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CONTENTS

Contents - p. 1

President’s Letter – p.2

Pennsylvania’s NCLB Waiver-p. 3-4

Save the Date—p. 5

Spotlight on: Helene Duckett- p. 6-8

Book Review - p. 9-10

Sponsors – p. 11-13

The Delaware Valley Region

Pennsylvania Association for

Curriculum Development

Save the Date! Teacher Evaluation: All You Need to Know

Thursday, October 10, 2013 Neumann University, Living and Learning Center

PPrreessiiddeenntt’’ss LLeetttteerr

To submit articles, information, or feedback, please contact:

Andrea Fiorentino afiorentino@mnsd.org

Delaware Valley Region PASCD

Officers

Colleen Lelli…………….....President Linda Bluebello……...........President-Elect Rina Vassallo ……............Past President Dorie Martin……………….Vice-President Helene Duckett…….…......Secretary Robert Magliano………..…Treasurer

Implementing the

Instructional Shifts and

Expectations

of the Common Core

Literacy Standards

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President’s Letter September 2013

Dear Members,

Greetings! Welcome to the 2013-2014 Academic Year.

We have been busy planning for our fall event. We will be hosting Rita D. Perez,

Director, of the Pennsylvania Department of Education’s Bureau of Teaching and

Learning. Her presentation, entitled Teacher Evaluation: All You Need to Know,

will specifically address the various components of the teacher evaluation system.

Following Ms. Perez’s presentation will be a panel discussion with school district

representation to provide ideas for implementation, professional development

and data collection for the new teacher evaluation. Please see the enclosed

registration form and get a group of colleagues together to register. As

educators, we are always trying to improve our craft, and the presentation will

help inform us of best practices connected to the Common Core. Hope to see you

there!

Information is now available for the PASCD 63rd annual conference, Educating the

Whole Child powered by Blendedschools.net, which will be Sunday, November 3rd

and November 4th at the Hershey Lodge and Convention Center. Keynote

speakers include: Chris Lehmann and Dr. Connie Moss. Information and

registration can be found at http://www.pascd.org/?page=Confinfo .

Make it a goal this year to become involved in our organization! We are always

looking for more members at the state level (and our region, too!) so ask your

friends and colleagues to think about joining PASCD. Please let us know how we

can help you and what we can do for you. We are always open to new, fresh ideas

and would love for you to join so we can hear them!

Best wishes for a wonderful, productive academic year. Colleen Lelli Delaware Valley Region-PASCD President

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Pennsylvania’s NCLB Waiver

On August 20, 2013 the United States Department of Education approved

Pennsylvania’s request for a waiver from No Child Left Behind (NCLB). This waiver

applies to all public schools, (traditional schools and districts, charters, cyber charters,

career and tech schools, and intermediate units). While many people across the

commonwealth are familiar with the regulations and terminology of NCLB most are

unfamiliar with the new system and so some explanation of the differences and what

the future might hold is called for.

In terms of differences the greatest difference is that with the waiver, Annual

Yearly Progress (AYP) is replaced by a new accountability system. Under NCLB every

school in Pennsylvania received a designation based on whether or not they made AYP.

In the new system only Title I schools, (those schools with a high-percentage of low-

income students), will receive a specific designation. While all schools (Title I and non-

Title I) will receive a numeric score that is the result of their School Performance Profile

(SPP).

With the waiver going into effect the immediately upon its approval the future

requirements for schools are now immediate concerns. The waiver is largely based on

three areas, college and career readiness for all students, state-developed recognition

and accountability for all public schools, and improving and supporting effective

classroom instruction and school leadership. In lieu of AYP the new system examines

four Annual Measurable Objectives (AMOs). The first is the Test Participation Rate

where a school must have 95% participation on PSSAs and/or Keystones. The second is

the Graduation/Attendance Rate where a school must have a graduation rate of 85% or

in the case of schools without a high school graduation there must be a 90% attendance

rate or improvement over the previous year. The third is that schools will be measured

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on their ability to close the Achievement Gap for all students. Finally, the fourth AMO is

that a part of their score based on their ability to close the Achievement Gap of

Historically Underperforming Students.

All schools will earn a SPP score based on a 100 point scale. This score, and the

component parts that make up the formula used to determine the score, will be pubic

information so that members of a school’s community can easily see how their school is

doing compared to other schools and to past performance. In addition to the SPP score

Title I schools may receive one of four possible federal designations. There are two

designations for Reward schools, one is Reward-High Achievement, the second is

Reward – High Progress. The remaining two designations are Focus Schools and Priority

Schools. Both Focus and Priority schools will receive additional support from the

Pennsylvania Department of Education to improve their overall scores and abilities to

serve their students.

All details about the waiver including a general overview and a FAQ document are

available on PDE’s website.

http://www.portal.state.pa.us/portal/server.pt/community/federal_programs/7374/p/

1433522

Andrew Coonradt

Curriculum, Instruction, and Assessment Specialist

Delaware County Intermediate Unit.

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The Delaware Valley Region of the Pennsylvania Association for Supervision and

Curriculum Development (DVR-PASCD) and Neumann University

Present

Teacher Evaluation: All You Need to

Know

Who: Teachers, Principals, Assistant Principals, Central Office

Administrators, Preservice Teachers, College Faculty

When: Thursday, October 10, 2013

Time: 4:00 - 4:40 pm - Registration and Networking

Appetizers and refreshments will be served.

4:45 - 5:45 pm - Presentation by Ms. Rita D. Perez, PDE

5:45 - 6:30 pm – Panel discussion with local school

representatives Where: Neumann University, Living and Learning Center

Schmitt Multipurpose Room

One Neumann Drive, Aston, PA 19014

Fee: $10 (No charge for Preservice Teachers/Students)

Please join Rita D. Perez, Director, Pennsylvania Department of Education’sBureau of Teaching and Learning in a comprehensive and

timely presentation on the new Teacher Evaluation system. Ms. Perez will specifically address the various components of the teacher evaluation system and provide resources for school personnel. A panel discussion with school district representatives will follow. Ideas for implementation, professional development, and data collection will be shared.

Complete this easy registration form in order to take advantage of this opportunity! You must provide your PPID number if you want Act 48 credits.

Name: Title: ______________________________________

Address: ________________________

School/District:_______________________Email:_________________________________

PPID: _________________________________________ Please return this form, and $10 check made payable to DVR-PASCD to t Robert Magliano, Treasurer, 56

Longview Lane, Newtown Square, PA 19073 by October 4, 2013.

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Spotlight On: Helene Duckett, M.Ed.

On the Executive Board of Delaware Valley PASCD, we have had Helene Duckett as an outstanding contributing member. Helene joined the board in 2009 after receiving a DVR mini-grant for her school, Loomis Elementary School in Marple-Newtown School District, where she is the reading specialist. Helene used the money from her mini-grant grant to purchase books for an incentive called “100 Points” she started several years ago to motivate Loomis students to read more. In this program, once a student reaches “100 Points” they win a free, new book. Helene has been very creative to acquire funds to support this endeavor. Besides the DVR mini-grant program, she has received monies from her school’s generous PTO. She most recently received a Marple Newtown Tiger Grant to get her 2013-14 supply of books started for this year. This is what Helene says about her 100 Points Project”: “ My reward system for reaching 100 points is based on the ‘rewards proximity hypothesis’ which states specifically that students who were given a book (proximal reward) were more motivated to engage in subsequent reading than the students that received a token. It has worked very well at Loomis. Our hall showcase is filled with new books and every Wednesday a bell rings and the students who have reached 100 points are announced over the intercom and they meet me at the showcase to pick out a new book. Then their name is placed on the wall above the showcase. The exciting part is

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the goal to 100 points looks different in each grade level or sometimes for each child. When a student reads one book it may equal 10 points or one book may equal 30 points. Teachers can differentiate the goal according to the student’s grade level and/or abilities. Our parents are excited about this incentive and our students’ love shopping for a new book at the showcase.” Helene has worked as a reading specialist at Loomis for the past 14 years. After graduating from Kutztown University, she began her career teaching in primary grades, first at Conrad Weiser School District and then at a Philadelphia Catholic Diocesan School. She then took a 10 year hiatus to raise four very successful children (now adults). Maria is a college administrator at New York University, Jim is in the US Foreign Service working in Romania, Annie is pursuing a graduate degree in New York and Kevin works for Value Added Television and Video (VATv) and Apple retail. Her husband Jim is an anesthesiologist. During her hiatus, Helene earned a M.Ed. and reading specialist certification from Arcadia University. She re-entered teaching as a Title I teacher in Marple-Newtown and except for a three year stint at Primos Elementary in Upper Darby, she has happily remained at Marple-Newtown. Helene loves her job at Loomis. When asked about her career she stated, “The job seems to suit my interests. I perform a multitude of duties as the building reading specialist. The combination of teaching students, administrative duties with my Title I program, overseeing the Title I assistants, acting as the building testing coordinator, as a weekly team member on our Child Study team, mentoring new teachers, ordering all of our Language Arts books and supplies, analyzing testing data, organizing both school year and summer study groups and the biggest challenge, of finding ways to hook our students on reading. All of these components keep my job varied, challenging and exciting. It is a wonderful mix. I could not accomplish anything without my colleagues at Loomis. They are incredible. This is a staff that is kind to one another, enthusiastic, creative and their work ethic is amazing”.

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Helene has been a welcome addition to our board. She has worked tirelessly on the Professional Development Committee, which plans and executes two events a year and most recently, she has been elected as our board secretary. Colleen Lelli, DVR President since 2011, says this about Helene’s work on the board, “Helene has been an active member of DVR PASCD for several years and we are so fortunate to have her as a member of our board. Her thoughtful and reflective input has led Helene to be a true leader on the DVR PASCD board. I look forward to working collaboratively as she assumes her new role as Secretary of the board.” Loomis Elementary School has most recently won International Reading Association’s Exemplary Reading Award for the state of Pennsylvania. This entails a challenging application process followed by a two day on-site observation from a team of educators. A contingent of Loomis staff attended the IRA convention in San Antonio, Texas. This October, Loomis will again be honored at the Keystone State Reading Conference in State College, and they will present at the convention on what makes Loomis exemplary. When asked about the award process and Loomis’ amazing accomplishment, Helene enthusiastically responded, “All of the classrooms were observed by the site observation team to see the Loomis staff in action. This is where the ‘incredible’ comes in for the Loomis staff. They are masters at what they do each and every day and were found to be the best in Pennsylvania! We have a phrase at Loomis that is said each morning during the announcements that is, ‘Loomis is a great place to learn.’ Loomis is also a “great place to work.” I am fortunate to be a part of a great school and so proud of our school for their recognition as being exemplary in reading for Pennsylvania”. And DVR-PASCD is indeed fortunate to have Helene on our board! We have benefitted from her boundless enthusiasm for learning, her incredible work ethic and we congratulate her on her many accomplishments! Rina Vassallo

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Book Review: Give and Take by Adam Grant By Rina F. Vassallo “The true measure of a man is how he treats someone who can do himself absolutely no good.” Samuel Johnson This quote is the premise of Adam Grant’s book Give and Take, subtitled A Revolutionary Approach to Success. Dr. Adam Grant is a celebrity at University of Pennsylvania where he has distinguished himself at 31 as the youngest tenured professor and the highest rated teacher at the Wharton School of Business. He has been written about in the New York Times and other publications and has served as a consultant nationally and internationally for varied clients- the NFL, the United Nations and the military to name a few. Having had loose ties to Penn over my career as an administrator, it was exciting to see many Penn colleagues I know personally or by reputation cited in his acknowledgements. The fact that Grant’s acknowledgements span four single-spaced pages is no surprise. The ideas put forth in this book are that there are risks and rewards for being a giver (and being a giver implies that you credit others) but that ultimately the rewards outweigh the risks.

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The book is written in the style of Malcolm Gladwell and Daniel Pink (in fact, his work has been cited in two of Pink’s books) where case studies emphasize the points made and stories of well-known figures are highlighted and you don’t know until the story is fully told who they really are. Adam Grant’s ideas are more than an ideal. He puts them into practice every day assisting his colleagues, students, friends of his colleagues and students and friends of friends. In fact the book ends with 10 Actions for Impact ranging from test your giving quotient to seek help more often. Lest you think that this book is a half-baked theory, Adam Grant is a true academician. He conducts experiments on motivation and giving and has published over 60 articles in academic journals.

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