September 2006
Uniontown Area School District

The school year began with the familiar hustle and bustle of teachers and students settling into new routines and procedures at the Lafayette school.  Eileen and Amanda visited the school daily to collaborate with Mrs. Work, Mrs. Pramuk, and the grade-level teams on improving schedules and instructional plans as Project MP³ finally began.  The new instructional framework coupled with co-teaching and inclusion naturally gave rise to challenges and frustrations.  Project staff and Lafayette’s faculty worked tirelessly to fine-tune the120 minute reading block which includes: whole-group core instruction, flexible small-group work, and literacy centers. Teachers were asked to take risks, problem-solve, and embrace flexibility.

While Eileen provided daily on-site support throughout the month, Dr. Zigmond and Amanda visited the school weekly to spend time planning, collaborating, and learning with the principal, teachers, and students.  Amanda also enjoyed working with Dr. Machesky and the Lafayette School Improvement team on developing their school improvement plan for reading achievement.  Project MP³ is proud to be part of the plan for leading all students to reading success!

Amanda and a team of trained graduate students spent two weeks at Lafayette, Ben Franklin, and Menallen schools assessing students’ in grades K-4 for the Fall benchmark period.  All assessors would like to commend the students for their hard work and perseverance during the testing.  We would also like to thank the staff, administration, and faculty from each school for their flexibility and cooperation.  It was a pleasure visiting your classrooms!  As the results trickled in, the whirlwind of data entry began.  Kathy tirelessly keyed in DIBELS and Maze scores then generated performance summaries for each school, grade level, classroom, and student.

Amanda also reconnected with the site managers from our PreK partners at the Fayette County Headstart.  The managers and their staff are excited to work with the Pitt team again this year and are particularly interested in promoting data-driven decision making in their classrooms.  Although IGDI assessments and classroom visits are not likely to begin until November at the Uniontown or Brownsville centers, Project MP³ staff anxiously awaits playing, singing, and learning with our friends at Headstart this Fall.

What a productive, first month!  Things are only going to get busier so be sure to check back soon for more updates.


Amanda Kloo - Project Coordinator, University of Pittsburgh

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