Last year, we worked to develop the School Health Scorecards. Who was we? The Diocesan Education Advisory Council formed a committee, led by principal Jonna Johnson, to develop the metrics and name the scorecard. The Department of Catholic Schools worked to compile the information. First, we created the Diocesan-wide health scorecard which showed the Diocesan averages for each of the 21 metrics as well as the range of scores. Then we created the individual health scorecards for each school which placed the school score next to the Diocesan average. We then pushed it out through this newsletter, a podcast, and direct email.

We learned that we were missing academic metrics to show our academic progress and thus felt like it was important for all schools to adopt a formative assessment measure. This year, we’ll include some of the STAR data but it won’t be until next year that we can include a year’s tally of STAR growth compared to national averages. After all, we want to be able to show how well our schools are doing.

There will be a few other small changes. The Audit Department was kind enough to calculate parish subsidy averages over the past five years, for example, so the “percent subsidy” figure can reflect a commitment of a parish over time, avoiding the blips of PPP and ERC monies.

We've begun compiling what we can. We found that Kindergarten enrollments are off across most schools with the average of 5.1 students less than each school's 10-year average. BISON scholarships tally almost $2 million across all of our elementary schools, which is an incredibly encouraging number. Also, it looks like enrollment is down but the staffing levels look the same (the student teacher ratio looks to have fallen from 12:1 to 10:1). Those are first looks at the data which produce interesting insights into our schools.

It’s now time to begin compiling this year’s School Health Scorecards in time for this fall’s Diocesan Education Summit on November 10th. To that end, we developed a simple survey to collect the information not found in other sources. Please take a few minutes to fill out this survey by October 28th.

Previous blogs can be found here. Want to keep up with the conversations surrounding Catholic education? Set up your own Google Alert, subscribe to this newsletter by clicking "follow," subscribe to the Catholic Schools Daily, or subscribe to the Catholic School Matters podcast.

Dr. Tim Uhl

Say Goodbye to Traditional Spelling Tests?

I have vivid memories of taking spelling tests in the third grade. We would receive our lists on Monday. For homework, we had to write them three times on Tuesday. Wednesday, we had to use each word in a sentence. Each night my parents would quiz me on the words until I memorized them all. Then, on Thursday, we took a “pre-test,” and if a student received a 100%, they didn’t have to retake the test on Friday and got to pick a tiny animal eraser from a treasure box. My spelling tests were not connected to vowel patterns or certain digraphs. They were simply a race to see who could memorize the most words and earn that adorable eraser.

Fifteen years later, I became a third grade teacher and followed the same process. Students were given a list to memorize and a few activities to complete during the week, and tests were on Thursday and Friday. At that time, this was the only way I knew how to “teach” spelling. Yet, in reality, I didn’t do any teaching at all. I made the same mistake my third grade teacher made and put pressure on students to memorize, memorize, memorize!

Does this process sound familiar to anyone? Perhaps, you experienced this same process as a child. Or, maybe, it is the same thing happening in your classroom today. With everything we know about the science of reading, it is time for an upgrade! We must step away from memorization alone and lead students to master spelling more effectively. Now that we know better, it is time to do better. So, what can spelling look like in your classroom?

You may consider a word study approach based on phonics, spelling, and vocabulary that teaches and challenges students to recognize patterns in words.

Imagine you just spent the week teaching your students the sh and th digraphs. You hunted for sh and th words during read-alouds; students practiced building words with letter tiles and tapped out many words with these digraphs. But, instead of sending home a list of ten words with these digraphs for students to memorize, you sent home activities, like the ones above, for students to practice using these digraphs. Fast forward to Friday. Test them on words they have not yet seen with those same digraphs. For example, you may have used the words ship and thumb during your instruction. But, you choose to test them on the words shirt and thin. These are not words students were encouraged to memorize. Instead, they are new words, and students can apply their knowledge of these two digraphs and demonstrate mastery.

When we give students math or science tests, we don’t give them the questions ahead of time to memorize the answers. So, why do we do this with spelling? Challenge yourself to create assessments that require students to apply new knowledge or a new skill instead of relying on memorization. You can do it. So can your students!

Math Competition!

Our first diocesan math competition will be held on November 18th! Click the link below for more information and to sign up your school’s team(s). Be sure to click the more information tab. Sign Up Here!

Previous "Academic Corner" posts from Kari

1. Register for the BPO concert here.

2. RSVP here for the Oct 27th principal meeting.

3. Reminder that the November 1st deadline for the required Safe Environment Training for youth in school is right around the corner.

4. When logging into STAR please make sure you are using our updated link here!

5. Here is the link for the Office Blog with the latest forms and information. This can be found on the website under "Blogs.

• 10/21/22 NCEA Updates/Corrections Due to our Office via Google Sheet
• 10/31/22 Deadline to Register for RISE Conference to get Free Hotel Room
• 11/1/22 Title I Letters Sent to Each Public School District w/Poverty Students
• 11/8/22 VOTE! Also encourage all staff and parents to vote, as well
• 11/18/22 BEDS Report Due to NYSED via Business Portal
• 12/1 Fire Safety Inspection Must be Completed; Report Due 12/16/2022

NYS Health Care Worker Bonus (HWB) Program (copy of 10/11/22 Email): In my August 30th Catholic School Matters post I shared some information about the NYS Health Care Worker Bonus (HWB) Program and wanted to make sure you saw the NYSED email and memo from NYS about the program. As you can see from the memo, the portal is now open for “Educational Employer” submission.

Remember, in order to submit a claim you must complete a NYS Health Care and Mental Hygiene Worker Bonus Program (HWB) Employer Attestation for the school and each qualified staff member will have to complete a New York State Health Care and Mental Hygiene Worker Bonus (HWB) Employee Attestation (ny.gov) – these two completed documents must be submitted along with each claim. If you have not already done so, your school must create an account using your SFS Vendor ID number on the HWB Program Portal in order to submit a claim.

When you have the completed attestations and are ready to work on your submissions, go to the portal and then sign in (or create a new account). There are videos posted by NYS to assist you with this process. The main website for the program has most of the information you might need. Questions about the program and/or eligibility should be directed to the NYS Department of Health at NYSWorkersBonus@health.ny.gov or by calling the HWB Call Center at (866) 682-0077. As always, please let me know if you have any questions about this program and I will do my best to assist you.

BEDS Report: Thank you for completing your NCEA Reports and making any requested corrections (now or after you receive your review from our office); now I recommend that you move on to your NYS BEDS report. Once you complete the Google Sheet we provided to help you prepare for the NYS BEDS report based on your student and staff attendance from 10/5/2022, you should enter the information online by 11/18/2022 using the NYSED Business Portal. When you are ready to file your BEDS report with NYSED, go to “IRS Data Exchange” under “My Applications” (do not use “BEDS/IMF” – that only holds your archival data now). It takes about 10 to 15 seconds to load but you should see “BEDS - Nonpublic Data Form” for “Collection Year” 2022-2023 as one of your choices on the new site. Once you click on it (and wait – it takes a while) you should be able to enter your data using this form. NYSED will warn you if you enter some things incorrectly; if that happens, make the necessary corrections and then update your Google Sheet before emailing it to us to let us know your form is complete.

Reminder: School Fire Safety Inspections must be completed Due by December 1 – Click here for Forms and Info

Reminder: RISE and CSAANYS Conferences: Registration continues for the annual Religious and Independent Schools Educators (RISE) conference taking place in-person at the Albany Marriott Hotel (189 Wolf Road, Albany, NY 12205) from 1:00pm on November 14th to Noon on November 15th. There is a $140 cost to attend this conference but two free nights at the hotel is included for each participant. This is an excellent professional development opportunity for you and your teachers. Here are the Links for more information: RISE Conference | nyscirs, and the Preliminary Program. To register, go to RISE 2022 Conference Registration Form (google.com)

First Aid & CPR Registration – Winter Sports , Oct 26th, 6-9 pm. Reminder that all coaches are encouraged to keep current their First Aid & CPR.

Please see the athletics/activities blog for the most up to date information.

1. Weekly principal Zooms at 9:00 am on Wednesdays
2. Principal Meeting, Oct 27th, St. Andrew's
3. Diocesan Education Summit, November 10th. This is for principals, pastors/canonical administrators, board chairs, and one other stakeholder (4 from each school). Click here to RSVP.

1. Devotional Calendar 2022-23.
2. October's Sportsmanship Videos
3. The Diocesan Health Scorecard.
4. School Pastor's Administrative Guide
5. "Principal Task List." This is organized as a living Google Doc by month.
6. New Policy Manual for all Catholic schools in the Diocese of Buffalo.
7. New Operations Manual for Diocesan Catholic schools.
8. Administrator Goal Sheet and the new Administrator evaluation form

With so many events planned in October & November, the podcast is going on a little hiatus. This season's Catholic School Matters podcast episodes:

• Dr. Kevin Baxter, the co-editor of Conscience & Catholic Education and the keynote for thisf all's Diocesan Education Summit. We discuss the book and how it pertains to current issues in Catholic education. Here is the direct link to the podcast episode.
• I spoke to Shaka Rawls, the principal of Leo Catholic HS on Chicago's Southside. He is a dynamic leader of this predominantly African-American Catholic high school who describes the mission of the school as one which serves the community. Here is a direct link to the podcast.
  
• I talk with Greg Richmond, the Superintendent of the Archdiocese of Chicago. In his second year, Greg comes from the charter world and shares his unique perspective on this new position which he loves.
  
• This week's podcast gives us a chance to hear the perspective of a person fired from her position at a Catholic high school due to same-sex marriage.
• Season 7 kicked off with a great conversation with Rich Clark of Cleveland. He helped found a Cristo Rey High School and played a pivotal role in Partnership School's Expansion to Cleveland. Our interview was recorded on September 2nd and Rich passed away on September 20th.

Here is a link to the podcast on Apple Podcasts.

Email: catholicschoolmatters@gmail.com
Website: www.wnycatholic.org
Location: Buffalo, NY, USA
Phone: 716-847-5520
Twitter: @drtimuhl

1. Our Iceberg is Melting: Changing & Succeeding Under Any Conditions (2016) by John Kotter & Holger Rathgeber
   

2. The Comfort Crisis: Embrace Discomfort to Reclaim your Wild, Happy, Healthy Self (2021) by Michael Easter

3. The Art of Happiness (2022) by His Holiness the Dalai Lama

4. Everything Belongs (2003) by Richard Rohr

5. Leading Change (1996 ) by John P. Kotter

Click this link for a full list of my professional reading

Oct 11, 2022 "Devotion & Sportsmanship"

Oct 4, 2022 "Strategic Updates"

Sep 27, 2022 "Cloud of Witnesses"

Sep 20, 2022 "The Learning Platform"

Sep 13, 2022 "Diocesan Education Summit"

For previous newsletters, click this link

A couple of years ago I set out to write a book which would explore the challenges of Catholic school leadership. My premise that there are no easy answers and that we have to learn from our (and other's) mistakes in order to form a mindset appropriate for orchestrating conflict proved prescient as we all faced completely new and unexpected challenges in 2020. The book,Orchestrating Conflict: Case Studies in Catholic Leadership is now available on Amazon or on the Barnes & Noble site in print or e-book formats. The book explores issues in Catholic school leadership and the tensions between building community and following Church policies and introduces deliberate practice as a method for leadership formation.