Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Secondary Instruction topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Secondary staff push higher‑order questions, AVID strategies and weekly math fluency to lift readiness
Summary
Secondary leaders told the board they will boost rigor by training teachers to ask higher‑order questions, expand AVID reading strategies, track advanced placements more proactively and implement weekly math fact fluency for grades 6–8.
Secondary and junior high leaders presented classroom‑level strategies at the Oct. 13 Cascade SD 5 work session aimed at increasing student readiness for advanced coursework and state assessments.
Mister Rasmuson and junior high staff said the focus this year is threefold: increase instructional rigor by asking higher‑order questions, expand critical reading strategies across departments and restore consistent math fact fluency practice. “We’re asking teachers to ask better questions,” Mister Rasmuson said during his presentation on building‑level strategies.
Junior high leaders described AVID strategies and interactive notebooks used to help students transition from a single homeroom to multiple teachers, and they outlined a structure for identifying students who should be accelerated into advanced classes. One administrator urged proactive movement of students into higher courses: “I’d rather push them hard and then have to have them back up,” the junior high presenter said, describing a preference for erring on the side of challenge.
On math fluency, presenters said all grades will practice fact fluency at least once per week and cited targeted plans (week‑by‑week focus on specific facts) intended to improve number sense and reduce long‑term intervention needs.
Why it matters: the strategies aim to increase the number of students ready for advanced classes and to build academic stamina ahead of state testing; administrators flagged an opportunity cost in classroom time and said they would replace lower‑value activities rather than simply add minutes.
Next steps: department professional development to share reading strategies, more teacher collaboration across sixth through eighth grades and continued use of iReady diagnostics and teacher referrals to identify advanced students. No formal board action was taken on these instructional strategies.
