Emery School District students out of school on Oct. 27; teachers in training

By Emery District press release

End of term brings day off for students but not for teachers
HUNTINGTON: First term in the Emery School District will come to a close on Friday, Oct. 27. In the past, the last day of each term has been a minimum day of school for students and a full day for teachers who have had the second half of the day to complete and post term grades. Starting this school year, however, changes in the district calendar have eliminated end-of-term minimum days. This year, and for the next two years at least, the last day of each term is a non-school day for students and a full day of summative assessment and professional development for teachers.
The changes were encouraged by Superintendent Larry W. Davis as part of the Emery District’s incorporation of District Professional Learning Communities (PLCs) and School Collaborative Teams involving all district teachers and administrators.
“Providing time for collaboration while bringing teachers together with student term-ending data will allow teachers to assess student progress, create individual student learning plans, and compare their progress toward meeting core standards with the progress of their colleagues in similar teaching assignments,” the superintendent said. “We have had the data for years, but now we are using that data to drive instruction and advance student growth with the goal of mastery for every child.”
Implementation of PLCs in the Emery District began last year with initial training for school and district administrators. Principals were asked to consider implementation in their schools by having conversations with their teachers about Professional Learning Communities and the research that backs up PLCs as an effective way to improve student outcomes. During the course of the first year, each of the district’s 10 schools incorporated PLCs to varying degrees and with varying success. During the summer, principals, district administrators, and teachers from each school participated in the annual Rural Schools Conference in Cedar City to further enhance their knowledge of PLCs.
The first district PLCs were held at the district’s Opening Institute in August, just before the first day of the new school year. During that time, teachers met in elementary grade-level teams and in secondary subject-level teams to establish team protocol, review Utah Core Standards and to prioritize the standards from most important to least important. “There are far too many standards in each subject area to thoroughly cover in a school year,” Superintendent Davis said. “By prioritizing standards, we are in a better position to cover the most essential ones before we run out of time.” Determining “priority standards” is generally based on foundational skills needed by students to master other skills. Also, priority is based on state summative testing.
Also this year in support of district PLC’s, mid-term early-out days are scheduled to allow for collaborative team work. On these days, students are excused after lunch, giving teachers the afternoon to work with their teams to discuss student progress, review formative data, and modify individual learning plans as needed. The first mid-term minimum day was on Monday, Sept. 18. Elementary teachers met in grade-level teams at Cottonwood Elementary School. Each elementary team was assigned a principal as the facilitator. Secondary teachers met in subject-level teams at their respective schools where secondary principals supervised along with district office personnel.
Principal John Hughes of Cottonwood Elementary said of the mid-term PLCs, “Our 3-4-5 team PLC meeting was a huge success. The teachers seemed to be on board and have a better understanding of the big picture.” On the secondary level, Principal Yvonne Jensen, Canyon View Middle School, said, “As the principal, I love that teachers get to ‘be in charge’ of and have greater ownership in the process of identifying needs of the students and needs of the school.”
Entering the end-of-term PLC day for teachers, collaborative teams will continue the work they have already initiated, but moving forward they will also work on common assessments for future use relevant to each school while setting bench marks as targets for term progress and standards coverage. “Each team will have a lot of data from each term that will come into play as teachers look at student progress, compare that progress across the district, and have meaningful discussion about what is working in their classes and what has not been as successful,” the superintendent said.
To help with data management, the district has purchased a program called SchoolCity. It will allow teachers, parents, and students themselves to follow student progress in each class and at each grade level on a daily basis. The platform also provides lessons for students who are struggling to meet standards as well as lessons for students who are advanced and moving beyond standards. “Through this method, no child will be left behind as they work toward mastery, and no child will be inhibited because they have already mastered a standard,” Superintendent Davis said. Training on the use of SchoolCity began on Tuesday, Oct. 17, at Emery High School where district administrators, principals, and selected teachers met in the library. Principals and teachers will become the trainers of their respective faculty members on the new data system.
Plans for the first end-of-term full day of professional development have primarily been designed by school principals who have worked together to establish agendas. It is anticipated that elementary teachers will again meet in grade-level teams while secondary teachers will meet in common discipline meetings. Teachers will also be given time to finalize first term grades.
Superintendent Davis noted that the adoption of the PLC philosophy has not been without its “bugs.” He said that as the district has implemented the program, there have been issues with where to best place some teachers who don’t line up with natural grade levels or secondary disciplines, such as resource teachers, counselors, and Career and Technical Education (CTE) teachers. There are also some teachers who are unique in the classes they teach and therefore have no colleagues with whom to collaborate. “Our staff and the school principals have been working with these anomalies to find the best collaborative team for every teacher,” Mr. Davis said. To help with these unique situations, principals have been given a lot of flexibility on how they assign teachers to various work groups.
“We’re still new at this,” the superintendent said. “But we have a lot of faith in our teachers, administrators, and district staff that we can overcome any significant obstacles as we move forward. We all recognize that working in Professional Learning Communities and Collaborative Teams is in the best interest of our students.”