Wilson Hill Elementary Student Achievement Coach

Hello, Wilson Hill Parents!  My name is Gina Piero, and I am the Student Achievement Coach at Wilson Hill Elementary.  Some of you might remember me as a third grade teacher at Wilson Hill.  Before becoming a coach for the district, I spent 18 years in the classroom—all at Wilson Hill!  My job now affords me the luxury of working with ALL teachers and students.  I tell the kids I have the BEST job in the school.  So, some of you may be asking yourself, “What is her job?”  and, “How does it affect my child?” Student Centered Coaching:  What is it?  How does it affect my child?

Ask any teacher, principal, administrative personnel, classified staff member, etc. what the most important part of our job is, and we will reply that asking the question “What’s Best for Kids?” is at the heart of every decision we make.    We use that as the filtering lens in every decision we make in Worthington schools.  Student Centered Coaching is based on the fact that growth and achievement are non-negotiables for each and every child.  And the growth and achievement are not “one size fits all” options. 

Student Centered Coaching begins with a teacher or team of teachers identifying a goal (attached to a curricular standard) for their current students.  They commit to working with me, the coach, for a six to nine week period of time. Part of that commitment includes meeting with me weekly to analyze student work samples and then plan instruction based on what we see the students need.  This is where differentiation comes in.  Although we have the same overall goal in mind, we may create three different lessons to meet the needs of learners who are far from, close to, or exceeding the standard.

 I commit to working with the teacher or grade level team in their classroom(s) one to two times a week.  When I am in the classroom, I might be modeling instruction, co-teaching with them, or simply observing to provide feedback on student engagement or other target areas. 

The cycle always begins with a pre-assessment aligned with the goal they are focusing on for their students, includes weekly formative assessments (analyzing actual student work samples) and concludes with a post assessment to document student growth and achievement that was made. 

Working through this “cycle,” teachers are collaborating with me and their peers to design and deliver instruction that is based on best practices.  The best professional development is job-embedded and incorporates time to meet and collaborate with colleagues.  Because we all know, “Two heads are better than one!”

Wilson Hill Elementary State Report Card 2013-14

As a school leader, there are multiple areas I look at to measure how our school is performing. The area always at the top of my list is how our students feel, interact, and learn at school.  Our student survey results show that our students are having a great experience! Two other areas I am always closely monitoring are student achievement and student growth.  Student Achievement can best be described if a student is performing at grade level.  Student Growth, on the other hand, is met when a student makes at least a year’s worth of growth within a school year (even if they are performing below grade level).

On Thursday, September 14th the Ohio Department of Education released the state report cards for all schools.  Wilson Hill did well in some areas, specifically student achievement.  At Wilson Hill we met 8 out of 9 indicators on the Ohio Achievement Assessment.  This means for each grade that took a state mandated assessment our student population passed the assessment at an 80% or greater passage rate. New this past year was the 80% benchmark set by the state. Previously, a school or district only had to meet a 75% passage rate to meet the indicator.

Another area which Wilson Hill measured well in, that will be officially measured next school year, is our K-3 Literacy.  We did not have enough students falling into the at risk category in grades K-3 Literacy to calculate an overall grade for our student population at Wilson Hill.  This is great news for our students, families and staff.  The 3rd Grade Ohio Achievement Assessment and grade level diagnostic assessments were used to measure this component.  

Also, our Performance Index at Wilson Hill was a 103.1.  This is a score given to schools based on the number of students that score at a specific level on the Ohio Achievement Assessments.  The five levels that students can score include: Limited (Lowest Level), Basic, Skilled (Passing), Accelerated, or Advanced (Highest Level).  The 103.1 score places Wilson Hill 5th out of 11 Elementary Schools in Worthington.  Our staff is working to achieve the top rating!

One area that is clearly seen on our state report card as an area to improve is our student growth measure. Our overall rating was an “F”.  This “F” is a three year composite score that includes data from the 2013-14, 2012-13, and 2011-12 school years. The individual ratings for progress include: Gifted-C, Bottom 20%-C, and Students with Disabilities-D. These ratings are for only the 2013-14 school year. In addition, the growth measure on the state report card only analyzes data for grades 4,5 and 6.

What the State Report Card will not show is that Wilson Hill is scoring better than the district on 8 out of 12 MAP assessments for the percentage of students growing. This Data supports that our students are growing!  This data was taken from the Fall to Spring MAP assessments given to 1st thru 6th grade students in Math and Reading.

At Wilson Hill we value the feedback we receive on the state report card.  This data helps us inform what we do to improve student performance.  In addition to the Ohio Achievement Assessment data and MAP data, our staff at Wilson Hill collects and analyzes more in depth data to inform instruction on a day to day basis.  Your child’s classroom teacher will be able reference some additional data that is collected on a day to day basis to analyze student growth and achievement.

If you would like to view Wilson Hill Elementary School State Report Card please click on the link.  I hope that several families take advantage of the opportunity to attend our Curriculum Night September 18th.  Information on the State Report Card will be presented at 6:00 and 6:40.  If you are unable to attend and would like more information, the presentation will again be presented at the October 14th PTO meeting.

Without a question, we have areas which we can improve!  We are committed to making each child grow at least a year….we won’t stop working until all our data shows this!

Matt Keller- Wilson Hill Elementary Principal

Wilson Hill Elementary-CARING, COMMITMENT, CONNECTED

It is an honor and privilege to serve Worthington City Schools and our Wilson Hill Elementary School Community.  As I reflect on my time at Wilson Hill (just over a year) three characteristics that come to mind as I interact with all students, staff and families: CARING, COMMITMENT, CONNECTED!

The first characteristic that I have observed in nearly every situation is caring.  The staff, students and families care for one another and all that goes on within Wilson Hill. These caring behaviors are observed daily with our students as they interact with each other. Our children respect and admire one another’s differences, and these behaviors are a direct result of our families modeling caring behaviors for one another.  Thank You!!!

The second characteristic that I observed at Wilson Hill is commitment.  The Wilson Hill staff  is a great example of this quality.  They put in countless hours above and beyond what is expected to meet the students’ needs within each classroom. Our Wilson Hill families are equally committed to our school.  A great example of this is the number of families that recently attended the Kindergarten Curriculum Night.  Our students also amaze me each day as they set learning goals and put forth the effort to reach these goals.

The third characteristic that I observed is how our school community is connected.  The families within Wilson Hill communicate with one another often and in different ways which help to make their relationships closer and connected.  These student-centered and positive relationships help to support their child, other students and Wilson Hill.  A great example of this is how our families created and maintain a Wilson Hill Elementary Facebook page.  Thanks for using technology to keep our families connected!

As the school leader beginning my second year, I can’t think of a better place to be than working with the students/staff/families of Wilson Hill Elementary.  Our caring, committed, connected climate makes our school a great place to be!

We are new at “blogging” at Wilson Hill, and I hope that this new tool will prove to be a way to communicate new information with families.  Stay tuned to the Wilson Hill Blog as we will update it periodically.  We will let you know when it is updated.

The 2014-15 school year is going to be a great year at Wilson Hill!

Matt Keller-Wilson Hill Elementary Principal