What’s new at CORE?
Category: Pivot
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Free Webinar: Why Phonemic Proficiency is Necessary for All Readers
Webinar Date & Time: Wednesday, September 25 | 4:00 – 5:00 p.m. ET
Most educators have heard that phonemic awareness (PA) is important for reading. However, it is often not clear why. Most readers were never taught PA, yet they are good readers. Some advocates of phonics instruction as well as advocates of balanced literacy downplay the importance of PA for reading instruction. Still other educators are puzzled by the concept of “advanced PA.”
In this free hour long webinar, Dr. David Kilpatrick, author of Essentials of Assessing, Preventing, and Overcoming Reading Difficulties, will discuss how and why highly developed PA skills (i.e., “phonemic proficiency”) are a characteristic of skilled readers, whether a student is taught it or not. By contrast, struggling readers do not develop these skills without direct intervention.
Join this webinar to learn the key factors that link phonological skills and word-level reading. Register now.
Can’t make the live webinar? No problem! Go ahead and register and we’ll send you a recording to listen to at your convenience.
Check out CORE’s new 3rd edition of the popular Teaching Reading Sourcebook, with content updates and a brand new chapter on MTSS. Assessing Reading: Multiple Measures, 2nd Edition has also been revised with new, clearer test instructions and an easy-to-use format.
CORE is excited to be a reseller of the digiCOACH Advanced Teacher Coaching Platform. They will be integrating digiCOACH into their work with districts and schools to strengthen instructional practice and improve outcomes for all students. Learn more about digiCOACH.
You can learn more about CORE’s approach to professional learning, and gain insights and strategies, in their most recent newsletter and blog post written by CORE President Linda Diamond, A Standards-Aligned Curriculum with Excellent Implementation is Still Not Enough.
Also consider participating in CORE’s Online Elementary Reading Academy, a facilitated online, asynchronous course that starts Jan. 23. The course teaches educators the essential components of reading instruction with clear and explicit models immediately applicable to the classroom.
Check out these on-demand webinars, that you can view at your convenience:
- 4 Must Do’s for Math Instruction, a one-hour on-demand webinar with Dean Ballard, CORE’s Director of Math. The webinar examines all four requirements and share tips and techniques to ensure they are all incorporated into math instruction.
- Ensuring Education Equity & Excellence for Students with Disabilities, a webinar featuring Dr. Michelle Hosp and our very own Dr. Arun Ramanathan, presents a special look at special education following the Supreme Court ruling on Endrew F. v. Douglas County School District RE-1.
- Recent Advances in Understanding Word-Level Reading Problems: Implications for Assessment and Effective Intervention, with Dr. David A. Kilpatrick.
- Learn research-based practices in Supporting Struggling Math Students, presented by Dean Ballard, CORE’s Director of Math.
Making the Most of the Governor’s Budget Proposal
Category: In the News
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Recommendations from the LCFF Test Kitchen for Aligning Reporting Requirements
Governor Newsom’s January budget proposal outlines plans for a single web-based application that can merge various district reporting tools to increase efficiency and public understanding. Drawing on the experiences of the LCFF Test Kitchen, a new brief offers four recommendations for making the most of this proposal:
1. Articulate the goals and desired outcomes of a single web-based reporting platform to align reporting structures.
2. Engage end users throughout the development process.
3. Foster competition to generate an innovative, single web-based reporting platform design.
4. Create structures and supports to build trust between school districts and their communities.
Through a process that values end users and fosters innovation, we can both support and improve upon the Governor’s proposal, thereby helping to create the conditions for continued progress in our schools and communities.
For more information about the LCFF Test Kitchen, please visit lcfftestkitchen.org.
You can also find the brief and more information about LCFF on the California Collaborative on District Reform (CCDR) website.
LCFF Test Kitchen is a partnership with:
CCEE, CCDR, Pivot Learning, and WestEd.
It’s Been a Busy Conference Season for Pivot Learning
Category: Pivot
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In March and April, Pivot Learning presented at several innovative industry events where we shared insights, practices, and tools with the education community.
Linked Learning Convention 2019
Palm Springs, CA
- Community-Centered School Redesign
Wednesday, March 20, 2019, 11:15am – 12:15pm
A practitioner panel will discuss how Pivot’s community-centered design process helped several communities to begin, grow, and sustain deeper learning experiences for school improvement.
- Using Design Thinking to Develop Community-Centered Linked Learning
Pathways
Wednesday, March 20, 2019, 1:45 – 3:00pm
Learn from practitioners how Pivot’s change design approach supported them to identify the community roles and resources needed to design and implement effective Linked Learning models.
- Growth Culture: A Transformative Approach for Achieving Your Goals
Thursday, March 21, 2019, 9:45 – 11:00am
Assess your own organization’s growth culture to uncover strengths, needs, and opportunities for equitable Linked Learning programs.
Deeper Learning 2019
San Diego, CA
- Deeper Learning for Grown Ups!
Wednesday, March 27, 11:00am – 12:30pm
Learn from practitioners how to align current organizational processes with community partnerships to design and implement successful college and career pathways.
- Partnering with Our Communities to Design Better Pathways
Wednesday, March 27, 2:00 – 3:30pm
Learn strategies and resources to develop a growth culture at your organization in order to foster deeper learning for both adult leaders and students.
- Creating Deeper Learning Environments for Design Teams
Friday, March 29, 9:00 – 10:30am
Learn how to integrate design thinking, growth culture, and equity into your organization’s culture to develop deeper learning environments for both students and adults.
Small School Districts’ Association 2019 Annual Conference
Sacramento, CA
- Better Together: Small School Network Towards Continuous Improvement
Monday, April 1, 9:45 – 10:40am
In partnership with the El Dorado County Office of Education, Pivot Learning’s Rural Professional Learning Network will speak to their experience with continuous improvement using change design.
Carnegie Foundation Summit on Improvement in Education
San Francisco, CA
- Leading the Change: Using Improvement Strategies to Implement Instructional Materials
Poster Sessions:- – Tuesday, April 16, 5:30 – 7:00pm
- – Wednesday, April 17, 3:00 – 4:00pm
- – Thursday, April 18, 7:00 – 8:30am
In partnership with the California Department of Education and EdReports, this poster presentation will detail how the California Curriculum Collaborative supports districts in their work to adopt and implement high-quality instructional materials for continuous improvement and improved student achievement.
Monterey City Council to hear ideas to rein in housing costs
Category: In the News
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Our recent Crisis on the Coast event held earlier this March continues to bring attention to the homeless crisis in our community. The Monterey Herald mentioned Pivot Learning’s report, “Crisis on the Coast: The Bay Coastal Foster Youth and Homeless Student Populations.“ The report outlines a study we conducted in partnership with National Center for Youth Law about how the region’s soaring housing costs and lower wage jobs has contributed to the growing housing crisis. Learn more about the report and download a copy.
Excerpted from the Monterey Herald
MONTEREY — Cynthia Tiberend has posted a Go Fund Me video asking for help and explaining how the Monterey resident is facing the loss of her home of 23 years and the uncertainty that she will be able to afford a new place to live.
The short video did not explain the reason Tiberend must leave her home and an email to the Carmel resident who posted the page for Tiberend was not returned Monday.
“I’m very stressed, very frightened,” Tiberend said in the video. “I was given to May 7 to vacate my apartment. I might need movers because I may need to move farther away because I cannot secure housing in the Monterey area. I never thought I would find myself in this situation but here I am.”
She is not alone. New findings released on March 15 by an Oakland-based nonprofit called Pivot Learning highlight the role of region’s soaring housing costs and lower wage jobs has on the growing housing crisis. Pivot works with schools to tackle any number of educational challenges. It became involved with Monterey County when it found that 10 percent of students in the county were considered homeless by the state Department of Education.
On Wednesday, Monterey planning staff will present a new report to the City Council during a study session that presents both challenges and opportunities to address the crisis. The report notes both the income disparities in Monterey that contribute to the crisis and the policy measures the city can take to provide more affordable housing units.
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Free Math Implementation Workshops
Category: In the News
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Calcurriculum and the California Department of Education are partnering to offer free workshops this May and June to help county offices, districts, and charter management identify opportunities and strategies to improve their math program implementation.
May 20-21, Sacramento
June 18-19, Santa Ana
The workshops will be beneficial to districts needing Tier 1 math curriculum support as well as targeted support for districts designated for assistance. During the workshop, participants will:
• Investigate their instructional materials
• Consider possible adaptations or supplemental materials
• Plan for how to improve the math program in their schools
Want a preview of what will be covered in the workshop? Check out the Implementation Guide.
Register your team today. Spaces are limited and the deadline to register is May 3rd. The workshop is free and meals will be provided. Participants will need to cover their own travel, hotel, and other incidental costs.
CalCurriculum is a partnership between EdReports and Pivot Learning.
Monterey County’s homeless student population is massive, so what are officials doing?
Category: In the News
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The Californian is helping spread the news about the Crisis on the Coast event we held on March 11th at the Monterey County Office of Education in Salinas, CA. The panel and forum discussed the report “Crisis on the Coast: The Bay Coastal Foster Youth and Homeless Student Populations” that outlines the findings of a study conducted by Pivot Learning and National Center for Youth Law. Read the full report to learn more.
Excerpted from The Californian
Local education and nonprofit leaders are hoping to better identify and help homeless students in Monterey County, where about one in 10 pupils qualify as homeless, according to a November study – a number some suggest is low.
Monday, the Monterey County Office of Education and Salinas City Elementary School District co-hosted a discussion hoping to understand the state of education in communities impacted by family homelessness and recommend solutions for students.
Published by Pivot Learning and the National Center for Youth Law, the study “Crisis on the Coast: The Bay Coastal Foster Youth and Homeless Student Populations” found increases in homeless and foster students in Monterey County. The county also had far fewer services for these students compared to urban areas in the greater San Francisco Bay Area.
It spoke to the community's future, said Gary Vincent, executive director of the Epicenter, a local nonprofit serving homeless and foster youth. “If you are concerned about the youth in this county at all, this should be a wake-up call for us and a call to action now.”
While Monterey County had average rates of foster youth within the Bay Area region, it far outpaced other counties in the rate and total number of students experiencing homelessness. Local homeless and foster students are more likely to be English learners and people of color.
“What it did, the bottom line, is it raised awareness in our community,” said Salinas City Elementary Homeless Liaison Cheryl Camany.
Homeless, Foster Youth population Grows in Monterey County
Category: In the News
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Our recent Crisis on the Coast event held on March 7th at the Community Center at Soper Field in Seaside, CA received coverage by the Monterey Herald. The panel discussion and forum was based on the report “Crisis on the Coast: The Bay Coastal Foster Youth and Homeless Student Populations“ that outlines the findings of a study conducted by Pivot Learning and National Center for Youth Law. Learn more about the report and download a copy.
Excerpted from the Monterey Herald
SEASIDE — Monterey County is in a huge crisis as the dramatic rise in family homelessness along the coast and rural areas continues to grow each day.
The National Center for Youth Law and Pivot Learning hosted a presentation for the report “Crisis on the Coast: The Bay Coastal Foster Youth and Homeless Student Populations” inside the Community Center at Soper Field on Thursday afternoon.
The event, which was co-hosted with Monterey Peninsula Unified School District, featured a panel of experts on homeless and foster youth populations and a public forum.
The panel featured Adrienne “Bing” Goldsworth, who’s the National Center for Youth Law program manager for FosterEd in Monterey County and was on hand to talk about ways to help reduce the number of homeless and foster youth students in the area.
Other panelist included Darius Brown of the Monterey County of Education, MPUSD board trustee Wendy Root Askew, MPUSD Social Emotional Support director Donnie Everett and MPUSD homeless liaison Carlos Diaz.
Brown, who’s the coordinator for McKinney-Vento Homeless Education Services, said getting all the experts, liaisons and families in the same room to talk about the subject means people are acknowledging it is an issue.
“If your district is not talking about the situation then that means you haven’t acknowledged family homelessness as an issue,” he said.
Pivot Learning CEO Arun Ramanathan and program manager Hannah Melnicoe were at the forum to present the report findings.
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Two New Briefs Share How Three Districts are Re-envisioning LCAP
Category: Pivot
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The LCFF Test Kitchen provides local education agencies (LEAs) with the support and space to find and implement solutions that address the challenges of the Local Control and Accountability Plan (LCAP) process from a different perspective—that of the end user.
Over the course of a year, three districts have embraced a user-centered design approach to foster local innovation and develop better solutions to persistent LCAP challenges.
The results of their work are now available in two new briefs.
Improving LCFF Implementation Through User-Center Design: Year 1 of the LCFF Test Kitchen
Learn more about the work of the LCFF Test Kitchen and the solutions that each district design team created for LCAP.
User-Centered Design as a Pathway to Effective Policy: Lessons from the LCFF Test Kitchen
Examine the lessons learned from the LCAP design process and how user-centered design might lead to more effective policy from the outset.
Together, these publications offer ideas about how LEA’s can leverage user-centered design to improve their LCAPs and other initiatives.
For more information about the LCFF Test Kitchen, please visit lcfftestkitchen.org.
LCFF Test Kitchen is a partnership with:
CCEE, CCDR, Pivot Learning, and WestEd.
Building a School and District Culture Where Everyone Grows
Category: Pivot
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Pivot Learning’s team of educational improvement experts came together for a webinar on the importance of healthy school and district cultures for continuous improvement in education.
This webinar focused on how Pivot’s Beyond High School initiative has helped schools transform their learning environments to continuously improve the performance of both leaders and students. This webinar shares useful practices to help your school rethink adult development to support capacity building and school improvement.
Questions? Contact us!
Access the webinar slides here.
Access Frequently Asked Questions here.
Register for the Symposium here.
Promoting Instructional Leadership and Excellence in Special Education
Category: Leadership Development
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Pivot Learning’s expert team of district and school improvement specialists came together for a webinar on continuous improvement in special education.
This targeted webinar focused on building the capacity of special education leaders, teachers, and related service providers to serve as instructional leaders. You will learn how our most specialized educators can work with general educators to redesign education systems to effectively serve all students.