The Principal's Bark

Week 32-A fresh start to the final lap!

Download Good Teaching Matters

Research shows that the biggest indicator of student achievement is the classroom teacher.  The second indicator is the building leadership.  Sadly, a poor teacher can negatively impact a student for the next three years of their educational career even if they have good teachers the following three years.  This reiterates the importance of great teachers.  The above article presents solid information and research about good teaching and its impacts.

So, before you can identify what good teaching is you have to establish what criteria to use.  The Iowa Core Curriculum has identified 5 Characteristics of Effective Instruction.  These characteristics are all part of good teaching.  Alone they do no guarantee high test scores but rather are uniform characteristics of what good teachers do...and do well.  More information will be coming out about these characteristics but we certainly hope that a parent would notice these Characteristics of Effective Instruction in classrooms at HDHS.

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Fourth quarter starts at HDHS on Monday, March 29th.  This is a fresh start for all students of the final 4th quarter of the school year.  It is hard to believe that we are in the final lap of the school year.  As the fourth quarter starts I look forward to senior activities and the culmination of another positive school year.  We are also gearing up for an exciting year next year with the implementation of the 1:1 laptop initiative.

Week 31-Spring has arrived!

I hope you enjoyed the nice weekend weather.  I think we are all hopeful that Spring has arrived and is here to stay.  With that being said, this is the time of year when staffing for next year seems like a chess match.  I am happy to report of two internal transfers for the 2010-11 school year.  Brian Johnson, who currently teachers high school PE and serves as the athletic director will continue to serve as AD and instead teach social studies next year.  Sarah Baird, who is currently a middle school special education teacher, is also transferring positions within the district next year.  We are excited that she will serve as the alternative school program teacher next year.  I am often reminded that success is not about program, rather it happens because of people.  I'm encouraged that both of these transfers are good fits in their new positions and will serve students very well.  The chess match of other transfers, interviews, and hires for next year continues...

I can't help but mention what a great game the UNI Panther's played this past weekend in the NCAA tournament against #1 seated Kansas.  Not only did they win but they won with class, style, grit, and just plan out-working and out-hustling the other team.  Congratulations to them and more importantly what a lesson to all of us that if we truly believe we can do the inevitable it is indeed possible.  Believing we can is the first step toward success!

Download The Changing Face of Education in Iowa

Week 30-Growth coming in multiple ways.

ITED testing at HDHS went very well this past week and students and staff seemed to embrace the importance of the tests.  As we finish testing for students who may have missed one or more tests we look forward to submitting our tests for scoring.  We can anticipate getting results back mid April.  Students will receive their test scores during advisory "Test Talks."  Parents can anticipate receiving student scores in the mail.  We look forward to being able to celebrate the growth of student achievement because of hard work and focus on our building goals.

You may have heard that at the last school board meeting, the board asked for more detailed numbers related to the 1:1 laptop initiative.  The previous month the board unanimously approved the initiative.  However, they do have to approve the various costs for equipment during this process.  We look forward to getting them more information about the costs related ot getting this initiative off the ground and a becoming a reality in the fall.  There is no doubt the 1:1 laptop initiative is an expensive one.  However, the cost of not doing the initiative far outweighs the financial cost of doing it.  The staff seems to be on board, students excited, and leadership ready to embrace this "game changing" initiative.  I am confident and hopeful the board will prioritize this project for high school student next year.  For more information please visit the Hampton-Dumont website at www.hdcsd.org.

This weekend I have the opportunity to travel with two high school teachers to present at the National Association of Secondary School Principals in Phoenix, AZ.  We were picked to present on the Second Chance Math class that we have designed, implemented, and seen quality results from.  If your son or daughter has taken this class you would hopeful support the impact of this course on math achievement.  If you do not know anything about this class you can check out our presentation (below) to see results and details about the class and what seems to make it so successful for students.  We are thrilled to be presenting at a national conference and representing Iowa and more specifically the city of Hampton and our school district.

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Week 29-Standardized tests vs. true 21st Century Learning.

This week at HDHS all 9-11th grade students will take roughly 2-hours each morning to complete a series of Iowa Tests of Educational Development (ITEDs).  This tests are used to compare districts between each other, as well as states to each other, across our country.  We hope that students do take the tests very seriously so that we do get accurate feedback with the results.  As a high school, we are able to compare and monitor how are students are doing and how effectively we are preparing students on the topics tested.  Traditionally, our science test scores tend to be the highest and our reading scores tend to be the lowest.  Our building goals this year have focused on improving reading comprehension as measure on the ITEDs.  We hope the results this year do show solid growth in this area.  We also hope efforts related to special education tests scores improve this year. Our results should come back late April or early May and will be sent home to parents and shared with teachers and students.

Although the ITEDs are taken very seriously, many educators question how a standardized test will measure what students really need to know.  Collaboration, creativity, problem-solving, and other 21st century skills are the true skills that students will need to be successful in college or with a career someday.  The 21st century skills are the ones that employeers are seeking.  These are the skills that are very difficult to measure on a standardized test.  These skills are tough to measure period.  Perhaps real-world problems and projects best measure these skills.

The Iowa Core Curriculum has demanding that Iowa schools transition toward teaching 21st century skills.  The core curriculum ensures that all Iowan students receive the same standards throughout their educational journey.  I fully support the Iowa Core Curriculum and the ITEDs but must advocate for a test that truly measures 21st century skills.  Schools are forced to play the game and push for 100% proficiency by the 2014 as the No Child Left Behind Legislation asserts.  However, in our efforts to satisfy these requirements we'll also strive to best prepare students for the real world of college and careers after high school.  Putting a laptop in their hands, engaging them in relevant courses, and setting the expectations high for all students to reach will help us prepare them best for life after high school.