Jordan Administrative Memos

Join Utah Gov. Spencer J. Cox and Mark Huntsman, Chair of the Utah State Board of Education, for a live discussion about education in our state.

Wednesday, November 2
6 p.m. to 7 p.m.

See the flyer below for all the details!

DATE:    
Thursday, October 20, 2022

TO: 
All School Administrators

FROM:  
Carolyn Gough, Administrator of Teaching and Learning
Ben Jameson, Director of Evaluation, Research and Accountability

SUBJECT:  
2022 RISE and Utah Aspire Plus Tableau Dashboards Updated with Student Growth Data

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The RISE and Utah Aspire Plus dashboards in Tableau have been updated with 2022 student growth data. School administrators will be able to see the median growth percentile (MGP) for the district, schools, grade levels and individual teachers. In addition, school administrators will be able to see individual student growth percentiles (SGP) for each student for whom growth could be calculated.

The updated dashboards may be found at the links below:

• RISE ELA, math and science growth by school
• RISE student and teacher level data (including proficiency and growth)
• Utah Aspire Plus ELA, math and science growth by school
• Utah Aspire Plus student level data (including proficiency, growth and predicted ACT scores)

Here are a few reminders about growth calculations:

• SGPs are calculated on a scale of 1-99
• SGPs are a comparison of a student’s progress in a content area (ELA, math or science) relative to the progress of other like-scoring peers across the state
  • The comparison data used to calculate SGPs come from the student’s scale scores for a specific content area on the 2021 and 2022 RISE and/or Utah Aspire Plus assessments
  • For example, if a student earned an SGP of 43, that means that this student scored better than 43% of his like-scoring peers between the 2021 and 2022 assessments
• The state considers an SGP of 40 to be typical growth
• Students with low proficiency will need higher growth scores to close achievement gaps
• An MGP is the median, or middle, score of a group of SGPs (class, grade level, school, or district)
  • MGPs answer this question: How fast is my group of students growing in their learning compared to other groups of students in my grade level, school, district or the state?

DATE: 
October 10, 2022

TO: 
Principals and Assistant Principals

FROM: 
Michael Anderson, Associate Superintendent
Travis Hamblin, Director of Student Services
Sharon Jensen, Consultant Student Support Services
Michelle Reyes, Prevention Specialist

SUBJECT: 
October Attendance Flyer 2022

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Principals and Assistant Principals,

The end of the first quarter is near. We hope things are going well in your schools. This month our attendance awareness message focuses on the social and emotional benefits of attending school regularly. Research shows that routines, such as a structured school day, support healthy social emotional development leading to optimal mental health over time. Researches in Texas have also found that when people feel more connected to others they have lower levels of anxiety and depression.

Included is the October flyer sent out to parents on PeachJar. It would be wonderful to make this available in your schools as well. We will continue to send out a new attendance flyer each month as we strive for better attendance.

We hope your attendance in showing some improvements from the last couple of years.

Each October, schools, preschools, workplaces, and individuals across Utah celebrate National Farm to School Month by crunching into Utah-grown apples. October 19th, Apple Crunch Day is a way to get excited about delicious local produce, help students understand where their food comes from, and support local farmers. Across the state, students taste-test different apple varieties, take field trips to local farms, and participate in other apple-themed learning activities.

This year, JSD Nutrition Services has purchased apples from Tagge's Famous Fruits in Brigham City and will be participating in the Utah State Apple Crunch Day on Oct. 19th. Get with your kitchen manager for fun ideas on how to celebrate Apple Crunch Day at your school.

DATE:     
October 6, 2022

TO: 
All School Administrators

FROM:  
Michael Anderson, Associate Superintendent
Travis Hamblin, Director of Student Services
McKinley Withers, Health and Wellness

SUBJECT:  
Comprehensive Threat Assessment Guidelines (CSTAG) Practices and Resources

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JSD schools are increasingly becoming fully trained in Comprehensive Threat Assessment Guidelines (CSTAG). The following information will assist you in accessing and storing the documentation, upcoming training opportunities, and suggestions for creating threat assessment teams in your schools.

How to access forms

• There are several CSTAG forms that can assist with determining what kind of threat and how to respond to a threat. There is a Microsoft Word option as well as a fillable PDF option.
• A copy of these forms can be found in your schools CSTAG google drive. You can make a copy of the fillable forms and then same them after you edit them for each threat assessment. You can also use the copy of the word documents to edit them to best fit your school’s needs.
• Forms can also be found on the Student Services website.

Where to store documentation of your school’s threat assessments

• Every administrator has been given “content manager” access to a CSTAG shared drive for their school. This means that you can create additional folders (within the drive), copy and save documents, scan and upload documents, add users from your threat assessment teams, and change the name of the folder.
• This drive is a common place for all schools to store documentation for completed threat assessments and assist in accountability and liability of investigating threats.
• If you are struggling to find your shared drive in google, please reach out to Angie Rasmussen.

Upcoming trainings for CSTAG Level 2

• For those completing CSTAG level 1 or have other school personnel you are adding to your threat assessment teams, there will be additional level 2 CSTAG training opportunities in the upcoming months.
• There will be more information about these training sessions as the dates get solidified. Ideally there will be a training offered in January and March, and then again in July.
• To sign up for CSTAG level 2 training on November 4th go to JPLS.

Creating Threat Assessment teams in your schools

• If you are interested in having other faculty members at your school complete the CSTAG training, please send an email with their first name, last name and district email address to Angie Rasmussen.
• Each participant costs the school $85. Once an email is received, the training will be set up by Student Services who will reach out to your school for reimbursement. The participant will then receive instructions via Navigate 360 on how to begin the online training.

If you have any questions, please reach out to Angie Rasmussen.

DATE:  
October 5, 2022

TO:  
School Psychologists and School Psychology Interns

FROM: 
Michael Anderson, Associate Superintendent
Travis Hamblin, Director of Student Services
Fulvia Franco, Program Specialist – Guidance

SUBJECT: 
October School Psychologist Guidance Meeting

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A meeting for school psychologists and school psychology interns has been scheduled for Friday, October 14, 2022, from 12:30 to 3:30 p.m. in the auditorium of the Auxiliary Services Building (7905 South Redwood Road). Juliana Peterson, doctoral student in the Clinical/Counseling Psychology Program at Utah State University, will provide us with a 3-hour presentation on ACT Clinical Skills. We had originally scheduled Dr. Tyler Renshaw from USU to do this presentation but he unfortunately had to cancel last week due to some other commitments.

Part-time Staff: I would appreciate it if you could adjust your schedules in order to attend this meeting.

cc:
Principals