Julie Lucido of Napa Flood Project Speaks to SMS 6th Graders NexTech News October Updates Greetings NexTech Community, We have much to celebrate

Julie Lucido of Napa Flood Project Speaks to SMS 6th Graders

***

NexTech News October Updates

Greetings NexTech Community,

We have much to celebrate this month. You can see from the banner, much is happening all around NexTech. We've successfully launched a Digital Tool to inform us of our practices. This tool is used during Learning Walks, as a way for observers to process and give feedback around what they've seen in our PBL classrooms. Data from this tool will be outlined in the sections below. We've also completed our first formative assessment of progress, also known as the Benchmark Survey of Early Progress. Analysis of results and resources are detailed in subsequent newsletter sections. Remember, if you have any questions regarding this newsletter or its content, you can contact me directly. Happy Autumn!

***

NexTech Questions Answered:

Early-Year Benchmark Survey Results

Results of the NexTech Early Benchmark Progress Report are in. Largely, these indicators of early implementation are positive. Most schools are implementing the New Tech Model in a rating of 3 or 4 out of 5. This suggests not only awareness, but agreement and alignment, on many of the School Success Rubric indicators. Click on the highlighted links in this section to review the survey results and Success Rubric. Reasonable next steps, would be for schools leadership PLCs to review site-level data and discuss next steps with staff, for improving and deepening implementation of the benchmark indicators. Kate, Lisa, Zach and Stacey have reviewed the benchmark data and are ready to support school sites with their implementation to-do's. Onward!

NexTech Roles and Responsibilities

Survey results indicated there are some implementation details that need clarifying. First of all, I'd like to share a document outlining Roles and Responsibilities of NexTech Participants. This document highlights the work of every NexTech Lab Teacher, Coach, Participating Classroom Teacher and Administrator of various levels. It will address some of the questions regarding our coaching model, lab-teacher support, and general understanding of the NexTech Project. As with the benchmark data, these roles and responsibilities should be reviewed with staff. Kate and Lisa can support staff in their work to gain clarification and answer questions about the roles and responsibilities. I too, can make a site visit and take interests from staff around these roles. The success of the NexTech Project is our main objective. Working together, we can accomplish great things.

Project Quality Check-List & School-Wide Learning Outcomes

To address the questions folks had regarding project quality and the New Tech Model, I've linked those documents as well. Here is the link to the NTN Project-Quality Checklist. And, here is the link to the School-Wide Learning Outcomes SWLOs rubrics in ECHO. You'll need to sign in to ECHO to view.

The Project Quality Checklist and the 6 As rubric; Authenticity, Academic Rigor, Applied Learning, Active Exploration, Adult Connections, Assessment, are often used in tandem with one-another. It is likely that if your grade level implemented before the NexTech Project was in place, you may not have seen the Project Quality Checklist. It is also possible that you've not seen it, if your grade is not implementing PBL this year.

In any event, you now have a link to this resource and can use it to gauge PBL quality and the nature of the support you'll need to take next steps.

BEST and NTN Culture Alignment

Finally, I'd like to offer this BEST alignment document. This is meant to help site-based PLCs recognize and plan for the addition of New Tech Network indicators of culture and new School-wide Learning Objectives, for Agency. If you have not yet discussed or seen the rubrics for Agency, please visit ECHO and do a NTN Library search for Agency. There are elementary, middle, and high school rubrics available.

BEST teams should explore the Agency rubrics, as well as the NTN School Success Rubric culture indicators, such that updated site posters, procedures, and daily PBIS language can reflect the inclusion of New Tech goals.

High levels of implementation of BEST, will include many of the Agency and NTN School Success indicators. There is much overlap. Now, all that needs to be done, is mesh this work into one cohesive site concept and practice.

***

PBL Digital Observation Tool

One of the developments of the NexTech Project, has been an implementation of a Digital Observation Tool. This tool, used on Learning Walks to gather systems-level data around PBL, helps all NexTech participants understand where our successes are, what needs we may have, and where to provide support. It also helps our observers get a taste for what the implementation should look like, when considering the needs at their respective districts.

I worked with Linda Hansen, using our District Goals and New Tech Network guidelines, to develop this tool. We gathered quite a bit of interesting data on our last round of Learning Walks. See for yourself, what an impression PBL instruction is making on our colleagues and friends. Follow this link to the survey results.

***

Coming Attractions

Stay tuned as we march into November. Another round of Learning Walks is scheduled for November 14th and 15th. Kate, Lisa and I will be planning the NVUSD Meeting of the Minds, most likely slated for early spring due to sub-availability challenges. December 6th will be our next Transformative Learning Walk with outside visitors, in American Canyon. And, before you know it, we're greeting the Holidays. Until the next edition of NexTech News, I wish you all a very Happy Thanksgiving.

-Sarah Williams

***

This publication will run monthly, to keep NVUSD NexTech participants up to date about the goings-on with the NVUSD New Tech expansion.

1px