April 22, 2016 at 4:00 PM - Superintendent's Weekly Update to the Board of Education

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Mr. Swenson talked about the site visit for our PLTW certification.  It is worth mentioning again Royalton School District is only one of thirteen in the state to have PLTW curriculum in the elementary, middle school, and high school.  Also, we are the only school north of the cities with the biomedicine program. 

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Liz and I attended the MSBA Phase IV session on community engagement.  A product they endorse and introduced us to is Thoughtexchange.  It's a way of gathering public input electronically.  It is, however, so much more and different than a regular online survey tool like SurveyMonkey.  The participants develop the questions and comments and then add stars to the whole group's questions and comments they think are best.  And each individual can change their level of "star" support at anytime while reading other person's thoughts and comments.

Thoughtexchange was built on and continues to be inspired by sound social research theories. Unlike traditional listening tools such as town halls, focus groups and surveys, Thoughtexchange’s large-scale, online email-based process leverages the power of group intelligence and the principles of collaborative negotiation, to engage communities in a meaningful way that’s both effective and efficient.

Thoughtexchange, helps collaborative leaders engage with their stakeholder communities to gain buy in and inform critical decisions, by bringing empowered communities together to work toward common solutions. Stakeholders share their thoughts, star the ideas of others that resonate with them, and discover what matters most to the group. Thoughtexchange  has been successfully used by hundreds of organizations for community engagement, collaborative planning, border restructuring, facilities review, and more.

Dr. Deb Henton is the superintendent at North Branch.  Her school uses Thoughtexchange in their public input gathering process and development of a strategic plan.  I will be visiting with her about their impression of the product.  Two other Minnesota schools they mentioned using Thoughtexchange is Mankato and Albert Lea.

Please click on http://isd138.thoughtexchange.com/card-welcome/welcome-2/ to view what Thoughtexchange did for North Branch Schools.  In particular, click on number 9 "District Results" and drill down into each of the topics and questions.  It's a really good process to gather community input on a building project like North Branch is considering or a strategic plan like Royalton needs to write. 

My plan is to use Thoughtexchange to help develop our strategic plan and achieve the board's goal of improving district climate.

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I heard the board loud and clear during my annual superintendent evaluation.  The board wants to see our ACT score above the state average.  I agree.

Please know we are ordering the ACT Aspire in grades 4-10.  You will find attached some literature about understanding ACT Aspire test results for parents.  There is a lot more information available on the ACT Aspire web site.

ACT Aspire is the first computer-based, longitudinal college and career readiness assessment system that connects student growth from the elementary grades through early high school (3–10). This vertically aligned system of summative and periodic assessments is built upon the same rigorous psychometric and research foundations as ACT Explore, ACT Plan, and the ACT® test.

ACT Aspire:

Is linked to ACT College and Career Readiness Benchmarks and other sets of college and career readiness standards being used by states.

Is administered through computer-based testing (CBT), with a paper-and-pencil option

Measures readiness in five key areas: English, math, reading, science, and writing

Features online reporting that provides the tools and data educators need to measure growth and inform instruction

Offers paths to improvement, including student-specific enrichment activities

Includes supplemental measures not found collectively in any other assessment system, including a STEM score, an English/Language Arts score, data on text complexity, and Progress Toward Career Readiness

Predicts performance for early high school students on the ACT

Please click on the video link to watch a brief overview of the product. http://www.discoveractaspire.org/assessments/

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Please know we have been invited to attend a Royalton City visionary planning session on Friday, May 6 from 10 AM to noon.  Joel and I plan to attend with a few of our students.  You are welcome to join us.

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Please see a breakdown of the different student activities that have earned money for their group.  Overall concession sales are up approximately $3,000 from last year.

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Please see attached the minutes of the construction progress meeting #15.

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Please see attached the weekly bills for your approval.