ELAT August 2015 Newsletter

ELAT - Welcome to the 2015-16 School Year

Data Review and School Level Planning

2014-2015 End of Year Review:
Audience: All project participants

• In June we held our second annual account review, the project had several amazing successes to share. Some of the highlights included:
• A 44% reduction of students needing intensive support (those scoring well below benchmark) which equates to approximately 11,000 students moving to a strategic level of support or to being on track for grade level proficiency
• Progress monitoring fidelity remains high and again schools with the highest fidelity also saw the most growth in reducing students who needed intensive support and strategic support
• The Colorado Project continues to outpace the mCLASS national norms (approximately 4 million) both in reducing students who need intensive support and moving students to being on track for grade level proficiency

View the full account review for more full details

School and District Level Goal Setting Tools:
Audience: All instructional leaders

We have updated the goal setting tools for the 2015-16 school year. Use these tools to determine your rate of progress for the 2014-15 school year and to set school and grade level growth goals for the 2015-16 school year.

2015-16 Growth Tool for students scoring well below benchmark
2015-16 Growth Tool for student scoring benchmark

Training and Professional Development:

DIBELS Deep Training - Comprehension, Fluency and Oral Language (CFOL) Available this year
AUDIENCE: Administrators, teachers, interventionist, special educators

We are pleased to announce the release of CFOL, the last component of DIBELS Deep for the 2015-2016 school year and with that we have a unique opportunity for training. We will partner with Dynamic Measurement Group (DMG) the publishers and authors of DIBELS Deep to provide state wide face to face trainings for large groups (80-100). This no-cost training will be conducted by DMG and will focus on a thorough understanding of how to use and administer all components (PA, WRD annd CFOL) of this research-based diagnostic. This will be our final training on DIBELS Deep, this is not our typical TOT model so please send those teachers who will be most likely to give your diagnostic assessment and will be able to support others in their schools.

What you need to know:

• CFOL will not be available on mCLASS until 2016-17, however districts will receive CFOL kits (one per grade per school) by the end of August which means that it will be given paper pencil for this school year
• Training materials will be provided and all attendees should bring a CFOL kit with them (if at all possible) and your PA / WRD kit
• This training will focus on the administration of all components of DEEP and is appropriate even if you have attended another DEEP training offered through the project
• This training is for teachers/interventionist/special educators/coaches who will be giving the assessment this year to build capacity and understanding around diagnostic assessment
• This will be our last face to face training opportunity for DIBELS Deep, so take advantage of hearing it straight from the publishers of this rich assessment

Please register as soon as possible as it will be a first come first serve opportunity.

If you have questions please contact Donna Bright

2015-16 Video Tutorials
Audience: All participants

This year we will be offering a series of video tutorials designed for both instructional leaders and teachers. These will be a series of "just in time" modules designed to support different needs throughout the year. Topics will include:

• Identifying pattern of need, strategizing and acting on data from each time of year
• Effective use of progress monitoring data
• Pathways of Progress : An in depth look at student growth
• mCLASS Reports and Support Tools

Look for the first series in the September newsletter.

Program Supports and Updates

ELAT Program Guide:
Audience: District and School Administrators

We have developed a program guide for the 2015-16 school year as a reference for data management and upcoming releases. The ELAT program guide can be downloaded and printed for easy access.
Content includes:

• Benchmark Windows for the 2015-16 school year
• Student enrollment and required demographics ( race, gender, special education status and English Learner status)
• Online Resources
• New Releases
  • Lexiles
  • Pathways of Progress
  • A new view for retained students' data