ARI Literacy Leadership
March 2023
Our Mission
Make Dreams Come True with the Circles of Influence
“If you can dream it, you can achieve it.” – Zig Ziglar
Great leaders inspire, create passion, and promote belief through exciting and shared dreams. Do you have an exciting, shared dream for you and your team?
Dream—An inspiring picture of the future that energizes your mind, will, and emotions, which empowers you to do everything you can to achieve it. A genuine dream is a picture and blueprint of a person’s PURPOSE and POTENTIAL. John Maxwell
A dream is just a goal when action is taken towards its achievement. The first step to achieving your dream of success for all is creating a plan of action around each Circle of Influence. Analyzing where your school is in each circle and breaking down your dream/reality into attainable actions will get you closer to your desired outcome. What do you need to learn or do about Collaborative Leadership? Assessments? Curriculum and Standards? Instruction and Intervention? Professional Learning? What support and resources will you need? Be accountable for your success. Accountability empowers. Dreams can become reality, but it takes more than wishing. It takes work.
As you spring into action, continue to focus on the Circles of Influence. Leadership is what nurtures our Journey to Success by using the Circles of Influence to fulfill our dream of student achievement for every student in your school. These circles anchor and guide our work as we support the Alabama Literacy Act implementation. We depend on these ‘spinning’ circles to support the blossoming of our students. We must ensure success is reached by balancing all of the circles. Our charge is to consider where we are now as we continue to collect, analyze, and use data to influence student achievement. Let’s consider these Circles of Influence as we continue to navigate to the final days of the school year. It is so important that you maintain your sense of urgency and lead with intention in each area. From testing to spring activities, things can get pretty hectic during this time of school year. BE RELENTLESS about keeping your focus on learning.
Goals are just dreams with deadlines. Dream big, and you are sure to achieve great things. Remember, it's not how you start but how you finish. FINISH STRONG!
March Tasks:
- Order materials based on the needs of students for Summer Reading Camp.
- Ensure that before school and/or after school instruction supplemental evidence-based reading intervention is delivered by teachers or tutors with specialized reading training.
- Meet with LRS weekly.
- Schedule and conduct classroom walk-throughs.
Make Dreams Come True During Summer Learning: Proactive Steps for Planning 2023 Summer Camp
Alabama Summer Achievement Program
According to the Alabama Literacy Act, the Alabama Summer Achievement Program (ASAP) should be available to all students in Kindergarten through 3rd grade in elementary schools designated as full support. Full support schools are among the lowest performing five percent of elementary schools. (P. 17).
Summer Reading Camp
In the Alabama Literacy Act, each LEA shall provide Summer Reading Camps to all K-3 students identified with a reading deficiency. All LS1 and LS2 schools should provide a Summer Reading Camp.
Summer Reading Camp can be held in conjunction with an existing summer program in the school district or in partnership with community-based summer programs; however, the requirements stated in the Alabama Literacy Act must still be met.
Dreams Don't Work Unless You Do!
Summer Learning Phase One: Awareness
Summer Reading Camp should look and feel different than the school year. As you're planning ahead lean into the creative team members and brainstorm ideas for a fun, friendly literacy theme. Consider sending student invitations early (before April/May). Here are some ideas for spreading the word early.
•Backpack express
•Parent mailings
•School and community events
•Classroom, assembly presentations
•Messages incorporated into regular parent communication events
•School signage
Summer Learning Phase Two: Enrollment
•High-touch, personalized outreach
•Direct contact from school personnel
•“Walking” outreach with on-the-spot enrollment (parent ambassadors, door-to-door outreach)
•Reaching parents at key locations (shopping malls, after school care)
Make Dreams Come True by Implementing High Quality Instructional Materials
The Alabama Literacy Act charges the Alabama Literacy Task Force (LTF) with vetting high-quality instructional materials that provide students the best opportunity for successful outcomes when paired with well-trained teachers and supportive school leadership. This document provides information about recommended intervention materials and will be helpful in your planning for the 2023-2024 school year.
Intervention Programs: The Alabama Literacy Act states that each student in Grades K-3 who exhibits a reading deficiency, or the characteristics of dyslexia, based on the results of the early reading assessment shall be provided an appropriate reading intervention program to address his or her specific deficiencies. This law specifically outlines that the reading intervention program shall do all the following:
1. Provide explicit, direct instruction that is systematic, sequential, and cumulative in language development, phonological awareness, phonics, fluency, vocabulary, and comprehension as applicable.
2. Provide daily targeted small-group reading interventions based on student needs in phonological awareness, phonics including decoding and encoding, sight words, vocabulary, or comprehension.
3. Be implemented during regular school hours. After their fall 2022 review process, the LTF recommends the following programs for Grades K-3 reading intervention and/or dyslexia-specific intervention for providing direct, explicit, teacher-led instruction that is grounded in research of the science of reading.
LTF RECOMMENDED INTERVENTION PROGRAMS:
• Take Flight (Scottish Rite for Children)
• SPIRE - includes Sound Sensible (School Specialty)
• Neuhaus - Basic Language Skills only (Neuhaus is the two-year program leading to CALT certification)
• Phonics First (Brainspring)
We understand that some districts will choose to purchase new intervention programs. If funding is not available in your district to accomplish this task, please fill out the designated form to be considered for a grant for the purchase of a new intervention program.
Making Your Dreams a Reality through Student-Centered Coaching
Coaching is an investment and a way to ensure your literacy dreams come to fruition!
Remembering our WHY and HOW!
Our WHY?
In our coaching communities this year, we have spent time revisiting the importance of student-centered coaching, the principles behind it, and effective coaching moves. It is essential that our work focuses on student growth and engaging teachers in collaborative partnerships. It is important to revisit the principles of student-centered coaching and refocus our WHY. These principles from Diane Sweeney's work should be at the heart of our coaching.-Coaching in not about "fixing" teachers.
-Coaching is a partnership focused on student learning.
-Coaching is about continual professional growth.
-Coaching is part of a robust ecosystem of professional learning.
Our HOW?
In education, we continually hone our practice by reflecting and researching best practices. In our coaching work, we know that for best outcomes we need to keep our focus on student growth and less on "fixing" teachers. From Diane Sweeney's work, we can glean productive and effective coaching moves that we have been studying more in depth this year. You should work alongside the teacher you are coaching to pick a move that you both feel is the best fit for your work together and think through the logistics of what it will look like.
Enhancing Feedback: A Job Description for Learners by Jackie A. Walsh, Ph.D.
Remember the cardinal principle of feedback? Feedback is not formative until learners use it to advance their learning. A related research finding is that many of our students do not understand or use this potentially powerful driver of learning. How can we go about developing our students’ capacity in this area? One approach is to be more explicit about learner roles and responsibilities associated with this process. In my recent ASCD book, Questioning for Formative Feedback, I identify three roles and related skills: Self-Assessor, Knowledge-Constructor, and Collaborative Contributor.
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