Message from Chief Academic Officer, Dr. Marvin Pryor
Dear MMSD Staff, 
 
I am humbled and excited to formally introduce myself as the Chief Academic Officer for MMSD. I am leading the new Teaching and Learning team, which consists of the Chiefs of Schools, Curriculum and Instruction, Assessment and Learning Supports, and Technology. As a Teaching and Learning team, we are committed to providing a clear vision along with high-quality instructional resources and support to our schools. 

We are also excited for the opportunity we had last week to serve as radio show guests on La Movida - Que Pasa where we shared how our reorganization of Central Office provides an intentional uplift of services for our English Language Learners (ELs). Historically, our Office of Multilingual and Global Education (OMGE) served ELs and students who selected bilingual education with a vision of excellence, visibility, and high academic achievement After analysis of academic achievement data, it was clear that in order to serve ELs with intentionality, attention would need to be placed in key departments throughout Central Office.

As you know, in Wisconsin we measure language proficiency using the ACCESS assessment. The assessment operationalizes language in four sub-domains: Listening, Speaking, Reading, and Writing. Within that context, we will meet the legal requirements of supplemental services to ELs by:
  • Delivering core instructional opportunities that ensure ELs have access to grade-level text and text dependent questions per academic standards as well as WIDA Language
  • Development standards; and that these are framed within language development instructional practices such as QTEL tasks for preparing, engaging, and extending the text.
  • Delivering supplemental experiences that extend the core instruction for the explicit purpose of listening, speaking, reading, and writing via attention to word recognition and language comprehension to access grade level content per academic standards as well as WIDA Language Development standards.
  • Ensuring that Individualized Plans of Service are executed by ESL, BRTs in support of word recognition and language comprehension to access grade level content per academic standards as well as WIDA Language Development standards.

We recognize that an important body of historical knowledge and support to schools exists within OMGE connected to schedules, transitions, and section projections. OMGE has provided guidance regarding accountability, reporting, and supports for ESL, BRTs, and BRS. To that end, knowledgeable staff from OMGE will also join our State and Federal Director to continue this important work, and a staff member from OMGE has transitioned to the State and Federal Office.
I am looking forward to a year of collaborative work with you.

 
Sincerely,
 
Marvin Pryor, Ph.D.
Chief Academic Officer
C&I Year Long Scopes and Quarter 1
We hope you are enjoying a bit of sunshine and lots of outdoor time. As you are recharging, Teaching and Learning is hard at work to prepare for your return. We can’t wait to see you and start our best school year yet!

Please follow this link to find our C & I Repository for the 2021-2022 SY. There is a year-long scope linked for every grade level and content. Quarter 1 Units are linked in the year-long scope. As you look at the content for Q1, please know we are currently building our support/guidance for LETRS Bridge to Practice and will enhance Q1 guidance in the fall once the pacing has been made public and shared with staff. Our scopes and units have been rebranded to mirror our universal strategy of Early Literacy and Beyond. We are collecting targeted feedback this summer, and there may be adjustments. The following links explain the updates for Literacy and Biliteracy:

In true partnership with our Assessment and Learning supports, please continue to read for updates on assessments:
Summer Semester Reading
Assessment Strategy
As we implement our Early Literacy and Beyond strategy, our summer work continued with intentionality. Our Spring Cohorts (A,B,C) which included 135 instructional coaches, reading interventionists, and reading teachers, continued their LETRS learning over the summer. LETRS Unit 3 includes the importance of assessing students in their word recognition skills. Therefore, we intentionally offered a LETRS Bridge to Practice opportunity through our Summer School Assessment strategy which served two purposes: (1) field testing our SY21-22 assessment strategy in the area of critical reading screening for all students and diagnostic assessment for some students, and (2) opportunities to hone assessment administration and interpretation skills prior to Fall implementation. Overall, we had approximately 45 LETRS collaborators who helped with our Summer Semester Assessment Strategy. 

Thank you to our participants–which included Principals, Assistant Principals, Central Office teacher leaders and data strategists, Summer Semester Coaches, instructional coaches, interventionists, and reading teachers. A big thank you to our amazing Summer Semester Coaches who coordinated this at Summer Semester sites! You all went above and beyond.

For those of you who are interested in our assessment approach and the intersection with LETRS learning this summer, please review the following documents:
The ¿Qué pasa en nuestras escuelas? radio program on Thursday, July 15, featuring school district administrators explaining the importance of intentionally teaching reading in elementary school and the effect of reading in the lives of all students.
Update on Summer Cohort of Coaches and Reading Teachers and LETRS labs
We have nothing but gratitude for the coaches, reading teachers, and reading specialists who are showing their undeniable commitment to Early Literacy and Beyond by engaging in LETRS training during the summer. This extraordinary team will be done with LETRS Units 1-4 in August, which means that each school will have in-house collaborators who understand the learning. We value, respect, and recognize the critical role literacy coaches, reading teachers, and reading specialists play - and know that by prioritizing their learning, we are setting schools up for success.

We are already seeing the fruits of this work through the implementation of our LETRS summer semester labs. Two schools, ELVM and Gompers, committed early to the science of reading last year by starting LETRS learning and field testing a green lit, standards-aligned curriculum. In combination with Summer Semester, they applied for an Equity and Excellence grant to continue this work in the summer by hiring their own staff, conducting their own professional learning (which included lesson internalization), intentional scheduling to meet the needs of students, and continued their LETRS learning. Multiple observations highlighted explicit phonics lesson plans and routines. Way to go, Gompers and ELVM!
MMSD Early Literacy Vision:
“To focus on utilizing literacy at every level as an equity strategy to ensure all MMSD students receive high-quality, grade level accelerated instruction.”
For more information about LETRS, email LETRS@madison.k12.wi.us