January is School Board Appreciation Month - Will You Share Ideas?

School Board Recognition Month January 2015

January 2015 is School Board Recognition Month, which is an opportunity for districts and charter schools throughout Texas to recognize the time and commitment their trustees have devoted to their jobs. Now is the time to start planning how you and your staff, students and communities can show your school board members appreciation for their efforts and hard work. TASB has prepared a resource kit to help districts recognize their local trustees. Logo  Sample Materials Activities Looking for other ideas?   CLICK HERE to view - and to add to - a shared doc of ideas for School Board Appreciation Month.

Real Relationships for Student Success: Dec. 8, 2014

Building relationships between teachers and students has increasingly become a topic of interest for creating effective learning environments where students can feel safe, valued, and have belonging. When these factors are in place, learning is enhanced.

Join Glenda Hinsley to explore some of the underlying issues, challenges, and provide strategies to help teachers connect with their students.  Find strategies to apply to the classroom or campus-wide discipline and management systems in your district.

When:  Dec. 8, 2014, 9:00am - 3:30pm
Where:  Region 7 ESC, Pecan Room
Who:  Teachers, Administrators, Counselors/Social Workers

Cost: $100 - with exceptions below:
Fee Waived for members of *Region 7 Districts / Charters
Fee Waived for members of *Region 7 ESC Staff Coop

REGISTER HERE

More information, contact

Ms. Glenda Hinsley	Ms. Judy Moffet
Region 7 ESC	Region 7 ESC
ghinsley@esc7.net	jmoffet@esc7.net
(903)988-6837	(903)988-6725
(903)988-6860 (fax)	(903)988-6860 (fax)

Shedding Light on Gaps in Student Attendance Data

When campus leaders track the percentage of students who show up every day for the average daily attendance (ADA), they most likely also check for the percentage of students with a specified amount of unexcused absences - or chronic truancy.  

While most educators would tell you that these measurements shed light on the attendance crisis in our schools, this information still leaves gaps large enough for many students to fall through.

What are these gaps?  

In an article published by the Healthy School Campaign organization, the gaps are described in relation to the following important considerations and indicators:

ADA is about the average, not the student.
Research by Attendance Works, an initiative that promotes awareness of the important role school attendance plays in academic success, shows that even a school with a rate as high as 95% could have up to 30% of its students missing a full month of class each year. ADA does not take this into account.

Chronic truancy captures only part of the story.

While tracking unexcused absences is important, it ignores excused absences that still lead to missing important instructional time. Whether a student is missing school because of an asthma episode, is dealing with transitional housing issues, or is just playing hooky, the end result is the same: the student is missing out on opportunities to learn.  Read more.

Learn more about the work of the Collaborative and efforts being made to better integrate health and education policy. Also check out attendanceworks.org for more information on chronic absenteeism and efforts to address this issue.

Build Capacity at your Campus by Supporting Teacher Leadership

Nominate a Teacher Leader / Instructional Coach, and/or Aspiring Admin to attend this Institute, which is a focused learning opportunity for Region 7 teachers and leaders who aspire to serve or are currently serving in leadership positions. 

Send a SPECIAL INVITATION to your teachers. 

CLICK HERE to view a SMORE.

The sessions are designed to strengthen instructional skills while also building new leadership and coaching skills. Register.

January 21 - 22, 2015

Online Cohort Jan. - June

June 15, 2015

Send a SPECIAL INVITATION to your teachers. 

CLICK HERE to view a SMORE.