General Education Services |
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Happy Thanksgiving! I know that everyone is grateful to have October behind us and a welcome break ahead of us.
On November 1, our campus leadership team hosted a Leadership Conference for which many of you joined us. The keynote speaker, Chris Fuller of the Maxwell Group, brought an incredible message. In that message, he spoke about climbing and the work around summiting an impressive peak such as Mount Everest. In the story, he used the analogy of ESC staff serving in the role of a Sherpa. That analogy really resonated with us. You see, a sherpa's role is to:
set up camp, manage the porters, ensure loads are evenly distributed and be responsible for the trekking group's safety. Sherpas also need to liaise with the clients, support them along the track and then run ahead to ensure the tea is on the boil when clients arrive at camp.
That is what we strive to do. Our greatest privilege is to assist you along your journey. It's a journey you've trained and equipped yourself to take, much like elite climbers. But the sherpa acts as a support for the journey. I especially appreciate the final sentence, which paints a picture of the sherpa running ahead to prepare basecamp upon the climbers' arrival.
As we continue our work this school year, if you find yourself or a staff member needing someone to lighten their load or to run ahead to ensure things are prepared, give us a call, and we'll strap on our gear!
Happy Thanksgiving to you all. We'd love to see you on November 15 for Instructional Leadership Symposium.
Tammy Becker
Director, General Education Services
Phone: 254-297-1240
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Texas Resource Review (TRR) provides detailed, comprehensive quality reviews of instructional materials, so school districts can easily compare options. Our goal is for all students in Texas to have access to rigorous, high-quality materials.
Local schools across Texas are eager to purchase the best materials, but the selection process is time-consuming. Tens of thousands of teachers spend precious instructional days reviewing materials of wide-ranging quality.
Free information is often disorganized or difficult to access. These challenges disproportionately impact smaller districts with fewer resources.
TRR was created to address these concerns. Free, evidence-based quality reviews featured on the TRR website are conducted by highly qualified teams of Texas educators. Quality is assessed with rubrics based on Texas standards for each subject area and grade level.
When teachers have access to a variety of high-quality instructional materials, they’re better equipped to individualize the learning experience and provide the right support for every child.
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Instructional Leadership Symposium
November 15, 2022
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Leadership Series - Featuring Doug Fisher
January 12, 2023
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STAAR REDESIGN:
Percent of points allotted to
the new item types
(From the NEW STAAR Blueprints)
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STAAR Scoring Guides for Constructed Response Items |
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These Scoring Guides for RLA, Science and Social Studies are found on the TEA's STAAR Redesign site. Click the link below and scroll to find the section titled Resources to Support New Question Types. See the image below for the Scoring Guides location under this heading.
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TEA has a practice site that will give students practice in the same testing environment they will experience with the STAAR test. Parents, students, and educators can enter by clicking Sign-in at the bottom. Next, choose an assessed grade level and you will find a Full-Length Practice Test and a Sampler of new item types. Unfortunately, this open site does not collect data or count as an At-Bat for students.
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TEA STAAR Practice THAT COUNTS! |
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Options for At-Bats, Practice in Cambium, and Data Collection
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NEW Social Emotional Learning (SEL) TEKS from the NEW Health TEKS
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It's a HIT! High Impact Tutors.
ESC Region 12 has been busy this summer training retired teachers, students and community members in High Impact Tutoring best practices. We have resources to support our schools tutoring programs.
- Contact information for tutors trained in best practices
- Training in High Impact Tutoring best practices
- Training in BookNook, Zearn and Amplify tutoring programs
- Training in the High Impact Tutoring Workshop Series
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TEKS Resource System: The TEKS Resource System supports educators with THREE important tasks:
- understanding the TEKS
- bundling and sequencing the TEKS for the year and unit
- assessing the TEKS
Implementing TEKS RS: The pacing tools are a favorite resource of TEKS RS teachers. The pacing tools include a daily objective and formative assessment idea for each day of the unit. The C-CAD documents are found on this website as well.
TExGUIDE: The TExGUIDE resource provides great resources for each unit to use for vocabulary, content instruction, formative assessments, and engagement.
DON'T MISS OUR
FALL 2022 Newsletter!
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NEW IFD FORMAT
Our IFDs have a new look, new functionality, and improved accessibility! The new IFD layout includes a left-hand navigation menu with collapsible sections, allowing you to quickly move to a specific section of the document. In addition, you may now print each section of an IFD separately (or the entire document as before).
Have you wanted to add notes, links, resources, etc. to each unit IFD?
In the new layout, you will notice two new sections labeled Teacher Notes & District Notes. Here, individual teacher information or district-wide content may be added and saved to each IFD. The notes
are added to the web view of the IFD, meaning no separate versions of the document need to be created. Additionally, the TCMPC updates to the IFDs will still be preserved.
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Questions?
TEKS Resource System Contacts
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Kristin Arterbury
Assistant Director
General Education Services
254-495-9532
karterbury@esc12.net
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Lisa Cisneros
Science, G/T, and TRS Specialist
General Education Services
254-297-1189
lcisneros@esc12.net
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Math TEKS Revision Timeline:
2022-2023 Starts the Review Process
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GRADE 7 READING
INSTRUMENT WAIVER
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Districts seeking to use an instrument for the 2022-2023 school year that is not on the current commissioner's list may request a waiver of the requirement to use a commissioner-adopted instrument, subject to application and approval. Districts must submit the alternate grade 7 reading instrument waiver by December 30, 2022. Additional reading instruments are expected in the 2022-2023 school year, and the waiver is not likely to be made available beyond the 2022-2023 school year.
As a reminder, Texas Education Code (TEC) §28.006(c-1) requires each school district to administer at the beginning of the seventh grade a reading instrument adopted by the commissioner to each student whose performance on the grade 6 STAAR reading assessment did not demonstrate reading proficiency. Districts of innovation are NOT exempted from this statutory requirement. At this time, the reading instruments adopted by the commissioner include the four listed below.
Istation'ss Indicators of Progress, Advanced Reading (ISIP-AR)
- Reading Analysis and Prescription System (RAPS 360)
- Texas Middle School Fluency Assessment (TMFSA)
- Woodcock Johnson III Diagnostic Reading Battery (WJ III DRB)
Texas Education Code (TEC) §28.006(c-1) supersedes previously published rules in the Texas Administrative Code (TAC) and previously published documents such as the Dyslexia Handbook having to do with seventh-grade reading instruments. If there is an inconsistency in information, the TEC should be adhered to. Inconsistencies will be corrected in future revised publications to ensure consistency with requirements specified in the TEC.
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Social Studies TEKS
Review & RevisionUpdate
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SBOE Abandons Social Studies Revision
During the August meeting of the State Board of Education, the Board abandoned the process of revising social studies standards. Concerns regarding the social studies course framework and concerns expressed during public testimony led Board members to end the rewrite effort. The Board then adopted measures to do further research on a framework and make small changes to the TEKS to include content from the previous legislative session.
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TEA Instructional Materials Focus Group |
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Join a TEA Instructional Materials Focus Group!
Would you like to join an instructional materials focus group to collaborate, suggest improvements and make an impact on one or more of the TEA’s instructional materials offerings?
The Texas Education Agency provides school districts and educators with direct access to an optional set of high-quality instructional materials (HQIM) designed especially for Texas students! We are seeking educator feedback as we work to continuously improve these materials. Focus groups typically meet for 60-75 minutes each month and the feedback they produce helps inform future editions of TEA’s instructional materials.
We are currently recruiting for Carnegie Texas Math Solution (6-12), Math Products (K-5), Amplify English Language Proficiency (K-5), Amplify Spanish Skills (K-2), Odell English Language Arts & Reading (9-12), Social Studies (K-5) and in Development Product (Pre-K). Please stay tuned for future opportunities in other subjects and grade bands.
To fill out a short interest form, please click the link below. We look forward to hearing from you.
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Visit the STAAR redesign site for the latest information and resources about the upcoming (2023) online STAAR tests with new questions types.
Resources to Support New Question Types
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Texas Formative Assessment Resource |
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Benefits of Using Texas Formative Assessment Resource (TFAR)
- Teachers design formative assessment options that mimic the new STAAR Redesign Items
- Teachers grade and disaggregate classroom formative assessment data through the online system
- Students practice online assessments, online tools, and new item types
ONLINE OPTION via ZOOM
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Implementation For Revised TEKS |
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- School Year 2022-2023: Revised Health/PE
- School Year 2024-2025: Revised Science AND Revised K-8 Tech Apps
- School Year 2025-2026: Revised Social Studies
- School Year 2026-2027: Revised Math
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Teacher Incentive Allotment
Support Services
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Rewarding Teacher Excellence in Texas |
The Teacher Incentive Allotment (TIA) was created by the Texas Legislature as part of House Bill 3 to provide a realistic pathway for top teachers to earn six-figure salaries and to help attract and retain highly effective teachers for traditionally hard-to-staff schools. |
Jennifer Conner is the TIA Lead and can help you get started with TIA in your district!
Jennifer Conner
Assistant Director for
Strategic Initiatives
jennifer.conner@esc12.net
254-297-1153
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For application support or questions, see our flyer, contact Jennifer Conner, or visit the website found at the link below.
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STAAR Redesign Online Course |
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Research shows that students who are taught skills for managing emotions, establishing and maintaining positive relationships, and responsible decision-making have better academic performance. In addition, students whose mental health needs are met with effective school and community supports are more likely to stay in school, graduate, and have positive life outcomes. The Texas School Mental Health website strives to provide districts and campuses with the resources and tools needed to develop a comprehensive school mental health system. |
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254-297-1240
kholcomb@esc12.net
254-297-1143
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UPCOMING PD OPPORTUNITIES: |
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Spotlight on Professional Development at ESC Region 12 |
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ESC Region 12
Instructional Coaching Services
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We have specialists across all content areas that are ready to provide coaching services to teachers in your district. Our services are tailored to the needs of each individual campus and are designed to empower teams of teachers. Teams may be identified by grade-level clusters, subject or course, department, or area of interest. |
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Arash Abnoussi
aabnoussi@esc12.net
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Tammy Payne
tammy.payne@esc12.net
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Yvonne Williams
ywilliams@esc12.net
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Spelling Instruction
Presented by Dr. Wendy S. Farone
Sept. 20 | Sept. 27 | Oct. 4 | Oct. 11
5:00 pm - 6:30 pm
ZOOM Sessions
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Don't miss the Region 12 Social Studies Newsletter. Peruse the latest #r12socstud newsletter by following the link below. You can subscribe to this newsletter by clicking the FOLLOW JESSICA TORRES link found in the newsletter. Don't miss these great updates, upcoming session descriptors, and teaching strategies. |
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Don't miss these updates! |
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