Past, Present, and Future School Initiatives in the MERS District

Superintendent John J. Marciante and Asst. Superintendent Joanne Monroe presented the Manalapan-Englishtown Regional School District Board of Education with a presentation about the district’s current learning initiatives and future plans at their workshop meeting on Tuesday.

The were approved at the end of the summer by the Board. The district follows a cognitive processing model which defines learning within the equation: R x T = L, or Rate of Learning times Time on Task equals the Amount of Material Learned.

Additional Information about Past Initiatives:

• Project Read Training will extend into fourth grade, helping teachers understand what students know about language. Project Read Trainers are working on two new projects.
• Mastering Math Facts for grades 1-4 makes certain that all third graders are learning how to multiply so that they can multiply fractions in fifth grade and be able to take pre-algebra in sixth grade and algebra in seventh grade (if they are ready to do so)
• Guided Reading in grades 3-5 increases students reading stamina
• Reciprocal Teaching helps the lowest performers in grades 3-5. Reciprocal Teaching is a small group reading instruction method taught by the Basic Skills Teachers. This initiative helps these students improve their comprehension skills by coaching the children how to read difficult, non-fiction text and to think while reading. Students in this program are identified by their scores on the NJASK Test.
• Learning League is for students identified with a learning problem. Students meet before or after their scheduled Kindergarten class.
• Orton-Gillingham is for students who suffer from poor reading skills or poor phonetic performance. The students are selected for this program, which is much like one-on-one tutoring. It is an after-school program.
• Project Achievement is for special-education students who performed poorly on the NJASK Test. This is an after-school program. 
• Redefining Home-School Connections and Homework help teachers communicate with parents as to what is expected.

Current Initiatives for 2011:

1. Three Part Model Academically Talented (AT) Program:one self-contained AT class per grade level (grades 3-5); AT Cluster Clasrooms for Math, Language Arts, and Math and Language Arts in each elemntary school building in grades 2-5; An Academic Enrichment Teacher moves from one building to the next working with a small group of students on enrichment opportunities in grades 1-5.
2. Spelling/Vocabulary Initiative: A research based approach to teaching spelling in grades 1-3 and vocabulary in grades 4-5.
3. LinkIt!:an online benchmark assessment for grades 2-8
4. Time for Text: Gathers baseline data for the amount of time children spend reading text for content in the classroom. Twice a month teachers are required to write down how much time their students spent reading for content that day; the teachers are unaware of which day that will be. The amount of time being recorded is collected for the principal of each school, and the teacher's name is not written on the report alongside the number.
5. Response to Intervention: Two reading specialists (Basic Skills Instructors) are doing district-wide Response to Intervention work. They work with first and second grade students and are required to be there when an intervention is required with a child. The specialists consult with the teachers and parents and work with short-term student instruction.
6. Extended Day Basic Skills Instruction (BSI): Over 100 students are in this extended Basic Skills Instruction in grades 1-5. These students either come before or after school to work on basic skills in math, reading, and writing. All students were identified for BSI over the summer, and parents were informed that this was an option, as well.
7. Summer Program:Summer of 2011 was the first time a summer school program was offered within the district, at a low cost. Parents of children that are behind their peers academically were offered a home program to work on over the summer and given information about the district's summer program. Over 100 students took part in the summer program, and it will be offered again next summer.

Future Initiatives for the District:

1. Meeting the Standards: Goal is to increase independent proficient reading and writing in the content areas.  New standards for core curriculum have been adopted and will be fully implemented by 2013, but the district will be working in 2012 to make sure the teachers are aware of the new standards and using instructional time to promote more reading and writing. This initiative is district-wide and across all grade levels.
2. LinkIt!: While the benchmark assessments are beginning this year, in 2012 the district is looking into more remedial, enrichment, class work and homework based on the assessments.
3. Home Connect: Guidance Counselors are develping an individualized program for specific parents to create an improved learning environment at home for students who need to spend more time on a task. This initiative is a part of the Professional Learning Community and expected to be implemented in 2012.