The Courier April 2015 | Volume 22, Issue 9
a division of Independent School District 15 Community Education | St. Francis, Minnesota Serving the communities of Athens Township, Andover, Bethel, East Bethel, Linwood Township, Nowthen, Oak Grove, St. Francis and Stanford Township
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www.the-courier.org | news@isd15.org
School Board approves MasteryConnect to monitor students’ progress Lillian DeRung Data, Assessment and Intervention ISD 15 Office of Curriculum and Instruction
The month of February is I Love to Read Month and students across the district participated in activities that promote literacy. Independent School District 15 utilizes the opportunity to spread a love of reading and learning. From carrying a poem in their pocket, to dressing as their favorite story book character, the message in the air is, “Reading is Fun!” Celebrate Seuss! was the theme at Family Reading Night at St. Francis Elementary School. Everyone enjoyed reading their favorite Dr. Seuss books, Cat in the Hat cookies and playing games. Pictured are Kate Herman with her daughter, Presley Herman. Submitted by Hannah Pagel, isd 15 community relations coordinator
In a unanimous vote March 8, the Independent School District 15 (ISD 15) School Board approved a four-year contract for MasteryConnect, an online platform for analyzing and monitoring student progress. MasteryConnect allows teachers to formatively assess where students are in the learning process in a quick, simple, yet effective way. Some features of MasteryConnect include the ability to assess and track proficiency of state and common core standards. Teachers will be aware of what students know in real-time and can pin and upload resources aligned to standards and share these resources with students. MasteryConnect will also allow sharing and discovery of common assessments in a global professional learning community and save time with instant grading tools. According to Paul Neubauer, director of ISD 15 Curriculum and Instruction, “The software will support our Professional Learning Communities (PLCs), connect student learning targets with each lesson and assessment, identify the effectiveness of lessons and bring the district together educationally while providing clear information about student progress to parents.” As ISD 15 continues its second year of implementation of PLCs, teachers maintain their focus on individual learning. Data plays a significant role in helping meet the educational needs of every student. MasteryConnect will give teachers immediate access to evidence of student performance, allowing them to quickly analyze the results and improve teaching and learning. It will also free up time for teachers to plan the next steps. Over the past few months, 20 teachers have piloted MasteryConnect and the response has been overwhelmingly positive. Stephanie Schollmann, second grade teacher at St. Francis Elementary School and Cassie Schmoll, fifth grade teacher at East Bethel Community School, represented the pilot group in a presentation to the School Board, highlighting the benefits for both students and teachers. Schmoll stated, “MasteryConnect is going to help pave the way for students to have a better understanding of their academic performance. It will help them articulate their strengths and weaknesses, which will allow them to play a lead role in their educational plan.” Schollmann has involved her students in the quick digital scoring of formative assessments within her classroom. She has reported that the students have demonstrated excitement for the immediate feedback, especially when they see they’ve met mastery. At Crossroads School & Vocational Center, math teacher Amanda Bursch recently started using MasteryConnect. After only a few days, her excitement was evident as she could determine with specificity the areas in which her students needed further instruction. The positive impact MasteryConnect is already making in her classroom is apparent. Teachers and administrators alike are excited to see the impact MasteryConnect has on student achievement.
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What’s Inside Schools in Action.................................................. 2 Community Education....................................13 Community & Business...................................15 School Board Highlights................................26 Sports & Outdoors.............................................28 Meetings, Events & Benefits.........................31 Recycling Guide..................................................32 Life...............................................................................34