By: Mat Cloak
The Parsons Advocate
TCHS Principal, Stephen Cosner, presented the school’s new Math Proficiency Improvement Plan. This data driven instruction focuses on monthly benchmarking. Through this benchmarking, teachers will hone in on the specific areas where students need improvement. “We will find areas where we need to do more,” Cosner said.
According to an outline of the plan, “Support for Personalized Learning” students will help other students during the math SPL remediation. The state education website states, “The West Virginia Support for Personalized Learning (SPL) framework is a statewide initiative that suggests flexible use of resources to provide relevant academic, social/emotional and/or behavioral support to enhance learning for all students.” Other initiatives in the plan include participating in math field day, ACT math preparation, and expanding robotics.
This proficiency improvement plan comes a month after the WVDOE released scores from a statewide assessment that displayed an “improvement in math in six of the seven grade levels assessed.”
The scores from the ACT College Readiness assessment were also released, showing “fairy competitive, but below the state average” scores, Superintendent Dr. Campbell said. The composite district score for this year was 19.4, compared to the average composite score from 2013-2016, which was 19.9. The state average for this year’s assessment was 20.4
Valerie Eye, the Summer Enrichment Coordinator, presented an overview of summer programing. Summer school enrollment was near 60. “We felt like it was a successful program, and we will start planning even earlier this year,” Eye said.
The Board discussed developing virtual classroom policy and requirements; specifically, the cost implications and management of students.
Bonnie White was approved as a preschool aide at DTEMS. Angela Nestor and Shana Wratchford were approved as homebound teachers. Shane Eackle was hired as a mentor teacher at DTEMS. Amber Evans was approved as a volunteer assistant girls basketball coach at TCHS. Neil Kisamore is now the athletic director at TVEMS.
A bid for the DTEMS Bleacher Project was accepted. Architectural Interior Projects will install the blue, telescoping bleachers for $27,260.
The next board meeting is on Tuesday, October 3, at DTEMS at 4 p.m. November 7 will be a full day of instruction. TVEMS will host a Veteran’s Day Program on November 9 at 10 a.m.