Greetings! We are distributing this newsletter to keep all of our CSIS participants and friends informed of our progress and the exciting projects th

WWU Banner 3

Greetings!

We are distributing this newsletter to keep all of our CSIS participants and friends informed of our progress and the exciting projects that are underway. We plan to publish these newsletters three times per year (Fall, Winter, and Spring). We would appreciate your comments and questions.

In Summer 2012, Western Washington University (WWU) and Washington Elementary School received one of three grants funded by the state legislature to form a Collaborative Schools for Innovation and Success (CSIS) partnership. The two main goals of the partnership are 1) to close the opportunity gap for K-6 students and 2) to recruit more teachers from under-represented groups and to prepare all teachers with the skills and dispositions to address the opportunity gap. 2012 - 2013 was a planning year in which we conducted a Comprehensive Needs Assessment and developed an Implementation Plan based on the data collected during the needs assessment. In 2013 - 2014, we are in the first of a five-year implementation plan.

We're off to a Great Start!

photo[11]

FAMILY VISITS REVISITED
We got off to a quick start in the Fall of 2013. In September, teachers and staff from Washington School made return visits to families who participated in the pilot home visits last year. In October, Anne Jones , who coordinated the family visits, and Dr. Marilyn Chu, the consulting faculty member from WWU, made a conference presentation about the positive results achieved from doing these intensive family visits.

IMG 0593

WWU AND WASHINGTON SCHOOL HOST VISITORS
In the fall, we hosted the House Education Committee, a meeting of all three CSIS projects in the state, and the Mount Vernon School Board. We truly appreciate the interest and support of these community leaders.

IMG 0817

SUPPORT FOR STUDENTS LEARNING ENGLISH
In October, 14 Washington teachers and 3 WWU faculty participated in a 6-day training on Guided Language Acquisition Design (GLAD) taught by Dr. Marsha Riddle Buly from WWU and two other GLAD instructors. This professional development is aimed at supporting the learning of English Language Learners in the classroom. Teachers are currently implementing these strategies throughout the school.

IMG 0842

BEHAVIOR INTERVENTIONS
Graduate students in WWU's School Counseling Program also got involved, teaching the students games from the Peaceful Playground Program. WWU faculty member, Dr. Diana Gruman, and Washington School Counselor, Kevin Schwitter, collaborated on this project. The Peaceful Playground project is part of the school's new initiative this year to use the Positive Behavior Interventions and Supports (PBIS) program throughout the school.

William

MENTORING COORDINATOR HIRED
We had the good fortune to hire William Enriquez as our Mentoring Coordinator. He is a native of Mexico who came to the United States to continue his education; he graduated from Skagit Valley College and transferred to WWU where he recently completed his B.A. in Spanish. He will be completing his student teaching at Mount Vernon High School for K-12 certification in winter/spring 2014. He will be working with high school and college students mentoring Washington School students during the Family Literacy nights set to start mid-January (see below)

IMG 2215

EDUCATIONAL TECHNOLOGY ON THE GO
Throughout the fall, Dr. Joanne Carney, on sabbatical from her WWU responsibilities, has been working with teachers and interns to explore educational uses of mobile technology in the classroom. A one-to-one iPad classroom was successfully launched in which each child has access to an iPad 24/7 and is able to take it home. Read more about these innovative projects on our Teaching and Learning with iPads page, where you’ll be able to access student ebooks, videos and other artifacts. An additional page tells about the exciting Communities exploration underway in the one-to-one second grade classroom.

Photo Jan 14, 8 28 43 AM

EXTENDED DAY TUTORING PROGRAM
Last year, our needs assessment identified achievement and opportunity gaps in math and reading for many students. During our planning year we funded a 10-week extended day program focused on math skills for targeted students in first through sixth grade. This year we are expanding this model from 10 weeks to 16 weeks in order to support math and literacy skills and other programming interventions, such as a cooking class, designed to increase student engagement in their educational effort. Initial assessment data collected after the first four weeks shows significant progress for students who are attending the program regularly.

internGrad1

FIRST INTERN COHORT GRADUATES
In December, we graduated our first cohort of seven interns with a special assembly at Washington School. They began their year-long internship in January 2013 and have gradually become an integral part of the school. Prior to their departure, we conducted focus groups with them and their mentor teachers to gain their suggestions and insights about how to improve the experience of student teachers at Washington School and how to better prepare teachers to address the opportunity gap in such schools. As a result, we are in the process of planning some major innovations for the next cohort that will begin in April 2014 (see below).

***
mchile

PRINCIPAL BILL NUTTING TALKS WITH EDUCATORS IN CHILE
The Catholic University of Valparaiso held a conference for Chilean school principals in early January. They have grant money from their government to create school/university partnerships and the focus of the conference was promoting this type of collaboration. Representatives from this group visited WWU and Washington School last spring. The University invited Bill to present at the conference because they are aware of the CSIS partnership with WWU through their work with Woodring College of Education at WWU (particularly via Dean Francisco Rios). They wanted the “voice” of a principal to make this type of presentation to other principals in their country. Here is Bill's report on his trip: "It was sincerely a humbling experience and an honor to share our work at the conference. They were especially interested in our support of student teachers. I made one 60 minute presentation to the large group of principals and participated in two smaller meetings with groups of principals and university faculty/leaders. Of course all of this was translated through headsets and interpreters. While not at the conference I was invited to lunches and dinners that included the lead faculty members and other presenters. It was a wonderful personal and professional experience to travel and participate in their conference. I am very thankful to the University leadership and to Dr. Rios for providing the opportunity and it was a treat to share our school and the CSIS work with the Chilean educators."

Preview of Winter/Spring 2014

IMG 0131

FAMILY LITERACY NIGHTS
On January 15th, we began a series of eight Family Literacy Nights. Everyone is welcome for dinner. After the food and socializing, there are two organized literacy programs for children and parents, Club de Lectura and Family Read (see below). In addition, the library and computer lab are open for families to use. In the future, we hope to offer adult ESL classes in response to requests from parents. Research shows that children do better in school when their parents are involved in their own education and when they encourage oral language and literacy at home.

IMG 0633

CLUB DE LECTURA
The students were very excited to wear their new Club de Lectura t-shirts. This is a heritage language program developed by Prospera Initiatives in which children are tutored by older students as they learn to read and write in Spanish. Research shows that this improves children's literacy skills in both Spanish and English and promotes pride in their cultural heritage. The tutors include high school students in a Recruiting Washington Teachers class and WWU graduate students. These weekly classes are taught by William Enriquez and coordinated by Anne Jones.

IMG 0162

FAMILY READ
This program is adapted from a research-based program called Motheread/Fatheread. It is aimed at families with young children, including preschoolers, in an effort to reduce the opportunity gap early on. Parents learn the importance of supporting early oral language development and of reading with their children regularly. They not only learn the "why" but also the "how" as the group leaders model a variety of strategies to share books. Students from Dr. Marilyn Chu's early childhood class are assisting with the children's activities.

photo[2]

FAMILY VISITS EXPAND
The family visits piloted last year and in the fall have led to more open relationships with Mixteco- and Spanish-speaking families in the school. Anne Jones and the other teachers will expand the family visits to a new group of families in February.

SECOND INTERN COHORT BEGINS IN APRIL
A new cohort of interns will begin their three-quarter internship at Washington School in April. In response to lessons learned from the first cohort, we will be co-planning the course work and practicum experiences along with principals and teachers. We are excited about the new learning opportunities that this approach will provide for WWU students.

EXPANDING THE PARTNERSHIP
We are exploring some new ways to partner with the School Counseling program and the Human Services faculty to better reach and support families entrenched in generational poverty. They face difficult challenges that are somewhat different from other families in the school.

WE3rdGradeFT

WASHINGTON STUDENTS TO VISIT WWU
Last year the 2nd and 3rd grade students visited the WWU campus and met with Woodring's Dean Francisco Rios. Plans are underway for all of the students to visit WWU this spring to get a taste of campus life and the educational opportunities that await them.

***
1px