Kentucky Teacher

Principal Steve Jenkins participates with the kindergarten students during calendar time in Angie Taulbee’s class at Trapp Elementary School (Clark County).
Photo by Amy Wallot, Feb. 21, 2013

By Susan Riddell
susan.riddell@education.ky.gov

Trapp Elementary School may share a principal, but that doesn’t mean the school suffers in terms of success.

The small rural school of 140 students has been thriving under Principal Steve Jenkins’ leadership. Jenkins, in his 10th year as principal at both Trapp and nearby Pilot View elementary schools, is quick to credit his small staff and a focus on citizenship and small group study with Trapp’s 2012 National Blue Ribbon School honor.

“Life goes on when I’m not here (at Trapp),” Jenkins said. “The teachers are used to me being gone during parts of the day, and the students understand the staff members are in charge. The teachers take care of any discipline issues when I’m gone, and they handle things the way they know I would. That’s why this works.”

Jenkins used to rotate days in both schools, but he said splitting each school day up with half his time at each one works better now.

“It’s a good fit for me,” he said.

Small groups lead to big results

While Trapp Elementary already offers a low teacher-to-student ratio, the school has worked hard to decrease that number even more by using the small group learning model. The model, which involves students being broken into small groups based on their learning needs for 30 minutes three times a week, has had a positive impact on both reading and mathematics scores for the school, Jenkins said. Read the full story

First-grade student Callie Austin listens to curriculum coach Selena Cochran teach sentence structure during a writing lab at Porter Elementary School (Johnson County). Photo by Amy Wallot, Nov. 16, 2012

By Susan Riddell
susan.riddell@education.ky.gov

Sandra Music couldn’t bring herself to eat the blue mashed potatoes.

Even though her Porter Elementary School (Johnson County) students told her they tasted just like regular mashed potatoes, Music took a pass on the lunch item last fall. “That whole week the kids’ mouths were blue,” she joked. “One day it was mashed potatoes, another day it was blue suckers. They had something blue to eat every day.”

The school went blue to celebrate its recognition as a 2012 National Blue Ribbon School.

Blue tongues aside, Music said it was worth it because it helped the students realize the significance of the Blue Ribbon accomplishment they helped earn.

“By the end of the week, they got what the excitement was all about,” said Music, who has been principal at the school for four years. “The entire Paintsville community was behind us. We were recognized at the board meeting, there was a proclamation, and the students really got that they were doing great things at this school.” Read the full story

Holly Pitts teaches prepositions to her 7th-grade language arts class at Beechwood High School (Beechwood Independent). Pitts flips her classroom and has students watch short videos at home to aid in instruction. Photo by Amy Wallot, Feb. 13, 2013

By Susan Riddell
susan.riddell@education.ky.gov

Parents are routinely joking with teacher Holly Pitts about how they hear her voice in their homes all the time.

“The feedback I get from parents is actually great,” said Pitts, a 7th grade language arts teacher at Beechwood High School. “I love knowing that students are learning some concepts before I really go over them in class.”

Pitts is one of several Kentucky teachers who have flipped their classroom. In a flipped classroom, students are introduced to concepts at home prior to classroom work on the topic.

“I love teaching this way,” Pitts said. “Kids are so social media driven these days, it makes perfect sense to me.” Read the full story

By Susan Riddell
susan.riddell@education.ky.gov

Mike Bell, director of the virtual arts program, directs students in the virtual choir on the opening day of the 2012-13 school year for the Floyd County school district.
Photo by Pam Caudill/Floyd County school district

A few years ago, Floyd County school district Superintendent Henry Webb attended a conference where he viewed Eric Whitacre’s virtual choir video and watched as the Grammy winner simultaneously directed 185 singers from 12 different countries.

“I was moved by what the composer was able to accomplish and thought of the talented kids in our district who could benefit from a performance platform such as this,” Webb said.

Luckily for Webb, teacher Mike Bell already was working in his district and was enthusiastic about bringing the concept to Floyd County

In its first year, more than 200 students in grades 4-12 joined the program and participated in a virtual choir performance of The Star Spangled Banner and My Old Kentucky Home.

This year, the virtual choir will be performing an arrangement of Wade in the Water, created by Betsy Layne High School band director Mike Cooley. Read the full story

By Susan Riddell
susan.riddell@education.ky.gov

Kristy Floyd helps 4th-grade student Danielle Begley with a writing prompt during her class at West Irving Elementary School (Estill County).
Photo by Amy Wallot, Nov. 19, 2012

For Tonya Isaacs, the numbers never end, and they never lie.

Isaacs, an instructional supervisor in the Estill County school district, is one of many district personnel tasked with constant data analysis, with the intent of having data-driven instruction and creating rich conversations about how to improve learning for students.

“As a district, we are focused on rigor in the classroom,” Isaacs said. “By teachers seeing the important formative data, they can see what they don’t need to reteach, they can see how to move on to the next thing to teach and what’s the best way to teach it.”

Estill County school administrators have been processing and analyzing data as fervently as possible for several years now, and the Kentucky Department of Education (KDE) has taken notice of their efforts.

Susan Allred, interim associate commissioner for Office of Next-Generation Schools and Districts, congratulated the district at a Read the full story

By Matthew Tungate
matthew.tungate@education.ky.gov

Kentucky Elementary School Teacher of the Year Heidi Givens of Tamarack Elementary (Daviess County), 2013 Kentucky Teacher of the Year Kristal Doolin of Corbin Middle School (Corbin Independent) and Kentucky Middle School Teacher of the Year Allison Hunt of duPont Manual High (Jefferson County) were named during the annual ceremony in Frankfort.
Photo by Amy Wallot, Oct. 17, 2012

Kristal Doolin, a 7th-grade language arts teacher at Corbin Middle School (Corbin Independent),  has loved reading and writing since she was young.

“I just love words,” she said.

It is this love of words that lead her to become a language arts teacher. It was her love of teaching about words that lead her to be named the 2013 Kentucky Teacher of the Year.

Doolin, who also was named Kentucky Middle School Teacher of the Year, received the award Oct. 17 at a ceremony in Frankfort hosted by Ashland Inc. and the Kentucky Department of Education. Heidi Givens, a teacher of deaf and hard-of-hearing students at Tamarack Elementary (Daviess County), was named 2013 Elementary School Teacher of the Year. Allison Hunt, a social studies teacher at duPont Manual High School (Jefferson County), was named 2013 High School Teacher of the Year. Read the full story

By Susan Riddell
susan.riddell@education.ky.gov

Henderson County High School special education teacher Brandi Thomas visits with sophomore Josh Strong, his mother, Denise, and younger brother, Jordan, during the Home Visit Blitz. Photo by Amy Wallot, July 31, 2012

Denise Strong, a parent of two children in the Henderson County school district, had some concerns prior to the start of the school year.

Those concerns mainly involved her youngest son, Jordan.

“He’s switching to South Heights (Elementary School) this year, and he’s nervous,” she said. “Everything is new.”

But Strong’s concerns were heard by teachers who knocked on her door as part of the district’s second annual Home Visit Blitz. This effort “showed me just how much these teachers care about my kids,” Strong said. “It makes me feel better about them having a good school year.”

The parent outreach event involved district staff splitting into teams to knock on nearly 7,000 doors in a day’s time. Teachers introduced themselves to parents and students, and handed them bags filled with important school information. Read the full story

By Susan Riddell
susan.riddell@education.ky.gov

Third-grade student Ally Collins reads to her sister, 2nd-grade student Breanna Collins, during the Literacy Cafe at Crossroads Elementary School (Campbell County). Photo by Amy Wallot, May 15, 2012

With one hand behind his back, Crossroads Elementary School (Campbell County) 3rd-grader Jason McDonald served 2nd-grader Henry King a glass of lemonade.

King, who browsed over the menu in front of him, soon made his main selection, placing an order for “Dr. Seuss.”

Playing the part of a waiter, McDonald headed over to a table filled with stacks of books. He sifted through them until he came upon If I Ran a Zoo by Dr. Seuss. He grabbed the book and returned to King’s table.

McDonald opened it and began reading to King, pointing at each word as he told the story.

McDonald and King were two of the many students at the school who recently participated in a literacy café. While younger students nibbled on vanilla wafers and sipped lemonade (or hot chocolate during the fall), students in grades 3-5 read them books ranging from Dr. Seuss selections to Arthur and Berenstain Bears books. Read the full story

The Kentucky School Counselor Association (KSCA) is accepting nominations for outstanding Elementary, Middle and High School Counselor of the Year.

KSCA also is taking nominations for Principal of the Year.

To complete an online nomination form, go to www.kyschoolcounselor.org.

Editor’s note: Senate Bill 1 (SB 1), enacted in the 2009 Kentucky General Assembly, requires a new public school assessment program beginning in the 2011-2012 school year. Kentucky Teacher is doing a series of stories explaining the Unbridled Learning: College/Career Readiness for All assessment and accountability system this month. This article focuses on elementary school assessment. Future stories will focus on middle school assessment, high school assessment and accountability. The system is subject to U.S. Department of Education approval and may be changed prior to adoption.

By Matthew Tungate
matthew.tungate@education.ky.gov

Cavin Wallace answers questions about prepositions in Heather Brumley's 5th-grade class at Taylor Elementary School (Bracken County). Photo by Amy Wallot, Dec. 6, 2011

Despite significant changes to Kentucky’s public school assessment and accountability system beginning this spring, the foundation remains the same as its predecessors, one of its architects says.

“I think the whole design from the very beginning of looking at education reform in Kentucky was about, ‘Let’s develop well-rounded kids – kids that have exposure to knowledge and experiences that emphasize important things like reading and math, but also have these other key things,” said Rhonda Sims, a director in the Kentucky Department of Education’s Office of Assessment and Accountability.

The new assessment system has many specific similarities to the old system, too, she said. For instance, just as it has for nearly the past decade, the new accountability system will continue to test every student in grades 3-8 in reading and mathematics every year, Sims said.

“Reading and math are foundational skills,” she said. “They are certainly key foundational subjects for work in science, for work in social studies, for overall work on things like ACT, PLAN and EXPLORE.”

Students also will be tested in science and social studies once in elementary school and once in middle school, which meets federal requirements, Sims said. Read the full story