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<pre wrap=""><font color="#cc0000">Please do not reply to this post; reply to</font> <font color="#3333ff"><a class="moz-txt-link-abbreviated" href="mailto:pasqualescuderi@berkeley.net">pasqualescuderi@berkeley.net</a></font>
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<b>@BHSinfo</b><br>
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<div><br>
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<div><br>
</div>
Dear BHS Families:
<div>
<br>
</div>
<div>Wednesday begins another year at one of the most dynamic,
creative, and diverse high schools in the country. With an
innovative faculty and some of the most creative and energetic
young people you will find anywhere, Berkeley High School has to
me always been a sort of vibrant bazaar of arts, ideas, and
sciences. It is an energetic and youthful collective of
perspectives, experiences, and, best of all, possibilities and
potential. In fact, this last stop on the K-12 continuum,
particularly here at Berkeley High, can often be the <i>first</i>
place where the lifelong passions, interests, causes, and purposes
of our kids begin to emerge in some detail. We look forward to
sharing another year of growth with all of our students and
families.</div>
<div><br>
</div>
<div>This year, in the areas of curriculum and instruction, we
continue to build on the priorities established in our 2011-2012
self-study for the Western Association of Schools and Colleges
(WASC). Most notably, we continue to deepen our school-wide
efforts to increase the proficiency and performance of all
students in academic language development with a current emphasis
on academic writing. We believe that these skills generalize to
all content areas, build skills and competencies that will
position students for success throughout high school as well as in
college, and effectively align our efforts with the depth and
demands of the new Common Core State Standards; standards that in
fact include literacy components for science, social studies, and
a variety of technical subjects. </div>
<div><br>
</div>
<div>Through increased training for teachers in the area of lesson
design, and with multiple opportunities for students to practice
writing across content areas, our work aims to both generate
increased academic language production and proficiency for
students who are learning or struggling with those skills, and to
also help focus and bring increased clarity and command to the
skills of those students who already have a strong foundation. A
more detailed explanation of these efforts and their rationale are
included below for those who are interested.</div>
<div><br>
</div>
<div>While I am clearly in favor of developing and sustaining common
and coherent sets of curriculum, instructional fundamentals, and
lesson design elements, I am also cognizant that in order for
curriculum and instruction to really come alive and be engaging,
the individual creativity and tailoring of a teacher must be in
the mix; however, I believe that that creativity is most effective
when applied to the pursuit of some common and collective student
outcomes. This helps create a culture where collaboration is <i>focused</i> and
where teachers can more readily build their capacities, and more
importantly the capacities of their students, by supporting each
other through peer observation and by learning and borrowing from
the expertise of one another. </div>
<div><br>
</div>
<div>Optimal efforts for kids in the education setting require<i>
both </i>the clarity and coherence of universal student
outcomes <i>and</i> the creative and tailored marks of individual
teachers who make the paths to those outcomes both colorful and
enlightening for our kids. The proverbial "sweet spot" of
instruction combines both of these elements, dispenses with the
notion of "rigor" as being synonymous with simply being hard on
kids, and does not confuse creativity or creative teaching with a
complete absence of structure or thoughtful planning. </div>
<div><br>
</div>
<div>
<div><span
style="color:rgb(34,34,34);font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif;font-size:13px">A
school's success is obviously and ultimately measured by the
success of its students, <i>all</i> of its students, and I
look forward to the continued work with our faculty and with
our parent community on meeting both the instructional and
intellectual challenges that are the gatekeepers of that
success.</span></div>
<div><span
style="color:rgb(34,34,34);font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif;font-size:13px"><br>
</span></div>
<div><span
style="color:rgb(34,34,34);font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif;font-size:13px">Welcome
Back,</span></div>
<div><span
style="color:rgb(34,34,34);font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif;font-size:13px"><br>
</span></div>
<div><span
style="color:rgb(34,34,34);font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif;font-size:13px">Pasquale
Scuderi</span></div>
<div><span
style="color:rgb(34,34,34);font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif;font-size:13px">Principal</span></div>
<div><span
style="color:rgb(34,34,34);font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif;font-size:13px">Berkeley
High School</span></div>
<div><br>
</div>
<div><br>
</div>
<div>
<p
style="color:rgb(34,34,34);font-size:13px;margin-bottom:0.0001pt"><font
face="arial, helvetica, sans-serif"><b><u>Cell Phone Policy</u></b></font></p>
<p
style="color:rgb(34,34,34);font-size:13px;margin-bottom:0.0001pt;font-family:arial,sans-serif"><font
face="arial, helvetica, sans-serif">As always, please review
the cell phone policy with students. Familiarity with and
adherence to this simple community agreement makes for fewer
distractions and fewer staff/student conflicts over
something that students should actually see as a basic
courtesy to others.</font></p>
<p
style="color:rgb(34,34,34);font-size:13px;margin-bottom:0.0001pt;font-family:arial,sans-serif"><font
face="arial, helvetica, sans-serif">Cell phones should
always be out of sight, stowed away, and preferably turned
off or silenced except for before school, during lunch, and
after school.</font></p>
<p
style="color:rgb(34,34,34);font-size:13px;margin-bottom:0.0001pt;font-family:arial,sans-serif"><font
face="arial, helvetica, sans-serif">Cell phones then should
not be visible or in use whenever class is in session. It
does not matter to us whether <i>you</i> an individual
student is in class but whether classes for the whole school
are in session. </font></p>
<p
style="color:rgb(34,34,34);font-size:13px;margin-bottom:0.0001pt;font-family:arial,sans-serif"><font
face="arial, helvetica, sans-serif">Parents, please support
us by limiting any texts and/or calls to students to only
absolutely urgent or genuine emergency matters during class
time. Our clear preference is that you call the office and
allow us to contact students on your behalf when classes are
in session.</font></p>
<p
style="color:rgb(34,34,34);font-size:13px;margin-bottom:0.0001pt;font-family:arial,sans-serif"><font
face="arial, helvetica, sans-serif">With over 3200 students,
it only takes a tiny percentage of folks in classrooms or
hallways checking phones and otherwise violating this
agreement to create distractions from what students are
supposed to be focused on; namely, their coursework and
getting to class on time.</font></p>
<p
style="font-size:13px;color:rgb(34,34,34);margin-bottom:0.0001pt;font-family:arial,sans-serif"><b
style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif"><u>Course
Descriptions</u></b></p>
<p
style="font-size:13px;color:rgb(34,34,34);margin-bottom:0.0001pt;font-family:arial,sans-serif"><font
face="arial, helvetica, sans-serif">For each class during
the first week of class, students should receive a Course
Description/Syllabus. </font></p>
<p
style="font-size:13px;color:rgb(34,34,34);margin-bottom:0.0001pt;font-family:arial,sans-serif"><font
face="arial, helvetica, sans-serif">The Course
Description/Syllabus should include the following
components:</font></p>
<p
style="font-size:13px;color:rgb(34,34,34);margin-bottom:0.0001pt;font-family:arial,sans-serif"><font
face="arial, helvetica, sans-serif">1. Description
and objectives of the class including content standards
covered</font></p>
<p
style="font-size:13px;color:rgb(34,34,34);margin-bottom:0.0001pt;font-family:arial,sans-serif"><font
face="arial, helvetica, sans-serif">2.
Instructional materials used</font></p>
<p
style="font-size:13px;color:rgb(34,34,34);margin-bottom:0.0001pt;font-family:arial,sans-serif"><font
face="arial, helvetica, sans-serif">3. Units of
Study</font></p>
<p
style="font-size:13px;color:rgb(34,34,34);margin-bottom:0.0001pt;font-family:arial,sans-serif"><font
face="arial, helvetica, sans-serif">4. Evaluation
and grading system</font></p>
<p
style="font-size:13px;color:rgb(34,34,34);margin-bottom:0.0001pt;font-family:arial,sans-serif"><font
face="arial, helvetica, sans-serif">5. Course
Goals</font></p>
<p
style="font-size:13px;color:rgb(34,34,34);margin-bottom:0.0001pt;font-family:arial,sans-serif"><font
face="arial, helvetica, sans-serif">6. Make-up
work policy</font></p>
<p
style="font-size:13px;color:rgb(34,34,34);margin-bottom:0.0001pt;font-family:arial,sans-serif"><br>
</p>
<p style="margin-bottom:0.0001pt">
<font face="arial, helvetica, sans-serif"><b><i><font
face="arial, sans-serif" color="#222222">NOTE: The
following section of this letter is directly excerpted
from our opening internal </font><span
style="color:rgb(34,34,34);font-family:arial,sans-serif">staff
</span><font face="arial, sans-serif" color="#222222">bulletin
around instruction. While I normally would not include
this level of technical detail in a mailing to
families, we decided to include it any way for those
who might be curious or interested in more specifics
on what we are working on instructionally. It contains
some of our instructional expectations for teachers,
students, and </font><font color="#222222">administrators</font><font
face="arial, sans-serif" color="#222222">, and some of
the ways we are planning to build both capacity and
accountability into those efforts. If you are happy
with the summary provided above you can simply skip
the next few items and scroll down to the Campus
Safety section below. </font></i></b></font></p>
<p
style="color:rgb(34,34,34);font-size:13px;margin-bottom:0.0001pt;font-family:arial,sans-serif"><b
style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif"><u>Academic
Language Continues: Constructed Response, Constructing
Meaning, The Common Core, and a School-Wide Focus for
Professional Development</u></b></p>
<p
style="color:rgb(34,34,34);font-size:13px;margin-bottom:0.0001pt;font-family:arial,sans-serif"><span
style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif">Continued
efforts to create positive and productive academic outcomes
for all of our students are taking a very actionable turn
this year at BHS.</span></p>
<p
style="color:rgb(34,34,34);font-size:13px;margin-bottom:0.0001pt;font-family:arial,sans-serif"><span
style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif">Teachers will
be supported in building their capacity to plan and
structure lessons that integrate explicit language
instruction into their teaching. We plan to couple that
increased capacity with structured and consistent
opportunities for students to write multiple times during
the year and believe that through the combination of these
efforts, we will begin to see increased growth for students
on everything from grades and in-house common assessments to
higher passing and proficiency rates across the board on
CAHSEE, as well as increased participation and success with
endeavors like the SAT and ACT or the composition of a
compelling and competitive college essay.</span></p>
<p
style="color:rgb(34,34,34);font-size:13px;margin-bottom:0.0001pt;font-family:arial,sans-serif"><span
style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif">This effort
is also aligned to support the depth and demands of the new
Common Core State Standards that include explicit literacy
standards not just for language arts, but also science,
social studies, and a variety of technical subjects.</span></p>
<p
style="color:rgb(34,34,34);font-size:13px;margin-bottom:0.0001pt;font-family:arial,sans-serif"><span
style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif">Teachers will
be supported in this effort with ongoing training in
Constructing Meaning, a process for planning and lesson
design that emphasizes the critical role language plays in
content area teaching and supports the infusion of explicit
language instruction into content teaching. Over half of the
BHS staff as well as the administrative team have now been
trained in CM and the remainder of the staff will be trained
during the October and November PD days.</span></p>
<p
style="color:rgb(34,34,34);font-size:13px;margin-bottom:0.0001pt;font-family:arial,sans-serif"><span
style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif">Progress
toward these goals will in part be measured by three pieces
of writing we will ask students to compose over the course
of the year. These Constructed Response exercises will, this
year, be given in English, History, and Science Classes and
then anchored, assessed and collaboratively scored by
multi-disciplinary teams from all departments. Throughout
the year, there will be teacher training provided during PD
time in pre-reading, close reading, and persuasive essay
writing.</span></p>
<p
style="color:rgb(34,34,34);font-size:13px;margin-bottom:0.0001pt;font-family:arial,sans-serif"><span
style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif">In brief,
academic language and literacy is now the responsibility of
every teacher and administrator at Berkeley High School.</span></p>
<p
style="color:rgb(34,34,34);font-size:13px;margin-bottom:0.0001pt;font-family:arial,sans-serif"><span
style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif">This current
focus reflects the logical evolution of our previous work on
academic language, and is driven in part by new content
standards and, more importantly, success with comparable
models elsewhere.</span></p>
<p
style="color:rgb(34,34,34);font-size:13px;margin-bottom:0.0001pt;font-family:arial,sans-serif"><span
style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif">Harvard
University’s Achievement Gap Initiative chronicled, among
others, the exemplary work of Brockton High School in
Brockton, Mass, in the report, </span><a
href="http://www.agi.harvard.edu/events/2009Conference/2009AGIConferenceReport6-30-2010web.pdf"
target="_blank"><i
style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif"><u><span
style="color:rgb(17,85,204)">How High Schools Become
Exemplary</span></u></i><font face="arial, helvetica,
sans-serif" color="#1155cc">.</font></a><a
href="http://www.agi.harvard.edu/events/2009Conference/2009AGIConferenceReport6-30-2010web.pdf"
style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif;color:rgb(17,85,204)"
target="_blank"> </a> Lead teacher <span
style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif">Susannah Bell
and I traveled to Brockton last winter and were immediately
impressed with the outcomes and work being done. Our visit
confirmed what the Harvard study reported : “The work at
Brockton has shown that when students improve at non-fiction
writing, that skill generalizes to every other subject: they
get better at math and science and it makes sense if you
consider the thinking and self-organization skills
required.”</span></p>
<p
style="color:rgb(34,34,34);font-size:13px;margin-bottom:0.0001pt;font-family:arial,sans-serif"><font
face="arial, helvetica, sans-serif"><u><span
style="color:rgb(17,85,204)"><a
href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zONaQeAMFMc">A
PBS video chronicling the Brockton work can be found
here.</a></span></u></font></p>
<p
style="color:rgb(34,34,34);font-size:13px;margin-bottom:0.0001pt;font-family:arial,sans-serif"><span
style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif">On Monday,
teachers will get an overview of the related Berkeley High
School PD plan for 2013-2014.</span></p>
<p
style="color:rgb(34,34,34);font-size:13px;margin-bottom:0.0001pt;font-family:arial,sans-serif"><span
style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif">The work of
Graff and Birkenstein in </span><i
style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif">They Say I
Say</i><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif">,
a book provided to all staff, provides further rationale for
our instructional efforts and deeper background on this type
of work. They acknowledge the obvious fact that critical
thinking and writing go deeper than templates, frames, and
rhetorical formulas, but note that for struggling, emerging,
and developing writers, “deeper habits of thought cannot be
put into practice unless you have a language for expressing
them in clear, organized ways.”</span></p>
<p
style="color:rgb(34,34,34);font-size:13px;margin-bottom:0.0001pt;font-family:arial,sans-serif"><font
face="arial, helvetica, sans-serif"> </font><span
style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif">Anticipating
the concerns that the strategies and tools found in their
book as well as Constructing Meaning relegate young writers
to the formulaic, Graff and Birkenstein contend that, “Even
the most creative forms of expression depend on established
patterns and structures. Most song-writers depend on a time
honored verse/chorus/verse pattern and few people would call
Shakespeare uncreative because he didn’t invent the sonnet
or the dramatic forms that he used to such dazzling effect.
Even the most avant-garde cutting edge artists (like
improvisational jazz musicians) need to master the basic
forms that their work improvises on, departs from, and goes
beyond.”</span></p>
<p
style="color:rgb(34,34,34);font-size:13px;margin-bottom:0.0001pt;font-family:arial,sans-serif"><font
face="arial, helvetica, sans-serif"> </font><b
style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif"><u>Linking Assessments
to Instruction and Common Assessments</u></b></p>
<p
style="color:rgb(34,34,34);font-size:13px;margin-bottom:0.0001pt;font-family:arial,sans-serif"><span
style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif">Continued
focus and emphasis will be placed on linking assessment to
instruction. </span></p>
<p
style="color:rgb(34,34,34);font-size:13px;margin-bottom:0.0001pt;font-family:arial,sans-serif"><span
style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif">Our
continuing professional focus on assessment is, again, </span><i
style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif">not</i><span
style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif"> a focus on
testing, but actually a focus on student </span><i
style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif">learning </i><span
style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif">wherein we
are working to improve the tools and products we use
to gauge or assess whether students have learned what we
want them to learn or not. A concurrent, and very much equal
concern, is becoming effective at how we link the
information those assessments yield to deliver more
effective, responsive, relevant, and creative instruction.</span><span
style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif"> </span></p>
<p
style="color:rgb(34,34,34);font-size:13px;margin-bottom:0.0001pt;font-family:arial,sans-serif"><font
face="arial, helvetica, sans-serif">Elsewhere on the subject
of assessments are the common assessments being given in the
following subjects this year at BHS:</font></p>
<p
style="color:rgb(34,34,34);font-size:13px;margin-left:47.25pt;font-family:arial,sans-serif"><font
face="arial, helvetica, sans-serif">· English Grade 9</font></p>
<p
style="color:rgb(34,34,34);font-size:13px;margin-left:47.25pt;font-family:arial,sans-serif"><font
face="arial, helvetica, sans-serif">· English Grade 10</font></p>
<p
style="color:rgb(34,34,34);font-size:13px;margin-left:47.25pt;font-family:arial,sans-serif"><font
face="arial, helvetica, sans-serif">· IMP levels 2,3,
and 4</font></p>
<p
style="color:rgb(34,34,34);font-size:13px;margin-left:47.25pt;font-family:arial,sans-serif"><font
face="arial, helvetica, sans-serif">· Algebra 1 and
Algebra 2</font></p>
<p
style="color:rgb(34,34,34);font-size:13px;margin-left:47.25pt;font-family:arial,sans-serif"><font
face="arial, helvetica, sans-serif">· Geometry</font></p>
<p
style="color:rgb(34,34,34);font-size:13px;margin-left:47.25pt;font-family:arial,sans-serif"><font
face="arial, helvetica, sans-serif">· Biology</font></p>
<p
style="color:rgb(34,34,34);font-size:13px;margin-left:47.25pt;font-family:arial,sans-serif"><font
face="arial, helvetica, sans-serif">· Chemistry</font></p>
<p
style="color:rgb(34,34,34);font-size:13px;margin-left:47.25pt;font-family:arial,sans-serif"><font
face="arial, helvetica, sans-serif">· 10th Grade
Social Studies</font></p>
<p
style="color:rgb(34,34,34);font-size:13px;margin-left:47.25pt;font-family:arial,sans-serif"><font
face="arial, helvetica, sans-serif">· Spanish 1/2 and
3/4</font></p>
<p
style="color:rgb(34,34,34);font-size:13px;margin-left:47.25pt;font-family:arial,sans-serif"><font
face="arial, helvetica, sans-serif">· French 1/2</font></p>
<p
style="color:rgb(34,34,34);font-size:13px;margin-left:47.25pt;font-family:arial,sans-serif"><font
face="arial, helvetica, sans-serif">· SPED CLC</font></p>
<p
style="color:rgb(34,34,34);font-size:13px;margin-left:47.25pt;font-family:arial,sans-serif"><font
face="arial, helvetica, sans-serif">· Physical
Education</font></p>
<p
style="color:rgb(34,34,34);font-size:13px;margin-bottom:0.0001pt;font-family:arial,sans-serif"><b
style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif"><u>Learning
Objectives and Agendas</u></b></p>
<p
style="color:rgb(34,34,34);font-size:13px;margin-bottom:0.0001pt;font-family:arial,sans-serif"><span
style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif">In the fall
semester, we expect all BHS teachers to include a visible
daily agenda that includes a content learning objective and
the activities for that period. The agenda should be clearly
visible from all vantage points in the room and remain
posted the whole period. </span></p>
<p
style="color:rgb(34,34,34);font-size:13px;font-family:arial,sans-serif"><font
face="arial, helvetica, sans-serif">Teachers who have been
trained in Constructing Meaning, and understand how to
incorporate academic language objectives in their agendas,
should have lesson objectives that reflect that capacity as
well. With all teachers being trained in Constructing
Meaning by the year's end, our expectation is that most
classrooms feature language objectives as well by the
spring.</font></p>
<p
style="color:rgb(34,34,34);font-size:13px;font-family:arial,sans-serif"><span
style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif">Schmoker,
Marzano, DuFour, and Bambrick-Santoyo, among other
researchers, have demonstrated that consistent use of
agendas and learning objectives school-wide is an effective
way to increase the learning of all students, in particular
English Learners and students with learning differences.</span></p>
<p
style="color:rgb(34,34,34);font-size:13px;font-family:arial,sans-serif"><span
style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif">Attached to
this e-mail is a very useful tool providing examples and
counterexamples of the caliber and quality of posted
learning objectives we are looking for in classrooms. The
attachment is labeled </span><i
style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif">Learning
Objectives with Counterexamples.</i></p>
<p
style="color:rgb(34,34,34);font-size:13px;font-family:arial,sans-serif"><b
style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif"><u>Classroom
Walkthroughs, Observations, and Teacher Evaluation</u></b></p>
<p
style="color:rgb(34,34,34);font-size:13px;margin-bottom:0.0001pt;font-family:arial,sans-serif"><b
style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif">Guiding
Questions for Walkthroughs and Observations</b></p>
<p
style="color:rgb(34,34,34);font-size:13px;margin-bottom:0.0001pt;font-family:arial,sans-serif"><span
style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif">In an effort
to be responsive to teacher suggestions and recommendations,
as well as our ongoing reflections on and revisions </span><i
style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif">to</i><span
style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif"> our own
practice, the administrative team will continue to work on
ways to make walkthroughs and observations effective tools
for supporting lesson design and classroom instruction that
yields the best outcomes for students.</span></p>
<p
style="color:rgb(34,34,34);font-size:13px;margin-bottom:0.0001pt;font-family:arial,sans-serif"><span
style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif">One of the
ways in which we will be calibrating our walkthroughs and
evaluations is to use a common set of broad instructional
questions to frame our observations and conversations with
teachers around instruction. Consistently leading with
questions increases the probability that the conversations
between administrators and teachers about instruction begin
with genuine inquiry and work to encourage productive and
continuously improving dialogue around instructional
practice.</span></p>
<p
style="color:rgb(34,34,34);font-size:13px;margin-bottom:0.0001pt;font-family:arial,sans-serif"><font
face="arial, helvetica, sans-serif"> </font></p>
<p
style="color:rgb(34,34,34);font-size:13px;margin-left:47.25pt;font-family:arial,sans-serif"><font
face="arial, helvetica, sans-serif">1. <b>What would a
proficient student say, write, or do to show that they got
what you wanted them to learn during the lesson? </b></font></p>
<p
style="color:rgb(34,34,34);font-size:13px;margin-left:47.25pt;font-family:arial,sans-serif"><font
face="arial, helvetica, sans-serif">2. <b>How did you,
the teacher, model the skill, product, thinking process or
outcome you wanted for students? </b></font></p>
<p
style="color:rgb(34,34,34);font-size:13px;margin-left:47.25pt;font-family:arial,sans-serif"><font
face="arial, helvetica, sans-serif">3. <b>How did you
provide explicit language instruction or supports for kids
learning standard academic English?</b></font></p>
<p
style="color:rgb(34,34,34);font-size:13px;margin-left:47.25pt;font-family:arial,sans-serif"><font
face="arial, helvetica, sans-serif">4. <b>What tools,
templates, frames, or structures did you use to ensure all
students were able to contribute equitably to the
learning?</b></font></p>
<p
style="color:rgb(34,34,34);font-size:13px;margin-left:47.25pt;font-family:arial,sans-serif"><font
face="arial, helvetica, sans-serif">5. <b>What modeled,
guided, or collaborative instruction led up to or
supported the independent task students were performing?</b></font></p>
<p
style="color:rgb(34,34,34);font-size:13px;margin-left:47.25pt;font-family:arial,sans-serif"><font
face="arial, helvetica, sans-serif">6. <b>How did you
assess or measure which students learned or understood
what you wanted them to learn during the lesson?</b></font></p>
<p
style="color:rgb(34,34,34);font-size:13px;margin-bottom:0.0001pt;font-family:arial,sans-serif"><font
face="arial, helvetica, sans-serif"> </font></p>
<p
style="color:rgb(34,34,34);font-size:13px;margin-bottom:0.0001pt;font-family:arial,sans-serif"><font
face="arial, helvetica, sans-serif"><b>Walkthrough Tool</b></font></p>
<p
style="color:rgb(34,34,34);font-size:13px;margin-bottom:0.0001pt;font-family:arial,sans-serif"><span
style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif">We are
currently developing an electronic walkthrough tool to
collect snapshot instructional strategy data throughout the
school during walkthroughs and observations. The data
collected will not be used in individual formal evaluations;
it will rather allow us to gather large samples of what
instructional strategies and learning tools are being used
and implemented in classrooms throughout BHS.</span></p>
<p
style="color:rgb(34,34,34);font-size:13px;margin-bottom:0.0001pt;font-family:arial,sans-serif"><span
style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif">The
Google-based form will allow administrators to take note of
things like posted learning objectives, mode of instruction
in use, number of kids engaged in speaking and writing,
where the observed lesson segment falls on the Gradual
Release of Responsibility arc of lesson design (reviewing
objectives, teacher modeling, guided practice, collaborative
lesson, or independent practice), and where the lesson
segment falls on Bloom's Taxonomy (Remembering, Applying,
etc.) The components of Gradual Release of Responsibility
follow the phases of a lesson arc outlined by Dutro and
Levy's work on Constructing Meaning. The form will have no
more than 10 questions and again is for the purposes of
collecting large scale snapshots of the types of instruction
and elements or tools of practice we are seeing school-wide.</span></p>
<p
style="color:rgb(34,34,34);font-size:13px;margin-bottom:0.0001pt;font-family:arial,sans-serif"><span
style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif">Our goal is
also to add an email function to the tool so that forms
submitted by administrators after a walkthrough or
observation are also sent directly to the teacher being
observed. This will also have a small section for
notes/comments in the hopes that we can be responsive to the
requests of several teachers who advocated for quicker
turnaround times for communication and comments following
their classes being observed. Additionally, the question and
focus areas on the walkthrough form are another way to
convey the frame and questions by which administrators will
be guided in their observations and walkthroughs.</span></p>
<p
style="color:rgb(34,34,34);font-size:13px;margin-bottom:0.0001pt;font-family:arial,sans-serif"><b
style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif">Use of Video
and Film in the Classroom</b></p>
<p
style="color:rgb(34,34,34);font-size:13px;margin-bottom:0.0001pt;font-family:arial,sans-serif"><span
style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif">While we have
mentioned this before, the administrative team plans to pay
particular attention this year to how we use film or video
in the classroom. Our consensus is that while we have seen
some improvement, there are still too many instances on
campus where the use of film or video appeared to be a
completely passive experience for students. </span></p>
<p
style="color:rgb(34,34,34);font-size:13px;margin-bottom:0.0001pt;font-family:arial,sans-serif"><span
style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif">Too often we
have not observed a clearly defined critical perspective for
the viewing, seen little teacher interaction with the film
or video (chunking or sectioning it like you would text
during a class discussion), or no tools like organizers and
note-taking strategies in use with a pre-articulated purpose
for interacting with the viewing. "When film or video is
used in this way," says Rene Hobbes' of Temple University,
film or media use in the classroom may then simply
"replicate the ways that television, video, and other
electronic media are used in the home, as a passive form of
recreation, amusement, or escape that is increasingly a
dominant, normative dimension of leisure" rather than
learning. </span></p>
<p
style="color:rgb(34,34,34);font-size:13px;margin-bottom:0.0001pt;font-family:arial,sans-serif"><span
style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif">We are in no
way saying that you should not use film or video, simply
that as a mode of instruction it should be used with the
same planning, chunking, and interactive components or
supports you would afford a text.</span></p>
<p
style="color:rgb(34,34,34);font-size:13px;margin-bottom:0.0001pt;font-family:arial,sans-serif"><span
style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif"><br>
</span></p>
<p
style="color:rgb(34,34,34);margin-bottom:0.0001pt;font-family:arial,sans-serif"><font
face="arial, helvetica, sans-serif" size="6"><b><u>Campus
Safety Issues</u></b></font></p>
<p
style="font-size:13px;color:rgb(34,34,34);margin-bottom:0.0001pt"><font
face="arial, helvetica, sans-serif"><i><b>Post office
protest/camp at Allston and Milvia</b></i></font></p>
<p
style="font-size:13px;color:rgb(34,34,34);margin-bottom:0.0001pt"><font
face="arial, helvetica, sans-serif">An ongoing concern over
the proposed federal sale of the post office across the
street from BHS has seen a protest formed and over the past
several weeks a camp has developed. Our current
understanding is that individuals, most likely unaffiliated
with those folks who are lawfully and peacefully protesting,
have generated a number of criminal incidents and subsequent
calls to the police. </font></p>
<p
style="font-size:13px;color:rgb(34,34,34);margin-bottom:0.0001pt"><font
face="arial, helvetica, sans-serif">While it appears as of
tonight that the number of individuals has diminished
somewhat, we do have some notable concerns given the nature
of the incidents reported to BPD and the encampment's
proximity to our school. On the eve of the first day of
school I have spoken with our partners at BPD and will be
meeting with our Dean of Students and Safety Staff tomorrow
to ensure that we closely monitor the situation in the
interest of student and campus safety.</font></p>
<p
style="font-size:13px;color:rgb(34,34,34);margin-bottom:0.0001pt"><font
face="arial, helvetica, sans-serif"><i><b>On the Subject of
Rally Day</b></i></font></p>
<p style="margin-bottom:0.0001pt"><font face="arial, helvetica,
sans-serif"><font color="#222222">Many have characterized
the indefinite cancellation of Rally Day as a
controversial decision of sorts. For myself, and the team
of administrators and teacher leaders who made the
decision, characterizing the decision as "controversial"
is to us, confirmation of a perspective uniformed of just
how negative, divisive, inappropriate, and in many
respects dangerous last year's event became. </font></font></p>
<p
style="font-size:13px;color:rgb(34,34,34);margin-bottom:0.0001pt"><font
face="arial, helvetica, sans-serif">It's certainly not my
preference to dot this opening letter with a litany of
graphic details regarding the event, but some are, I
believe, necessary, so that students, staff, and parents can
discuss this decision with some honest perspectives and
simple facts.</font></p>
<p style="margin-bottom:0.0001pt"><font face="arial, helvetica,
sans-serif"><font color="#222222">An event that has
historically been justified as a "unifying" school-spirit
experience has over the past several years looked far more
mean-spirited and divisive. Last year saw the usual groups
of students shouting at each other representing their
classes (juniors v seniors, sophomores v. juniors, all v.
frosh) actually result in multiple physical altercations
and suspensions. Elsewhere groups of older kids chanted
and shouted insults and obscenities at groups of younger
students. I'll spare you some of the chants and their
uncreative and demeaning specifics.</font></font></p>
<p style="margin-bottom:0.0001pt"><font face="arial, helvetica,
sans-serif"><font color="#222222">Physical safety was
another massive concern last year and the number of
students we sent home and/or suspended for intoxication on
that day reached double digits. Some groups of students
were so brazen that we confiscated open containers on
campus. Groups of zealous kids created massive and
volatile congestion throughout the building and in
hallways often blocking doorways and creating unsafe
situations without outlets for those students who simply
wanted to move on. Police were called by neighbors and
local businesses to deal with students who were walking on
cars, some occupied and some parked, while traffic backed
up after school at Milvia and Kittridge and the
possibility that staff and police officers might need to
physically and forcefully remove kids from the street
nearly became a reality.</font></font></p>
<p style="margin-bottom:0.0001pt"><font face="arial, helvetica,
sans-serif"><font color="#222222">Administrators and
security staff spent hours monitoring bathrooms (a
deployment of instructional leadership resources that is
in my view ridiculous) and yet, having to respond to
constant radio calls in all areas of the campus all day,
custodial staff still had to deal with the unpleasant
biological aftermath of a number of students who made bad
decisions, drank too much, and got sick. Again, if this
all sounds over the top we agree, and I'm not simply being
graphic just to be graphic, but rather in an effort to be
very honest and open about the facts so that merits of
this decision and the <i>actual </i>culture of this event
can be understood and evaluated in the context of school
climate and student safety.</font></font></p>
<p style="margin-bottom:0.0001pt"><font face="arial, helvetica,
sans-serif"><font color="#222222">To debunk rumors, the
event is not being cancelled simply or exclusively because
significant members of last year's sophomore class
disrupted performances and caused huge delays by running
on the field during the rally. That incident was actually
one of <i>many </i>individual and collective behaviors
that required staff to evaluate and ultimately decide to
cancel the event indefinitely.</font></font></p>
<p style="margin-bottom:0.0001pt"><font face="arial, helvetica,
sans-serif" color="#222222">During my time here we have seen
helpful efforts and attempts by student leadership to
reframe the event. I personally went to several classes the
year I got here as principal to discuss concerns with
students that I had been hearing since I first came to BHS
as a Vice Principal in 2006. Y</font><span
style="color:rgb(34,34,34);font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif">et
despite these types of efforts, and despite significant
expenditures on added security, administrative time, and on
logistics and planning, things have simply gotten worse and
in our estimation have become increasingly inappropriate for
a school setting and unsafe in general. </span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom:0.0001pt"><font face="arial, helvetica,
sans-serif" color="#222222">Each year we have attempted to
increase positive messaging, and coupled that with tighter
enforcement and guidelines, and yet each year we have been
proven to have underestimated how deeply embedded the "party
at school all day" culture of the event is and so, by
continuing to support it, we would be offering our tacit and
indirect approval of several behaviors that we in fact do
not feel are even remotely appropriate at school.</font></p>
<p style="margin-bottom:0.0001pt"><span
style="color:rgb(34,34,34);font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif">It
is not a decision we make lightly, and while it may be
unpopular, it is one that we are very, very happy to be
making <i>before</i> rather than after even a single student
gets hurt. </span></p>
<p
style="color:rgb(34,34,34);font-size:13px;margin-bottom:0.0001pt;font-family:arial,sans-serif"><font
face="arial, helvetica, sans-serif"> </font><span
style="font-family:arial;font-size:small"> </span></p>
</div>
Pasquale Scuderi
<div>
Principal</div>
<div>Berkeley High School_____<br>
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