School Board Recognitions

September 6, 2006

6. Student, Employee, and Public Awards and Recognition

6.A. Superintendent’s Quality Award

The School Board is pleased to recognize staff from Landstown High School as recipients of the Superintendent’s Quality Award. We’d request that staff members please come forward to be recognized. Accepting the award on behalf of Landstown High School are School Improvement Specialist Thomas Taylor, along with 11th grade English teachers: Frances Fok, Rebecca Newland, Alberta Riddick, Kristen Sanderlin, Karyn Simonelli, and Cameron Vadersen.

Nominations for the Quality Award are submitted to the Office of Organizational Development and are selected for recognition based on the quality practices demonstrated. This award was created to recognize improvement efforts that impact the quality of learning in the Virginia Beach City Public Schools

Grade 11 English teachers and the School Improvement Specialist at Landstown High School investigated: new changes to the English: Reading End-of-Course SOL exam; previous scores and student response data; effective strategies for instruction; and tools for collaborative implementation of the Understanding by Design Model.

Through a thorough review of the data, these teachers created a Plan for Continuous Improvement for English 11, met to coordinate materials and strategies, and created collaborative materials and common assessments. After creation of a mid-term assessment based on the new standards, they developed a unique SOL workbook focusing on the revised SOL concepts. With the implementation of the English 11 action plan, initial scores from May 2006 indicate dramatic improvement to suggest that these teaching strategies were effective in enhancing student achievement. The most recent score data indicates this has been the year with the greatest success for Landstown High School on English: Reading End of Course SOLs.

The Board is pleased to present the staff from Landstown High School the Superintendent’s Quality Award for their efforts.

Congratulations!

Mr. Chairman, that concludes our recognitions for this evening.

School Board Recognitions Archives