The 2016-17 CAASPP Results were recently released for schools and students in the state of California. We are very proud of our staff and students and their strong improvements last year. In the Area of Writing on the CAASPP, students at BUHSD who Met or Exceeded the Standard in ELA Writing increased almost 16%. BUHS students alone grew 19%.
As we look through the Window Into Classrooms, what looks different that has contributed to this growth? The answer is simple - you will see students writing in almost every class every day, no matter the content. Although this is a simple answer, the work behind the shift in class activities has been anything but simple. The teachers and students have worked hard to make writing a central part of learning each day.
At BUHS, the Resource Teacher and Instructional Coaches have developed a system of writing activities that take place in all classes each semester. Science, History, Math, Welding, Spanish - no matter the subject - students are expressing themselves on paper and explaining more and more. The ELA teachers have commented that when they explicitly teach writing strategies to their students, it is no longer a new concept. Students bring with them writing skills they learned in Science or Spanish or even Culinary Arts.
At DVHS and Renaissance, students continuously work together on presentations or projects that are steeped in writing and expression. Students are connecting career learning with their core content learning, and the work that they produce is full of collaboration and expression. Google Slide presentations and Google Doc activities are the norms for students to showcase their learning in writing every day.
Students in a PE class recently took time from physical activity to write about their learning of muscle anatomy, function, and weight training exercises. This learning will lead to them writing their personal fitness plans and goals. Appropriately in the fall, students in English 2 are writing Gothic stories using storybird.com. Students across the subgroups are expressing their creativity and creating spooky tales that keep their peers on the edge of their seats in anticipation as the stories are read aloud.
In History classes across the district, students are turning to Chromebooks and Google Classroom and Slides to showcase their learning and explain the importance of historical events. The writing on Google Docs and Slides has made the feedback process for students and teachers much more efficient and effective at both DVHS and BUHS. Science teachers have had their students writing lab reports for a long time, but now have learned stronger skills to help students improve their lab writing by increasing their ability to cite claims and evidence with more thorough explanations of the phenomena.
Students are writing all over the district including in their elective courses and Math. More importantly, our elective and Math teachers are refining their instructional skills in helping students improve in their technical writing, which in turn helps them express themselves more clearly and effectively in all classes.
All schools in the district have taken student writing and moved it to the forefront of instruction. We are committed to the WASC Schoolwide Learner Outcomes for both sites that focus on students demonstrating effective communication through writing. We are proud of the work we’ve done in this area and can’t wait to see how these improved skills help students even more as they graduate and enter universities and the workplace.
Personal Progress Report to BUHSD Staff:
Now at 12 minute & 35 seconds! Ran with PE students for the Baseline Mile Run!
Took the littles snorkeling and have been reading together a lot at night.
Spending a lot of time in classrooms observing lessons and giving feedback.
Spending a lot of time in classrooms observing lessons and giving feedback.
#ifnotusthenwho #hopesquad #brawleyproud #scorpionpride
