Professional Learning
In order to advance the school's mission of teaching and learning, it is incumbent upon school leaders to equip school staff with the knowledge, skills, and tools needed to engage in effective professional practice.
Recognizing the necessary shifts in student experience and the content substance and delivery generated by campus closures necessitates a corresponding shift in teaching roles and strategies. In order to support teachers with this shift in teaching, RUSD acquired a new Learning Management System, Canvas, and tools like Zoom-Pro to support teachers' adjustment to different learning models that include distance learning, blended learning, and potentially a full-time in-person learning model. To prepare the RUSD team, teachers and administrators participated in synchronous and asynchronous learning modules that helped them manage a virtual classroom, provide daily integrated and designated English Language Development support, work with students with exceptional needs, and provide social and emotional support for all students. All this took place before the official first day of school for students. Professional learning opportunities continued once the school year began on Mondays, with support with Canvas through Canvas Camp meetings for teachers to support a deeper understanding of the many facets of the new learning management system.
Data and Alternative Metrics
Schools and districts need to operationalize resources at both the site and district levels to understand the student learning gaps through the use of progress monitoring and formative assessment strategies. Our most vulnerable student populations will need opportunities to accelerate their learning and mitigate the learning loss that has occurred due to the COVID-19 pandemic and assessment data can allow educators to better understand these gaps. RUSD within the first two to eight weeks of school will assess students in grades 1-12 to determine what students know and don't know yet. In grades 1-6, the NWEA Measures of Academic Progress (MAP) assessment will be administered remotely or in-person in Reading and Math for grades 1-5. Teachers will use the MAP Growth Reports to help assess any potential learning loss from schools being closed in the spring of 2020.
At the secondary level, all students in grades 6-12 will take the Illuminate Comprehensive Math Assessment for the course the student took during the 2019-2020 school year so that the teacher can measure a student's progress toward meeting the standards last year. These same students will take the comprehensive assessment for the course they are enrolled in for the 2020-2021 school year in winter and spring to measure growth toward meting the standards this school year. The same will be true for all students in grades 7-12 regarding English Language Arts. In addition to these assessments, teachers will engage in daily formative assessments in the forms of questions, student work samples, and publisher quizzes/tests to measure students' daily learning and progress.
Accelerating Learning and Mitigation Learning Loss
One of the unfortunate byproducts of school closures during the COVID-19 pandemic is the resulting gaps in student learning, especially with our most vulnerable populations. RUSD will use assessments to determine student learning loss and to determine the next steps for students. Within the school day during distance learning, blended learning, or in-person learning, teachers have time built into their schedules to meet with students in small, targeted groups to provide intentions for students with learning gaps. Teachers will utilize assessment data to determine what individual students need and provide targeted instruction during whole group and small group to accelerate learning and support mitigating learning loss.