Best Practices Forum

Discover what K-6 schools throughout Santa Clara County are doing to close the achievement gap.  Thirty-five California Distinguished Schools will share their inside story of the featured Best Practice which has resulted in outstanding student achievement and the selection of California Distinguished School.

Distinguished Schools

• Data Driven Instruction and Student Support - Holly Oak School
• Systemic Teacher Collaboration to Address English Language Learner Needs - Matsumoto Elementary

• Data Driven Instruction and Student Support
  School: Holly Oak

  As accountability requirements increased it became even more apparent that knowing how well students are achieving academically throughout the year, as opposed to waiting for results to magically appear in late August.  This became the rationale to begin to understand and use data analysis.  The need to have benchmarks and common assessments became not a mandate from others, but a group decision.
  
  Documents

  • BP Data Driven Instruction and Student Support Holly Oak.pdf

• Systemic Teacher Collaboration to Address English Language Learner Needs
  School: Matsumoto Elementary

  In our effort to create an environment where communication regarding student performance takes place at and across grade levels, what we call a “school without walls,” Tom Matsumoto Elementary teachers meet at least weekly to engage in focused, meaningful conversation regarding planning and student learning. During these meetings, there is conversation regarding best practices, student concerns, upcoming benchmark assessments, staff development, field trips, and the like. This collaboration takes place among the grade level teams as well as between them in cross grade articulation resulting in open sharing of ideas, meaningful collaboration regarding our students, and ultimately a stronger team.
  

Date last updated: May 7, 2010

Featured Links

• Video: "Bringing California's K to College Assessment System Into the 21st Century: What will it take?"
• Transitional kindergarten
• Common Core State Standards
• Curriculum Leadership Council

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