Elementary Literacy Committee Minutes
March 18, 2004

ATTENDEES: Rebecca Lacey, Susan Little, Holy McLeod, Kerry Draddy, Bill Palmer, Kristi Dominquez, Jennifer Knight, Kelly Glynn, Beth Kealy, Susan D’Amelio, Scout Mnitchell, Jennifer Jiminez, Precious Bryngelson, Karin Grady, Angel Borden, Cindy Christensen, Kiersten Barr, Cathy Crouch, Marie Little, Pat Buhl, Dave Adams, Marcia Harris, and Adrienne Nelson

Literacy Support Guide
How has the Literacy Support Guide supported literacy instruction and/or professional development at your school?

· Samples of assessment tools (I Can I Am Learning To)
· Tool used by mentors
· Reference used by staff to check for consistent understandings
· Answer questions about our practice
· Grade level expectations help teachers to identify outcomes/objectives
· Guides the development and use of common language
· Supports the strategic plan implementation
· Provides artifacts for coaching
· It is part of our professional development shelf in the library media center
· Supports a check on alignment
· Used at learning meetings and in focus learning dialogues
· Supports marking the report card and writing comments
· Used at grade level meetings and small group professional development
· Used in staff meetings to support instructional strategies with ELL students
· Assists in assessment through the use of the rubrics
· Supports teachers in differentiating between skills and strategies
· Provides clarity through the revised section on the 5 Core Elements of Reading
· Guides lesson design to align with State Standards
· Supports mapping out a year’s plan through use of text forms and features chart
· Provides guidance in the teaching of spelling
· Used the writing section for study groups
· Supports teachers in planning for instruction, literacy block development, the teaching/learning cycle
· Encourages a balanced approach to reading through the use of the 5 Core Elements embedded in the reading process

New Materials
New Materials Available in Library Media Center for Check Out

Fountas and Pinnell – Handbook for Grade K
Handbook for Grade One
Handbook for Grade Two
Videos: The Primary Literacy Video Collection: Word Study, Guided Reading and Classroom
Management have been ordered and will be arriving soon

Assessment Tools

Oral Reading Fluency Assessment: Penny Sherwood, Coach and Teacher from Whatcom Middle School explained how the middle schools are using the Oral Reading Fluency Assessment to provide information about how their students read, identify students who are not fluent, and who might need further assessment. She also shared 2 strategies that support the development of fluency in the classroom: Partner Reading and Shared Reading. The group asked the following questions:

· How Fluency fits into the overall assessment process? Middle School teachers assess using the DRP twice a year. The Fluency Assessment is the second level of assessment that provides further information about how students read and is given to every student in the fall and then administered to students who are not at standard in the winter and spring.
· Are teachers seeing a difference in their teaching? Yes, teachers have listened to all their students read aloud and are beginning to analyze if fluency is impacted by inadequate use of the sound symbol system, vocabulary, prior knowledge, phrasing, rate, or use of the reading strategies. Teachers are beginning to group and add other reading instructional process to their repertoire.
· NEXT STEPS: Committee members will talk with intermediate teacher to assess 1) Are the running reading records being given to all readers not at the standard every 6 weeks in the intermediate classrooms? 2) Would the Oral Reading Fluency be easier to administer and provide support for the intermediate teacher? 3) Would the Oral Reading Fluency Assessment provide tighter alignment with the middle school and consistent information? And 4) Could the Oral Reading Fluency Assessment support teachers in marking the March report card? Committee members will bring responses to these questions to the April 30th meeting.

Degrees of Reading Power: A committee made up of teachers and administrators from the elementary and middle school levels met to analyze the DRP and determine if it would meet the district needs to have a standardized assessment that is used to inform the effectiveness of our reading programs and its impact on student achievement. The minutes from this meeting are on the District Web Page. It was concluded that the DRP serves the purpose for which is was purchased and recommended as an assessment tool to be used in grades 3 – 8. The minutes also propose next steps to provide clarity about the purpose of the DRP, information for teachers to use at report card time to help parents understand the differences in the DRA and the DRP, and changes in the “box title” on the report card to add clarity for both parents and teachers around the relationship of the test score and reading marks. In addition, the committee provided an analysis that Sherrie Brown, Director of Curriculum, will use to develop a budget proposal to continue use of the DRP.

Level of Use Survey

The committee members looked at a draft of a “Levels of Use Survey” that was used at the middle school level to assess the level of implementation of the common practices for literacy instruction. The group reviewed the common practice statements and the elements under each statement. Suggestions for revisions were incorporated into the draft. The group suggested that changes in format so that the survey would be easy to complete.

The committee discussed the purpose of doing this kind of a survey. Highlights of the discussion included:

· To gather data that will provide direction and topics for professional development both at the  site and at the district levels
· To look for trends and patterns in the implementation of reading and writing instruction and assessment strategies
· To provide an opportunity for elementary teachers to reflect and share strengths of the literacy program, their professional development needs, and other comments.
· To comply with Federal Guidelines when distributing Title I and Title II funds by using data from a needs assessment
· To identify sites where strategies are firmly in place and to learn what professional development has taken place to support a strong level of implementation

NEXT STEPS:

· Packets with the revised survey will be sent to a committee representative
· An email will be sent to all elementary teachers about the survey, timeline and the purpose
· The committee representative will talk with the principal about the best process for administering the survey
· The completed survey will be brought to the April 30th meeting where committee members will tally the results and analyze it for strengths and challenges and make recommendations for professional development both for the site and the district levels.

NEXT MEETING:
April 30th at 8:30 AM in Rm. 212. Committee members will bring completed surveys, information about the use of Running Reading Records in the intermediate level. The committee will also look at the new state document that outlines the Grade Level Expectations for alignment with our Elementary Literacy Support Guide.