As we strive to embrace Restorative Mindsets district-wide, we are continuing to identify schools that have shown tremendous growth and improvement within the areas of behavior, attendance and with their use of intervention and supports. The Equity, Discipline & Intervention team will identify a total of 10 individual schools (1 per month) as our highlighted performers within the areas identified above. The lucky highlighted school will receive an On-Air TV spot that will run on WKNO/PBS Kids channel 10! Each broadcasted spot will air for 1 week!

Our first school to be highlighted will be our very own SHERWOOD MIDDLE!!! Since the start of this year, their Year Over Year Comparison rates have represented extreme growth that cannot be ignored! 

 Sherwood Middle’s data yields...

• 5% Attendance Rate Increase
• 30% Perfect Attendance Increase
• 14% Decrease in Chronic Absenteeism
• 29% Increase in Progressive Discipline Supports
• 28.5% Decrease in Exclusionary Consequences
• 1.2% Decrease in Suspension Rates

They have shown DRASTIC improvements within the areas of attendance and progressive discipline supports. 

Great Job Sherwood Middle & Principal Jean-Louis, keep up the good work!!!

• i-Ready Literacy Tasks Exports
  • Exports for our literacy tasks are now available for school administrators. These exports are available in the Reports tab of i-Ready, by clicking: Reports > District/School > All Exports > Literacy Tasks. Exports available will provide student-level data on the following:
    • Benchmark Assessments
    • Progress Monitoring—Passage Reading Fluency
    • Progress Monitoring—Non-Passage Reading Fluency
  • Remember that students are included in the export only if teachers/admins have manually entered data for them in the user interface
• How to Pull Literacy Task Exports

Greetings,

This is a reminder that The Algebra Tasks using the Graphing Calculator Part 2 session on November 10, 2022, was rescheduled for December 8, 2022. Please register in PLZ using course code #32326.

Participants may park in front of the main entrance in the guest parking spaces of White Station HS at 514 South Perkins. Enter through the front entrance where an administrator will be in the main office until 3:30 to let participants into the building. 

The facilitator, Mrs. Kirby, will also send a student down to greet participants, let them in the building for about 15 minutes after the start time, and guide them to her classroom (M241).

The Department of Curriculum and Instruction's final Algebra I Monthly Support session for Semester 1 is scheduled for December 12, 2022.

Time: 3:30-5:00 pm.

Location: TLA Room 115/116  

Register in PLZ: #32157

Please click here for the flyer for upcoming Spring sessions. 

The Mastery Connect Common Formative Assessment #2 window occurs November 28th through December 16th.  Students in grades K-8 and high school students enrolled in EOC-tested courses are expected to complete the Mastery Connect standards-based assessments in ELA, Math, and Science. Click here to view the MSCS Mastery Connect Guide for additional information.

Imagine has made recent platform updates that impacted the previously posted communication since the previous LeaderBoard post on November 18th.  Previously teachers could 'Mark as Passed' a lesson as students demonstrate mastery of the lesson by engaging in teacher small group. The 'Mark as Passed' is no longer an option; therefore, teachers will have to reset the lesson after working with the students in small group to allow the student to retake the assessment. Additionally, teachers will not be able to retrieve the prerequisite lessons that would have assisted students with building foundational understanding of skills.  Teachers will need to ensure they are tracking student progress to ensure the health rating is not negatively affected as students transition throughout their assigned ILP.

Feel free to contact your RTI2 Advisor, Central Office Advisor, Sharon Rice (turnersd@scsk12.org), or the RTI2 Helpdesk (rti2@scsk12.org) with any additional questions.

Hey, ELA Leaders! Are you looking for additional items for Do Nows? Do you need resources for additional student practice with the ELA standards? Then check out the Standard-Aligned Test Items folders for ELA entitled Standards Aligned Items_2 in the C & I Curriculum Maps SharePoint! New items have been added for the Reading Prescription grades! 
 

Questions? Email ci_ela_team@scsk12.org

Providing Free Decodables to Students in Grades K-2 to Support Early Literacy

The Tennessee Department of Education (TDOE), in partnership with Governor’s Early Literacy Foundation (GELF), is opening up an opportunity for parents to order free at-home reading resources this winter for any of their children in grades K-2. 

Through this partnership, TDOE and GELF want to encourage at-home reading practice to help young learners become stronger readers outside of the classroom. Based on if a child is in kindergarten, 1st or 2nd grade, they will receive the At-Home Decodable Book Series, which contains 20+ exciting stories full of sounds and words to practice, and age-appropriate, high-quality books from Scholastic.  

All Tennessee families can order one booklet pack for each of their kindergarten, 1st, and 2nd grade students using this site.  

Please complete Wellness Center Referral Form and email it to wellnesscenter@scsk12.org to notify pertinent individuals of students who are referred for alcohol and drug counseling or who are referred to the Wellness Center. 

REMEMBER to click the identified behavior/purpose of the referral.

“Par-TEA” about Literacy" Parent Sessions: Starting Monday, December 5th, the Academic Team will host weekly parent sessions to give information and answer questions about the MSCS Literacy Commitment. Please click on the flyer for more details to share with ALL third grade parents. 

Par-TEA about Literacy .pdf

For more information, please contact LaTosha Wiseman and Audra Smith, or you may email thirdgradecommitment@scsk12.org. 

Mandatory Training for High School Digital Device Ambassadors will occur on Thursday, December 8th at the VEL Center (3237 Knight Road, Memphis, TN 38118). Ambassadors may attend the morning session from 8:00 am - 11:00 am or the afternoon session from 2:30 pm - 5:30 pm. Please plan for your school's ambassador to attend one of the required training sessions.  

Registration information will be emailed directly to the assigned Digital Device Ambassador regarding the upcoming training.  

If you have questions regarding the mandatory scheduled training, please email device_support@scsk12.org. 

 

Due to continued supply chain shortages, there will be delays in the delivery of devices for K-8 students.  Device distribution for these students will resume in January once protective cases have been replenished for Microsoft Surface Go devices.  

We will continue to distribute devices to eligible students in grades 9-12.  We appreciate your patience and understanding.

At this time, any student in the District who does not have a 1:1 device has not satisfied the replacement fee for a lost or damaged device. Please work closely with your Digital Device Ambassador to ensure that your school is scheduling and hosting ECF Meetings so that parents can take advantage of the opportunity to receive a one-time, FREE replacement device. 

Greetings Principals,

As we approach the holidays, we wanted to provide you with a copy of the protocol regarding Recognition of Religious Beliefs, Customs and Holidays.

Additionally, protocols regarding the following are included in the AOSS Manual:

• Display and Distribution of Non-District-School Materials - The protocol on the display and distribution of non-district/school materials in schools and to students requires approval.   
• Flag Protocol - TN State Public Chapter 754 requires the display of the American flag on school property and at school events to conform to the requirements of federal law. The guidance included in the Flag Protocol should be utilized in order to ensure compliance with this state statute.

 Please review is information and share it with your teams.

According to the 2021 Tennessee Literacy Success Act, all educators who hold specific endorsements that permit them to teach literacy in grades K-5 must complete an approved foundational skills course to renew their license by August 1, 2023. 

If you are an MSCS educator who has completed one of the state-approved foundational skills courses and you registered using a personal email address, please complete this brief survey and upload your certificate of completion for either asynchronous ERT Course 1 or SLT Course 1.

https://forms.office.com/r/WbJLZ1fnW8

For questions, please contact the Early Literacy Department at 901.416.4801 or email EarlyLiteracyDept@scsk12.org.

For more information on the TN Educator Licensure Requirement and access to the required course, click the link below.

TN_LSA_Training_and_Licensure_Requirements.pdf
 

Hey School Leaders!

If your school plans to engage in any type of Community Service or Service-Learning activity over the next couple of weeks leading up to the winter break, we’d love to hear about it!

Community Service is characterized by a (one-way) giving or doing model where a student provides meaningful service to a community. This model supports the moral, personal, and social development of students via service during one-time, scheduled activities. 

Service-Learning is characterized by a reciprocal model that benefits the recipient (community), the students, and academic learning (schools). This model gives students the opportunity and guidance to conduct action research, identify root causes of issues, and provide meaningful service that leaves a lasting impact for the community.   

Using the link below, please indicate whether your school will engage in a Service-Learning activity or a Community Service activity.  Also, please remember to take lots of pictures and videos of your students' involvement. 

Click on the link to share:   https://forms.office.com/r/hHte4XR1um

Throughout the school year, Shelby County Schools offers free health screenings for Pre-K, K, 2nd, 4th, 6th, 8th, and 9th grades.

Screenings consist of vision, hearing, blood pressure, height, weight, and scoliosis. See calendar for your school dates of elementary, middle and high school. 

Please note: due to a full calendar, we have little to no room to reschedule, however, we will do our best to accommodate your school. For more information please call Health Promotions at 416-6432 or you may email Latasa Gates at gateslw@scsk12.org. We are encouraging you to send communication home to parents (i.e. robo calls, emails, text messages). 

Check out our screening video to see what to expect:

ENG: https://youtu.be/A4wbLuXB4wI 

SPA: https://youtu.be/Hgsfj9AL-vI.

https://scsk12-my.sharepoint.com/:b:/g/personal/edwardst1_scsk12_org/EUQb31cdUKFAmb09EwpqMdQBD2RRCNX3NIc5TuE7fMpSCg?e=2qBxe4

Check out what’s happening in our employee Family Care Center (FCC) and school-based clinics (SBC). Student Support Services will offer the “The Clinic View” newsletter each month.

https://scsk12-my.sharepoint.com/:b:/g/personal/edwardst1_scsk12_org/Ed-Q3C6gpwxBok9mDTVKg3gBCJhLiZsnYEtHk_vO1RZGgA?e=skvFZY

https://scsk12-my.sharepoint.com/:b:/g/personal/edwardst1_scsk12_org/ERyq1WjuhxFLrWKdWdlUQqUBycXIvqSVMHxjeBsMmQS8Hg?e=4tt4uz

Be reminded, the deadline to complete 100% of TEM Announced observations is December 9. 

Building leaders, ILDs, and Assistant Superintendents may access their school's data using the following link: 

• Completion Status Dashboard.

Memphis-Shelby County Schools will implement the state board-approved Universal Reading Screener (URS) as the alternative growth measure (AGM) for Kindergarten, First Grade, and Second Grade for the 2022-23 school year.  

To ensure all implementing teachers receive accurate growth scores, please complete this form in its entirety by Tuesday, December 6, 2022.  

If you have questions, please don't hesitate to reach out to Ayodele Hall, the District AGM-URS Lead at 901.416.2475.

ALL content teachers will require two informal observations in PLZ. One informal observation should be recorded in PLZ EACH semester. The first informal observation in PLZ should occur before beginning formal observations.

Please note: When uploading a file, each field must be completed. Observers can enter “See Attachment” in the fields when they attach the document.

As a resource, please click the links below.

• SY22-23 Informal Walkthrough PLZ Guide - ADMINISTRATOR
• SY22-23 Informal Walkthrough PLZ Guide - TEACHER

The TEM TEACHer Training Series is now open for ALL teachers. The series aims to identify teacher and student actions that guide effective instruction at performance levels 3-5 of the TEACH indicators. 

Register in PLZ, course #26177.

Registration is open for SY22-23 Professionalism Training. Click here for additional information, including how to register.

The MSCS Compass is a new one-stop shop for all your PowerBI reports, including the new and improved Student Profile, which is now called Student Data 360. Watch our introduction and navigation video here - Intro to MSCS Compass
 

ATTENTION Counselors – We need your help! Please go in and check your intervention plans in BrightBytes and remove the “Protected” access flag. This is very important and impacts the ability to see accurate RTI-B compliance and Progressive Discipline information in PowerBI.

For more information on how to remove the Protected flag, look here.
 

NEW Releases and Features

• OAG Filter: A new filter is available for identifying Overage for Grade students in PowerBI. You can find the user guide here.
• Tutoring
• RTI2-A (Compliance Reports) 
• Instructional Practices (IP1 and IP2)
• School Information Tab: Research & Performance Management’s source of truth that includes Charter School and other school type flags, ILD Zone, Assistant Superintendent, Board Member assignments, and more.
• Observations HR Dashboard: Now accessible through the MSCS Compass. All Principals, Assistant Principals, ILDs, and select Central Office staff have access to this report. Contact EPS@scsk12.org for additional support if needed. 
   

Under Construction

• Several reports are currently being updated and redeveloped and will be temporarily unavailable:
  • Literacy Commitment – Coming End of December 2023
  • Ready Grad – Coming Mid January 2023
  • Digital Citizenship – Coming Early February 2023
• We are working on optimizing performance on as many reports as possible and your feedback is crucial. Please reach out if you experience any issues so that we can identify major pain points. Email us at DAIMSUPPORT@scsk12.org.
• Does something in a dashboard look wrong? Check our Data Quality Updates.

Trainings 

• Virtual Office Hours: This week (12/6 and 12/8), we will cover the Graduation Cohort Details Report
  • VOH is held every week on Tuesday and Thursday at 3:30 PM
  • Recordings go out to anyone on the calendar invite and will be available on our Support Page.
  • Sign up at this link today!
• Leadership Development Week: If you missed our LDW training on the week of November 14th, the slide deck is available here.
   

Support

• Power BI Access: Principals can give school staff members access through the PowerBI Access App. If you see someone in the Access App that should be removed from your school, contact DAIM Support (DAIMSUPPORT@scsk12.org) and we can assist.
• Support Resources: Check out the DAIM Support Sharepoint site, complete with additional video tutorials, walkthrough guides, and more!

Assessment and Accountability will provide two Graduation Cohort PD sessions via Teams next week. Each high school should send at least one representative to one of the sessions. 

The two sessions have the same content, so school representatives need to attend only one of the sessions. 

The Graduation Cohort process involves providing the state with documentation to prove that a student did not drop out, and this process has a significant impact on a school's graduation rate. 

The dates and times for the two sessions are below. Individuals from district-managed sessions should sign up for a session on PLZ (Look for course number 32746). Individuals from charter schools should use the online form here to sign up for a session. The Teams link will not be sent until closer to the time of the sessions and will be sent to everyone who signs up for a session.

• Tuesday, December 6, 12:30 PM to 2:00 PM
• Wednesday, December 7, 12:30 PM to 2:00 PM

Quarter 2 Report Card period ends Friday, December 16, 2022 and the Checklist document is available on SharePoint. Q2 Report Cards will be distributed to students, as well as, parents will be able to view the report cards in the portal after 3:00 p.m. on Wednesday, January 18, 2023.