Superintendent
Rick Thomas
918-396-1792
Superintendents Focus-December 2011
Dear Parents and Guardians:
I would like to take this opportunity to share with you a few things we are doing to improve our district. As a district it is very important that we utilize the resources that are available to us to allow our students the greatest opportunity for success at all grade levels.
Our goal this year has been to evaluate what programs we currently have in place to determine if they are providing us with the best possible outcomes. We are required by state and federal law to perform at a certain level on our state tests. This past year we did not meet the required gains in reading and math in two of our student subgroups. The two groups that did not perform at the expected level were the special education students and the students in the economically disadvantaged (Free and Reduced) groups.
Our administrators and teachers are working hard to not only improve those two subgroups, but to also improve the overall scores for all of our students. The testing standards will be even higher this year. So as a district we must continue to work on improving our classrooms and our school.
We are training our elementary teachers in the Literacy First Reading Program. We are also using DIBELS, which is a program to help us chart the progress of our students and also determine what level they are currently performing. Our teachers have been working hard on curriculum mapping, which will allow us to map out what curriculum is being taught, how it is being taught and when it is being taught. The curriculum maps will allow the teachers to make sure they are including all of the required skills in their lessons. Some of our schools have adjusted their schedules to include more reading and math time. We have also incorporated more remediation time for students who are struggling with certain skills in both reading and math. We are using our Title I Reading and Math labs to allow students extra time to work on the required skills.
Our professional development activities have focused on improving test scores and student performance in the classroom. Each site has developed a site improvement plan specific to their school. Our administrators are also involved in professional development that will help them improve instruction in their buildings.
School improvement is a difficult task. We have to be willing to move away from processes that we are comfortable doing and embrace new ideas. We also need your help as the parent or guardian of our students. I encourage you to work with your children by reinforcing the reading and math skills that are being taught in the classroom. Talk to your childs teacher and find out what you can do to help your child be successful this year and in the future. With all of us working together we can do what is best for our students and our school. Thank you for your support of our district.
Yours in Education,
Rick Thomas, Superintendent
