Pupil Instruction Related Day

by Robert "Bob" Lewandowski

There will be NO SCHOOL on Friday, January 30 2015 as it will be utilized as a Pupil Instruction Related (PIR) day.  This day is sometimes referred to as a Professional Development day. According to Montana Annotated Code: 20-1-304. Pupil-instruction-related day. A pupil-instruction-related day is a day of teacher activities devoted to improving the quality of instruction. The activities may include but are not limited to inservice training, attending state meetings of teacher organizations, and conducting parent conferences. A maximum of 7 pupil-instruction-related days may be conducted during a school year, with a minimum of 3 of the days for instructional and professional development meetings or other appropriate inservice training, if the days are planned in accordance with the policy adopted by the board of public education. The days may not be included as a part of the required minimum aggregate hours of pupil instruction.
     History: En. 75-7405 by Sec. 369, Ch. 5, L. 1971; R.C.M. 1947, 75-7405; amd. Sec. 1, Ch. 638, L. 1989; amd. Sec. 3, Ch. 430, L. 1997; amd. Sec. 5, Ch. 138, L. 2005.


All PIR days observed by the district are approved in the annual School Calendar by the Board. The January 30, 2015 and March 20, 2015 PIR days will focus on two instructional aspects: 1) student engagement with the simple use of classroom friendly data tools and 2) preparation for the "Smarter Balance" assessment that will be given this spring to students.

Dr. Mark Stock

The former aspect of our PIR will be delivered by Dr. Mark Stock. Dr. Stock has been a teacher, professor, superintendent and author.  In his words, the PIR that will be presented to the faculty is based on the fact that "It seems like it is getting more and more difficult to engage our students and get them to participate in their own education.  In this practical and teacher friendly workshop, staff will identify a current classroom difficulty that makes teaching difficult. They will then learn a small handful of practical data tools that they might use to apply to their situation. These same tools can be used by all grade levels and all professional staff including administration, counselors, nurses or anyone working in the schools.  There is no magic answer for getting people to own their own behavior.  But one thing is for certain.  If they don’t know where they are at, they certainly can’t figure out where to go next! Participants will leave with a few practical tools they can add to their tool box in the never ending effort to get students to try to engage and take ownership for their work." 

We are excited to have Dr. Stock work with the faculty and look forward to the outcomes produced in the classroom by students.