Beating the Odds; Building Opportunites

Beating the Odds; Building Opportunities

Come hear from school and district leaders who have found success with students identified as Economically Disadvantaged!

Break-out sessions will be presented by leaders of PK-8 NYS public schools whose Economically Disadvantaged students’ 2016 NYS ELA scores place them among the top 16% of NYS public schools with 40% or more poverty outside of NYC. The schools are from across the great state of New York; they are schools with large and small populations, in rural areas and small cities, with large and small minority populations, and with many and few ELLs.

The Keynote will be delivered by Dr. Manya C. Bouteneff, EdD, researcher, consultant and leading expert on boosting the achievement of traditionally underperforming demographic groups. The talk will focus on her current research on the practices of New York State public-school leaders successful with Economically Disadvantaged students.

See below for short descriptions of individual sessions.

Or, go to https://www.betteroutcomes-llc.com and see the upper right-hand corner for links to detailed descriptions of school populations and session objectives.

The intended audience for the conference is school and district leaders, teacher leaders, and BOCES leaders.

Break-Out Sessions

These are short descriptions only. Please go to https://www.betteroutcomes-llc.com for more detailed descriptions of breakout-session schools' populations and session objectives.

Please select one session of each color

Yellow Sessions (10:30 - 11:20am)

Yellow M. 4. Creating High Performance in a High-Poverty, High-Minority, High-ELL School

Ivan Tolentino, Principal in Portchester-Rye UFSD in Westchester County, will discuss the importance of having a Community-School model, while presenting his creative approach to ENL services, a focus on Mindsets, and ADL-prize-winning character education. In addition, Mr. Tolentino will address his transition into his role as principal: attention to the school’s physical environment, teacher and staff beliefs, and classroom non-negotiables. Participants will leave with descriptions of initiatives to bring back to their teams for possible implementation.

Yellow M. 5. Embracing the Adventure: Encouraging Risk-Taking - Giving Permission to Fail

Dr. Ann Pedersen, Deputy Superintendent and future Superintendent of Lawrence UFSD in Nassau County, will speak about the importance of de-escalating concerns about testing results in order to encourage risk-taking, recognizing “the fierce urgency of now,” and using each moment of instructional time wisely and focusing on AMPS (attention, memory, processing and sequencing). She will bring copies of the Lawrence Resource Guide developed to ensure consistency for the district’s 3,000 students.

Yellow A. 2. Clear and Loving Structures: How Our “What I Need” (WIN) System Builds School Culture and Ensures Every Student’s Needs Are Met

Paul Kesler, Gr. 2-4 Principal and two Gr. 3 teachers in the Batavia CSD in Genesee County, will show how they implemented clear and loving structures and WIN (What I Need) AIS for all students. In addition, they will describe their procedures to respond to persistent absence. Participants will leave with a roll-out plan for making changes to their schedule to provide AIS for all students and an effective Check-In/Check-Out attendance system.

Citrus Green Sessions (11:25am - 12:15pm)

Green A. 1. Steps to Success: The Process of School Improvement

Dr. John McKenna, Gr. 4-5 Principal in the Tonawanda CSD in Erie County (and Past President of SAANYS); and Dr. James Newton, Superintendent, will show participants how to create a school-wide goal-setting system and develop a structure for success around those goals, as well as how to set up a school-wide data-collection and data-analysis system.

Green A. 3. Deciding Moments: Factors that Motivate Students to Choose to Learn and Persevere

William (Bill) Frandino, K-5 Principal in the Monticello CSD in Sullivan County, and teachers will present a balance of formative assessment strategies, use of benchmark data, and the growth and perseverance mindset. Participants will gain ideas for creating intrinsic motivation and avoiding toxic grading practices. Attendees will have the opportunity to conduct a gap analysis comparing their current practice to research-based practices, and will leave with a sketch of initial steps for implementation of any strategies they wish to try, developed with support from the presenters.

Emerald Green Sessions (1:15 - 2:05pm)

Green A. 4. Building a Culture of Belonging and Success

Gina Cappiello, K-5 Principal in the Nyack CSD in Rockland county, together with Math and Reading teachers, will show participants how to create a focus on the Growth Mindset, initiate an off-campus homework assistance area in or near low-income housing developments, and roll out a successful PBIS program.

Green A. 5. Recipes for Success: How Malverne Students Achieve

Superintendent Dr. James Hunderfund and Assistant Superintendent Steve Gilhuley, with other leaders of the Malverne UFSD in Nassau County, will describe how they implemented many successful initiatives that have increased student success, including perception and branding, RtI, the Technology Initiative and Spotlight Standards Initiative.

Blue Sessions (2:10 - 3:00pm)

Blue M. 1. Target and Eradicate: Let’s Get Off the Hamster Wheel: How One School’s RtI Program Took the Challenge and Won!

Patricia Sotero, PK-4 Principal in the Horseheads CSD in Chemung County, with two Reading teachers, will describe creative and doable practices that positively impact students' academic growth in Reading, Writing, and Math. Participants will learn about our laser-focused remediation system and Growth Mindset strategies that can be recreated in any district.

Blue M. 2. Looking at Each Student as an Individual

Dr. Nancy Hackett, Superintendent of the Sullivan West CSD in Sullivan County, will demonstrate how the district uses benchmarking to create high standards while giving individual attention to each student. She will present a creative and fun way to conduct a curriculum review to identify gaps or redundancies and build a three-year plan. In addition, Dr. Hackett will discuss the value of treating poverty as a factor to consider with explicit training in diversity and poverty.

Blue M. 3. Success for All; Whatever it Takes: Removing Obstacles and Empowering Students

Dr. Ralph Ferrie, Superintendent; and Kevin Dougherty and Dr. Christopher Salinas, 7-12 Principals in Sewanhaka CSD in Nassau County, will discuss and demonstrate strategies to remove obstacles and help students from economically disadvantaged backgrounds be empowered to succeed.