Coastal Plains RESA
February 2023
A Note From Our Director
Please let us know how we can better serve you.
Wes Taylor
Executive Director
Professional Learning through GaDOE
Regina Purvis
Professional Learning Director
CPRESA Welcomes School Climate Specialist Scott Haskins
Scott and his wife Pam live in Tifton Georgia, but he is originally from Thomasville. Together, they have five beautiful children. Scott graduated from the University of Georgia (GO DAWGS) with a Bachelor of Education. He later received a Master’s in Educational Leadership from Albany State University, and received an Educational Specialist in Educational Administration from Valdosta State University. Scott has been in education for almost 29 years. The last 17 years he has served as an administrator with three different schools within our RESA district. Scott has been an administrator at the elementary, middle, and high school levels. He shared " I am excited about this new chapter in my life. I look forward to continuing to work in this area and with the schools in our RESA district." Coastal Plains RESA is excited to have Scott as part of the RESA team.
ELA
Don’t Forget YGA 2023!
Deadlines for the 2023 Writing Fair are approaching quickly!
We are excited to bring this opportunity to our students again this year and we appreciate all the hard work that you do to help make that possible!
I have shared a Google folder for digital upload to each district contact. We hope you will also participate in the Poster Wall at the Mall this year and show off your students great talent to the world!
Winning entries from each system must be received at RESA no later than 5:00 p.m. on Thursday, February 23, 2023.
Jenni Anderson
ELA Specialist
Vocabulary
When you ask a teacher from grades K-12 to identify the main cause of a student’s academic
struggle, frequently their answer is lack of vocabulary. During the “Age of Common Core,”
Robert Marzano developed a process for building academic vocabulary. His book was
published in 2005, but in my opinion, this is still the most effective way to teach vocabulary
in any grade in any subject. For this vocabulary instructional process to be effective, all six
steps should be implemented with fidelity.
Marzano’s 6-Step Process for Building Academic Vocabulary
The six steps of the vocabulary instruction process are:
1. Provide a description, explanation, or example of the new term.
2. Ask students to restate the description, explanation, or example in their own words.
3. Ask students to construct a picture, symbol, or graphic representing the term or
phrase.
4. Engage students in activities that help them add to their knowledge of the terms in
their vocabulary notebooks.
5. Periodically ask students to discuss the terms with one another.
6. Involve students in games that allow them to play with terms.
How many of the six steps do you see being used in your school?
Darlene Watson
Growing Readers Specialist
First Annual Special Education Directors Retreat
Dane Heard
GLRS Director
Amber Stevens
GLRS Coordinator
Georgia's New Math Standards Professional Learning Opportunities
On February 2, 2023, approximately 50 middle school teachers and curriculum leaders attended the Unit 1 deep dive here at CPRESA.
Based upon feedback, teachers and teacher leaders were interested in following up with a deep dive into Unit 2 and beyond. This middle school session has been posted for registration; the date is May 8, 2023.
Preparing for Unit 1: High School Math will be offered February 28, 2023. Register here. High school teachers will look at Algebra, Geometry, or Advance Algebra collaboratively.
Elementary school teachers are invited to come together and examine Unit 1 collaboratively in May.
Grades 3-5 will be May 2, 2023.
K-2 will be May 3, 2023.
Administrators have a chance to be “in the know” when we are talking about Georgia’s K-12 new mathematics standards. CPRESA will host an information session on March 27, 2023 starting at 9:00 a.m. to conclude by 11:30 a.m. facilitated by Paulette Shoupe and Amy Casper. Register here.
Interdisciplinary Connections for GA’s math curriculum are planned June 14, 2023 here at CPRESA. Registration is now open.
K-5 morning session 9:00 – 11:30
6-12 afternoon session 12:30 – 3:00
Paulette Shoupe
Math Specialist
School Climate
We hope that 2023 has gotten off to a great start. We’ve enjoyed visiting Coaches
Meetings, PBIS Meetings, Walk throughs, and trainings with various schools in the
district. School teams are analyzing data in their meetings, looking at acknowledgments
and successes, and making plans for future goals. We are also proud of the
acknowledgements schools are receiving for their hard work in the areas of school
behavior and school climate.
We congratulate our schools that have risen to “Operational” status and look forward to
recognizing these schools at our Georgia DOE School Climate meeting in Macon on
February 9th . District Coordinators, please remember to register for the February 9th
Georgia DOE School Climate District Coordinator’s meeting.
On Tuesday, February 28th we are offering a Youth Mental Health First Aid workshop in
Lenox. It’s a full day session which will begin at 8:30 am, and covers topics related to
helping young people in crisis. Spaces are limited to the first 30 participants to sign up.
Registration is offered on Learning Stream on the RESA website, and we hope that you
can join us. If you have any questions, please let us know.
Upcoming Dates and Meetings:
February 9th PBIS District Coordinator’s Meeting
Middle Georgia State University in Macon
February 28th Youth Mental Health First Aid Workshop
Coastal Plains RESA 8:30 am - 3:00 pm
March 8th PBIS District Coordinators/School Coaches Job Alike
Virtual Meeting 9:00 am (A link will be shared closer to the date)
March 14th School Counselors/Social Workers Job Alike
Coastal Plains RESA Lenox, GA 9:00-12:00
March 23rd Muscogee County School District PBIS Bus Tour
Columbus, Georgia 9:00 am -2:00 pm (Check in begins at 8:00 am)
Contact Michelle Pate at pate.lori.m@muscogee.k12.ga.us or Dr. Kenya Gilmore at gilmore.kenya@muscogee.k12.ga.us for more information about this opportunity.
Shannon Voyles
Scott Haskins
School Climate Specialists
Analysis of Proposed CCRPI Changes
The Accountability Team at the Department of Education in Atlanta has been working overtime to put together a proposal to send to US ED in Washington, DC to make changes to Georgia’s accountability system and the CCRPI. Below is an analysis of nine of the changes that may get approved over the next 45-60 days.
Stay tuned for what happens next. Many of these changes may provide some much needed “lift” for schools as they strive to overcome the missed learning opportunities experienced during the COVID years.
1. Align the Literacy (Lexile) indicator targets with the Milestones on-grade-level reading targets. Lowers the bar but provides needed consistency.
2. Expand the high school College and Career Readiness indicator to include military readiness as measured by performance on the ASVAB (Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery) as an additional option to demonstrate postsecondary readiness. Good addition.
3. Include additional content areas (career exploratory, computer science) in the Beyond the Core indicator. Good addition -- if schools can use the correct course numbers.
4. Incorporate students with significant cognitive disabilities who participate in the Georgia Alternate Assessment (GAA) 2.0 in the ELA and mathematics Progress indicators. Inclusion is a good thing.
5. Increase the Progress component weighting for students at the top of the performance scales (Level 4). A progressive change.
6. Update the Closing Gaps improvement target formula to align with the maintenance level (90) and to reward districts and schools that meet improvement targets for the most at-risk student populations (Economically Disadvantaged, English Learners, Students with Disabilities). Good, but the component has other issues.
7. Eliminate the overall, single 0-100 score while maintaining 0-100 scores for all indicators and components. Some states already do this, but it could be seen as a means to “cloak” poor school performance.
8. Continue utilizing the staged Comprehensive Support and Improvement (CSI) identification approach approved in Georgia’s one-year addendum (2022), updated to include all components. The staged approach will yield results that resemble 2022. Easier and quicker ways exist to identify CSI schools.
9. Eliminate the Promise Schools designation and replace it with a Universal Supports Schools designation to enable the state to support statewide improvement efforts to provide a high-quality education for all students in Georgia’s schools. Good, now districts must understand when school performance is sinking and trending toward the CSI entrance threshold.
Bobby Smith
School Improvement Specialist
Technology Updates
Leanne NeSmith
Technology Specialist
GaConnects Overview with SuitCASE and Inspire Demo
This information is from GaDOE Community. If you are not a member, please take time to join.
March 13, 2023
Duration: 1 hour
Intended Audience: Data Collections Staff, District Leaders, Elementary Teachers, ESOL Teachers, GaDOE Staff ALL, Gifted and Talented Teachers, High School Teachers, Instructional Coaches/Coordinators, Librarians/Media Specialists, Middle School Teachers, MTSS Team, Online Teachers, RESA Mentors, School Leaders, Social Workers, Special Education Teachers, State Schools, Teacher Leaders, Technology
SLDS will transition to the brand new one-stop-shop site, GaConnects, later this school year. Are you and your staff ready for the shift? In this virtual webinar, hear what GaConnects is, how to access it, and how it is organized. Also, see a demo of its two new feature applications – SuitCASE, your access to digital standards, and Inspire, your access to instructional resources. This is a great opportunity for your staff to be prepared and familiar with the new site and its feature applications early.
To report an issue with the event link, please email the event contact.
Primary Contact: John McDonald - john.mcdonald@doe.k12.ga.us
Secondary Contact: Tanya Ogletree - tanya.ogletree@doe.k12.ga.us
DOE Office: Technology Services
Topics: Online Learning, SLDS, Technology
Event Type: Event - Single Day
March 13, 2023
4:00-5:00
Wraparound
Using a dog for therapy is not new, but for Brooks County Middle School, it happened purely by accident. One of the administrators had a new puppy who needed someplace to go. He was too small to leave outside, and the hours were too long to leave him in a crate all day. Mrs. Giddens, the small group instruction teacher, suggested bringing the puppy to school because her students would love it. Thus, Cash, the English Cocker Spaniel, made his appearance. No one could ever have imagined such a small puppy's impact on a class of students with special needs. Jack has assisted with less sensory overload, fewer outbursts, fewer arguments, and less frustration. Jack has also aided in delivering more writing, reading, laughter, calmness, and the list could go on and on. Jack is so much more than a therapy dog; he is an integral member of the Brooks County Middle School family! Read the full article here.
February is School-Based Health Care Awareness Month! Join the 2/10/2023 webinar hosted by the Office of Whole Child Supports on school-based health center (SBHC) sustainability. Register here: http://bit.ly/3kOKhac
Stephanie Butler
Wraparound Coordinator
JL Lomax Host Parent Advisory Meeting
Linda Sermons
Ila Williams
Academic School Improvement Specialists
Visit Our Website To Register For The Following Trainings:
GAA Training
Excellence in Science
Youth Mental Health
Preparing for Unit One with the New Math Standards (High School)
Middle/High School Leadership Academy
Assistant Principals Leadership Academy