Audience: Educators, Administrators
Part 1 | Curriculum Alignment
Featured Presenters: Moderator – Lisa Stone; Panelists – Sandy Ledwell & Amy Murphy (AMSTI), Julia Rawlings (Rowan County), Ketsy Fields (Cognia), Soraya Matthews (Fayette County)
As we move toward resuming school in the fall, educators are concerned about how to address gaps in student learning due to the wide variety of access and participation in remote learning at the end of the 2019-20 school year. In the first of a three-part series, we examine the importance of vertically aligned curriculum. A viable curriculum, intentionally aligned to rigorous standards both within and across grade levels, is key to the success of schools identifying gaps in learning and how to address those gaps upon students’ return to school. Panelists representing state departments of education, districts, and Cognia will share recommendations for facilitating intentional curriculum alignment for the coming school year.
Part 2 | Formative Assessment
Featured Presenters: Moderator – Jessica Yonker; Panelists –Michelle Zimmerman (Renton), Sandy Ledwell (AMSTI), Julia Rawlings (Rowan County), Ketsy Fields (Cognia), Eric Brooks (Yuma Union)
In this second webinar of a three-part series, we investigate how formative assessment processes can be used to help educators identify students’ knowledge in foundational concepts that will support their success in the coming year. By identifying priority standards from an aligned curriculum, educators can use just-in-time formative assessment to gauge what students already know, where there are gaps in learning, and how best to design instruction to ensure success. This panel will provide perspectives from the state department to the school level on the use of effective formative assessment.
Part 3 | Differentiated Instruction
Featured Presenters: Moderator – Jessica Yonker; Panelists –Julia Rawlings (Rowan County), Sandy Ledwell & Amy Murphy (AMSTI), Amy McVey (Cognia), Marty Mills
With the advent of a new school year responding to unprecedented circumstances, schools are thinking about how to ensure instruction addresses gaps in learning due to COVID. In this final webinar of the three-part series, we discuss the benefits of differentiated instruction and how it supports accelerated learning versus remediation. Panelists share strategies for using differentiated learning through a lens of acceleration.
REGISTER TO WATCH NOW
Ketsy Fields currently works for Cognia as Senior Director, Client Services in Kentucky. She is retired from public education after 31 years of service. During that time, she worked as an elementary and middle school teacher for 15 years in different counties, serving diverse populations in Eastern and Northern Kentucky. She also worked as a middle school assistant principal and middle school principal in Clark County (Winchester, KY) before moving to Fayette County, (Lexington, KY) as principal of Yates Elementary School. She served nine years as principal of Yates Elementary School, turning this high poverty, low achieving school into a high performing model of continuous improvement. With a schoolwide focus on aligning systems and structures, Yates was able to increase proficiency for all students and close achievement gaps. Upon leaving Yates, Ketsy moved to the Fayette County district office as a Director of School Improvement and Innovation. She served in that capacity for five years before retiring in 2014. She holds an undergraduate degree in elementary education from the University of Kentucky, a Master’s Degree in curriculum and instruction from Morehead State University and a Rank I from Eastern Kentucky University in school leadership.
Julia Rawlings is currently the Assistant Superintendent for Rowan County Schools, Morehead, KY. In this role, her primary responsibility is all facets of curriculum, assessment and instruction for the district. Prior to work with Rowan County Schools, Mrs. Rawlings was an Educational Recovery Director with the Kentucky Department of Education, central office administrator and science teacher for Fleming County Schools, a rural school district in north eastern Kentucky. Her duties included Title 1, Limited English Proficiency, Preschool, and Curriculum/Assessment/Instruction. Mrs. Rawlings has also served as a state science consultant and a high school classroom science teacher.
Dr. Amy Fowler Murphy currently serves as an administrator with the Alabama Math, Science, and Technology Initiative (AMSTI) at the Alabama State Department of Education (ALSDE). Prior to coming to the ALSDE, she served as the secondary science supervisor for Jefferson County Schools and as a science specialist with AMSTI in the University of Montevallo (UM) region. Dr. Murphy also served as a science teacher in both Hoover City Schools and Birmingham City Schools. During her 21 years in education, Dr. Murphy has designed and facilitated professional learning opportunities as well as developed curriculum at the at the local, state, and national level. She is dedicated to research-based, student-centered methods of instruction as a means of creating and nurturing lifelong learners. Dr. Murphy earned her EdD in Curriculum and Instruction from UA, holds Instructional Leadership certification from UM, is a National Board Certified Teacher and Candidate Support Provider, and is on the Alabama ASCD Executive Board. She resides in Alabama with her husband.
Dr. Sandy Ledwell is the Director of the Alabama Math, Science, and Technology Initiative (AMSTI) at the Alabama Department of Education. She has worked with AMSTI since its planning stages on committees and then as a teacher, a trainer, and as a specialist. Dr. Ledwell has twenty-five years of experience in education. She has been a classroom teacher in elementary and middle school, a teacher leader and coach, and a professional development provider. Her expertise lies in developing curricula, leading three-dimensional science instruction, and incorporating the use of strategic teaching across the curriculum. Dr. Ledwell also teaches methods courses to preservice teachers at Faulkner University. Dr. Ledwell has been honored as the Alabama Science Teachers Association’s Outstanding Middle School Science Teacher, a state finalist for the Presidential Award for Excellence in Math and Science Teaching, an Outstanding Alumnus of the Year for the College of Education at the University of Montevallo and has earned early childhood certification with the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards. She resides in Alabama with her husband and two sons.
Dr. Soraya Matthews was born and raised in one of the most impoverished and segregated towns in the Mississippi Delta. She brings a unique and enriched perspective in her role as an educational leader, especially in the realm of academic equity. She has served in multiple capacities within our educational system including, first and foremost as a parent and teacher; but also as an instructional supervisor, principal, college professor, an online instructional designer and at the Kentucky Department of Education as State Schools Director for Kentucky School for the Deaf and Kentucky School for the Blind. In her current role, she serves as the secondary Director of Teaching and Learning for Fayette County Public Schools and as a part-time Adjunct Professor in the Masters of Education Teacher Leader program at Georgetown College. Dr. Matthews is most passionate about ensuring a guaranteed and viable curriculum and differentiated instructional design for diverse learners. She considers herself a lifelong learner and believes that education coupled with opportunity are the keys to Freedom for our young learners!
Michelle Zimmerman, PhD, author of Teaching AI: Exploring New Frontiers for Learning is a Microsoft Innovative Educator Expert, and four time Microsoft MVP for global impact, and in leadership of Microsoft’s first K-12 school in the US to be selected for the Flagship Schools program. She briefed Satya Nadella and her executive team on research in practice in education and on Sway. With 18 years in the classroom (PreK–10), 12 years implementing research into practice, designing Renton Prep, and serving on the University of Washington, College of Education Professional Education Advisory Board, and adjunct, Concordia University, she experiences education through multiple lenses. Her research and student voice are published in Springer’s International Human-Computer Interaction Series, and press such as GeekWire, VentureBeat, and Forbes.
Eric Brooks’ true passion is creating learning environments for adults that are interactive, meaningful, and inspire them to take action. He is fortunate to have had extensive experience in the field of education as a consultant on learning styles for more effective presentations. As a trainer and facilitator for over 20 years, He takes great pride in being able to bring groups together to examine their practices, learn new skills, and eventually see real transformative change. In his previous positions, he has served as both the Director of Professional Learning and the Director of Effective Teachers and Leaders for the Arizona Department of Education instilling more creative and collaborative working environments for schools, LEAs, and internal department staff. He has held the position of Principal/Director of a High School Equivalency Program housed on a university campus just outside of New York City and has served as an Academic Advisor at Montclair State University for pre-service teachers. He currently serves as Chief Academic Officer in the Yuma Union High School District.
Dr. Marty Mills is the Head Principal at Tates Creek High School in Lexington, Kentucky, and he begins his 19th year in education this upcoming school year. His entire career as an educator has been spent with Fayette Co Public Schools at Tates Creek High School where he was an English teacher and Associate Principal before being named Principal 4 years ago. Dr. Mills earned Bachelors’ Degrees in English and Public Relations from the University of Kentucky, a Master’s Degree in English Education from the UK, a Master’s Degree in Instructional Leadership from Eastern Kentucky University, and his Doctorate in Education Administration from Morehead State University.