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INSIDE THIS ISSUE

2006 CSAP Results

Teacher Advancement Program (TAP) - part 1 of a 4-part series

Meet the Principal of Berry Creek Middle School

All Star Alumni of Eagle County Schools

November Bond Question

Welcome Back!

Dear Parents & Community Members,

        On behalf of all employees of Eagle County Schools, I’d like to welcome you and your family back to  school.  We are excited that you have chosen to be a part of the Eagle County Schools’ community. As we begin the 2006-07 school year, we remain dedicated to our mission of “educating every student for success.”  We need your involvement in order to be successful in achieving this mission. As a parent, you are the most critical factor in your child’s academic success. We urge you to get to know your individual school communities and stay involved in your child’s learning. 

         All 16 of our schools are having open house events in August or September to enable you to get to know your child’s teachers. These events are designed to give you an overview of our curriculum so that you can support your child’s learning at home. Please check our web site at www.eagleschools.net for specific dates and times.

        In an effort to keep you informed about your school district, you will be receiving this newsletter each month.  I look forward to hearing from you regarding questions you may have.  Please feel free to contact me at 970-328-6321 or at jbrendza@eagleschools.net. Have a terrific year!

Best regards,

John Brendza

Superintendent

English Proficient Students Show Achievement Gains

    The Colorado Department of Education released 2006 Colorado Student Assessment Program (CSAP) results on August 2 and Eagle County Schools’ English proficient students show increases in the percent of students scoring Proficient or Advanced in nearly every subject at every grade level. This group of students includes native English speakers of all ethnic groups, as well as native Spanish speakers who are Fluent English Proficient. 

        Despite the fact that the district has the fifth highest percentage in the state of students whose native language is Spanish, overall Eagle County Schools’ scores were consistent with state averages. CSAP is given in English and in order to be successful on the test you must be able to speak, read and write in English.  Attaining this level of proficiency takes from three to five years but once students are there, they do very well.  For more details on CSAP results, including disaggregated results for each school, please visit www.eagleschools.net.

Individual School CSAP Highlights

• Eagle Valley High’s 9th & 10th graders met or exceeded state average scores in 6 out of the 7 reading, writing, math and science tests.

• Minturn Middle’s 8th graders averaged a 25% gain from 2005 to 2006 in all subjects.

• Gypsum Elementary’s 3rd graders averaged a 31% increase over 2005 in reading, writing and math.  3rd, 4th and 5th graders improved in 7 out of 9 areas of testing this year.

• Eagle Valley Elementary’s 3rd graders averaged a 14% increase in reading, writing and math.

• 6th graders across the district exceeded the state in reading, writing and math.

• English proficient 5th, 8th and 10th graders exceeded state averages in the area of science.

 Robert Cuevas is back in town!

      The new Principal at Berry Creek Middle School isn’t really a new guy in town at all.  In fact, Robert Cuevas has spent most of his life in Eagle County.  Robert is a 1997 graduate of Eagle Valley High School and then came back to EVHS after college as a Spanish and ESL teacher from 2001 to 2005.  After a short stay as Assistant Principal at Delta High School, we are pleased to have Robert back with us again, this time as the Principal of Berry Creek Middle School. 

    Robert completed his undergraduate studies at the University of Northern Colorado and received his Masters Degree from CU-Boulder. “I am thankful to have been given the opportunity to lead Berry Creek Middle School,” says Robert.  “I look forward to working with all members of the Berry Creek Middle School community.  My goal is to collaborate with staff, parents, and community members to be able to teach all children.”

ECS Alumni Campaign: WE ROCK!

Chris Jarnot

Now:

Senior Vice President, Marketing & Sales

Vail Resorts, Inc.

Then:

Eagle County Schools:

    Meadow Mountain and Eagle Valley

    Elementary, Eagle Valley Middle and

    Eagle Valley High, 1985 Graduate

College:

    University of Colorado at Boulder, 1989 Graduate

“I absolutely treasure the experience I had in Eagle County Schools, in particular at EVHS.  I feel that Eagle County Schools gave me a great opportunity to prepare myself for college and life.  When I arrived at CU Boulder, I felt that I was as well prepared as any other student for college course work and life.  Although I’m about to move to the Boulder area with Vail Resorts, the bonds to Eagle County that I formed during my education here have been a strong connection to the community for me in my professional life and they always will be.”

 
Do you know Eagle County Schools’ alumni?  Let us know how to get in touch with them.  Email us at communications@eagleschools.net.

Excellent Teachers Make the Difference

        This is the first in a 4-part series of articles about Eagle County Schools’ on-going efforts to have a highly qualified and well-trained teacher in every classroom, everyday. This fall marks the fifth year of implementation of the Teacher Advancement Program (TAP), a school reform effort which is designed to increase student performance through effective classroom instruction.

Systemic Change is Difficult

         In the words of Niccolo Machiavelli, “There is nothing more difficult to take in hand, more perilous to conduct, or more uncertain in its success, than to take the lead in the introduction of a new order of things.”  Four years ago, when the first five schools in our district began the implementation of TAP, we undertook the reform of a compensation system that is over 100 years old in order to establish a program that provides teachers and principals with differentiated pay based primarily on student achievement gains at the school and classroom levels. We are the only school district in the nation to have eliminated the lock-step salary schedule, where teachers are paid a set amount each year based solely on seniority. It was not easy then and it still isn’t easy to embark upon such a bold reform effort, however it is necessary in order to improve the achievement of each and every child in our schools.

     TAP is comprised of four key elements, and each of these elements will be highlighted in the months ahead:

    1. Multiple Career Paths (August)

    2. Ongoing Applied Professional Growth (September)

    3. Instructionally Focused Accountability (October)

    4. Pay for Performance Awards (November)

Multiple Career Paths

        Traditionally, the only option a teacher has had to be promoted to a higher level in the organization is to become a school Principal or District Administrator.  This took many highly effective teachers out of the classroom, where they are needed most. With TAP, teachers in Eagle County can pursue a variety of positions throughout their careers depending upon their interests, abilities and accomplishments. This allows good teachers to advance without having to leave the classroom by being rewarded for taking on additional roles and responsibilities.

        Master Teachers are highly skilled professional educators who share leadership responsibilities with the Principal. Master Teachers oversee the professional development of 14-16 teachers, facilitate curriculum and assessment planning, team-teach with colleagues, provide demonstration lessons and conduct teacher evaluations.

        Mentor Teachers are experienced and effective teachers who provide day-to-day coaching and mentoring services to 4-6 teachers.  They collaborate with colleagues to construct benchmark lessons, team-teach and demonstrate model instructional skills.  Mentors spend 70 percent of their day in their classroom and are then released the other 30 percent  of the day for their mentoring responsibilities.

Sherry Nelson, Master Teacher
Gypsum Elementary School

         Sherry Nelson is a 30-year veteran teacher who moved to Eagle County because of TAP. Sherry spent most of her career in Kansas, where she was honored as Regional Teacher of the Year in 1999 and spent one year traveling for speaking engagements. It was during this time that she was introduced to the TAP program. A couple of years later, when her daughter, also a teacher in Eagle County, told her that Eagle County Schools were implementing TAP, she decided to apply.  

        “After 30 years in the classroom, this has been the most challenging job I’ve ever had,” says Nelson. “In the classroom, you get immediate rewards from watching children learn. As a Master Teacher, your rewards come from seeing the gains in other teachers’ classrooms.”  Like other Master Teachers, Sherry is pleased with the progress she sees. “Teaching is more focused and standards-based,” says Nelson. “We assess students before concepts are taught in order to guide instruction.  Then we assess to make sure they’ve learned it. If they haven’t, we try a different strategy.  This focus on instruction shows in our CSAP results this year at Gypsum Elementary.”

Liz Qualman, Mentor Teacher
Berry Creek Middle School

        Liz Qualman is beginning her third year at Berry Creek Middle School as an 8th grade Language Arts Teacher and a Mentor Teacher.  She  was new to TAP, but had been a Mentor in her previous teaching position in Woodland Park, CO.  For Liz, the Mentor position is perfect. “I am not interested in moving into Administration. Teaching is my calling and this position allows me to do what I love while helping other teachers build their skills,” says Liz. As a Mentor, Ms. Qualman spends the majority of her day with her own students. She is released for one period each day to work with other teachers by observing them teach and providing them with feedback. “TAP has caused teaching to become more intentional. Teachers are more conscious of the skills they are trying to teach and the strategies to use that will help students achieve,” concludes Ms. Qualman.

“Having a Mentor is fantastic because as a first year teacher, we meet every Wednesday.  She has taught me how to plan, what to expect from my students and then she comes in once a week and gives me feedback on lessons.  She observes you teach the lessons you’ve been taught and gives constructive criticism.”  ~ Eagle County Schools Elementary teacher

Q&A

Should we take our best out of their classrooms to train others?

       Coaching provided by Masters and Mentors improves the quality of teaching in all of our classrooms. Twenty-one percent of our teachers have less than three years of experience in our district.  Mentor and Master Teachers bring new instructional strategies to all teachers, regardless of their experience level, but they are especially beneficial for young teachers. 

      It is important to understand that Masters and Mentors are in classrooms teaching children. Mentors are responsible for their own classroom of students.  For the one period each day that Mentors are coaching teachers in other classrooms, their students have a highly qualified, licensed teacher.  Many schools have arranged their schedules so that children are receiving specials (art, music) during the time that the Master/Mentor is out of the room.

 
Does having Masters & Mentors take away from specials like art & music?

         A well-rounded education is important; however a focus on the core subjects of reading, writing, math and science is essential.  School Principals are given a staffing allotment, based upon the number of students in their school. This includes the appropriate number of Master and Mentor Teachers. The Principal is responsible for their staffing allocation and for making decisions regarding the priorities they place on program offerings.

 
Does having Masters & Mentors increase class size?

          National research shows that the most important factor effecting student achievement is the quality of the teacher, not class size.  Having a highly qualified and well trained teacher in each classroom will have the greatest positive impact over time.  However, to answer the question, depending on how the Principal appropriates their staffing allocation, certain class sizes may increase slightly. Even with this slight increase in class size, our elementary schools rank within the lowest 30 percent of schools in the state relative to pupil/teacher ratios.   So, we have the best of both worlds, well-trained teachers and low class sizes.

DID YOU KNOW…?

BusinessWeek recognized the Teacher Advancement Program (TAP) as one of the TOP 10 innovative school reform measures. (BusinessWeek Online, June 26, 2006)

 
        BusinessWeek says, “The nation’s system for training and paying teachers is decades-old and clearly bankrupt.  Half of all teachers leave the profession within the first five years.  And because archaic regulations prevent schools from paying salaries attuned to market realities, the nation has an enormous shortage of math and science teachers.  So why not overhaul this entire system?

            Who’s Doing It: The Milken Family Foundation developed the Teacher Advancement Program (TAP) in 1999.  Instead of allowing new teachers to sink or swim, TAP promotes senior teachers to “mentors” or “master teachers.”  The mentors and masters then work with junior teachers on how to improve, especially in areas where students are struggling.  At the same time, TAP encourages schools to pay more to attract math and science teachers, and promotes performance-based bonuses to teachers who achieve good gains.”

DID YOU KNOW…?

Eagle County Schools’ English Proficient students made CSAP gains in 2006 over 2005 in 20 out of 27 grade levels/subject areas.  TAP IS WORKING.

Bond Question on the Ballot in November

 
    On August 23, the Eagle County Schools Board of Education is expected to certify a bond question for the November 2006 ballot. As of the time that this newsletter is being printed, the bond question is anticipated to be in the range of $125 - $128 million and will include the following projects:

• Replacing Battle Mountain High School with a new 1,000 student facility on Miller Ranch. The current capacity of Battle Mountain High School is 765 and in 2005-06 there were 709 students.  We anticipate exceeding capacity as early as the 2007-08 school year.

• Remodeling Eagle Valley High School to meet the same educational specifications as the new Battle Mountain High School. Specifically, remodeling will include a larger cafeteria and upgraded technology.

• Repairing facilities throughout the district with projects ranging from upgrading heating and ventilation systems in older buildings to increase energy efficiency to  replacing roofs.

• Building a new elementary school on Miller Ranch. The current capacity on the east end of the county for elementary students is 1,622. We estimate that this capacity will be exceeded as early as the 2007-08 school year.

• Improving our technology infrastructure and instructional capabilities across the district.

• Purchasing land on the west end of the valley for future school facility needs.

• Remodeling of the existing Battle Mountain facility for other educational uses, including potentially the Eagle County Charter Academy.

The Citizens Campaign Committee needs your help!  If you would like to get involved with the campaign for this bond question, please contact Connie Kincaid-Strahan at connie@vailpropertybrokerage.com or 390-0024.

What will it cost?

A $128 million bond will cost an Eagle County home owner $165 per year, or $13.75 per month, per $500,000 in property value.  For updated information about the bond question, visit our web site: www.eagleschools.net.