At the most-recent Burbank Board of Education meeting held at City Hall that took roughly three and a half hours, the highlight was Dr. Robert Andrews speaking on the Gap in Learning, Academic Growth and Support.
Some of the gaps can be attributed to the presence of COVID-19, but it’s not the only reason there are gaps according to Andrews, who spoke for more than a half hour and also showed a slide presentation.
Andrews discussed data from three different groups, and they are kindergarten through the 12th grade data and identification, the independent study program and kindergarten through eighth grade tier II intervention.
For K-12, Andrews reviewed the actionable data for all school sites, case studies for the site discussion, grade and progress monitoring by subject and course and identification of students that are below grade level.
For IS, Andrews talked about professional development and training for IS teachers, open communication with IS students and their families, support for students transitioning between IS and in-person instruction and monitoring of student engagement and attendance.
For K-8, Andrews said there will be diagnostic and formative data to identify students in need of intervention, individualized instruction for students to close the unique gaps in learning and small groups and whole class curriculum for re-teaching.
For K-12 performance data and identification in actionable data for all school sites: 1) Quarterly data presented with site administrators. 2) Data charts using current and relevant information and 3) Site case study discussions based on recent data.
In case studies for site discussion: 1) Identify trends in student academic performance. 2) Look at unique cases where services and interventions overlap and 3) Look at specific cases where students may require a change or increase in services.
In the grade and progress monitoring by subject’s course: 1) English and math grade distribution.
For identification of students below grade level. Students below grade level as certified: 1) Ready and 2) District benchmarks.
More detailed information for IS program is professional development and training for IS teachers: 1) Establishing consistent and best practices with Google classroom. 2) Coordination of curriculum and instruction and 3) Communication of grading and feedback with teachers and parents.
For communication with IS students and families: 1) Transitions into and out of independent study programs. 2) Grading periods and assessment timelines and 3) General support for learning in an online environment.
For support for students transitioning between IS and in-person instruction: 1) Enrollment and access to curriculum and instruction. 2) Pathways for monitoring of student progress and 3) Communication of expectations, schedule and coursework.
For additional monitoring of student engagement and attendance: 1) Laison of information regarding student engagement, work completion, performance and attendance.
More detailed information for K-8 Tier II interventions. Diagnostic/formative data to identifying students in need of intervention: 1) Ready diagnostic beginning of the year. 2) Initial grades. 3) Course and subject specific formative assessments and 4) Students receiving services.
For individualized instruction for students to close unique gaps in learning: 1) Ready instructional pathways (reading and match). 2) Ready small group curriculum lessons. 3) Response to intervention at elementary schools and 4) Advisory and intervention classes and periods of secondary schools.
For small group/whole class curriculum for re-teaching: 1) Teaching for mastery in classrooms using formative data and 2) First-instruction model of using grade-level standards to re-teach previous grade material.
