Reason #437 to love your IAs

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I love my district. I really do! And as a teacher, I thrive on data, but I hate the process we have to go through in order to get the data. We used to proctor benchmark tests for math, ELA, and writing every 9 weeks (once a quarter) for grades 3-8. That data was used to adjust intervention groups, instruction, and to plan. This year, however, we have gone away from the quarterly benchmarks, and while we are all grateful to have the extra week of instruction back, the new plan is causing its own headaches. We tested once in the first month of school for Reading, Writing, Math, and Science; we will do another round of benchmarks in January, and then the state assessment this upcoming spring. Waiting until after winter break for another benchmark assessment means that the students have a huge gap of time in between testing sessions. We lose our quarterly data push to track kids for interventions, and students lose the momentum on gaining growth. This adds more stress on the teachers’ plates to do their own assessments in order to track data. I know what you are thinking – couldn’t we use classroom grades and class work to assess growth? Yes, but even standards-based grading and performance-based assessments have their own gaps. So then WHAT is the secret to supporting students who fall into these achievement gaps?? Classified staff.

I have held many different roles in the education world. For several years, I was an intervention teacher; I held small groups across many grade levels to help students either bridge a learning gap, or accelerate their understanding of a concept. Benchmark assessment data was how I targeted the students who needed the small group intervention. I would start by looking at those students we call our “bubble kids” – these students are the ones who are within so many points of being able to reach the next proficiency level. From there, I would start targeting the students who seemed to never be able to leave the minimally proficient level; I would take the time to pull out students who were not already receiving resource minutes or independent ELL instruction (as those students were already being pulled out of direct instruction time). Depending on the benchmark assessment being used, it can be really easy to target specific standards that these students consistently struggle with and that is what I would focus on. Some groups focused on one standard for several weeks, and others could move in and out through focused standards as they grasped the concepts quicker. I loved that I could give these students exactly what they needed in order to build up their strengths, and the students loved coming to interventions because they knew it meant they were going to do better in class later. 

Classified personnel do not get the credit they should in a school setting, and that hurts my heart. Not just because I have had such a positive experience in my time as a classified employee, but because the larger part of general society just does not understand the enormous role this position plays in the education world! Sadly, my 17 year old daughter is paid higher working part time at Panera than most of the Instructional Associates who work in my school. It’s pretty hard to sell that position to someone when they could go to a commercial business and make more money with less stress and fewer hours. One of the first lessons I always give to my classroom interns is to be very nice and grateful to the classified employees on their campus!! They truly are the backbone of a school. As an intervention teacher, I was able to utilize the instructional associates as well to help support the students who always seemed to slide just under the radar. Whenever a student was referred to TAT or a BST/CST team, I would go to the Instructional Associates for input to that student as they work directly wit them most often. School districts would be stronger if they all hired multiple intervention teachers and more instructional associates  to be able to attend to all of the grade levels on each campus! Our campus has several of each, and even then they cannot reach all grade levels! I teach in 7th grade, and my building is always begging for the intervention teachers and instructional associates to be able to come up to junior high! I know how important it is for them to help the younger grades as it helps build the foundational skills, but the students in junior high need just as many advantages to academic growth, especially as they get closer to high school. If you are still reading this post, and I hope you are (Hi there!!), go find your classified employees and give them some love this week. They need it, they deserve it, and they are probably super awesome people who don’t get noticed enough. 

Lynna Schiller

Lynna Schiller is currently teaching 7th grade Science at Cheatham Elementary in Laveen, Az. She has held many various roles in almost 20 years of education and has been in the LESD district for the last 8 years. While literacy has always been her priority, she has taken on several other grades and content areas including math and science. She began her secondary teaching adventure in the Phoenix Union High School District teaching 11th grade American Literature. She spent 6 years in a charter school in Avondale where she taught Sophomore English and Reading Skills and then joined the admin team as Instructional Coach and student advisor, testing coordinator, and part-time Assistant Principal (All at the same time! Ambitious? Exhausting!). After taking some time off to be Mom to her two daughters, she began working part-time in the Laveen District as an Instructional Associate using her knowledge and skills in literacy to work with students who fell far below grade level in reading; she enjoys working closely with other teachers to help struggling students find their own success. In leisurely times, she can be found curled up in her recliner with her stack of books, a cup of coffee, and her dog.