wall township public schools k-12 english language arts k-12 english...student portfolios:...

Wall Township Public Schools

K-12 English Language Arts

Program Evaluation

2017-18

Office of Curriculum & InstructionDr. Lisa J. GleasonDirector of Curriculum & InstructionMay 8, 2018

The Purpose of Program Evaluations

The curriculum renewal process is a five year cycle.

● Evaluate

● Rewrite and pilot

● Implement

● Monitor

● Gather data

During the evaluation process, curriculum in a designated content

area is analyzed in a systematic, collaborative manner to ensure

high-quality instruction and equally high levels of student

learning.

Areas of Focus

❖ Research best practices in literacy instruction

❖ Historical review of the program

❖ Overview of current program

❖ Comparison data with similar and “ideal” districts

❖ Student achievement evidence

❖ Commendations

❖ Recommendations

❖ SMART goals

1

September

Formation of Steering Committee

Oct-March

Sub-committees work in planned meetings

and site visits.

2

March-April

Sub-committees prepare reports for

Steering Committee

3

May

Steering Committee finalizes report for

presentation to BOE

4

Program Evaluation Timeline

Steering Committee:

Dr. Lisa Gleason, Monica Butler, Cathy Brenner, Matthew Kukoda, Dr. Rachel Lella, Dr. Tracy Skinner

Sub-Committee Members:

Leah Appello, Cristin Beirne, Kelly Buckle, Kimberly Bramley, Patricia Carfano, Ashleigh Eagan,Alyson

Ehrlich, Kristin Ferris, Lindsay Gelay-Akins, Kelly Kermick, Kathryn Page, Kelli Palmer, Amber Pine, Joseph

Nardino, Rachel Miller, Jenna Raffetto, Matthew Rusher, Justin Santiago, Maria Tirone, Julieann Rizzitello

Research & Best Practices - Dr. Rachel Lella

Response to Intervention (RTI)

➢

For the RTI model to be successful, there must be consistent and

continuous review, analysis, and professional development.

Research & Best Practices

❖ Vocabulary and Word Study

➢ Collaborative, cooperative, and engaging

➢ Promotes reading comprehension growth

❖ Summer Reading

➢ Self-selected reading and activities

Research & Best Practices

❖ Workshop Model

➢ Increases engagement, self-motivation, metacognition, and

independence

➢ Extensive, consistent, and continuous professional development

❖ Literacy Coaches

➢ Embedded, individualized professional development and

support

Historical Review - Mrs. Cathy Brenner

❖ Reading

❖ Writing

❖ Assessments

❖ Portfolios

❖ Remediation and Acceleration

❖ Staff Development

❖ Summer Reading

Historical Review

Reading

❖ ELEMENTARY - Reading Wonders - Basal/Anthology series

❖ WIS - Novel and Informational reading - General education

and advanced grade level courses have been offered

❖ WHS - Literature study, analytical reading, critical thinking

Historical Review

Writing

❖ ELEMENTARY - Writing workshop - Mini lesson, small group

work, independent work, conferring, editing and publishing

❖ WIS - Writing workshop- Mini lesson, small group work,

independent work, conferring, editing and publishing

❖ WHS - College and Career readiness writing with a focus on

persuasive and expository writing

Historical Review

Assessments:

❖ ELEMENTARY- Program assessments, teacher created,

benchmarks, DRA, Fountas and Pinnell, MAP, Achieve 3000,

NJ ASK, PARCC

❖ WIS - teacher created common assessments, benchmarks,

MAP, Achieve 3000, NJ ASK, PARCC

❖ WHS - teacher created common assessments, benchmarks,

MAP, NJ ASK, PARCC, SAT, HSPA, AP

Historical Review

Student Portfolios:

❖ ELEMENTARY - portfolios are maintained beginning in

Kindergarten with reading and writing samples. Portfolios

are shared with next grade level and the end of the school

year.

❖ WIS and WHS - utilize digital portfolios

Historical Review

Remediation and Acceleration:

❖ ELEMENTARY- Gifted program, BSI reading, reading specialist,

before and after school tutoring, guided reading, co-teaching model

❖ WIS - Study skills classes, reading specialist, Extended School Day,

advanced ELA course, co-teaching model, Knights In Training

❖ WHS - College prep, Honors, AP, elective courses, teacher support at

Unit Lunch, co-teaching model

Historical Review

Staff Development:

❖ In-district for identified areas of need

❖ Out-of-district for staff-selected professional development

❖ Consultants have also been employed by the district for new

instructional models or new programs.

Historical Review

Summer Reading

❖ Various models have been used for summer reading during

the past seven years.

➢ Required reading grades 3-12

➢ Encouraged reading with incentives to students

➢ Suggested reading given at the end of the year

Curriculum Review - Dr. Tracy Skinner

❖ Instructional Strategies

➢ Writing workshop

➢ Reading workshop

➢ Literature circles

➢ Differentiation

➢ Stations

➢ Question stems

➢ Graphic organizers

➢ Socratic seminars

➢ Stations

Curriculum Review

❖ Literacy Strategies

➢ Vocabulary

➢ Grammar

➢ Fluency

➢ Comprehension

➢ Close Reading

Curriculum Review

❖ Technology

➢ Google Classroom

➢ Google Docs

➢ Kahoot

➢ NewsELA

➢ Achieve 3000

➢ Turnitin.com

Curriculum Review

❖ Assessments

➢ PARCC - Grades 3-11

➢ Reading & Writing Benchmarks K-12

➢ Teacher-created assessments

➢ Common Summative Assessments

➢ Piloting digital progress monitoring in K-8

Curriculum Review

Additional ELA Course Offerings

Intermediate

Creative Writing

Short Stories

Pop Fiction

Act It Out

High School

Lost Literature

Creative Writing

Stephen King & The American Nightmare

Harry Potter 1 and 2: A Literary Analysis

Film As Art

Curriculum Review

❖ Interdisciplinary Connections

➢ Historical

➢ Social

➢ Cultural contexts

➢ Science

Curriculum Review

❖ Special Education Services

➢ In-class resource

➢ Pull-out resource

➢ Self-contained

➢ Reading Specialists

❖ Intervention Services

➢ Intervention & Referral Services (I&RS)

➢ RTI - in development

Curriculum Review

❖ Enrichment Opportunities

➢ Elementary

■ Gifted & Talented

➢ Intermediate

■ Advanced ELA Courses

➢ High School

■ Honors

■ AP

Curriculum Review

❖ Curricular Resources

➢ Elementary & Intermediate

■ Media Specialist

■ Reading Specialist

➢ High School

■ Media Specialist

● “Lunch & Learn”

● Reader’s Advisory

Curriculum Review

❖ Works of Study

➢ Reviewed K-12

❖ Cultural Diversity

➢ Examples:

■ I Am Malala - Grade 5

■ The House on Mango Street - Grade 8

■ A Raisin in the Sun - Grade 10

Curriculum Review

❖ Staff Development

➢ In-District PD

■ Instructional Technology

■ Standards-based instruction and assessment

■ Literacy Strategies

■ Book Studies

■ High quality assessments

■ Co-Teaching

➢ Out-of-District PD

■ Tied to district, building, and staff professional goals

Survey Analysis - Mr. Matthew Kukoda

Teachers

❖ Elementary

➢ 68% of K-5 teachers report that at least 80 minutes of ELA

instruction occurs daily.

➢ 20% reported that 120 minutes or more of ELA instruction occurs

daily.

➢ 15% of K-5 teachers reported piloting workshop model strategies

in their classrooms.

Survey Analysis: Teachers

❖ Intermediate

➢ 75% of the ELA teachers are implementing reading

and writing workshop strategies in their classrooms.

➢ All ELA teachers offer 76 minutes of ELA instruction

each day, with supplemental instruction available

through reading specialists, extended school day, and

after-school tutoring.

Survey Analysis: Teachers

❖ High School

➢ 89% of teachers report including at least 50% of reading and 50%

writing instruction during each block.

➢ 58% of the teachers report teaching an equal balance of fiction to

non-fiction texts.

➢ 74% of the teachers report that students are spending

approximately 15 minutes independently reading outside of

class.

➢ 26% of high school teachers are incorporating strategies

pursuant to the workshop model.

Survey Analysis: Students

❖ Questions for student consideration

➢ Level of enjoyment of reading

➢ Importance of reading comprehension to being a good

reader

➢ Believing that reading is important to their future

➢ Preferred method of reading

Survey Analysis: Students

Elementary Intermediate High School

Enjoyment of

reading 95% 87% 91%

Importance of

reading

comprehension to

being a good reader

86.3% 85.9% 87%

Believing that

reading is

important to their

future

90.1% 87.3% 84%

Preferred method

of reading

(silently)

79.5% 75% 64.5%

Survey Analysis: Parents

❖ Questions for parent consideration

➢ Reading selections and other ELA materials are current and meet the

needs of their child

➢ Believe that their child has the opportunity to refine reading and

writing strategies through meaningful homework activities

➢ Enough access to a variety of resources to help them succeed as readers

and writers

➢ Believed their child’s teacher holds high expectations for student

learning

Survey Analysis: Parents

Elementary Intermediate High School

Reading selections and

other ELA materials

are current and meet

the needs of their child

77.6% 77.8% 61.5%

Believe that their child

has the opportunity to

refine reading and

writing strategies

through meaningful

homework activities

50% 62.3% 50%

Enough access to a

variety of resources to

help them succeed as

readers and writers

66.7% 62.6% 83.3%

Believed their child’s

teacher holds high

expectations for

student learning

72% 88% 82.3%

Comparison Districts - Ms. Monica Butler

Similar Districts

❖ NJ School Performance Reports

❖ Reviewed demographic data

❖ ELA programs

High Achieving Districts

❖ Reviewed demographic data

❖ ELA programs

❖ Organized site visits

Similar Districts K-5

Wall Clark Fair Lawn Hillsborough Mahwah Ocean

Total

Population

1461 986 2,293 2,662 1,297 1,353

Special Ed % 20.75% 17% 23.8% 21.8% 18.5% 26%

Economically

Disadvantaged

16% 6.5% 9% 9.6% 10% 25%

ELL 3.9% 2% 11.6% 5.2% 5.5% 8.6%

Average

percentage of

students

PARCC Met or

Exceeded

71.98% 68.25% 74.5% 74.3% 76.8% 59.3%

Similar Districts Grades 6-8


Total Population 867 503 467 1187 704 1075

Special Ed % 17% 16% 23% 15% 14% 20%

Economically

Disadvantaged

12% 6% 14% 9% 9% 26%

ELL 1% 0% 0% 1% 1% 3%

Average

percentage of

students

PARCC Met or

Exceeded

57% 72.7% 69.1% 77.6% 74.6% 59.1%

Similar Districts High School


Total Population1095 713 1444 2252 928 1134

Special Ed %12% 12% 17% 15% 14% 16%

Economically

Disadvantaged

10% 6% 12% 6% 10% 26%

ELL1% 1% 2% 0% 1% 5%

PARCC Met or

Exceeded

57.1% 40.3% 75.1% 63.1% 68.5% 32%

SAT Critical

Reading and

Writing

574 540 578 601 594 561

High Achieving Districts

❖ Reviewed demographic data of “high achieving” districts

❖ Developed a survey

❖ Site visits of high performing districts

➢ Princeton

➢ School District of the Chathams

➢ Bernards

❖ Committee of teachers and administrators visited K-12 classes

❖ Met with teachers, supervisors and principals

High Achieving Districts K-5

Wall Chatham Summit Bernards

Twp

Princeton Holmdel

Total

Population

1461 1,894 1,617 2,311 1,375 1,565

Special Ed %20.75% 19% 12.2% 15.5% 19.5% 14%

Economically

Disadvantaged

16% 1% 14.6% 2% 18.25% 3%

ELL3.9% 5% 5.8% 2.25% 7.5% 1.5%

Average

percentage of

students

PARCC Met or

Exceeded

71.98% 83.5% 84.56% 75.3% 75.48% 79.15%

High Achieving Districts Grades 6-8

Wall Summit Bernards

Twp.

Princeton Holmdel Chatham

Total

Population

867 951 1391 788 525 1092

Special Ed %17% 10% 14.0% 17% 12% 17%

Economically

Disadvantaged

12% 13% 1% 14% 4% 2%

ELL1% 3% 1% 4% 1% 1%

Average

percentage of

students

PARCC Met or

Exceeded

57% 79% 84% 82.6% 81.1% 76.3%

High Achieving Districts High School

Wall Summit Bernards

Twp.

Princeton Holmdel Chatham

Total

Population

1095 1230 1888 1576 920 1244

Special Ed %12% 10% 14% 13% 14% 13%

Economically

Disadvantaged

10% 16% 2% 9% 4% 2%

ELL1% 3% 1% 3% 2% 1%

PARCC Met or

Exceeded

57.1% 63.1% 49.3% 63.7% 56.2% 53.7%

SAT Critical

Reading and

Writing

574 597 637 661 601 627

Commendations - Elementary

❖ Curriculum aligned to NJSLS - Curricular Frameworks, including maps for the

2018-19 school year that clearly define models of excellence in instructional

practices and assessments.

❖ Master schedule allows for 120 minutes of literacy instruction.

❖ Teachers provide students with balanced exposure to informational and

narrative text in print and digital mediums.

❖ Significant number of teachers with prior reading and writing workshop

training from previous districts and implementing strategies in their current

classroom.

❖ Co-teaching strategies in supported classrooms are integrated and evident

through observations and lesson plans.

❖ Teacher autonomy is evident based upon wide range of teaching and learning

strategies observed during formal and informal walkthroughs and lesson plans.

❖ Standards based reporting has been implemented in K-3 classrooms, with

teachers participating in ongoing professional development to enhance their

understanding and ability to effectively assess using this model. Professional

development underway to support roll out in grades 4-5.

❖ Teachers are consistently integrating instructional technologies, including

Google suite products, subscription-based technologies, and free web-based

resources.

Recommendations - Elementary

❖ Continue to provide district-wide, grade level articulation annually to ensure

uniformity and consistency in instructional practices and curricular resources across

all four elementary schools.

❖ Adopt a structured literacy block that clearly defines the instructional expectations

uniformly across all four elementary schools.

❖ Develop and implement an action plan for the roll out of reading workshop model in

grades K-5, including a timeline for pilot classes, training for all teachers, and

adoption of new curricular materials.

❖ Provide continued professional development for writing workshop model.

❖ Adopt a word study program for grades 3-5.

❖ Align summer curriculum writing with the newly adopted 5 year curriculum

plan, with increased hours for team writing.

❖ Literacy coach to work with teachers in supporting students identified at risk

for literacy achievement.

❖ District RTI model and protocol that is uniform across all four elementary

schools.

❖ Implement a digital benchmarking system to monitor student progress.

❖ Ensure students and teachers have access to technology to increase the

capacity for personalized learning and innovative instructional technologies.

❖ Increase teacher leadership to develop local capacity for sustainable

professional development.

Commendations - WIS

❖ Curriculum aligned to NJSLS.

❖ Master schedule allows for 76 minutes of daily literacy instruction, as well as

opportunities for extended day support.

❖ Reading specialist supports students identified at risk for literacy achievement.

❖ WIS Literacy Team provides internal support to teachers during curriculum

development.

❖ Daily curriculum development periods support teacher collaboration and the

development of common instructional strategies and common assessments.

❖ Teachers provide students with balanced exposure to informational and

narrative text in print and digital mediums.

❖ Significant number of teachers with prior reading and writing workshop

training from previous districts and implementing strategies in their current

classroom.







resources.

Recommendations - WIS

❖ Continue to provide vertical articulation annually to allow teachers time to

analyze student achievement data and work samples, and to bridge curricular

gaps across grade levels.

❖ Develop and implement an action plan for enhanced professional development

of both reading and writing workshop model in grades 6-8.

❖ Increase classroom libraries to include additional modern, post-modern,

contemporary, and informational text.

❖ Adopt a word study program for grades 6-8

❖ Align summer curriculum writing with the newly adopted 5 year curriculum plan.

❖ Propose increased hours for summer curriculum writing to allow collaborative team writing.

❖ Propose the hiring of a literacy coach to work with teachers in supporting struggling

learners.

❖ Continue the development of a district RTI model and protocol, specific to the needs of high

school students.

❖ Implement a digital benchmarking system to monitor student progress.

❖ Ensure students and teachers have access to technology to increase the capacity for

personalized learning and innovative instructional technologies.

❖ Increase teacher leadership to develop local capacity for sustainable professional

development.

Commendations - WHS

❖ Curriculum aligned to NJSLS.

❖ Students are exposed to variety of genres, including poetry, drama, novel, short

story and essay.

❖ Block schedule provides 84 minutes of literacy instruction on alternating A/B

schedule, as well as additional opportunities for literacy-based electives.

❖ Unit lunch provides additional teacher support.

❖ Department meetings provide time for supervisor support and teacher

collaboration.

❖ Some teachers are implementing aspects of reading and writing workshop

model, including conferring or small group instruction.







resources.

Recommendations - WHS

❖ Continue to provide vertical articulation annually to allow teachers time to

analyze student achievement data and work samples, and to bridge curricular

gaps across grade levels.

❖ Pilot reading and writing workshop model in selected classes. Survey student

and teachers to determine efficacy and plan accordingly.

❖ Align pacing of ELA and Social Studies curriculum to maximize student

immersion in content.

❖ Analyze master schedule to identify potential for common planning time for

teachers.

❖ Increase availability of databases for historical and informational text.

❖ Align summer curriculum writing with the newly adopted 5 year curriculum

plan.

❖ Propose increased hours for summer curriculum writing to allow collaborative

team writing.

❖ Continue the development of a district RTI model and protocol, specific to the

unique needs of high school students.

❖ Ensure students and teachers have access to technology to increase the

capacity for personalized learning and innovative instructional technologies.

❖ Increase teacher leadership to develop local capacity for sustainable

professional development.

SMART GOAL #1

By June 2023, improve current K-12 reading curriculum to

include enhanced instructional strategies to improve student

achievement aligned to the expectations of the NJSLS.

● 8 objectives for attainment of the goal.

● Aligned with SP Student Success Goal #1

SMART GOAL #2

By June 2023, improve current K-12 writing curriculum to include

enhanced instructional strategies to improve student

achievement aligned to the expectations of the NJSLS.

● 6 objectives for attainment of the goal


SMART GOAL #3

By June 2023, improve the district protocol and programming of

services for students identified as “at risk” for literacy.


● Aligned with SP Student Success Goal #1 and Goal #2

SMART GOAL #4

By June 2023, ensure all students and teachers have access to

technology to increase the capacity for personalized learning and

innovative instructional technologies.



SMART GOAL #5

By June 2023, develop a Teacher Leadership Academy that

supports best practices and sustainability of high-quality

instructional strategies, including instructional technology,

assessment, differentiation, and student engagement.



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