Ask questions, check the ELT blog, share your ideas.

Compiled by Jenna Wasson

• THE DAILY SCHEDULE- Mr. DeVito asked each committee person present to honestly report on a 7:45-3:15 schedule reflective of the staff.
• Through emails and informal polls taken by several committee members on both the K-4 and 5-8 sides -the clear majority of the staff prefers a 7:45-3:15 schedule for students.
• TOPICS NEEDING REVISION OR CLARITY- We will submit the next draft of our ELT plan by April 27th. Areas for adjustment include grade by grade schedules. The DOE will look at time on learning, noting any increases in the number of instructional minutes per subject.
• The Budget page of the plan will also need detailed attention. The committee will continue to prioritize possible added positions pending funding-Technology coach, Team Leaders, additional Exploratory staffing, Paraprofessionals.
• Under an ELT plan, the Ferryway School would like to form more professional partnerships and several members are obtaining information from Tufts University and other contacts through the Newspapers in Education program.

 The next ELT plan submission is due before April 27th. Volunteers from the committee will meet next Thursday to work on the plan.

Negotiations with the Union will take place after April 27th.

The staff will vote before MAY 30th.

Compiled by Pat Holland 

• Bob Simpson spoke about integrating PBU work into the ELT plan based on data gathered through student surveys. Handouts were distributed listing some available PBU’s by grade level aligned to the National Educational Technology Standards. (See  below, use the slider to magnify the image)
  Julie Jones proposed exploring PBU’s during computer times during 2007/2008.
• Mr. DeVito will meet with exploratory teachers and look at their possible revised schedules under ELT
• More information will be shared during Monday’s staff meeting.
• Ideas, staggered block times, priorities (Reading Workshop,pull out times for Sped. and Title One teachers, lunch/recess/snack, enrichment choices….) may be topics for ELT committee and grade level input.
• Gerry Ruane will be here next Wed.@ 2:30 and will address some ELT questions.

ELT committee will meet next Wed. @ 3:00 PM 3/28/07.

Compiled by Pat Holland

Soon -we should hear back from DOE regarding our ELT plan draft with feedback and suggestions for writing the April proposal.

 Helen will assist us with writing the April proposal. She is also available to help with attaining professional partnerships etc. if needed.

Soon- a bargaining team will meet with Gerry Ruane to begin the union talks.

4/17-22 proposal due to DOE

Helen thinks we may hear a decision from the DOE by the end of May.

Again, there is much work to be done on many fronts before the April proposal is submitted.

Bob Simpson is working to make the blog more accessible.

If you have not had the opportunity-committee members have the draft for you to read.

The ELT committee met with Mr. DeVito yesterday afternoon. Each member present was given a copy of the Ferryway ELT proposal DRAFT . Please visit with one of those members and take a look at the plan. They will answer any questions and/or forward concerns/ideas to Mr. DeVito.

if(BPX) wv.hide();

• Downtown Worcester
• Magnet school
• PreK-6; 500 students
• Large population of ELL students…almost exclusively Spanish-speaking
• 66% free or reduced lunch
• Had extended day in the past, but lost it due to budget cuts
• Extended day was a big draw for parents…had students coming from all over the city
• School continues to have an excellent reputation, so they did not lose students when they had to go back to the regular school day
•Jumped at the chance to apply for the grant…now school day goes until 3:50 (their old extended day went just a hour later than the rest of the city 8-2:50)

1. Can we get copies of the schedule?

• Yes
• Will be included in the binder

2. How did the schedule change? Lunches? Snacks?

• Lunches are now 45 minutes
• Morning and afternoon snack
• Snack is not provided by the school, and this isn’t a problem. Teachers send notes home to parents if they aren’t supplying a sufficient snack

3. Start and end times the same for students and teachers?

• Old school day = 8:00-2:00
• New school day = 7:50 –3:40
• All teachers start at the same time
• All teachers work the extra 7^th hour for a flat $5,000 stipend
• 8^th hour is optional for teachers
  • Increased staff buy-in
  • Paid at the contractual after-school rate ($30/hr)
  • Excellent response from teachers
  • Challenge = difficult at dismissal time because working with a skeleton staff…would like to try and restructure this for next year
  • Advice…you don’t want minimal staff during the last hour of the day

4. How are the extra minutes spent? Other programs, advisory, clubs, enrichment?

• Now a two-hour literacy block every day from 8-10 am with the first hour being whole group, second hour is small group
• Two teachers in the room all the time…teachers love this!
• Expanded math block
• Instrument lessons for grades 4, 5, and 6
• Cultural Partnerships all coordinated by Extended Day Coordinator
• 6 week modules, between modules are whole school activities
• One partner works with one grade level at a time
• Bring in professionals from Worcester Art Museum, Worcester
  Center for Crafts, Worcester Arts and Humanities, WPI, YMCA, Sturbridge Village, Clark University
• At the end of each module is a “museum” where the students showcase what they have learned
• All activities are embedded into curriculum…asked teachers who they would like to work with to strengthen their content
  • Example = English teachers saying they want to work with poets and storytellers, so a partnership was formed with local poets
  • Teachers are in the room too so that they can tie into their content
  • Art museum and others already had existing lessons that tied into the curriculum
  • Advice: need to go to prospective partners and tell them what you need…you want it to be directly related to frameworks…you want it to support your content
  • Some schools have their enrichment stand alone, Jacob Hiatt has all of their enrichment directly embedded
• Partnerships are done by grade level
• Electives during the 8^th hour are chorus, cooking, newspaper, strategies with board games, drama, Spanish

5. How attentive are students during the last hour?

• All activities are hands on, so the students do well during the last hour

6. Are all of the staff involved in extended day?

• All staff must work the 7^th hour
• 8^th hour is optional

7. Are students kept after school?

• Discipline is not really an issue at this school

8. How is extended day impacting students with disabilities?

• More time for differentiated instruction

9. Did you add staff? Who? How funded?

• All funded through the grant…90% of grant money went to salaries
• Hired Extended Day Facilitator position…”essential”
• Added one 5^th grade teacher to keep class size down
• Added one pre-school teacher to keep numbers down
• Community/cultural partners (listed above)
• They are a lab school for Clark University, so they have lots of additional help from student teachers, also have 7 full time “Master teachers” who are in the Master’s program

10. Which groups were involved in the planning for Extended Day?

• Only had a committee of about 7 people…said that we should try to involve as many people as we can
• Full time Extended Day Coordinator

11. What has attendance looked like for teachers and students?

• Always been very good for both and hasn’t changed since ED
• High level of commitment among staff…rarely miss a day

   

12. What are the benefits of extended day?

• Cultural piece
• More time for literacy block
• Extended math block
• More time to extend the curriculum into using the cultural arts

13. What are the drawbacks?

• Change is always hard
• Tiring, but worth it

14. Will you apply for the grant next year?

• Yes

15. What are your expected results?

• Expect to see an increase in test scores

16. How are you measuring those results?

• Expect to see an increase in test scores

17. How did class time for specials/exploratories changes?

• Every class has art once a week
• Exploratory teachers come in at 9:35 and stay to end of day…not paid more because working the same day as last year just with a later start time
• Not sure what else changed

18. Does everyone have the same amount of prep time?

• Yes, the school is K – 6 and teachers get 30 – 40 minutes of prep time once a week. They try to squeeze in time during recess, etc.

19. Is common planning time worked into the schedule?

• Common time is an issue, teachers get 1, 30-40 minute block per week
• At first, they thought that they could have common time during the cultural time, but then realized the importance of having the teacher in the room during this time. This helps ensure there are no discipline issues, and the teachers don’t want to miss the cultural piece…because they want to see it so they can’t maintain the connection to the content area

20. Is there time during the day for homework assistance?

• During the “eighth hour” session there is time for tutoring and additional learning time.

21. Do you give homework outside of school?

• Yes

22. Did you have to negotiate with any labor unions?

• Negotiations were not bad because they only had one dissenting vote

23. How are early release days handled?

• They do not have early release days

24. What kinds of professional development activities have you been doing? How is it scheduled? Outside resources or from within?

2 extra PD days a year just for ED teachers

• ED teachers were paid a per diem from the grant money to go back two days before the rest of the faculty.
• Data driven assessment is big focus
• “Rounds”
  • Based on medical rounds
  • Chance to get feedback from peers on an issue you might be having
  • Pre-round = meet with group and tell them what you want to work on
  • Group observes your class
  • Post-round = feedback
  • Most teachers take advantage of this…also used with Clark students to show them a specific strategy

25. Any additional advice/comments?

• Whole staff should be involved in planning
• Initially there will be a lot of complaining the first year, but it gets better
• Extended Day Coordinator position is key
• Teachers need to be flexible working with partners
• Will constantly be a work in progress
• Don’t get swayed when you go to meetings with other schools who are applying…stick with your own ideas…needs to be tailored to your own school
• Year 1 is always hard, but they feel that they have a “culture of risk-taking” so it has been positive
• Last year’s grant was for a 30% increase in time – since the same money is being offered for a 25% increase in time this year, they might change to 25% next year. If the state increases the budget for the extra 5%, they will remain at 30%.
• Be careful when calculating % of added time…don’t forget about our early release days

Compiled by Jenna Wasson
Site Visitation Team: Marie Murray, Paul Teixeira, Jenna Wasson

By James Vaznis, Globe Staff | January 8, 2007

US Senator Edward M. Kennedy plans today in Washington to tout Massachusetts’ push for longer school days as a national model, saying students need additional time to master 21st- century skills in a new global economy.

More…

posted by Robert Simpson

• Cambridge , MA
• 200 students
• 68 staff
• Principal – Carole Learned-Miller

1.) Can we get copies of the schedules (master – grade level)?

• We were provided with copies of several different grade levels as well as initial schedules that did not work well
• We will attach schedules with notes in the binder

2.) How did the schedule change? Lunches/snacks?

• Old school day = 9:00-300
• New school day = 8:00 (7:30 for teachers) – 4:00
• One family in charge of snack each week in some classes

3.) Are starting and ending times the same for all (students and teachers)?

• Start/end times are the same for all students
• Start/end times all different for staff according to staff preference
• Some staff work 8-2, others 9-3, others12-6, others 8-4, and 15 teachers working the full extended day
• Said that this staggering does impact community feeling among teachers…help if you are here at one end…if not, “feels like you are jumping on and off a moving train”
• But, staff happy because they could choose
• Everyone doing a job that they chose, can be creative
• No one opted out
• Union president took a vote and only one teacher was against it

4.) How are the extra minutes spent? In addition to extra classroom time – what other programs were created, advisory, clubs, enrichment – how were these handled?

• Elective piece is new…wanted to be sure to add enrichment
• Electives offered: Sports, yoga, art, beading & bead making, music/chorus, mixed media (K-2); Sports, drama, music/chorus, Spanish, mixed media (3-5); AVID, MCAS prep, sports, film, Chinese intensive language prep for China trip, Community Service Club 6-8
• Elective class size = 15-18 for most
• Teachers/assistants/parent volunteers choose the electives they teach
• Students choose top 3 choices
• Every day for a semester
• We will attach brochure in the binder
• Everything else has stayed the same, but just more time
• More time for their literacy collaborative
• More time dedicated to projects

5.) How attentive are the students during the last hour? Do you recommend activities or academics at the end of the day?

• Have found that it is better for middle school students to end the day with electives
• K-5 has academics at the end of the day, but it is hands-on, project-based, so it has not been a problem
• Could be developmental…middle school students need electives at end of day
• Kindergarten students have developed stamina…at first, they needed to wean them to get to 4:00
• They balance each day according to what K students can handle
• Sometimes crying at 3:00…”tired tears”, but for the most part, they have gotten used to it
• Nap/quiet time in middle of the day for K students

6.) Are all the staff involved in extended day? How did specialists (SPED/ELL) fit into the extended learning time?

• Staff could choose if they wanted to work extended day/staggered hours/regular hours
• Special Ed works regular school day
• Specialists work regular school day

7.) Are students kept after school? Or, are there other discipline policies in place?

• Just implemented the “Responsive Classroom” this year, and this has cut down on discipline issues
• Still have to keep some students after school…there is a late bus at 5:00

8.) How is the extended day impacting students with disabilities? Are more services able to be provided?

• They have a more traditional model…not a lot of co-teaching
• Principal says that there are ways to be more creative with scheduling for students with disabilities
• All special ed staff work regular school day

9.) Did you add staff? Who? How were they funded?

• Because some staff have chosen to leave early, they work with Lesley University to bring in assistant teachers
• Assistants, parent volunteers to teach electives (also teachers teaching electives)

10.) Which groups were involved in the planning of the extended day activities?

• Principal stated that it was very effective for someone besides herself to take on planning for the electives
• She said she would not have been able to coordinate electives on top of everything else
• Mass 20/20 offered help in writing the grant last year

11.) What has attendance looked like for teachers/students?

• Same

12.) What are the benefits of extended day?

• Time to teach the curriculum “the right way”
• More time for projects
• Opportunities for electives/enrichment that the students would not normally have access to
• Felt like science has been pushed aside in the past…now can emphasize
• No longer a feeling of always having to rush through everything…don’t find yourself saying “hurry-up” anymore!
• Feel more like a family when you are with your students for 8 hours a day
• Flexibility
• Time to “pursue teachable moments”
• If you get involved with a good class discussion, no longer the need to end it abruptly
• Extra minutes in the morning to get students ready for academics

13.) What are the drawbacks of extended day?

• Change is always hard
• Not a lot of resistance, but more personal change
• Growing pains with anything

14.) Will you apply for the grant next year?

• Yes

15.) What are your expected results?

• Too early to tell about MCAS…hope to see an improvement
• Also hope to see an improvement on Cambridge Periodic Assessments

16.) How are you measuring these results?

• Too early to tell about MCAS…hope to see an improvement
• Also hope to see an improvement on Cambridge Periodic Assessments

17.) How did the class time for specials/exploratories change?

• Specialists do not do extended day…work regular school day

18.) Does everyone have the same amount of preparation time?

• Extended day teachers get 60 minutes
• Not sure about other teachers

19.) Is common planning time worked into the schedule? Is there any time made available for vertical teaming?

• Common planning time is worked into the middle of the day for K-5 when students go to electives and then assistant teachers take over
• Middle school teachers get common time at end of day when their students are at electives
• Also have professional development coaches who work with teachers once a month for 2 hrs.
• Team-teaching partnerships taking place at end of the day

20.) Is there time during the school day for homework assistance?

• Not worked into the school day
• HW Center from 4-6 for middle school students
• But, most only stay until the late bus at 5:00

21.) Do you give homework to be done outside of school?

• Yes, but not as much

22.) Did you have to negotiate with any labor unions?

• The union president came to the school to poll the teachers, and only one teacher out of 68 voted against it
• Unions did not really have to get involved because teachers were allowed to choose hours

23.) How are release days handled?

• Early release once every 6 months
• Day ends at 2:00 (trying to get a 1:00 dismissal)
• All teachers expected to stay until 4:00 on early release days

24.) What kinds of professional development activities have you been doing? How is it scheduled? Do they use outside resources, or internal resources?

• Coaches within the building…own teachers who attended a course at Lesley
• Did not talk about any additional PD

25.) Any additional advice? What would you do differently?

• Need to have dedicated faculty
• Faculty needs to be willing to wear multiple hats
• Need buy-in of all staff

26.) How did you choose your partner programs, and what have been the benefits and disadvantages in working with them?

• Already had a program in place with Lesley

27.) Other comments:

• From administrative point of view…feels less hectic, feeling of calm that was not present in the past, but can’t get paperwork started until after 5:00
• All teachers stressed the importance of buy-in and that choosing hours allowed the buy-in to occur

Compiled by Jenna Wasson
Site Visit Team: Jenna Wasson, Courtney Kiley, Julie Jones, Bonnie Page, Judy Leisk

• Reported on the 2 schools they have visited thus far
• Notes from the Edwards School visitare posted
• Notes from the Salemwood visit will be possible asap
• Major themes from 2 schools: keep it simple, stick with what works
• Next visit: King School in Cambridge, MA on 1-4-07 at 9:30 and Jacob Hiatt School in Worcester, MA on 1-10-07 at 10

- Survey Committee

• Surveys sent home with students yesterday (1-2-07)
• Already have 150 returned
• 606 families were called to inform them about the surveys

- Preliminary grant is due by January 19th

- Talked about the possibility of having an open forum with all teachers on Monday, January  8th in place of the grade level meetings

• Have an honest discussion
• Present info that we have gathered
• Present possible scheduling ideas
• Chance for people who are not on the Committee to bring up ideas