Despite winning the Race to the Top sweepstakes, aligning to national standards, and instituting a host of other educational reforms, Ohio slipped in the most recent Education Week, Quality Counts Rankings from 5^th in 2010 to 11^th in 2011. Linked below is the actual Quality Counts report, while the posted reply is a statement from State Superintendent Deb Delisle.

The work of the district Literacy Team continues for MRLS in January as district teachers evaluate instructional materials for future adoption. Over the course of the first semester the district literacy team has worked to identify and establish a literacy framework which will help all district students receive consistent and comprehensive literacy instruction. Through the course of this process, the team has identified several gaps in instructional materials. In order to address these gaps, the district selected and distributed materials for all teachers to review. These materials will be traveling to individual buildings during the month of January and be available for all staff to review at the Central Office after February 7^th.

In order to help facilitate feedback from individual teachers and teacher teams, all feedback will be completed via the district’s Sharepoint site (https://co-vm07/curriculumandinstruction/default.aspx). The survey is actual a series of four surveys broken up by grade span. After teachers have become familiar with the sample introductory materials rotating between buildings, we are asking that they as individuals or as a team log onto the site and complete the appropriate survey for their grade level. A section for specific comments is at the conclusion of each survey. Teachers may complete the survey at anytime, but the survey itself can only be accessed while in the district (on the district network). In addition, if staff members would like more time to review materials, all samples will be available at the Central Office after February 7^th.

During the February Literacy Team meeting, the committee will continue discussion on materials and determine logical next steps. These steps could include but are not limited to making a recommendation to adopt a particular resource, create a longer time line for review, or explore other resources.

Working in partnership with the MREA, the Curriculum Department is pleased to support a new professional development program entitled: “By Teachers for Teachers, Professional Development.” The brainchild of Amy Holbrook and Heidi Clements and funded in part by both an OEA grant and district Title IIA funds, “By Teacher for Teacher Professional Development” is a series of afterschool sessions aimed at providing professional learning on an array of topics identified in the district PD needs assessment survey completed by teachers in the spring of 2010. The program will offer sessions taught by district teachers using the district PD planning and assessment process. A list of upcoming dates and registration form is linked below.

One word comes to mind to describe the state’s, several month old Race to the Top process and that word is “rushed.” Given just five weeks to submit a Scope of Work in the fall and then only two weeks to refine it, the RttT grant process has always been more like an ultra-caffeinated hare, than a well reserved and conscientious tortoise. This is evidenced not only by the seemly shorter and shorter deadlines and the constantly updated (and sometimes conflicting) information, but also by the almost half dozen emails that one receives from ODE if you are lucky enough to be on the RttT listserv.

Nevertheless, the RttT grant is good for Mad River as it will provide much needed professional development funds for the district in a time when professional development funds will be scarce. In the coming weeks, district Transition Team members will be attending several sessions on data systems and principal and teacher evaluation to learn more about expectations and resources for Race to the Top districts. Once more information regarding these expectations is known, the district team will reconvene to update and implement the district’s RttT application.

For the past two school years, Mad River has benefitted from an effective instructional coaching program which placed a teacher-leader in each of the elementary buildings and at Spinning Hills Middle School. Each instructional coach was instrumental in providing on-site professional development in the form of co-teaching, modeling lessons for staff, and in providing in depth data analysis. In effect, each served as an extra instructional leader for their building principals.

Since organizations usually implement several improvement strategies at the same time, it is difficult to measure the sole impact of the instructional coaching program at Mad River, but to say the program was anything less than successful would be difficult. Each of the five coaches provided a positive and supportive impact for each building’s improvement process. It is certainly no coincidence that the district achieved its highest report card rating last year and continues to make strives during this academic year.

The coaching program was implemented at the onset of the 2009-10 school year using stimulus dollars which will no longer be available after the current school year. Given the perfect storm of district finances noted in an earlier blog posting (end of levy cycle + significant decrease in state funding + decrease in title funding), and despite the success of the program, the district cannot afford to maintain all five positions.

Recognizing the benefit of the instructional coaching positions, Mad River has worked diligently to secure funding to maintain two positions for the 2011-2012 school year. These positions will be paid for by reallocating current Title I and Title IIA funds and target the elementary schools with each coach being shared between two separate elementary buildings. An additional position funded through the Race to the Top grant will also be posted. Although this position will be focus primarily on assisting in the implementation of the Race to the Top grant, it will also be used to provide coaching support.

Although it is disappointing to reduce an effective program which supports student achievement and staff development, our district fiscal situation leaves little recourse. While two of the coaches take on greater responsibilities, three will be transitioning back into our classrooms. Without a doubt the skills learned and applied during their tenure of coaching will benefit our students, collaborative teams, and building staffs in their buildings.

Any carpenter, electrician, or engineer would agree that in order to build, fix, or maintain something effectively, you have to have the right tools. This notion certainly holds true for schools as well. Although students, teachers, and administrators benefit greatly from current textbooks, tablet PCs, digital whiteboards, and student response systems, the right tools are also needed to measure the overall improvement of the district. 

The district’s OIP improvement plan was established during 2008-09 school year and outlines a succinct process for improving the curriculum, instruction, assessments, and the climate and conditions of the district. Yearly, the district uses report card data as a part of the process for noting the success of this plan. In addition, the district collects and monitors data throughout the school year to ensure the district is consistently making progress. However, gathering this data is sometimes difficult. For example, the district can make a goal that teachers will use impactful teaching strategies each day, but how would you measure this? Another example would be measuring whether the district curriculum is up-to-date with the new standards and is reflective of the skills needed to survive in a 21^st Century world.

To solve this dilemma, Mad River has focused on creating measuring tools, i.e. checklists, surveys, rubrics, etc. to collect the right data to determine whether the district’s improvement plan is actually being implemented and being impactful on a day-to-day basis. These tools were created by a sub committee comprised of teachers and administrators and guided by the Department of Curriculum and Instruction. The first of these tools were the “Curriculum Audit Tool” and “Teacher Reflection Survey,” which were completed during the summer of 2010. Each tool was linked to research as well as aligned to the district’s current improvement strategies. Both tools were piloted in October of 2010 at Stebbins High School and revised based on feedback of both the sub committee and the high school teachers. Both will be implemented in full in February 2011.

At a November 2010 meeting of the district’s OIP leadership sub committee, it was noted that other tools would be necessary to adequately measure the full implementation of the district’s improvement plan. The several tools were identified and included checklists and rubrics for creating and revising grade level/subject area curricular maps, adopting district instructional materials, and implementing building instructional schedules. Initial checklists were drafted via the Department of Curriculum and Instruction and will be shared at OIP Mid Year Check in January 2011. These tools will then be revised based on feedback from the entire district OIP team and implemented in the spring of 2011. You may find current copies of all district OIP documents here.

The Mad River Local Schools will hold the second of four planned two hour delays on Wednesday, January 26^th. The purpose of the two hour delay is to provide each school an opportunity to work on strategies outlined in each individual building improvement plan. These activities will include collecting and analyzing building progress monitoring data, allowing time for collaborative planning and targeted professional development. At the beginning of each building session, the January State of the District report, which will outline progress monitoring data for the entire district, will be shared with staff. Subsequent two hour delays for school improvement are also scheduled for Wednesday, February 23^rd and May 11^th.

Because of the pre planned delay, no two hour delay alert will be posted to local television, radio stations or the internet. An alert will be posted if school would be forced to be closed on that day. Teachers are reminded that the One Call system will be used to inform staff of any contingencies in case on inclement weather.

The Mad River Curriculum Department has been busy gathering progress monitoring data in anticipation of the upcoming, “State of the District” report, which will be given to the entire district leadership team at a full DLT meeting later this month. As part of these preparations, department personnel have been gathering data on student performance in several categories including district-wide, individual building, and individual student sub groups. In addition, data is also being compiled in several other areas including but not limited to curriculum alignment, student discipline, professional development, and attendance.

The purpose of the district’s full DLT meeting in January is to discuss actual progress toward meeting the goals established in the district’s improvement plan. This meeting will model practices which will be repeated in individual buildings during the January 26^th Two Hour Delay. A copy of this district progress report will be posted to this blog and the Curriculum and Instruction homepage at the end of the month.

The upcoming shrinking state budget has received a large amount of press in the waning months leading up to 2011. Although Governor-elect Kasich’s budget proposal is not due until March 15^th, it has been well publicized that schools should expect an 8-10% decrease in funding from the state. This drop in state funding comes at a very precarious time for our district. Although the Supreme Court has ruled several times that a reliance on local property tax revenues is unconstitutional, our state still funds schools with a largely on these taxes. This means that school districts go through funding cycles and have to ask voters to pass levies every few years.

Unfortunately for Mad River, the end of our current funding cycle coincides with one of the hardest economic times in recent memory. In order to address the funding shortfall, our district has sought a number of strategies to reduce spending. With the help of a district finance committee, administrators have sought to reduce positions through attrition, cut building and district department budgets by up to 10%, and seek alternative revenue sources. For example, the Curriculum Department is currently researching several strategies which could be potentially generate or save funding for the district. These strategies include Open Enrollment, expanding our Advancement Program to keep more students from leaving the district, and the possibility of developing a virtual school. It is important to understand that all of these strategies come with positive and negative consequences. As research is compiled, district leaders and committees will need to weigh all of these issues with the ultimate goal of improving student achievement while being fiscally responsible.

Mad River is certainly not the only district facing a precarious financial situation. The Dayton Daily News recently reported that over two thirds of the districts in our county will be on the ballot within the next two years. 

The district recently received third grade reading scores for the Ohio Achievement Assessment which was taken by all of Ohio’s public school children in October.

Overall, the district received a mix of both positive and challenging news. Mad River students averaged a passing score of 401 which was three points below the state average. Although the lower than average score is somewhat discouraging, the district did have a particularly large percentage (57%) of students who personally achieved a passing score. This percentage is particularly high compared with the performance of district students in the past. Although this is encouraging, it also demonstrates a larger gap between the students who are performing well in our classrooms with those students who are struggling. 

Historically, Mad River has scored slightly below the state average in the fall and then at or above the state average in the spring. In effect, this shows that Mad River students typically progress faster than students across the state. Knowing these results is particularly helpful for teachers and administrators as these scores will help in grouping students for future language arts instruction.

Liz Wolfe-Eberly, Mad River’s Curriculum Resource Coordinator, recently was asked to present to regional improvement specialists as a part of the Regional State Support Team training program. Liz was selected because of Mad River’s effectiveness in implementing and monitoring the district’s improvement (OIP) plan over the course of the school year. During her presentation, Liz was able to draw on concrete examples of monitoring tools developed at Mad River used to measure the integrity of our improvement efforts. Congratulations to Liz!

Ongoing professional development for district early career administrators and teacher leaders continued in November with the second meeting of the District Leadership Academy. The District Leadership Academy was established this year with the purpose of building leadership capacity throughout the district. The program was modeled on the Ohio State Standards for Principals. The most recent half day session focused on providing participants the opportunity to review and reflect on current research, consider the application of this research on our building and district, and to review results from individual 360 evaluations. Future sessions will include using each participant’s individual 360 results to individualize future professional development and to carry out action research in the district.

In November, Mad River’s Race to the Top Final Scope of Work was approved by the state of Ohio. This approval was the result of several months of collaborative efforts between teachers and administrators and means no less than $479,000 in grant funds will be distributed to the district over the next four years. In addition, the money received by the district is sure to be increased as a large number of districts across the state who originally chose to participate in the grant program withdrew.

It is important to understand that these funds may only be used to accomplish the goals established in the district’s application. These goals include updating curriculum to new standards, improving data systems, and improving principal and teacher quality. However, given the district’s precarious fiscal situation, the money received via the Race to the Top grant is vitally important. This money will be used to provide professional development for staff and to help preserve an instructional coaching position which would have been reduced due to budget cuts.

The District Literacy Team met recently to continue work on updating and improving the district language arts curriculum and instructional strategies. In particular, the group focused on establishing a district literacy framework, developing a plan for transitioning to new common core standards, and further discussion on adopting consistent, research-based instructional materials. During the full day meeting, the team discussed the on-going professional development which is taking place throughout the year. Teachers will be piloting potential instructional materials during December and January. The Literacy team will meet again after the first of the year to discuss impressions of these instructional materials and to discuss future updates to the curriculum.

Mad River was recently highlighted as a success story for the A+nywhere Learning System commonly known in the district as A+. This software system was originally used at Stebbins High School and as a part of the curriculum for the Mad River Educational Advancement Program (MREAP) but is now used in each district school for instruction, intervention, and assessment. The Success Story is linked below.

Although schools and school districts receive student scores from the OAA and OGT tests each summer, most districts do not have a system in place to regularly collect data on the curriculum and the teaching practices used in order for students to perform on these tests. Mad River has a long track record of using both state and local achievement scores effectively, but this fall the district has also begun collecting comprehensive data on the current alignment of the district’s core curriculum and on the actual teaching practices occurring on a daily basis in our schools.

Designed by the district OIP leadership team, Mad River has begun using a curricular audit tool and a teacher self reflection tool in order to gather data on the effectiveness of the district improvement plan in the areas of curriculum and instruction. The team designed this process to balance teacher feedback with actual classroom observations and will compare this information with student achievement. This process was recently piloted at Stebbins High School with plans to collect data district wide in the spring.

In addition to the audit and reflective tools, the district used the planned November 2^nd waiver day to compile curriculum alignment data. Working in collaborative grade level and department groups, teachers across the district measured how close what is actually being taught in our classrooms is to what should be taught. With this data, the district and individual buildings will be able to prioritize areas in need of improvement and provide staff with resources to improve the curriculum in these areas. These are just the first steps in aligning the district’s Language Arts, Math, Science, and Social Studies curriculum to new state standards which were adopted in June of this year.

Senate Bill 311 laid the ground work for Ohio students to earn high school credits in a more flexible and individual way. The Ohio Department of Education intended credit flexibility to “broaden the scope of curricular options available to student,” “increase the depth of study available for a particular subject area,” and “tailor the learning time or conditions needed” to complete a high school course. The Mad River Educational Advancement Program (MREAP) was an early pilot of credit flexibility in our district.

Working with a stakeholder group of teachers and administrators, Mad River has formalized credit flexibility through the development of administrative guidelines which outline procedures for parents and students to access these options. Mad River’s credit flexibility plan allows students to earn credits in several ways including: College Options; Credit Acceleration; Credit Recovery; Mastery Test; Independent Study; and Simultaneous Credit. Like other districts, Mad River will continue to develop the Credit Flexibility Process over the coming months as the process is implemented more and more. Students interested in submitting an application for credit flexibility are encouraged to speak to their guidance counselor.

 Helpful curriculum and instruction information from ODE.

The Mad River Local School District has been selected to participate in the field testing process for the state of Ohio’s new Teacher Residency Program. The Residency program, which will be fully implemented in January 2011, is a change in the licensure process for Ohio’s educators. The state will now require new educators to participate in a four year program of professional development, which will require participants to work with a mentor teacher and use data and observation to reflect and improve their teaching.

Mad River has implemented a model beginning teacher program for numerous years by supporting a multi year induction process for teachers to improve their practice. As part of the field test, a handful selected district mentors and early career teachers will use and provide feedback to new formative assessment tools designed by the state of Ohio.

On the heels of the most successful state report card in district history, the Mad River Local Schools community has more good news to celebrate. Stebbins High School was recently recognized as a 2009-10 State Superintendent’s School of Promise. The honor, which was announced this week by State Superintendent Deb Delisle, recognizes Stebbins for demonstrating high achievement in reading for all groups of students, despite the fact that over 50% of our students are considered economically disadvantaged. The award also takes into account a school’s graduation rate and whether or not the school met Adequate Yearly Progress. Only 161 schools in the state of Ohio earned this designation during the 2009-10 school year. Please read the State Superintendent’s letter of commendation which is linked below.

Stebbins joins Spinning Hills Middle School which has previously been recognized as an Ohio School to Watch. Spinning Hills earned this multi year designation beginning in 2006 and was again recognized in 2009. Middle Schools across the state and nation earn this honor by meeting specific criteria in the areas of academic excellence, developmental responsiveness, and social equitability.

MRLS is very proud of all of our schools and the efforts that our students, parents, and community give on a daily basis to support our schools. Congratulations to all of our stakeholders at Stebbins for your hard work and in bringing positive recognition to our district.

The Mad River Transformation Team, which is comprised of six (6) district teachers and four (4) district administrators, has met several times during the beginning of the 2010-2011 school year in order to complete the district’s application to be part of Ohio’s Race to the Top (RttT) grant. Mad River Local Schools stands to receive no less than a total of $478,000 over a four year period to assist in adapting to new national and state curriculum standards, utilize data more successfully as a part of classroom and school improvement, and to foster improvement in the areas of teacher and principal effectiveness. In order to receive funding, the school board and local teacher’s association agreed to work cooperatively on strategies for implementing these reforms during both Ohio’s first and second application to the US Department of Education.

Luckily for Mad River, many of the reform strategies focused on by the RttT grant are already occurring in our district in one shape or another. For example, our district already utilizes a Teacher Evaluation Program which is based on the work of researcher Charlotte Danielson. In addition, the district is a leader in the state’s new Resident Educator and Master Teacher programs, evidenced by our selected involvement in the Dayton Area Center of Practice and as a selected field test district by the Ohio Department of Education, and finally, as part of the OIP process, the district has already designated a comprehensive curriculum review process which involves teacher collaboration and focuses on aligning our curriculum to the new standards.

Although only just more than half of Ohio’s districts have agreed to participate in the Race to the Top application, it is readily apparent that the strategies outlined in the grant will be required of all districts in the not to distant future (See the excerpt from Ohio’s RttT Facts and Myths linked below for more information). By agreeing to participate in the RttT, Mad River’s district and teachers have assured that we will receive initial funding to support these reforms.

Mad River Schools have taken a proactive role in building leadership within the district by beginning a district leadership academy during the 2010-11 school year. Given the state emphasis on the Ohio Improvement Process (OIP) which uses district and building leadership teams, the purpose of the district leadership academy is to present participants with the skills, experiences, and resources necessary to impact our students. The leadership academy was formed with two distinct cohorts in mind: early career administrators, meaning those administrators that are either new to the district or new to their positions; and teachers in each of our schools who have taken an active role in the improvement of our schools by participating on building or district committees, district projects, or pilot programs. 

As part of the academy, principals and teacher leaders will meet four half days throughout the school year with activities focusing on providing individual professional development, providing opportunities for professional practice, and providing situations for practical application. All activities are based on the Ohio Standards for Principals and allow for effective collaboration for each cohort. It is hoped that the district leadership academy will help sustain the improvement in student achievement the district has experienced over the course of the last several years.

The district literacy team has meet several times since the end of the 2009-2010 school year and has established five (5) goals to assist in providing a comprehensive review, revision, and support of our district P-12 English language arts curriculum. These goals include: 

1. Determine an effective balanced literacy framework/plan at all grade levels in which to provide literacy instruction.
2. Update curriculum at all grade levels to be representative of the established literacy framework and develop a plan for transitioning new common core standards.
3. Develop a plan to match district formative assessments to our revised curriculum.
4. Provide professional development to support quality classroom instruction.
5. Identify and adopt resources to support literacy instruction in the district.

The literacy team, which is representative of teachers in all grade levels and buildings, plans to meet regularly throughout the 2010-2011 school year in order to accomplish these goals. Improving student achievement in reading and language arts in total is a top district priority and encompasses the #1 goal in the district’s improvement plan. Although math achievement has improved mightily in recent years, reading scores have reached a plateau.

It is with great pleasure that we announce Michelle Gallus, Kindergarten teacher at Stevenson Elementary School, as the 2011 Mad River Local Schools Teacher of the Year. Shelly was nominated by her peers at Stevenson and chosen by a district committee of teachers and administrators at the end of last school year. She will be the district nominee for the 2011 Ohio Teacher of the Year Award.

Congratulations go out as well to each of our elementary Teacher of the Year Recipients including Holly Shively from Brantwood Elementary, Tammy Luttrell from Saville, and Jenna Woelfer from Beverly Gardens. The collaboration, creativeness, and altruism demonstrated by all four of these educators are wonderful examples of the teaching that occurs within our district every day.

Congratulations ladies and good luck Shelly!

The Mad River Educational Advancement Program (MREAP), which began its second pilot semester at the beginning of the 2010-11 school year, has been recognized as one of the top three outstanding “New Student Programs” in the southwest region by the Ohio School Board Association (OSBA). The program which started in January 2010 targeting a dozen at risk upper class students was expanded at the beginning of this school year to include students looking to earn high school credits at an accelerated pace.

MREAP showed early success during the pilot semester in assisting students in earning credits at an accelerated pace while maintaining the integrity of course content. The program is designed based on a blended instructional approach which matches the flexibility of technology with the aspect of project based learning. The program has served as a catalyst for developing more credit flexibility options within the district.

Each year, the Ohio School Board Association seeks to recognize programs which are unique, creative, and successful in raising student achievement. Mad River will be recognized for this honor in October at the OSBA Southwest Region’s Annual Fall Meeting. 

Congratulations and thanks to all former and current MREAP staff members including Chloe Busch, Michael Denhardt, Jonathon Webb, Jesse Maxfield, Joyce Eardley, Josh Hazelrigg, Jennifer Holder, Cathy Thomas, and Louisa Tsuchida and especially to Stebbins High Principal Ron Flohre and Curriculum Resource Coordinator Elizabeth-Wolfe Eberly for their contributions to this program. We understand that this program is early in its implementation and can still improve but appreciate your hard work in getting the program established.

In a continued effort to communicate effectively with staff, the Department of Curriculum and Instruction has published it 2010-11 Curriculum Calendar. You may find a copy of the calendar, which contains all in district professional development events and district committee dates currently scheduled, by visiting the Department’s homepage.

Due to the passage of House Bill 1, the state of Ohio has reduced the number of calamity day closures from five (5) per year to three (3) beginning with this school year. This means that any district closing beyond three days this year will need to be make up school days according to the adopted district calendar. This is the first step in an eventual process which will require districts to make up all school days closed due to weather, etc. in the future.

The Mad River Local School District would like to announce slight changes to the upcoming 2010–2011 school year calendar. The district which has utilized state approved waiver days for the past several days to help teachers design curriculum and assessments and to collaborate on best teaching practices, will be changing the use of these days for the upcoming school year. Instead of students being released 2 ½ hours early on planned days, the district will instead use a 2 hour delay schedule. Mad River is planning for 2 hour delays on the following Wednesdays during the 2010–2011 school year: September 15^th, January 26^th, February 23^rd, and May 11^th. On these days, each school will run on the same schedule as if the district delayed because of weather.

It is important to note that two full waiver days, Monday, August 16^th and Tuesday, November 2^nd have been approved by the state of Ohio. School will not be in session at all on these days to assist the district in updating curriculum and to provide professional development to staff.

Mad River Local School District earned an “Effective” rating on the 2009–2010 report card, a rating which may actually downplay some of the progress made by district students and teachers last year. Each year, when the state publishes District and School Reports cards, the Ohio Department of Education (ODE) also compares districts to twenty other schools that are similar both in the community in which it serves and the demographics of the student population. This information is “sandwiched” between the district’s performance and the average performance of students across the state on each district and building report card. Knowing and comparing the performance of a district’s “statistical neighbors” is helpful when considering whether a particular district is making progress.

During the 2009-10 school year, ODE determined that Barberton City Schools, which is located in Summit County southwest of Akron, was the most comparable school district to Mad River in the state. Other districts which were considered close to Mad River included: Massillon City (Stark County), Niles City (Trumbull), and Ravenna City (Portage). West Carrollton City School District was the closet school district in comparison to Mad River in Montgomery County ranking fifth according to ODE’s methodology.

When compared with the top ten similar districts, Mad River ranked first in performance index (a score that takes into account the performance of every student on every test), second in the number of report card indicators earned, and was the only district not to be in school improvement status (School districts are designated for school improvement for not advancing student achievement in one of twenty sub groups in consecutive years). Continuing the comparison, Mad River was one of only three districts to meet Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) during the 2009-10 school year and only one of four districts to exceed the Value Added growth measure (Value Added is a measure of the expectation that every student will make at least one year of growth in one year’s time).

Although the district is proud of its “Effective” rating and the progress being made in every classroom, sights are set on earning an “Excellent” rating next year. Based on the comparisons of similar districts and on the improvement the district has shown the last several years, it appears the district is on the right track.

The Mad River Local School District has continued its sustained move toward earning an Excellent district rating according to the most recent State of Ohio Academic Report Card. As part of Ohio’s assessment program, 4,774 tests were administered to district students last year. In the end, Mad River fell just six passing tests short of earning the coveted Excellent designation. Mad River has been designated as an Effective school district by the state of Ohio for the 2009 – 2010 school year. It is the fifth straight year the district has earned an Effective rating.

 During the 2009-10 school year, Mad River made substantial progress in raising student achievement. Highlights of this progress include:

* All district schools earned a designation of at least Effective rating with both Brantwood and Saville Elementary Schools earning Excellent Ratings.

* The district and each of its schools met Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) for the 2009-10 school year. AYP measures the performance of several student sub groups such as Students with Disabilities and Economically Disadvantaged Students.

* The district exceeded the state’s Value Added criteria for the 2009 – 2010 school year, which means that as a whole, district students exceeded one year of growth during last school year.

* Mad River earned the highest percentage of indicators on the report card in history, meeting benchmark performance for 18 of the 26 state indicators.

* The district continued a three year improvement trend for performance index, which takes into account the performance of every student on every test.

Ohio began assigning performance ratings to schools in 1998. That year Mad River was designated as Academic Emergency, the lowest of then five designations. Despite an increase in both the percent of poverty and in the number of students who enter or leave the district in a given year (mobility rate) over the last 12 years, Mad RIver has made steady academic improvement. Although the district is still challenged in the areas of language arts and meeting the needs of special education students, the district is committed to a comprehensive improvement process which is thoughtfully planned and vigoursly monitored in order to raise academic achievement.

The state of Ohio was recently announced as one of ten winners of the second round of Race to the Top Funding. A press release from State Superintendent Deb Delisle announcing the award can be found below.

Because the Mad River Local School District and the Mad River Education Association signed a letter of intent to participate in the program at the end of last school year, the Mad River Local School District now stands to receive a total of $479,000 in funding to be distributed over the next four years. The money is granted to school districts with the understanding that funding will be used specific school improvement projects outlined by both the USDOE and ODE. More restrictions, requirements, etc. are set to be released within the coming weeks. A final scope of work for the grant is excepted to be completed by each district by late November.

On the heels of a successful first pilot semester, the Mad River Advancement Program (MREAP) has expanded from twelve to twenty-four students for the upcoming 2010-11 school year. The program, which opened with a specific focus on at risk students, will maintain its initial focus but has expanded to include students seeking to earn credits at a quicker pace. The second phase of the programs’ expansion is consistent with the state of Ohio’s emphasis on Credit Flexibility, which directs schools to increase opportunities for students to earn high school credits. As part of the state’s credit flexibility initiative, students will have increased opportunities to demonstrate that they have mastered course content. The expansion of MREAP is one part of the district’s credit flexibility plan which is being developed this school year. In conjunction with state mandates, other possible means of credit flexibility such as placement tests and mentoring for credit are to be in place later in the school year.

A follow up article on the success of the MREAP program originally published by the Dayton Daily News in June can be found here.

After a year of working on special assignment for the Curriculum Department, Elizabeth Wolfe-Eberly has joined the department as the new Curriculum Resource Coordinator. Prior to assisting in developing the Mad River Educational Advancement Program last school year, Liz served the district as an instructional leader and science teacher at Stebbins High School. Liz will assist the district with several projects including the implementation of the district improvement plan (OIP), language arts study and adoption, and Resident Educator program. The Curriculum Resource Coordinator position is a position provided by the Montgomery County Education Service Center. Please welcome Liz as she begins her new role in the district.

Beverly Gardens and Stevenson Elementary Schools have been asked to participate in a United States Department of Education Study during the 2010 – 2011 school year. The Title of the study is, “Teacher Study Groups for Improving Vocabulary Instruction.” This study is designed to provide first grade teachers with effective, research based ways to deliver high quality vocabulary instruction. This is a particular focal point of the Stevenson OIP plan. As part of the study teachers will work collaboratively to enhance their existing reading curriculum by planning lessons that incorporate research based principles.

Results of the Spring District PD survey are listed below. Thank you to all teachers for your input as it is valued and appreciated. Professional development courses offered during the summer and the 2010 – 2011 school year will be developed and prioritized based on teacher feedback and the performance of our students.  

Naturally, the number of course offerings that the district can provide will be influenced greatly by funding. A large portion of the funding for our district professional development programs comes from state and/or federal grants. This funding helped the district offer over a dozen courses during the 2009 – 2010 school year and several other courses within each building. Staff members receive CEU’s for attending all district professional development sessions. In addition, many of the sessions are also offered for optional University of Dayton credit.

A brochure of district PD courses offered during the summer and during the 2010 – 2011 school year will be released later this week.

In an effort to assist districts and to increase participation in the State’s Application for the Federal Race to the Top Grant, the Ohio Department of Education has released a comparison of several initiatives influencing education at this moment. You can find an alignment of the Race to the Top, Blueprint for the ESEA Reauthorization and Ohio House Bill 1 below. District administrators are working cooperatively with the Mad River Education Association in exploring participation in the Race to the Top grant. Signed Memorandums of Understanding are due to the State from districts in mid May.

Helpful curriculum and instruction information from ODE. April 2010 Ides of ODE

From State Superintendent Delisle's Press Release:

Ohio was not selected to receive funding during Phase I of the U.S. Department of Education (USDOE) Race to the Top (RttT) grant.

The USDOE has announced that Delaware and Tennessee were selected to receive funding under Phase I of the RttT program. We knew from the start that the RttT process would be highly competitive and, while we are disappointed that Ohio was not selected for funding at this time, it was an honor to be selected as one of 16 finalists for Phase I.

Even though we will not receive funding under Phase I, we believe Ohio’s students deserve the innovative education reforms identified for in RttT, and we will now begin work on applying for Phase II.

In an effort to provide you with relevant and timely information as we begin our Phase II efforts, ODE has constructed a webpage, rttt.education.ohio.gov, which will contain RttT resources and information.

We will also be sharing information in the near future concerning the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) process for Phase II. Currently, the details of the Phase II MOU are being developed but, as more information becomes available, we will be certain to notify all eligible school districts and community schools about the process.

We have been notified that the SOAR program, a curricular tutorial program currently in use in many of our district’s school will be available only until June 30^th of this year when the grant currently funding the program runs out. This means that teachers will no longer be able to customize assignments and have access to student progress reports as in the past, which will several limit the use of this tool in our schools.

In anticipation of this possibility and in part to support the district’s advancement program, Mad River adopted A+ as its core curricular software program in December of 2009. Although the district is currently using A+ in select programs throughout the district, more widespread use of the program will occur during the 2010 – 2011 school year.

Follow the link below to access the new ESEA Blueprint for Reform, The Reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act. This is the beginning with certainly more to follow in the coming months.

http://www.oaasfep.net/Links/Assets/ESEABlueprint%20forReform.pdf

Helpful curriculum and instruction information from ODE. March2010 Ides of ODE

Over the weekend, President Obama unveiled his proposal to revamp the current No Child Left Behind law. It is important to understand that this proposal is exactly that, a proposal, and any eventual law will require at least a fair amount of bipartisan support. It is also helpful to know that several parts of Ohio’s Race to the Top application are similar to those of the President’s proposed changes. You can read more about the President’s plan here.

Next week, the Central Office administrative team will begin another round of building visits in order to interact with students, teachers, and principals and to get a first hand look at our district’s educational process. This is a continuing process that began in the spring of last year with the following established purpose: To increase the collaboration and awareness of the central office team and building leadership as well as to witness teaching and learning on a building and classroom level.

Although it is often difficult to coordinate a number of schedules to make this process happen, it is completely worthwhile and what we should be doing. Our administrative team looks forward to these visits as it is an opportunity to celebrate some of the great things going on in our district classrooms and also to recognize and discuss some of our challenges facing the district as a whole.

Over the weekend, President Obama unveiled his proposal to revamp the current No Child Left Behind law. You can read more about the President’s plan here.

The Curriculum Department is pleased to welcome Eric Fisher, our new Technical Coordinator, to Mad River. Eric holds a Bachelor's Degree in Computer Engineering from UD and has several years of experience in private industry as a network administrator. Eric’s technical knowledge and ideas for improving the district’s computer networks in addition to his professionalism and energy made him a great choice for this position. The District Technical Coordinator oversees basically everything technology related behind the scenes and walls, whatever the case may be. Eric will work closely with District Technology Coordinator, Dustin Freeman, in order to provide the district technology capacity and tools that are impactful for our staff and students.

An excerpt from the March 10^th Special Edition of the Ides of ODE:

The Common Core State Standards Initiative today released its Draft Common Core State Standards for K-12 English language arts and mathematics at www.corestandards.org. This initiative is facilitated by the Council of Chief State School Officers and the National Governors Association.

As many of you know, this past fall Ohio joined the Common Core Initiative along with 51 other states and U.S. territories. Our state’s Race to the Top application indicates that Ohio will be adopting the Common Core State Standards, once they are fully developed. The initiative’s goal is for states to voluntarily adopt the common core standards in their entirety. States may choose to add an additional 15 percent of state-specific content.

Public comment on these draft documents is encouraged via an online survey available at www.corestandards.org through April 2. We suggest that groups of teachers come together to provide comments regarding the draft standards.

You can access the entire March 10^th Special Edition of the Ides of ODE here.

At Mad River, we have planned for teams of teachers to meet this spring to review the standards and recommend possible updates to our district curriculum. This will be an on going process as the state plans to phase in assessments for the new standards. This means that next year our students will be tested with tests similar to the tests students are taking now. Eventually, the content of these tests will change to reflect the new standards.

An excerpt from the EdConnection a weekly email newsletter from State Superintendent Deb Delisle:

In December, ODE announced that the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards (NBPTS) has made funding available through its Targeted High Need Initiative program to help Ohio teachers offset $1,000 of the cost of the $2,500 assessment fee for first-time candidates. Candidates interested in financial assistance from NBPTS should complete the first complete the program application found on its Web site. The application and payment deadline for first-time candidates is Dec. 31. To access a frequently asked questions page on the NBPTS site regarding National Board Certification, click here. Ohio educators can contact Carole Moyer at cdm346@gmail.com with questions or to learn more about National Board Certification in Ohio.

Earlier this week, President Obama announced a comprehensive program designed to curb the high school drop out rate and help low performing schools. You may read an article from the Dayton Daily News about the announcement here.

Although districts do not currently have a great deal of information about the plan (As of March 4^th, there was no mention of the plan on the ODE homepage), it is unlikely that our district will be targeted as a recipient of these funds. More than likely these funds would be reserved for the nation’s lowest performing schools. Mad River has raised our own graduation rate almost 30% over the last 10 years, achieving an all time high of near 90% last year. One of the strategies used to increase our graduation rate this year is the launch of our educational advancement program.

Fifteen states and the District of Columbia were selected as finalists for the Federal Race to the Top grant program. You can learn more about this announcement here.

If Ohio is successful in its application, Mad River will receive no less than $352,000 in additional funding with the possibility of this funding being significantly higher. Less than 50% of all Ohio school districts chose to participate in this program, which means the district will receive a larger part of the funding pie. The actual amount to be received by the district has not yet been released by the Ohio Department of Education.

Both teachers and administrators have agreed to work closely in developing improvement strategies for the grant over the next three months, the majority of which will closely align with the district’s established improvement plan (OIP).

As you may know, our district launched our new Advancement Program at the beginning of the second semester. The purpose of this program was to provide greater opportunities for all district students, especially students who are at risk academically or who may benefit from accelerating their education. It was intended that this program serve as a catalyst for redesigning high school credit attainment and flexibility and eventually influencing the overall high school program. The initial focus of the pilot was to increase graduation rate at the high school level. In the short term, we designed program evaluation and revisions to be based on student attendance, academic achievement, feedback from stakeholders, and program cost.

As of Wednesday, March 3^rd, the program was in the process of completing its 8^th of 20 weeks as a pilot program. All thirteen (13) students enrolled initially have maintained their enrollment throughout the semester, earning a total of seventeen (17) credits toward graduation. Student attendance for the program is currently at 92.8%, which is slightly higher than the current approximate Stebbins High School attendance rate of 91.7%.

The pilot was funded by reallocating $17,500 of Curriculum Department funds. Thus far, the district has paid out approximately $7,000 in personnel costs, which matches almost exactly the budget projections for the pilot.

A more comprehensive evaluation will be completed and presented to the BOE in June of this year. In the long term, the program will be evaluated on graduation rate, student achievement (ACT, OGT, End of Course Exams, etc.), stakeholder feedback, credit and/or degree attainment, and overall cost.

During this Wednesday’s early release our district will continue our focus on grade level and team collaboration. As part of this process, we will recap the curricular and assessment discussions which took place during the November 3^rd Waiver day and focus Wednesday’s discussions on best instructional practices (specific lessons, strategies, etc.) and operational practices (scheduling, grouping, etc.). Overall, this waiver day helps the district meet our OIP goals of creating a system for teachers to collaborate, monitor, and revise curricular pacing guides and assessments and to create a forum to discuss best practice.

The National Air Camp appears to be a wonderful opportunity for our students, happening in our own backyard. Please read below and access the PDF for more information.

The following is information release by Margy Stevens, Assistant Superintendent of the Montgomery County ESC: Area business and civic leaders have been working to create an aviation STEM camp for this region which could grow to match that of Space Camp. The camp is designed for students entering 7^th, 8^th, and 9^th grade next school year. There is a cost associated with the event; however, numerous needs-based scholarships are available. Please access the flyer below for more information.

Last week, the district OIP team, consisting of 15 administrators and 15 teachers, met for a full day training on the classroom walk through process. As stated previously, the purpose of these collaborative sessions was to develop a common understanding of what a walk through is and strategies that can be used for making the walk through process less intimidating and more impactful for our schools. Over the course of the separate two, all day training sessions, the team collaborated on this process and defined the following aspects of the walk through process:

A walk through is a collaborative professional development strategy used to improve instruction and student achievement. It usually lasts 3 – 4 minutes and occurs several times during each quarter and focuses primarily on what students are doing. For example, the walk through will be focused on answering the following questions: are students engaged, what are the students learning, how are they learning this material, and what evidence is present that they are truly learning?

Additionally, it was discussed and reiterated that a walk through cannot be truly collaborative if effective follow up is not provided afterward. Specifically, the group agreed that effective follow up would include an opportunity to accentuate the positives and to provide reflection for professional improvement.

I am very proud of our team and the hard work and thoughtfulness everyone demonstrated during these sessions. If you would like to review more of the information discussed during these training sessions, please access the ppt. below.

This Wednesday and Friday our district OIP team which is comprised of both teachers and administrators will be meeting and collaborating on our district’s walk through process. The purpose of these collaborative sessions is to develop a common understanding of what a walk through is and strategies that can be used for making the walk through process less intimidating and more impactful for our schools. Our district OIP plan has been predicated on using effective collaboration as the catalyst for improving teaching and learning.

A classroom walk through is simply a short visit by an administrator or fellow teacher used as a means for instructional monitoring and improvement. The intended outcome of this process is for the teacher and observer to dialogue about best teaching practices and for the observer to gain a better understanding of what is being taught. It is important to emphasize that this process is a collaborative tool used exclusively to help improve teaching and learning, and to be successful, an effective trust and rapport must be established between the teacher and the observer. It is not a part of the evaluation process nor should any aspect be used to evaluate staff.

As part of our walk through training, our OIP team will review what types of walk throughs are currently happening in our buildings and will discuss what current research suggests is best practice. After developing a common definition of the walk through process, our team of teachers and administrators will view lesson snapshots on video in order to calibrate our shared understanding. Afterwards, team members will be visiting district classrooms to help hone these skills.

As noted in the February Ides of ODE, drafts of the common core academic content standards in both mathematics and English language arts have been delayed once again. The organization is now expecting a March release. You may gather more information on this process or check the status of the pending release of these documents here.

As noted previously, Mad River has delayed our Language Arts adoption this year due to the release of the new content standards. As part of the launch of the district Advancement Program, the district utilized stimulus and monies previously allocated for instructional resources to purchase our core curricular software program A+. In addition, the district is constantly providing supplemental materials to our previously adopted curricular materials.

Once the new standards are released, a district committee will review the proposed changes and its impact on our current curriculum. By delaying this year’s adoption, we hope to be both fiscally responsible and to provide the most appropriate resources for our students and teachers.

Helpful curriculum and instruction information from ODE. February 2010 Ides of ODE

On January 29, 2010 a team made up of seniors from the Engineering and Manufacturing programs from Stebbins H.S. competed in the 14^th annual Sinclair Community College’s Manufacturing Process Design Contest. Our student competed against high school teams from the Dayton, Columbus and Cincinnati areas, and we are proud to announce that Team Stebbins were crowned GRAND CHAMPIONS again.

This is the seventh year out of the last eight that Stebbins won the competition. This year’s contest consisted of redesigning, for cost and manufacturability, a slide whistle. Each team set up their production area and produced their slide whistle designs for 30 minutes. Team Stebbins produced 114 slide whistles using 4 operators in 30 minutes for a productivity score of 28.5. Second place was a high school team from Columbus who made 26 slide whistles with 5 operators for a productivity score of 5.2. The team from Stebbins also won “Best Report” with their 100 plus page documentation report. All the Engineering and Manufacturing seniors participated on the winning team from Stebbins.

Congratulations to Mr. Prater and our outstanding Stebbins students!

In the spirit of the recent State of the State and State of the Union addresses, the Mad River Local School District OIP team will meet today to review progress made toward the district’s improvement plan. The Ohio Improvement Process (OIP) plan was established in the spring of 2009 to help guide the district in improving performance in the areas of reading, mathematics, and the environment and conditions of our schools.

As part of the progress monitoring of this plan, individual buildings and program coordinators were asked to provide evidence to demonstrate success in meeting individual school and district benchmarks. The culminating power point containing examples of the district progress is linked below.

The district improvement process is monitoring closely throughout the year and revised periodically to reflect the resources and improving performance of our students.

Here’s a link to an interesting article speculating about pending changes to the No Child Left Behind education law. It is important to understand that it is very early in the game for speculation regarding the specific changes for the law. However, most educators have anticipated the changing of the 2014 deadline for all students to be proficient since the passing of the original bill.

Technology industry experts and educators watched closely as Apple unveiled its much vaunted iPad earlier this week. Recent success and acceptance of the Kindle has placed this technology more into the limelight, promoting educators to consider the possibilities in the classroom.

The most logical application of course would be to replace traditional textbooks with e-readers, a small tablet/PC, or a small net book. This would allow students and teachers to easily access web based resources and course materials such as the traditional text or tests. Downloads would replace shipping when a district considered textbook adoptions, possibly saving a district a substantial sum. In addition, updates to course materials could be handled with the click of a button. This would allow students and teachers greater and timelier access to course resources. Although issues of technology sustainability remain a concern for schools, the potential cost of adding curricular resources could be significant lower.

At Mad River we have placed a large emphasis in using grant dollars in replacing or upgrading our technology capacity. We are very interested in the prospects of e-readers in the classroom but are always mindful of being able to sustain such technology. In the future, the district will take a hard look at the possibilities and benefits of this technology in our classrooms and balance this information with the potential costs and cost savings of a particular program.

To read more about e-readers click here. Here is the link to Apple’s iPad.

Click here to read a recent article about the district’s new Educational Advancement Program featured in the Dayton Daily News. Thank you Margo for highlighting our schools!

Education Week has ranked Ohio’s Educational System 5^th nationally in the most recent Quality Counts National Report Card. This is the third consecutive year Ohio has progressed in the rankings. You can access the Education Week article here and reaction by the Ohio Department of Education here.

The state has placed a great deal of emphasis on improving its standing nationally targeting most of the state's Race to the Top application toward improving this ranking. You can access an Executive Summary of the state’s RttT application below.

Mad River was one of the 47% of districts in the state choosing to participate in the state’s Race to the Top application. A subcommittee of the district’s OIP team has been established to complete the final scope of work. Ultimately, the subcommittee's work will be presented to the District’s full OIP team, MREA, and Board of Education.

Helpful curriculum and instruction information from ODE. January 2010 Ides of ODE

Goal three of the district’s OIP plan focuses on improving the environment and conditions of the district. One of the strategies of this goal is focusing on the behavioral expectations of our students. Data such as attendance rate is monitored continuously to ensure the district is making progress toward this and other goals.

Our mid year attendance rate has been calculated for the district and is as follows: Elementary grades (K-4): 94.8%, Middle School grades (5-8): 94.7%, and High School grades (9-12): 92.5%. The overall district attendance rate for the first semester was 94.1%, which is slightly lower than the end of year rate last year of 95.0%. Although, the district leadership team recognizes that the H1N1 virus has had a large impact on our attendance rate, each building will monitor our attendance closely during the second semester and use Positive Behavior Support strategies already in place to help raise our overall attendance.

According to our United States Constitution, a census counting the entire U.S. population must be conducted every ten years. The first census took place in 1790 to determine the number of seats each state would have in the U.S. House of Representatives and to gain a better understanding of where people lived and how the nation grew.

The reasons and importance of the census have grown greatly over the years. Census data continues to play an important role in determining voting districts and the number of representatives from a particular area, but it also has a large influence on the amount of federal funding available to particular communities. This data is also used to help determine locations for retail stores, schools, hospitals, etc. Because of the importance of the census and the potential impact on our community, Mad River has agreed to partner with the U.S. Census Bureau in support of the census. Accordingly, the district will assist in highlighting census events, distribute educational materials, and include census information in district publications.

Taking part in the census is easy. To participate, citizens need only complete and return the Census questionnaire which will be mailed to each household. Those households that do not return a questionnaire will be visited by Census workers or contacted by phone. You may learn more information about the census by visiting the official 2010 Census Web site.

Using both Consolidated Title and Stimulus grant funds, the district has made a concerted effort to improve the availability of technology across the district. A quick list of projects accomplished within the last six months is listed below and indicative of the importance the district has placed on technology as a catalyst for educating our students for future careers and college. A focus on improving technology capacity is a first step into larger and more in depth technology usage by both of students and faculties.

1. There are now “Herds” at each Elementary: Using Title 1 dollars, the district has been able to purchase and install “Herds” of “COWs” (Computers on Wheels) at each elementary school. The herds consist of 25 netbooks which can be rotated for use by grade level teams or individual classrooms in differentiating instruction.
2. More Document Cameras and Interactive White Boards: Title 1 Dollars will also be used to purchase additional document cameras (tech tools to display materials to the class) and interactive white boards for use in district classrooms.
3. Core Curricular Software: Funded in large part by stimulus dollars, the district made a comprehensive adoption of A+ as the district’s first core curricular software program in December of 2009. Although the software will be initially used as a core piece of the Educational Advancement program, the software includes over 145 titles for grades K-12. It has direct applications for use with current school and district strategies for intervention, small group instruction, and assessment. The use of A+ will be phased in throughout the district during the 2010 – 2011 school year.

Since coming into the district, my staff and I have sought strategies to allow the Curriculum Department to be more efficient and effective in our mission of providing instructional and professional development leadership for the district. As a part of this process we have worked diligently to create opportunities for meaningful staff collaboration and communication. Both this year’s waiver day application and this blog in and of itself are examples of this commitment.

Another strategy designed to improve communication and collaboration in the district is our new Curricular Wiki. Like Wikipedia, a curricular wiki is a web page which contains web based content that is accessible to all and has the ability to be edited by stakeholders. It is envisioned that the curricular wiki will be utilized most during grade level and department meetings and in communicating our curriculum and resources to our students and parents. Although not completed yet, Mad River’s wiki is accessible from the Curriculum Department Home Page or at this link http://wiki.madriver.k12.oh.us/wiki/Main_Page.

The Wiki will be extremely useful in responding to effective team collaboration and proposed curriculum changes. For me, this is extremely exciting because it represents an original and innovative process not currently being implemented in other school districts.

Future projects in the works for the Curriculum Department include improving professional development tracking and staff access via the PD Express web based application and a foray into on line course hosting through Mad River’s Moodle site. Although the goal for the implementation of these projects is ambitious, the capacity and possibilities created by these strategies will be extremely beneficial to the district.

Yesterday, the district formally applied to the Ohio Department of Education to be involved with the State’s Race to the Top application. The Race to the Top application procedure was announced in mid December with an initial deadline of Friday, January 8^th leaving districts across the state only a short time to work with stakeholders and complete the initial requirements. Due to an effective and close working relationship between the administration and staff, the district was able to complete the Preliminary Scope of Work and sign off on the required Memorandum of Understanding. If Ohio is successful in its application, Mad River will receive no less than $352,000 in additional funding with the possibility of funding being significantly higher. The fiscal amount of the grant is dependent on the number of districts in the state agreeing to participate in the program. Both teachers and administrators have agreed to work closely in developing improvement strategies for the grant over the next three months, the majority of which will closely align with the district’s established improvement plan (OIP).

The district in partnership with the Mad River Educational Association is exploring the option of participating in the state’s application for Race to the Top federal grant dollars. The Race to the Top grant is a competitive grant administered by the U.S. Department of Education designed to help state’s implement educational reforms focused on standards and assessments, data systems, great teachers and leaders, and improving the lowest improving schools. The grant process includes the MREA and district agreeing to participate and if the state receives funding, collaborating on specific reforms for our district. As with many aspects of our recent stimulus funding, many questions still remain, but it appears the program is in line with many of the district's current practices or OIP goals.

Recently, Mad River Local Schools were included as one of a select few districts in a fifteen county region to participate as part of the Dayton Area Center of Practice. The purpose of the area Center of Practice is to assist in developing formative assessment tools and processes that may be useful in implementing Ohio’s new four year residency requirement for new teachers. Mad River was chosen as a model program due to a long history of implementing a comprehensive two year Entry Year teacher program to induct and support teachers new to the district. In addition, Mad River has established instructional coaching positions and employs formative assessment and data analysis strategies which are examples of best practice. The Dayton Area Center of Practice is lead by Dr. Jim Rowley a long time partner with the school district. You can learn more about this organization at the Center’s website: http://www.daycop.org/index.htm

Over the course of this school year, we have experienced several changes to our Curriculum and Instruction staff. At the beginning of the school year, Susan Light, who had served the district as our federal program consultant, stepped away to spend more time with her family. Prior to winter break, Chrystie Van Loo, the ESC’s Curriculum Supervisor serving Mad River, relocated out of state so her husband could accept a new position, and at the end of this week, Matt White, who has served the district for more than 12 years as Technical Coordinator, will leave to focus on web development for a private firm in Texas.

As we pause to thank these staff members for all of their hard work and efforts in our district, we also look to the future of this department in supporting the successful teaching and learning in our schools. To this extent, Matt’s position had been posted and a replacement will be sought immediately. Contingencies have been established for any lag time between Matt’s departure and the hiring of a new coordinator. In addition, the district has been working closely with the Montgomery County ESC in developing a transition plan for the curriculum supervisor position. Although a permanent replacement will be sought for next school year, during the second semester, Chrystie’s duties will be redistributed to staff members within the department and throughout the district in an effort to build leadership capacity in our district. Representatives of the local State Support Team and the ESC will assist the district in tracking our district’s improvement plan. Finally, we have chosen not to fill the federal program consultant position which will net an overall cost savings to the district. A complete list of curriculum, instruction, and technology project assignments and contact information is listed on the department home page.