Twillman Elementary School parents gathered around the Promethean Board in the library to learn about the school’s curriculum and instructional practices during Curriculum Explosion.
Tracy Hinds, the instructional specialist, talked about students’ December eValuate scores and how Twillman students have scored better than the HSD average in fifth grade math and third grade reading. The eValuate program provides monthly computerized tests aligned to the Missouri Grade Level Expectations. Students, teachers and parents can use the results of these monthly assessments to monitor progress and set learning goals. Scores from eValuate are not final grades; they are indicators of progress.
School staff members took turns answering questions and responding to concerns from parents. Dr. Brenda Harris, the school principal, explained about the variety of after school programs available at Twillman to keep children occupied during the time between the dismissal bell and when parents arrive home from work. Harris said the programs are essential to building relationships between home and school and between parents and staff members. She added that a Herbert Hoover unit, similar to the one at Hazelwood Southeast Middle School, is planned for 2012-2013.
Staff members shared information on a variety of topics - reading, math, Response to Intervention (RtI), Professional Learning Communities (PLCs), Missouri Assessment Program (MAP) test preparation and the instructional strategies teachers implement to maximize student learning. PLCs can be defined as continual processes used by collaborating teachers and administrators to share learning processes and to act on what they share, creating effective ways for their students to learn and grow.
In RtI, students are divided into smaller groups that work on the specific skills that they need. Data and teacher feedback determines where staff members can best support each student. Other staff members talked about the school’s Positive Behavior Interventions and Supports (PBIS) program.
“PBIS is the Positive Behavior program, a school-wide approach to improve the school climate,” said fifth grade teacher Kate Crecelius. “Strategies are implemented school-wide, in the classroom and with individual students. New this year is the AIMSweb behavior screening tool that teachers use to identify students who may have behavioral concerns. The interventions are used to address specific behaviors.”
Before they gathered to hear about the different curricular and extra-curricular options, parents joined their students in the school cafeteria for a chili cook-off.