This and That:

• News from Austin James: Beginning the fall of 2017, we plan to enable a new Synergy feature that will automatically calculate the FTE for each student.

  Why are we making this change?

  Reporting accurate FTE values is essential because our funding is dependent on student FTE.   Calculating student FTE is difficult.  Since the 2013-14 school year, we have asked office staff to manage FTE changes manually.  Enabling this new feature will relieve this burden.  Additionally, allowing Synergy to calculate student FTE values allows calculations to be more consistent, which will reduce errors and allow for easier identification of possible issues.

  How does this new feature work?

  Synergy will take the school calendar, meeting days, bell schedules, and the student schedule into account when making this calculation.  For more information, please contact Austin James.

  How will this change affect staff at my school?

  Since Synergy will be calculating student FTE, registrars, counselors, and counseling support staff will no longer need to manage FTE changes.  These staff will need to continue to record student enrollments and class schedule changes accurately in Synergy.  Schedulers will need to be accurate when entering data while setting up the master schedule for the next year.  Additionally, keeping school calendars and bell schedules up to date will be vital.  The Information Technology department will continue to provide assistance in accurately inputting school schedules, bell schedules, and emergency closure days.

  When will training be available for my staff?

  Middle and high school schedules can be complex.  We would like the opportunity to sit down with MS and HS office staff to help them become comfortable with these upcoming changes.  We would also like to listen to their concerns so that we can work together to build a workable implementation plan for each school.  Rachel Mavis will reach out in the near future to begin these conversations.  

  If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to ask Austin.

• As you likely have heard by now, educational expert Rick DuFour passed away on Feb. 8 after a long battle with lung cancer.  In a recent Marshall Memo (673) some of Rick’s thoughts on a variety of topics were highlighted by Kim – who has featured no less than 31 articles over the years on Rick’s thoughts on education.  Here are a few of Rick’s quotes related to teaching, as noted in previous Marshall Memos:
  • “If those within the school believe that the causes of student learning lie outside their spheres of influence – in the genes or social background of their students – school improvement efforts will be viewed as futile, if not ridiculous.”  (with Timothy Berkey, in Memo 146)
  • “Regardless of how ‘good’ a faculty may consider its school, for the parent whose child does not learn, the school has failed the child – 100 percent.”  (Memo 318)
  • “[T]here’s no such thing as a universally effective teaching strategy; the effectiveness of any given strategy can only be determined by evidence of its effect on student learning.”  (with Mike Mattos, in Memo 480)
  • “Teaching is the profession that creates all other professions.”  (Memo 636)

Reminders:

• No MS Horizontal meeting on Monday, Feb. 27.