Marki L. Clair-O’Rourke, Interim Director of Instructional Support Services February 2016 PROGRAM HIGHLIGHTS/UPDATES: School Improvement Days by District As of March9, 2016, the following days have been provided or scheduled for each component school district and BOCES.

District Days Allocated Days Provided/Scheduled Days Remaining Eldred 10 5 5 Fallsburg 15 3.5 10.5 Liberty 16 12.5 3.5 Livingston Manor 8 4 4 Monticello 29 16 13 Roscoe 6 5 1 Sullivan West 13 0 13 Tri-Valley 12 12.5 -.5 Sullivan County BOCES

8 6.5 1.5

February 12th Collaborative Superintendent’s Conference Day On February 12th, School Districts across Sullivan County were invited to take part in a collaborative

Superintendent’s Conference Day. Sponsored by Sullivan County BOCES, Monticello CSD, Sullivan County Teacher

Center, Roscoe CSD, Eldred CSD, and the Hurleyville Maker’s Lab, over 550 teachers and administrators took part

in a wide variety of professional development opportunities.

By far the largest gathering took place at Monticello CSD, opening its doors to host the

first ever Inspired by Technology conference. This conference was a replica of the

annual statewide New York State Curriculum for Advanced Technological Education

(NYSCATE) conference and was planned in

collaboration with SC BOCES, NYSCATE and

Monticello CSD leadership. The format for

the summit offered approximately 12 workshop options per session,

totaling approximately 60 options for one-hour program sessions.

The day kicked-off with a keynote speaker, Dr. Bird, also commonly

Instructional Support Services: A Division of Sullivan BOCES

“Building capacity to support quality programs and outcomes for students throughout the educational community”

I.S.S. OVERVIEW

SULLIVAN BOCES | 6 WIERK AVENUE, LIBERTY, NEW YORK 12754 | (845) 295-4000 | SCBOCES.ORG

MARKI L. CLAIR-O’ROURKE

Interim Director of Instructional Support

Services

MARKI L. CLAIR-O’ROURKE

Interim Director of Instructional Support

Services

MARKI L. CLAIR-O’ROURKE

Interim Director of Instructional Support

Services

referred to as the “Jerk Whisperer.” Dr. Bird, in a time of much political debate and turmoil in public education,

encouraged participants to maintain perspective. “This is not a crisis, but merely an inconvenience.” Dr. Bird uses

humor, research, and personal reflection to examine our most common reactions to change, tension, and stress in

today’s high-pressure world. His entertaining style, uncanny sense of humor, and life experience perspectives

provided for a lively event and full of positive energy and many laughs. The keynote was followed the

aforementioned NYSCATE sessions, and other relevant professional development workshops ranging from

Monitor/Supervision Training to Maximizing the Teacher Assistant’s Role in the Classroom.

Also of note, Roscoe CSD hosted author of Rx for the Common Core, Mary Ratzer, who

addressed the topic of Inquiry Going Forward: Strategies for Growth in Brain Friendly

Practice. Participants gained common ground of understanding about inquiry, and a

practical and authentic definition of brain-based learning emerged from sharing.

Participants received a copy of Ms. Ratzer’s book. Over 50 teachers and administrators

participated in this session.

Perhaps comparatively smaller in volume, but certainly indicative of things to come, the

Hurleyville Maker’s Lab welcomed county Art and Technology teachers into their new

facility to explore Cutting Edge Design in the Art/Technology Classroom. This session

centered on the introduction of laser engraving and cutting technology – participants

learned about the capabilities of the laser cutter, preparing graphics and CAD files for

output to the laser cutter, generating volumetric objects using free software, and various

strategies for optimizing graphics specifically for the laser cutter. This session forged

the onset of a growing collaborative relationship aimed at providing teachers and

students with access to state-of-the-art technology and related resources. SC BOCES, in

collaboration with the Maker’s Lab, is exploring a number of additional opportunities for

exposing teachers and students to many resources and experiences available at this

remarkable facility.

SC BOCES student-based programs offered workshops on Exploring Executive Function for Related Service Providers

and Understanding Tourette Syndrome & Its Effects on Learning. Eldred CSD offered National Archery in the School

Program Training. These sessions were also opened up to other educators from the county.

In the spirit of the power of collaboration, SC BOCES would like to publically thank the hosting districts, sponsoring

partners, and the presenters for making February 12th a most successful day of learning for educators across

Sullivan County.

Dola Deloff, ELA Specialist Assists district administrators from component school districts to provide School Improvement program and technical support with a concentration in ELA. The primary focus is for School Improvement strategies, and efforts for College and Career readiness.

SULLIVAN BOCES | 6 WIERK AVENUE, LIBERTY, NEW YORK 12754 | (845) 295-4000 | SCBOCES.ORG

MARKI L. CLAIR-O’ROURKE

Interim Director of Instructional Support

Services

MARKI L. CLAIR-O’ROURKE

Interim Director of Instructional Support

Services

MARKI L. CLAIR-O’ROURKE

Interim Director of Instructional Support

Services

PROGRAM HIGHLIGHTS/UPDATES:

Assessment Project Underway at Fallsburg CSD

Dola and Marki have recently planned and begun implementation of as Assessment Project at Fallsburg CSD. Planned in collaboration with Fallsburg CSD administrators and instructional coaches, the objectives of the project are to:

1. Evaluate the extent to which current assessments in grades 3-8 accurately reflect student progress towards proficiency in the NYS standards in ELA and math; and

2. Determine, in a non-evaluative manner, the support needed to enhance assessment practices. As part of this process, Fallsburg teachers will receive professional development on quality assessment design

practices and will develop, administer, and analyze, for each grade level 3-8, common unit assessments. In

addition, grade level/content area teams will be supported as they shift the focus from exclusively data analysis to

action planning – truly using the data to inform changes in instruction and classroom practice.

The work with teachers began with teachers of grade 3 and grade 4 on March 7th. Each grade level team self-

reflected and assessed the effectiveness of their current team operations, developed team “norms” to guide their

work together, identified data points they will collect to ascertain the current status of their assessment practices,

and determined “next steps” for collecting that data. We have chosen to call this process an “assessment

appraisal.”

Grade level/content area teams in grades 5 and 6 and 7/8 will meet on March 15th and 18th, respectively.

This work will continue through the remainder of this school year and we anticipate will continue into the 2016-

2017 school year, as well.