Breakout Sessions Thursday June 11th

(There is a breakout session in a.m. and p.m. each day of the conference – make your selection when you register)

Breakout Session- “Developing a Common Language of Data for Sharing Student Progress
Dr. Lyn Sharratt – is an experienced practitioner in system and school improvement working globally at all educational levels. She is a professor at OISE/University of Toronto where she lectures and currently coordinates the 26-student Learning and Leadership Ed.D program. She is the former superintendent of curriculum & instruction services in York Region District School Board, a large Canadian school district where she and her staff curriculum team analyzed assessment data and developed a comprehensive literacy improvement program that they launched with the cooperation of senior leadership, principals, and over 8,800 teachers. The continuously improving 14-Parameter program resulted in increased achievement for a diverse, multi-cultural and multi-lingual population of over 115,000 students, and the district became the top performing district in Ontario, where teaching positions became among the most sought-after in the nation. Sharratt has been a curriculum consultant, administrator and has also taught all elementary grades and secondary-age students in inner-city and rural settings. Lyn has analyzed and commented on Public Policy for a provincial organization; has taught pre-service education at York University; and led in-service professional learning in a provincial teachers union head office. She is lead author, with Michael Fullan, of both “Realization: The Change Imperative for Increasing District-Wide Reform” (Corwin, 2009) and, “Putting FACES on the Data: What Great Leaders Do!” (Corwin, 2012). Currently, she consults internationally, working with districts, administrators, curriculum consultants and teachers in Chile, Australia, the United States, the United Kingdom, and Canada.  Her latest published book with Gale Harild is “Good to Great to Innovate- Recalculating the Route to Career Readiness, K-12+.”

Breakout Session- “What Administrators Need to Know about Achieve and TEACH NJ- Moving from Compliance to Leadership”
Paul Palek, Jr. –   A forty year veteran in education including eleven years as a social studies teacher and coach followed by fifteen years as a very successful high school principal- a “TOP 20” and outstanding high school rating in New Jersey many times.  Paul served twelve years as a Superintendent of Schools and selection as “Superintendent of the Year.”  Most recently, Paul has worked for two and on-half years as the Implementation Manager for the NJDOE–Division of Teacher and Leader Effectiveness–Office of Evaluation.  The presentation will focus on realistic and practical explanation of AchieveNJ from an administrator’s vantage point.  The ultimate goal for Superintendents and principals is to move from compliance, to quality and finally ownership in the implementation of the initiative.  All components of the legislation will be covered including observation/evaluation regulations for teachers and principals, SGOs, corrective action plans, mSGPs, ScIPs, and district responsibilities to insure consistency and uniformity in all the aforementioned areas.
Breakout Session-   “Meeting the Demands of Standards and Assessment through an Interactive Curricular Framework”
Dennis M. Fare, M.Ed. & Kristen Trabona- co-presenters from the Mahwah Public Schools.
Dennis currently serves as the assistant superintendent for Mahwah Public Schools. After three years in the position of English Language Arts Supervisor, Dennis spent a considerable amount of time looking at curricula, working with all content areas to see how the Common Core, PARCC, and performance-based assessment could, in fact, be a shared responsibility, regardless of academic discipline. Dennis has written test preparatory books, Common Core: PARCC ELA/Literacy Assessments, Grades 6-8 and Common Core: PARCC ELA/Literacy Assessments, Grades 9-12.
Kristen currently serves as Science Supervisor for Mahwah Public Schools. Currently enrolled in a doctorate program at Montclair State University in teacher education, Kristen sees value in how the English language arts and mathematics skills of the Common Core transcend all content areas, including science. Kristen has helped to develop curricula, and has mentored novice teachers in grades 6-12.
With the Common Core and PARCC adding many demands on instruction, it is critical to look at curriculum in a manner that is relevant and worthwhile – in a way that focuses on purposeful replacement, instead of total reinvention. In this work session, we will look at how the standards, as well as the assessment, can be addressed in all content areas. Looking at sample tasks, we will score student writings using a common rubric, and will discuss how these types of tasks can be infused into an interactive curricular framework that is truly living and ever-changing.

Breakout Session – “Rigorous Math Interventions”
Billy Menz and Brian Gressser – co-presenters from Mind Research
Participants will learn how NJ districts are implementing a technology based math intervention tool to meet the rigorous demands of the PARCC.  Session will also focus on Blended Learning and what that looks like in a classroom with a technology based math intervention tool.  Teachers will examine best practices associated with using this intervention and a rotational model of instruct during math class that both ensures proper monitoring of students and encourages rigorous independent, inquiry based activities while providing feedback an produce independent thinkers.   Participant should bring laptops or tablets for hands on experience with technology that can instruct students mathematically and help prepare them for the rigorous demands of PARCC.  This will be a hands on experience where attendees will experience the intervention and interact with the math content.

Breakout Session – “Making the Shifts to the Common Core”
Dr. Sandra Alberti – is the Director of the Field Impact team for Student Achievement Partners, an organization that was instrumental in the development of the Common Core State Standards.  Her work focuses on the development and dissemination of tools and resources to support educators in implementing the Common Core State Standards. Sandra joined Student Achievement Partners after a period of service with the New Jersey Department of Education in the roles of  Director of Academic Standards and the Director of Math and Science Education.  In these roles, Sandra was directly involved in state standards, assessment, and professional development policy and implementation strategies. Prior to working at the state level, Sandra held several district-level positions including school superintendent, assistant superintendent of teaching and learning, principal, subject area supervisor and high school science teacher. She holds a bachelor’s degree in Biology from Rutgers University and master’s and doctorate degrees in Educational Leadership from Rowan University.  As important to her professional work as her individual positions and academic study are her roles as daughter of an elementary school teacher and mother of two school-age children.

Breakout Session- “Keep the Dots, Make the Connections:  District Digital Conversion, Empowering Personalized Learning”
Lynn Myers – McGraw Hill Business Development Manager, Northeast-McGraw Hill Education.
At some point in the not too distant future, digital districts will become the new normal and new ways of measuring efficiency and effectiveness will emerge.  Districts about to embark, or those who have already initiated their digital conversions, will find this session important for lessons learned and an introduction the District Digital Conversion Framework, a document that will be helpful to get started or improve your current efforts.  The workshop will focus on the considerations for creating a successful digital ecosystem that will change instructional practice and improve student outcomes.