Monday, Feb. 23
Board of Education meeting
Charleston Gymnasium 5 p.m.

Wednesday, Feb. 25
Reg Weaver, President NEA
Lorain Admiral King High School
10 a.m.

Monday, March 8
Board of Education meeting
Charleston Gymnasium 5 p.m.

Wednesday, March 17
St. Patrick's Day

Friday, March 19
End of 3rd Grading Period

Monday, March 22
Board of Education meeting
Charleston Gymnasium 5 p.m.

Friday, March 26
No School for students, Parent-Teacher Conferences

Wednesday, March 31
No School for students, Professional Development Day

Curriculum and Instruction

The Issue:
Last year, LCS retained 443 students. Although retaining students is a frequently used practice to address the problem of failing grades, mounting research shows retention has a negative impact on students. The Harvard Education Letter cites a study that shows retention harms students' achievement, attendance records, personal adjustment in school, and attitude toward school; and another study shows that 50 percent of students retained are likely not to graduate.

Retention will be an issue over the next few months as teachers and administrators work to assess students' academic progress. Our challenge is to work together to ensure academic success for all students by identifying those at risk for retention and providing timely, appropriate intervention so we see a decrease in the number of LCS students retained. We also need to be able to effectively work with our students who are retained and their families so that they succeed and continue until graduation.

In the Classroom:
What can teachers do to decrease the number of students being retained?

• Identify, as early as possible, students at risk for retention and communicate with the student's parents, principal and the school's Intervention Assistance Team (IAT).
• Utilize the IAT to identify a process for success. Remember, the IAT is a resource of support for you and the student.
• Be knowledgeable of available intervention and Extended Learning Opportunities.
• Monitor and inform the principal of unusual individual student performance and/or high absentee rates.
• Display clear academic expectations and communicate them to students and parents.
• Utilize instructional strategies in a variety of ways that maximize time focused on learning and academic achievement. Examples include:
  • Provide an "opening activity" for students while you handle paperwork/attendance.
  • Initiate a learning activity during topic or activity transitions.
  • Engage students in learning activities during the full school day.
  • Convert lunch count time, transitions, bus line-up times into instructional moments - have elementary students chart lunch orders, have middle and high school students ask proficiency-type test questions to each other.
  • Spend the last five minutes of high school class time reviewing or engaging students in a short writing assignment (4 to 5 sentences) that has them discussing what they learned from the day's lesson.
• Encourage students to demonstrate learning.
• Utilize different teaching styles - auditory learning, hands-on, instead of one dominant style.
• Embrace a student-centered teaching environment instead of a teacher-directed one.
• Use cooperative learning
• Encourage active learning in the classroom. Examples include:
  • Students communicating with the teacher and with each other
  • Hands-on learning opportunities
  • Students designing and updating charts on their academic success
  • Differentiate instruction
  • Utilize flexible grouping
  • Utilize varied resources
  • Getting students involved - reteaching, discussing, journal writing across the curriculum
• Do not use "false" student characteristics as a guideline for retention - i.e., socioeconomic status, August/September birthdays, minority or small body size.]
• Be aware of and understand the District's Retention / Promotion Policies and share them with parents.
• Use assessment to drive instruction
• Target Teach, OPT, OGT

Intervention/Remediation Support Services Available

• Safety Net Programs adopted at each building
• Student Services
• Intervention Assistance Teams
• ELO Programs (after-school, individual, group)
• School site volunteers, both individuals and groups (Ohio Reads)