Mon Mar 10 2014, 5:00pm
District Meeting Room
Regular Meeting

REPORTS TO THE BOARD

Director of Learning Report

RE Director of Learning:

Common Core Instructional Shifts:

As you are aware we have been preparing staff for the changes in content outlined in the common cores standards. Most recently our local math expert Heidi Rhodes presented a workshop for our third and fourth grade teachers, it was excellent! Staff walked away with a deepened understanding of the math content and some instructional strategies to support the shifts in math content coming with the common core.

As a follow up these two grade levels are piloting a math module from the Engage NY resources. We will be surveying all pilot participants in grades K- 8 by the end of April to gather feedback on the Engage NY resources. I intend to present the results of this survey to the board in early May and potentially propose an interim adoption of these resources to support our transition to the new math standards.

 

Community Meeting and Parent Communication:

This month we will be providing a wealth of resources to parents to inform them about the common core. In the link below are the two major communication documents going out to parents, the Parent Road Maps, and Top Ten Things Every Parent Should Know about the Common Core Standards. At every conference we will be distributing these materials as well as hosting a community informational meeting on March 10th at 7pm.

 

http://www.woodlandschools.org/node/2896

 

Assessment Operations:

As you are already aware, two of our schools are participating in a pilot of the new Smarter Balanced Assessments. These assessments will be the new student achievement measure of the common cores standards. During the pilot of these assessments we hope to learn about the format of the assessment, and how we will need to prepare systemically/technologically to provide the assessment to all students in grades 3-12 next year. Students in the middle school that are taking the Smarter Balanced Assessments will not take the MSP this spring. This means parents will NOT receive results of their students’ progress next fall as they typically have. This is due to the fact the assessment is only as pilot. A letter has been distributed to parents so they know not to expect results next fall (see attached).

 

Otherwise all state assessment operations for the Measures of Student Progress and End of Course Assessments are full tilt and running smooth thus far.

Attached Files:
SBAC Pilot Letter.pdf application/pdf 259K