May 2006

Summer is Here!

Smell that? Do you smell that sweet, sweet smell? No, it's not Sloppy Joe day in the cafeteria! That's the sweet smell of summer vacation!

In this month's bulletin you'll get some SnapShot summer vacation tips and learn how to use SnapShot's trend reports to create your school improvement plans.

School Improvement Activities for Trend Reports

Before we start getting too excited about summer vacation we need to remember that this is also the time to start thinking about goals and strategies for next year. School Improvement teams will be meeting over the summer to plan for the 2006-2007 school year. To help these teams plan, SnapShot has 48 trend reports that you can access. Just click on the Reports link on your home page and choose Trend Reports and select various types of reports in both Reading and Math. These reports may be generated for your grade level groups or your demographic subgroups for AYP.

For a quick tutorial on SnapShot reports, go to: http://www.studentperformance.com/training/reports.htm

Evaluating Grade Levels

Print the Percent Proficiency and Percent Learning Gains Reports for grade levels in Reading and Math.
Pass these out at your School Improvement meeting.
Provide the following list of questions to the members of the committee and discuss.
Have one member of the committee record the comments of the group.

Trend Report Questions for Consideration

Which grade level/demographic group shows the greatest gain over the period of time graphed?

What instructional strategies are in place for that grade level?
How do teachers incorporate the standards into daily lessons?
How are students assessed to show progress in this core subject area?

Which grade level/demographic group shows the greatest loss over the period of time graphed?

What instructional strategies are in place for that grade level?
How do teachers incorporate the standards into daily lessons?
How are students assessed to show progress in this core subject area?

Are teachers aware of the benchmarks tested in each content area?

Do we have textbook alignments with the benchmarks tested?

How was class time used? What types of strategies are working?

Which teachers' students are having the greatest success in terms of learning gains? (Use the status report for teacher learning gains)

Were students and teachers familiar with the format of the FCAT?

Do we need to provide training for our teachers in one or more areas?

What instructional goals and strategies would help to improve our areas of greatest weakness?

SnapShot Refresher

Identifying Your Lowest 25%

SnapShot Summer Vacation Tips

You thought you were busy during the school year? Just wait until summer vacation! You've got to keep the kids entertained, there's family to visit, long drives to the beach, and all that potato salad to make for all those picnics. If you do have the luxury of having a relaxing summer off to laze around people will just think you're lazy.

So, once again, SnapShot provides you with some tips to help you with making your vacation the best ever.

Taking it Outside

Tell your family and friends that you need to take some time to work on your school or class goals and will be working outside because you need the outdoors to stimulate your creativity. With that, head outside to your favorite spot, open your laptop, and, if you have wireless in your area, log onto SnapShot. If you have no Internet connection, just bring up a very busy-looking spreadsheet. Be sure to get comfortable and try to wear a pair of those mirrored sunglasses. Now sit back and take a nap. Sounds good, doesn't it?! And if anyone accuses you of napping, tell them that you were pondering the most effective way to increase reading achievement levels or something along that line.

Note: It may look extremely inviting to use your laptop to shade your face but, trust me, if it slips...OUCH! Try explaining how you got the broken nose or the five stitches to friends without them laughing at you.

SnapShot Fireworks

No Fourth of July fireworks in your area? No problem. Print out a selection of SnapShot scatterplot graphs, poke holes through the dots, and tape to a window with multicolored, flashing lights behind each graph. When it gets dark, turn on the lights and voila! Instant fireworks you can enjoy from the comfort of your couch and less likely a fire will start. Just add the ooohs and aaahs.

SnapShot for the Youngsters

Another use for those great scatterplot graphs? Print them off before a long car trip with the family. Give them to the youngsters, along with a pencil, and tell them that they're connect-the-dots. They'll spend hours in silence trying to figure out what the shape is supposed to be.

We hope that you get some use out of these helpful SnapShot summer vacation tips. As you can see, there are a number of uses for SnapShot but the one we're proudest of is how SnapShot can help you improve student achievement. To learn more about using SnapShot to improve student achievement contact us at training@studentperformance.com.

From all of us at SnapShot, we'd like to congratulate you on a great school year. Have a wonderful summer vacation...you deserve it!

SnapShot Training

SnapShot offers one-day Faculty Training. This training teaches your school's faculty how to get the most out of SnapShot and how to use it for school improvement, SACS review, FCAT preparation, and making effective classroom decisions. For more information contact us at training@studentperformance.com.

About SP SnapShot™

SP SnapShot™ analyzes student data through charts, reports, and graphs. From this information, users are able to identify individual students in need of attention and create individualized professional development plans for teachers based on information gleaned from this data analysis tool.

For more information, visit the SP SnapShot™ website at www.studentperformance.com.