District Administration - February 2011 - (Page 43)

enrolled in these classes are intermediate to advanced level in ELL or have recently exited the ELL program. Students receive both college and high school credit. In addition, they gain conﬁdence, realizing they can attend college, Hanlin says. Washington County schools have weekly meetings when staﬀ members and teachers discuss ELL’s strengths and weaknesses and evaluate student data. Gradelevel teams write lessons plans for the next week, which also involves ELL teachers so they know in advance what new vocabulary, for example, will be used in each lesson. ey can pre-teach, re-teach or provide enrichment to ELLs, Moore says. Getting parents involved in Washington County schools is paramount to success. For example, the district uses Language Line—a telephone interpretation service accessible 24/7 to any WCPS staﬀ member, including secretaries, school nurses, bus drivers, food service personnel, teachers and administrators—to increase parent communication and promote parent involvement. e school district also contracted with International Corporate Training and Marketing (ICTM), which provides certiﬁed and credentialed interpreters and translators for parent-teacher conferences, open houses or document translation, Moore says. Parents are involved via the Hispanic Parent Academy (HPA) and adult ESL classes. e HPA meets monthly to discuss topics such as bus transportation, report cards, the inclement weather policy and instructional strategies so that parents have the information they need to support and help their children succeed. Success Washington County schools have been successful in surpassing Annual Measurable Achievement Objectives. e AMAO target in the spring of 2010 was to have 16 percent of the students exit the ELL program, and they instead had 21 percent exit, Moore says. And 76 percent of ELLs grew 15 points or more in proﬁciency in English, when the state Department of Education’s AMAO target for the district was only 56 percent. www.DistrictAdministration.com School solutions that think like you do. It’s solutions that empower. It’s service that excels. It’s a team that understands every K-12 education professional has a job to do. And it’s a commitment to making that job easier. Maybe that’s why Tyler’s financial, SIS, transportation, information warehouse and district planning products are being adopted by more and more school districts everyday. Want school solutions that think like you do? Visit tylertech.com or email us at info@tylertech.com. February 2011 43 http://www.tylertech.com http://www.tylertech.com http://www.DistrictAdministration.com

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of District Administration - February 2011

District Administration - February 2011
Contents
Going Out of Print
From the Editor
News Update
Technology Update
Safety & Security
District Profile
Administrator Profile
Successful Strategies for English Language Learners
Mobile Goes Mainstream
Virtually Possible
Problem/Solution
New Products
Product Focus
Superintendent’s Insights
Crisis Response
Student Counsel

District Administration - February 2011