case study, the following action steps were taken:

-       Met with ENL teachers to discuss the case study and findings.

-       Planned language lessons to embed during Shared Reading and Guided Reading that were specific to students’ language needs.

-       Began a Big Book collection of books that address specific language structures (prepositions, verb tense, plurals, etc)

-       Discussed a plan to pair up the students with a more proficient peer so that they have access to language models

-       Reviewed books to ensure that they are culturally appropriate for our students.

-       Continue to progress monitor to assess growth (in language as well as literacy).

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To serve as an alternative to suspension, two students created a Restorative Justice Team (RJT) modeled on their training at various borough-wide programs including the Staten Island Justice Center.  Students who are facing suspension are provided with the option to work with a team of students to reflect on the incident and select an activity to support their social-emotional well-being in lieu of going through the suspension process.
A dean, a guidance counselor and I have received the 5-day training for the city-wide Restorative Justice initiative and will be working to blend the two programs together with the primary focus being the empowerment of students to build a culture of community and support with their peers.
The first round of meetings with a 'client' student has been conducted and a follow-up meeting is in progress for this round.  Issues requiring attention:
-Best informing the 'client' student about the process and what to expect.
-On the ground-problem solving protocols for the team as circles are being conducted.
-Regular reflections by the team about the process.
-Monitoring the program through data analysis and student surveys.
-Creating a system for recruitment and training of additional/future team members.

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This year, we are focusing on one of our marginal groups- our ENL population.  Thus far, we have taken the following steps:

-Reviewed the ESSA data as a cabinet and shared the data out to all teachers

-Data review with the ENL teacher and tracker form developed

-ENL teacher attends weekly planning sessions with grades 4 and 5.    Planning incudes ways to strengthen our core instruction through writing, specifically short and constructed responses.

-Materials were ordered for all grade levels to support our ENL population

-ENL teacher attends PD through the District

-ENL teacher works closely with our Reading AIS teacher to develop her pedagogy around guided reading.  Inter-visitations were scheduled

-CFA analysis as teacher teams