2017 five year comprehensive master plan

CALVERT COUNTY PUBLIC SCHOOLS BRIDGE TO EXCELLENCE IN PUBLIC SCHOOLS

2017 FIVE-YEAR COMPREHENSIVE MASTER PLAN

Nondiscrimination Statement

Calvert County Public Schools does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, age, ancestry or

national origin, familial status, marital status, physical or mental disability, sexual orientation, gender identity

and expression, or genetic information or age in its programs and activities and provides equal access to the

Boy Scouts and other designated youth groups. The following persons have been designated to handle

inquiries regarding the non-discrimination policies:

➢ Director of Student Services

➢ Director of Human Resources

443-550-8000

For further information on notice of non-discrimination, visit the Office of Civil Rights Complaint

Assessment System at: http://ocrcas.ed.gov or call 1-800-421-3481.

************************************************

Anti-sexual, Anti-racial and Anti-disability Harassment Statement

Discrimination can manifest itself in behaviors such as bullying, harassment, or intimidation of

individuals.

Calvert County Public Schools does not tolerate any form of harassment including, but not limited to, sexual,

racial, or disability. Any individual (student, employee, or community member) who believes that he or she

has been subjected to any form of harassment is encouraged to report the allegation of harassment. Students,

parents and community members may report allegations of harassment to:

Ms. Kimberly Roof

Director of Student Services

Calvert County Public Schools

1305 Dares Beach Road

Prince Frederick, MD 20678

Employees may report allegations of harassment to:

Ms. Laveeta Hutchins

Director of Human Resources

Calvert County Public Schools

1305 Dares Beach Road

Prince Frederick, MD 20678

Calvert County Public Schools is committed to conducting a prompt investigation for any allegation of

harassment. If harassment has occurred, the individual will be disciplined promptly. Disciplinary actions for

students found to have engaged in any form of harassment may result in suspension or expulsion. Disciplinary

actions for employees found to have engaged in any form of harassment may result in suspension or

termination.

Calvert County Public Schools encourages all students, parents, employees, and community members to work

together to prevent any form of harassment. For further information on notice of non-discrimination, visit the

Office of Civil Rights Complaint Assessment System at: http://ocrcas.ed.gov or call 1-800-421-3481.

Table of Contents

Certification Page iii

Local Planning Team Members iv

Executive Summary 1

Finance 13

Maryland’s Goals, Objective and Strategies 15

o PARCC English Language Arts Literacy Grade 3-8 and Grade

10

o PARCC Mathematics for Grades 3-8

o PARCC Algebra I

o PARCC Algebra II

o High School Assessment Biology

o High School Assessment Government

16

27

38

41

43

46

Annual Update Assessment Administered by CCPS 50

ii

2017 Master Plan Annual Update

(Include this page as a cover to the submission indicated below.)

Master Plan Annual Update

Due: October 16, 2017

Local Education Agency Submitting this Report: Calvert County Public Schools

Address: 1305 Dares Beach Road, Prince Frederick, MD 20678

Local Point of Contact: Diane A. Workman

Telephone: 443-550-8009

E-mail: [email protected]

WE HEREBY CERTIFY that, to the best of our knowledge, the information provided in the 2017

Annual Update to our Bridge to Excellence Master Plan is correct and complete and adheres to

the requirements of the Bridge to Excellence. We further certify that this Annual Update has

been developed in consultation with members of the local education agency’s current Master Plan

Planning Team and that each member has reviewed and approved the accuracy of the information

provided in the Annual Update.

_______________________________________ ________________________

Signature of Local Superintendent of Schools Date

or Chief Executive Officer

______________________________________ ________________________

Signature of Local Point of Contact Date

iii

Local Planning Team Members

Use this page to identify the members of the school system’s Bridge to Excellence Master Plan

planning team. Please include affiliation or title where applicable.

Name Affiliation/Title

Diane Workman Point of Contact, Assistant Superintendent of Instruction

Nancy Gregory Supervisor of Special Education

Marcy Gruver Supervisor of Special Education

Christina Harris Director of Special Education

Edith Hutchins Director of Finance

Christine Jewett Supervisor of Finance

Yovonda Kolo Supervisor of High School Science, STEM, Tech Ed,

Science Fair

Cecelia Lewis Supervisor of Social Studies, Student Councils, History Fair

Janel McPhillips Supervisor of Science, PreK – Grade 8

Leanne Meisinger Supervisor of Elementary Reading

Catherine Page Supervisor of Accountability

Kimberly Roof Director of Student Services

Earl Sorsby Staff Accountant

Britta Sparks Supervisor of World Language, PE, ESOL

Janet Stephanson Supervisor of Special Education

Joe Sutton Supervisor of Secondary Math

Sandy Walker Supervisor of Equity and School Improvement

Kimberly Watts Supervisor of Secondary English, Reading, Language Arts

Jennifer Young Supervisor of Elementary Math

All Local Planning Team Members are affiliated with Calvert County Public Schools.

iv

Executive Summary

Bridge to Excellence 2017 Part I 1

Executive Summary

Introduction

The mission of Calvert County Public Schools (CCPS) is to produce graduates who are

responsible citizens who are prepared for college and careers. To accomplish this

mission, CCPS is committed to ensuring that through a collaborative, research–based,

decision-making process students are provided effective, purposeful instruction that

results in high-levels of learning.

During the 2016-17 school year, CCPS staff engaged in developing a Strategic Plan,

identifying five priorities. For the next several years, the work of CCPS staff will be to

support the goals and objectives as listed in the Strategic Plan. The five priorities include:

• Equity

• Student Outcomes

• Climate/Culture

• Workforce

• Community Engagement

Calvert County Public Schools’ actions and initiatives are directed toward addressing the

priorities as outlined in the Strategic Plan over the life of the Master Plan and beyond:

Priority 1: Equity

In support of this priority area, CCPS will:

• Provide equitable learning opportunities to all students in order to help

them become determined, independent, and successful learners;

• Promote a culturally responsive workforce; and

• Promote equitable allocation of resources that is transparent and is clearly

communicated.

Equity Measures for Monitoring Progress:

• A district plan will be developed

• A comprehensive communication plan will be developed and implemented

to disseminate the district equity plan to all CCPS employees and

communities

• Staff will have completed cultural competency professional development

• Staff will perceive high expectations and positive attitudes towards all

students regardless of their background

• Students will perceive high expectations and positive attitudes towards all

students regardless of their background.

Priority 2: Student Outcomes


• Promote the growth for all students;

• Eliminate all achievement gaps;


• Enhance opportunities for high ability learners to thrive and be

academically challenged;

• Prepare students for postsecondary education and/or career focused

options; and

• Support the expansion and integration of digital learning to enable all

students to be connected to the world and prepare them to be 21st century

learners.

Student Outcomes Measures for Monitoring Progress:

• Students in grades 3, 5, 8, and 9 will be on or above grade level in reading

• Students in grades 3, 5, 8, and 9 will be on or above grade level in

mathematics

• Students will participate in dual enrollment courses at the high school

level

• Achievement gaps of specialized populations (e.g. race, ELL, students

with disabilities, FARMS) will decrease

Priority 3: Climate and Culture


• Integrate students’ social-emotional and behavioral learning into daily

instruction;

• Provide a nurturing, respectful and safe environment for all; and

• Build and nurture the wellness and morale amongst staff.

Climate and Culture Measures for Monitoring Progress:

• Students will report feeling safe at school

• Students will report that at least one adult in their school cares about them

• School suspension rates will decrease

• Parents will report that they are satisfied with the school

• Parents will feel their children are supported by teachers

Priority 4: Workforce


• Enhance the diversity of the CCPS workforce

• Retain high-quality staff

• Provide staff with personalized and differentiated professional learning

enabling them to grow and increase student success

Workforce Measures for Monitoring Progress:

• The percentage of racially diverse teachers that closely match the student

populations belonging to minority groups will increase

• The percentage of staff who report leaving CCPS for a neighboring school

system will increase.

Priority 5: Community Engagement



• Work to ensure that all staff, families, and community businesses and

organizations are actively engaged with the district as advocates, allies and

partners to increase equity, access, and results for all students

Community Engagement Measures for Monitoring Progress:

• The percentage of students who are receiving industry or business

experiences through internships or working partnerships will increase

• The percentage of schools in the district that have a parent involvement

organization or business partner will increase

• The number of opportunities for community members to meet with Board

members (and provide feedback on district initiatives) outside of the

Board meetings (e.g. through Board chats, Board coffees, or rotation of

location of Board meetings) will increase

• The number of school-business partnerships developed will increase

• The number of community mentors volunteering in the schools will

increase

As we continue to further develop our specific measures for monitoring progress, we will

also continue to identify, plan for and implement new initiatives in order to meet the

priorities of the strategic plan. Initiatives and strategies implemented to date to address

the priority areas include:

1. Equity:

a. The CCPS created and filled a new position for a Supervisor of Equity, for the

2016-17 school year.

b. A new policy, dedicated to equity was written and approved by the Board of

Education. Resources have been allocated to support the policy.

c. All schools have an Equity Team, comprised of a representative sampling of staff.

One representative from each team meets monthly with the Supervisor of Equity

to plan and develop professional development. These professional development

lessons will be shared in the schools by the Equity teams.

d. The District Equity Team has created lesson plans which will be presented to all

staff in faculty meetings during the 2017-18 school year.

e. The Supervisor of Equity has collaborated with the Director of Human Resources

to recruit certificated minority staff to fill vacancies for teachers and

administrators.

f. The Supervisor of Equity and other key staff members meet quarterly with the

Closing the Achievement Gap Coalition in an effort to address CCPS

achievement gaps.

g. The Supervisor of Equity is facilitating book studies, open to all CCPS

employees, on the Big Read, Closing the Attitude Gap.

h. The Supervisor of Equity has partnered with Concerned Black Women to develop

a student Summit focused on leadership, self-advocacy, and empowerment

i. The Supervisor of Equity has reached out to community organization leaders to

develop a community based Equity Leadership Team equipped to support and

promote equity initiatives within the school system.


j. CCPS has made annual diversity training mandatory for all employees through

SafeSchools, an online learning platform.

k. The Supervisor of Equity has facilitated the collaboration of best practices and

shared resources among all Minority Achievement clubs.

l. The Supervisor of Equity and selected staff will attend state and/or national

conferences to increase their own professional capacity.

2. Student Outcomes:

a. Professional development has been provided to administrators and teachers in

unpacking the disaggregated data from PARCC, Pearson reports and other state

and local assessments. Students are being identified to participate in informal and

formal interventions. Instruction is targeted towards specific standards which have

proved to be challenging to identified students.

b. During the 2016-17 school year, CCPS began to use PreviLearn Diagnostic

assessments. Data was collected and analyzed during grade level or department

PLCs. Again, students were identified using this data to receive targeted

instruction during daily instruction or Flex Period (elementary), advisory period

or hour lunch (middle school) and hour lunch (high school).

c. CCPS has had a focus on Universal Design for Learning for the last 4 years.

Administrators and teachers have been provided with intensive and

comprehensive professional development on UDL. School Improvement Teams

have written strategies for implementing UDL into their School Improvement

Plans. Staff will continue to create and implement walk-through documents

during focused walk-throughs. A CCPS website focused on UDL has been created

and shared with administrators, teachers and parents. Planning and delivering

instruction following the tenets of UDL is an expectation.

d. All certificated staff (administrators, teachers, counselors, etc.) are required to

have an SLO or personal learning plan targeted to close a gap. Data conferences

are held with teachers, supervisors and administrators to review classroom and

student data. Teachers and administrators then collaborate to make data-driven

decisions regarding future instructional planning.

e. Dr. William Daggett, founder and president of the International Center for

Leadership in Education, provided a key note address during the 2017 A&S

Leadership Conference. Dr. Daggett is recognized for moving educational

systems towards more rigorous and relevant instructional programming. The

overarching theme for A&S professional development will be Rigorous and

Relevant Instruction.

f. CCPS continues to expand its use of SIOP strategies across the district. Evening

workshops were offered for teachers, professional development sessions were

held throughout the year at the PLC, building, and system level. SIOP strategies

were linked to ELA standards and embedded in curriculum. In addition, we

provide daily ESOL instruction to all ELs in our regional programs.

g. CCPS provides daily instruction to ELL students in regional programs. ESOL

teachers monitor EL progress through data from grade level and content teachers

as well as grade level and content assessments and ACCESS 2.0. ESOL and

content teachers collaborate through planning and during PLCs.


h. The ESOL staff collaborate with content supervisors to embed SIOP strategies

into curricular resources and in providing professional development.

3. Climate & Culture:

a. Dr. Howie Knoff, leading expert on social/emotional learning, provided

professional development to all A&S members during a June training day.

b. Dr. Knoff has been contracted with to provide ongoing training and support to

identified schools to improve adult to student relationships, clearly identify

behavioral expectations, and reduce discipline referrals and suspensions and to

ultimately improve student achievement.

c. Four school social workers have been hired to support identified schools’ efforts

in improving social/emotional learning. These individuals will provide supports to

students and be the liaison between families and community resources.

d. All schools distributed climate/culture surveys with staff, students and parents

during the 2016-17 school year. Data collected will be used to develop plans of

improvement. Climate surveys will be used at the end of the 2017-18 school year

to document areas of growth and areas of needed improvement.

e. CCPS is providing Olweaus training to schools through feeder patterns as part of

a 5-year plan.

f. Training has been provided to staff and identified school(s) on Restorative

Practices

g. Differentiated staffing of school psychologist at targeted schools starting with

2017-2018 SY

4. Workforce

a. The Department of Human Resources planned and implemented a recruitment

plan which focused on recruiting minority certificated staff.

b. A teacher recruitment fair was held in April 2017 during which open contracts

were offered to highly qualified teachers.

c. The Director and Supervisor of Human Resources collaborated with the Coalition

of Closing the Achievement Gap to gain insight as to strategies to recruit and

retain minority certificated staff.

d. The CCPS Citizens Advisory Committee studied the challenge of recruiting and

retaining certificated minority staff and provided recommendations to the Board

of Education. These recommendations are currently under consideration for

implementation.

e. Under the direction of Dr. Curry, CCPS and CSM are investigating a partnership

for the recruitment of future educators.

f. The Human Resources Department is continuously exploring innovative measures

to recruit high need areas (SLP, Spec Ed, Math, World Lang, etc.) a new

recruiting process will be utilized for the 2017-2018 fiscal year.

5. Community Engagement:

a. A position of Director of Strategic Partnerships and Community Engagement

(SPCE) has been created and filled.

b. The Director of SPCE is responsible for creating a CCPS Foundation.

c. The Director of SPCE will seek out and create business partnerships to support

the initiatives of CCPS.


All data reported in this Master Plan Update shows that CCPS is a high-performing

school system that has demonstrated growth in many of the state and federally-mandated

reporting areas; yet we continue to have a growing sense of urgency to move all students

to their highest levels of achievement. PARCC 2015 has provided us with baseline data

which has been compared with PARCC 2016 data and now PARCC 2017 data in order to

determine instructional implications. An analysis of the 2017 data indicates that CCPS

continues to struggle with specific sub-groups -- students with disabilities, FaRMS,

African American and ESOL. In addition to focusing on increased rigor for all students,

providing high-quality professional development to all instructional staff to ensure that

they are adequately trained to provide high-quality instruction in all content areas to all

students is a priority focus.

In order to address achievement gaps and equity and access gaps, a Supervisor of Equity

was hired in the 2016-17 school year. He was charged with providing professional

development, resources and guidance to all staff as we strive to close achievement gaps.

He has also worked closely, and will continue to work with the Department of Human

Resources to increase the hiring of minority staff. The District Equity Leadership Team

continue to meet on a consistent basis to plan for and deliver professional development to

staff. Modules have been developed which will be shared in each school during the 17-18

school year. The DELT committee is comprised of administrators and teacher leaders

who share the professional development modules in their schools.

The special education department has partnered with MSDE and the Maryland Coalition

for Inclusive Education (MCIE) to implement the MCIE Systems Change process. The

desired outcome for this partnership is increased achievement for students with

disabilities. Through our collaborative work with MCIE, three CCPS schools (Calvert

Elem., St. Leonard Elem. and Calvert Middle Schools) participated in the first phase of

systemic change. Three additional schools will be included in the project during the

2017-18 school year with the ultimate goal of training all CCPS teachers and

administrators. With a focus on installing quality instruction and intervention practices

within a multi-tiered system, CCPS proposes to improve staff capacity and strategically

change school-wide practices to demonstrate effective and high-quality inclusive

education. CCPS aims to increase access and equity for students with disabilities, funded

through an MSDE discretionary grant, federal passthrough and local funds.

The special education department has a strategic professional development plan for this

school year which is the third year of this plan. The special education department will be

offering a variety of PD to special education and general education teachers. The special

education department offers PD through a variety of means: on-line modules, face-to-

face sessions and an after-school course for MSDE credit. For special education

teachers, each school has at least two Professional Learning Community (PLC) meetings

during which the special educators participate in on-line modules created by the special

education department focused on the special education process, writing standards-based

IEPs and specialized instruction. After viewing the modules and participating in the

module activities, the following PLC provides time for special educators to process,

discuss and apply the information, as well as to discuss individual student needs. The

special education department hires and provides after school monthly training to special

education lead teachers who then serve as the facilitators in the PLCs at the schools. The


lead teachers share their knowledge with their colleagues and serve as a resource for their

colleagues and the IEP Chairperson in their assigned buildings. The department of special

education, in collaboration with the department of instruction, will provide face-to-face

(F2F) trainings to all special educators and targeted general educators from each school

for two half day sessions during the school day focused on specialized instruction and

meeting the needs of diverse learners. The focus of the F2F PD is on specially designed

instruction and scaffolding instruction (funded through Local Priority Flexibility Grant).

Educators receive training as well as time to apply the information learned with support.

In the fall, the special education department will offer an after school course for MSDE

credit titled “Strategies for Teaching Struggling Learners” designed for general education

teachers funded through Local Priority Flexibility Grant. The special education

department will also have available on-line PD modules designed for general education

teachers focused on understanding executive functioning, understanding accommodations

and supports, proactive behavior strategies and understanding the IEP process.

Information and strategies learned can be directly applied to participants’ classrooms and

should impact student performance and increased inclusion of students with disabilities.

To help students in crisis return to classroom instruction sooner, Life Space Crisis

Intervention (LSCI) training has been provided to over 100 staff within CCPS including

the Behavior Development Programs. All schools/facilities have trained staff. This

interactive, therapeutic strategy has been successful in turning crisis situations into

learning opportunities for children and youth with chronic patterns of self-defeating

behaviors. This intervention has been effective in reducing suspensions, reducing time

students are in crisis, increasing time students are involved in instruction and improving

adult-student relationships. During the summer, a full-course was offered (funded

through Local Priority Flexibility Grant and local funds) and again during the school year

a full-course will be offered. Throughout the school year LSCI refreshers will be offered,

as well as trainings on components of LSCI and other de-escalation and behavior

trainings to instructional assistants on system PD days. Within the first month of school,

all staff are required to complete a SafeSchools training on De-escalation Strategies in

order to provide all staff with strategies to de-escalate students.

Calvert County Public Schools has worked strategically to transition to the Maryland

College and Career-Ready Standards (MCCRS). CCPS content supervisors have engaged

in face-to-face and online professional development in order to increase capacity of all

teachers to plan and implement lessons aligned with the MCCRS. Teachers report varied

levels of confidence in the implementation of the MCCRS. During the 2016-17 school

year, professional development sessions focused on developing a deep understanding of

the MCCRS. Teachers were provided with PD, followed by instructional coaching from

the supervisors and teacher specialists. Ongoing professional development will continue

through the 2017-18 school year with an emphasis on writing and disciplinary literacy.

Content supervisors and teacher specialists will continue to provide professional

development through after school sessions, professional learning communities, county-

wide professional development days and on Saturdays. The second annual Summer

Learning Academy for teachers was held in August 2017.

Special Education supervisors and teacher specialists are equal participants in monthly

Division of Instruction meetings where the departments of instruction and special


education collaborate and co-plan. Special Education teachers routinely attend content-

specific professional development alongside general education teachers. Throughout the

school year, special education supervisors and specialists will be co-presenting with

content supervisors/specialists at various professional development sessions to help

general and special education teachers learn to implement UDL and scaffolding strategies

into classrooms and differentiate instruction to meet the needs of all learners. This will

help students with disabilities, but it will also benefit other struggling learners. All

special education teachers, including regional program teachers (e.g. behavior

development, intensive structured learning environment), will continue to be trained in

the Maryland College and Career Ready Standards, which will expand their knowledge

of content and assist them with providing greater access to the general education

curriculum for their students.

A year-long plan of providing professional development to administrators and

supervisors was developed and implemented during the 2016-17 school year. All

members chose an area of focus from one of the CCPS priority areas: Equity, UDL,

Coaching, Formative Assessment, and Future Ready. In addition, sessions will also be

provided on data analysis and leadership. This plan will continue through the 2017-18

school year. Topics will include Equity/Inclusive Practices, Climate and Culture,

Building Capacity, and Data-driven Decision Making. All sessions will include modeling

of or the integration of UDL, coaching, communication and customer service to reinforce

the topics from the 2016-17 school year.

CCPS continues to focus on the appropriate placement of students in special education.

We focus on appropriate decision-making strategies when placing students in a least

restrictive environment with the goal of increasing the percentage of students receiving

the majority of their educational services in the general education environment. Training

for administrators and general and special education teachers will be provided on-going

to focus on LRE decision-making. CCPS has implemented a web-based system to track

the fidelity of intervention delivery. This system is required for all students receiving

interventions. This will help to increase student progress, as well as to provide a more

comprehensive pre-referral/response-to-intervention system.

Budget Narrative

a. System priorities

• Equity:

o A new position for a Supervisor of Equity was added to the local

budget during FY 17. He will continue to work with the District

Equity Leadership Team (DELT) to develop professional development

modules to be delivered to school based staff during faculty meetings,

PLCs or professional development days. Funds have also been

allocated for the Supervisor of Equity and selected staff to attend state

and national conferences to develop their own capacity.

• Student Outcomes:

o In keeping with our emphasis on preserving instructional time, funds

in the unrestricted budget, originally dedicated to providing substitutes


were reallocated to provide stipends for teachers to attend professional

development outside of the contractual day.

o CCPS provided professional development with an emphasis on

unpacking the MCCRS, to teachers at all levels. This focus will

continue through the 2017-18 school year. Consultants were brought in

to provide professional development to elementary teachers in reading

and writing.

• Climate/Culture:

o Social Emotional Learning has become a major focus in CCPS. During

the summer of 2017, Dr. Howie Knoff, nationally known expert, was

hired to share his expertise during a full day of training for

administrators and supervisors. Dr. Knoff will continue his work with

CCPS to focus on improving student outcomes (academic and

behavioral) at two elementary schools. Dr. Knoff will complete a

comprehensive analysis of current practice, observe in classrooms and

throughout the building and engage in conversations with school and

district leadership.

o All school based administrators are creating a plan to integrate some

aspects of social emotional learning into their school improvement

plans based on individual school’s needs.

o Four school social workers were hired for the 2017-18 school year.

These social workers will support the students and their families and

help support efforts to improve social emotional learning and the

culture and climate of a school building. These 4 social workers will

be providing supports to seven schools.

• Workforce:

o The Department of Human Resources continues to develop

recruitment plans and innovative practices to recruit staff for our high

needs content: special education, math, English/language arts,

speech/language and world language.

o A teacher recruitment fair was held in the spring in the hopes of

securing teacher candidates in our high needs content areas. Based on

feedback from staff and new teachers, the fair will be held earlier in

the school year in 2018.


• Community Engagement:

o A position of Director of Strategic Partnerships and Community

Engagement (SPCE) has been created and filled. The Director of

SPCE is responsible for creating community partnerships, and mentor

opportunities for students.

A learning management system, Schoology was purchased and implemented

during the 2016-17 school year. Schoology houses digital curriculum,

professional development, and allows for student collaboration. Schoology is

being implemented in three phases. Phase 1 began in August 2017. Teachers

in phase I received training during May 2016 to provide strategies for

integrating the use of technology into daily instruction. Phase I teachers also

received a laptop for their professional use. Phase II will be implemented in

January 2018. All teachers received training on how to access curriculum in

Schoology.

All teachers will be provided with meaningful professional development to

increase capacity in providing daily instruction aligned with the MCCRS.

Teachers are provided with face to face and online professional development

to increase capacity to implement the MCRRS. Information is shared on

county-wide professional development days and during PLCs and faculty

meetings.

All employees will comply with all federal, state, and school system laws,

regulations, policies, procedures and/or guidelines.

The CCPS staff continue to use local funds to utilize online training modules

to provide easily accessible compliance training.

Security cameras are currently being installed at each of the 4 high schools in

CCPS. Following the high school implementation, middle schools will also be

equipped with cameras. Cameras have been/will be placed in common areas

within our schools.

b. Fiscal Outlook

The unrestricted operating budget for Calvert County Public Schools (CCPS)

increased by $2,821,603 for FY 2018 as a result of an increase in funding from

the Calvert County Government. At the end of FY 2017, the Board of Education

and the Board of County Commissioners agreed to a four-year funding formula

which became effective on July 1, 2017. The funding formula includes a

provision that holds CCPS harmless for declining enrollment. This means that the

local appropriation will not be decreased when student enrollment declines. This

provision is intended to aid in providing some stability and predictability in local

funding as CCPS continues to experience declining student enrollment. The


funding provided by the Calvert County Government for FY 2018 exceeded

Maintenance of Effort (MOE) as a result of the implementation of the funding

formula. The local appropriation increased from $109,367,835 in FY 2017 to

$115,675,821 in FY 2018. The required contribution to the teachers’ pension for

FY 2018 is $4,994,291 (which represents a decrease of $331,712 over the original

cost calculation for the prior year). The total appropriation from the Calvert

County Government increased by $5,976,274 for FY 2018. The FY 2018

appropriation from the State of Maryland decreased by $965,339 due to one-time

funding in the amount of $1,090,580 CCPS received from the State of Maryland

in FY 2017. The purpose of the one-time funding was to provide relief from the

impact of declining enrollment on CCPS funding. Foundation Aid increased by

$524,250 in FY 2018.

Our projections indicate that annual operating costs will continue to increase. FY

2017 was the first year of a four-year labor agreement with teachers and support

staff. These employees received one step increase in FY 2017. The labor

agreement provides for one step increase and one restoration step in FY 2018 and

in FY 2019. The agreement also provides for one step increase and a 1% COLA

in FY 2020. Other factors driving the increase in operating costs continue to

include Federal mandates, State mandates, increases in health insurance costs, and

operating overhead. All costs are analyzed annually as local and state revenue

projections become available to ensure a balanced budget.


Finance Section


Revenue and Expenditure Analysis

1. Did actual FY 2017 revenue meet expectations as anticipated in the Master Plan Update

for 2017? If not, identify the changes and the impact any changes had on the FY 2017

budget and on the system’s progress towards achieving Master Plan goals. Please include

any subsequent appropriations in your comparison table and narrative analysis.

The final FY 2017 revenues exceeded the expectations reported in the FY 2016 Master

Plan. The health insurance plan is a self-insured plan. Therefore, Calvert County Public

Schools (CCPS) is responsible for paying all claims associated with the plan. When the

funds paid by CCPS to the insurance company exceed the actual claims for the plan year,

then the insurance company issues a refund to CCPS for the excess funds paid. In FY

2017, CCPS received a refund from the health insurance company in the amount of $1.9

million for the FY 2016 plan year.

2. For each assurance area, please provide a narrative discussion of the changes in

expenditures and the impact of these changes on the Master Plan goals.

Most of the FY 2017 budget was spent as indicated in the Master Plan. However, due to

factors such as high employee turnover, low diesel fuel prices, and savings on energy

costs, CCPS experienced savings in instructional salaries, transportation costs, and

utilities for the second consecutive year. We reallocated some of the savings to meet

needs in other areas. We were able to use some of the savings to purchase textbooks with

multi-year digital licenses, security cameras for all secondary schools, and equipment

needed in operations and school facilities.


Maryland’s Goals,

Objectives and

Strategies


English/Language Arts 2017 ELA Grades 3 - 5 1 2 3 4 5

SUBGRP n n % n % n % n % n % 4 and 5 %age

All Students 3483 261 7.5 515 14.8 881 25.3 1595 45.8 231 6.6 52.4

American Indian or Alaska Native 6 3 50 2 33.3 0 0 1 16.7 0 0 16.7

Asian 56 2 3.6 3 5.4 13 23.2 30 53.6 8 14.3 67.9

Black or African American 442 78 17.6 108 24.4 126 28.5 120 27.1 10 2.3 29.4

Hispanic/Latino of any race 209 19 9.1 36 17.2 64 30.6 79 37.8 11 5.3 43.1

Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander 4 0 0 2 50 1 25 1 25 0 0 25

White 2473 137 5.5 316 12.8 598 24.2 1244 50.3 178 7.2 57.5

Two or more races 293 22 7.5 48 16.4 79 27 120 41 24 8.2 49.2

Special Education 317 114 36 113 35.6 60 18.9 29 9.1 1 0.3 9.4

Limited English Proficient 27 6 22.2 11 40.7 9 33.3 1 3.7 0 0 3.7

Free / Reduced Meals 828 129 15.6 213 25.7 252 30.4 221 26.7 13 1.6 28.3

Title I 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

ADA 226 35 15.5 53 23.5 72 31.9 58 25.7 8 3.5 29.2

Migrant 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

Special Education - Exited 68 11 16.2 14 20.6 15 22.1 26 38.2 2 2.9 41.1

Redesignated Limited English Proficient 37 3 8.1 9 24.3 16 43.2 7 18.9 2 5.4 24.3

Female 1703 97 5.7 207 12.2 387 22.7 855 50.2 157 9.2 59.4

Male 1780 164 9.2 308 17.3 494 27.8 740 41.6 74 4.2 45.8


In 2017, the third year of PARCC, 52.4% of grade 3-5 students met (4) or exceeded (5)

expectations, compared to 47.3% in 2015.

Achievement gaps still persist through the new assessment battery, and challenges

exist in the following areas:

• Black or African American (n = 442): Levels 4 or 5; 29.4% (2015: 26.5%)

• Hispanic/Latino (n=209): Levels 4 or 5; 43.1% (2015: 37.9%)

• Special Education (n = 317): Levels 4 or 5; 9.4% (2015: 6.1%)

• LEP (n = 27): Levels 4 or 5; 3.7% (2015: 0%)

• FARMS (n = 828): Levels 4 or 5; 28.3% (2015: 23.2%)

• Male (n = 1780): Levels 4 or 5; 45.8% (2015: 41.3%)

Regardless of the overall performance, there continues to be a gap between subgroups

that are consistent from year to year. Although achievement increased for the overall

group, the disaggregated data revealed some consistent patterns.

• Students that are male, Hispanic/Latino, two or more races, and exited special

education tended to pass the assessments near the rate of the entire group.

• Students who are African American, or FARMS tended to pass assessments

below the rate of the entire group.

• Students who are LEP or SWD tended to pass assessments at rates that were

drastically below the rate of the entire group.

These patterns are consistent to what has been observed across our system, the state and

nation. To address these inequities, CCPS will continue to use evidence based strategies

that have been demonstrated to be effective at narrowing gaps by teaching all students,

regardless of background, gender, learning style, race, or culture.

1. Describe the changes or strategies, and the rationale for selecting the strategies and/or

evidence-based practices that will be implemented to ensure progress. Include timelines

and method(s) of measuring student progress where appropriate. Include a description of corresponding resource allocations. (LEAs should include funding targeted to changes or

adjustments in staffing, materials, or other items for a particular program, initiative, or

activity. The LEA should identify the source of the funding as restricted or unrestricted.

If the source is Federal IDEA or Title I – include the CFDA number, grant name, and

the attributable funds. Otherwise, identify the source (unrestricted or restricted) and

include attributable funds.) Refer to pages 9 and 10 to ensure your response includes

the reporting requirements for students receiving special education services and

students with Limited English Language Proficiency.

Changes or Strategies to improve gap reduction and growth:

• Purchase of The Comprehension Toolkit resource by Stephanie Harvey and Anne

Goudvis for system-wide implementation in grades two and three to provide explicit

instruction in comprehension strategies. Teachers will receive training on system-wide


professional learning opportunities and throughout the school year during PLCs.

($4,500.)

• Purchase of Reading/ELA/Writing texts to support new and revised curricular

documents. Texts will support MDCCR Standards showing need of improvement on

PARCC Evidence Statements, address various genres, and promote a diversity of

cultures. ($30,000.)

• Implementation of new curricular writing units of study to address MDCCR Standards

and improve writing instruction system-wide. Blended learning courses (Annenburg

Learner), webinars, and system-wide professional development related to the writing

workshop framework of Lucy Calkins will be conducted throughout the school year.

These items will help to support the integration of seamless reading and writing

instruction. ($4,000. For workshops)

• A Writing Team with representatives from each school will meet monthly to review

curricular documents, conduct a book study, gather student writing samples, and create

teacher resources. The Writing Team will help serve as liaisons to build capacity back in

buildings. ($2,000. For workshops)

• National consultant and presenter, Kathy Bumgarner, will conduct professional

development for three days with grades three, four and five teachers including special

educators and ESOL teachers related to standards-based instruction. ESOL itinerant staff

will be included and assist teachers in revising curriculum to include best practices from

Kathy Bumgarner’s presentation and SIOP strategies. This training will start the focus of

interactive standards-based instruction in grades 3-5. (Consultant fees $5,700. and

substitutes $7,875.)

• Continued use of the online system wide assessment platform PreviLearn in grades three,

four, and five. Comprehension assessments will be administered three times to use

formative data to monitor growth on MDCCR reading standards. ($44,000.)

• A book study, Who’s Doing The Work? by Jan Burkins and Kim Yaris will be conducted

with school staffs to develop a deeper understanding of the gradual release of

responsibility model during reading workshop. Five copies of the book will be purchased

for schools and Title 1 teachers. ($1,380.)

• Learning Specialist and Content Integration Specialist positions were increased to 11

months. Specialists will meet with grade level teams during PLCs to review data,

conduct peer coaching and modeling of instructional practice, and assist with curricular

revision. Specialists will work with teacher teams during the summer to provide

professional learning opportunities and collaborate on curricular revisions. (10%

increase in salary)

• ESOL students will have access to the online resource Reading A-Z outside of the school

day to support oral language development and listening comprehension. ($327.00)

• Mr. John Dellegrotto, consultant, SLP and national speaker, will be presenting at a fall

Title 1 Family Night event on building oral language skills and strategies to get your

child reading at home. ESOL teachers will be in attendance and promote the event to

families that they serve. ($1,200.)

• Collaborative data discussions will take place during PLCs with grade levels teams to

analyze local assessment data and PARCC Evidence Statement data. These opportunities


will help to build understanding of MDCCR Standards, inform instructional decisions

and help to monitor student growth toward standards.

• Implementation of a new SIOP resource that is aligned to MDCCR Standards and

provides instructional scaffolding based on language acquisition level. This resource will

support the gradual release model and strategies that will support all students to build

independence.

• Co-teaching in the content areas has proven to be an effective system wide strategy to address the achievement gap for students with disabilities, as well as to help

other struggling learners. Since the number of Co-taught classrooms continues to expand

and the pairs teaching continue to change with the teacher turn-over rate increasing, the

Inclusive Programming Teacher Specialists continue to provide initial training to

teaching pairs, which includes coaching of classroom teachers. In addition, CCPS offers

professional development to experienced co-teaching pairs; this second level of training

includes additional classroom observations and coaching discussion and focus on topics

such as differentiation, seamless instruction, student access, the appropriateness of

learning targets, and how to adjust to the more rigorous standards. Funds for the after

school training sessions are a combination of local and restricted special education funds.

Since the specialists do not evaluate teachers, but rather serve as coaches, the dialogue

can be open and supportive. In addition, the specialists are invited to present at school

staff meetings, Professional Learning Community (PLC) meetings and offer professional

development to general and special educators in multiple content areas. She also helps

schools appropriately schedule students into co-taught classrooms so there is an

appropriate mix of students for optimum learning.

• Co-teaching planning time outside of the school day is also offered. Each co-teaching

pair can submit timesheets for up to two hours each month for workshop pay. This

provides a structure for co-teachers to plan outside of the day since typically there is not

sufficient time to co-plan during the school day. The compensation is funded through

general and special education local budgets, as well as supported through restricted

special education funds (Medicaid funds).

PARCC English Language Arts/Literacy for Grades 6-8 and Grade 10:

1. Based on available PARCC data describe the challenges in English Language

Arts/Literacy for grades 6-8 and grade 10. In your response, identify challenges for

students requiring special education services, students with limited English proficiency,

and students failing to meet, or failing to make progress towards meeting State

performance standards. In the absence of State performance standards, LEAs are required

to report on any segment of the student population that is, on average, performing at a

lower achievement level than the student population as a whole. Refer to pages 9 and 10

to ensure your response includes the reporting requirements for students receiving

special education services and students with Limited English Language Proficiency.


Data

2017 PARCC Assessment Performance Results – English Language Arts/Literacy for Grades 6 – 8

Student Group Level 1 Level 2 Level 3 Level 4 Level 5 Level 4 and 5

#

Tested

#

Prof.

%

Prof.

#

Prof.

%

Prof.

#

Prof.

%

Prof.

#

Prof.

%

Prof.

#

Prof.

%

Prof. % Prof.

All Students 3701 307 8.3 511 13.8 950 25.7 1466 39.6 467 12.6 52.2

American Indian or Alaska

Native 7 1 14.3 4 57.1 0 0 2 28.6 0 0 28.6

Asian 67 1 1.5 5 7.5 9 13.4 34 50.7 18 26.9 77.6


Hispanic/Latino of any race 207 16 7.7 34 16.4 58 28 82 39.6 17 8.2 47.8

Native Hawaiian or Other

Pacific Islander 4 0 0 0 0 2 50 2 50 0 0 50

White 2693 183 6.8 341 12.7 688 25.5 1099 40.8 382 14.2 55

Two or more races 250 18 7.2 39 15.6 61 24.4 106 42.4 26 10.4 52.8

Special Education 301 140 46.5 95 31.6 50 16.6 15 5 1 0.3 5.3

Limited English Proficient 12 3 25 6 50 2 16.7 1 8.3 0 0 8.3


Title I 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

ADA 351 47 13.4 93 26.5 89 25.4 104 29.6 18 5.1 34.7

Migrant 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0


Redesignated Limited English

Proficient 20 0 0 5 25 8 40 6 30 1 5 35

Female 1855 73 3.9 178 9.6 444 23.9 833 44.9 327 17.6 62.5

Male 1846 234 12.7 333 18 506 27.4 633 34.3 140 7.6 41.9


Data Analysis (PARCC English Language Arts/Literacy for Grades 6-8)

The percentage of students who met or exceeded the proficiency expectations on the PARCC

Assessment for English Language Arts/Literacy for Grades 6 – 8 rose from 47.6% in 2016 to

52.2% in 2017. The percentage of students who did not meet expectations declined 4.6%.

Collectively, 75.6 % of students approached, met, or exceeded expectations.

Six student groups (Special Education, Limited English Proficient/English Learners,

Free/Reduced Meals, Black or African American, ADA, and males) with 10 or more students

performed at a lower achievement level than the All Student group.

2016 to 2017 Subgroup Comparative Data Grades 6 - 8

Student Group

Percent of Students to

Meet/Exceed Proficiency

Expectations in 2016




Special Education 4.6% 5.3%

Limited English

Proficient/English Learners

10.5% 8.3%

Free/Reduced Meals 23.6% 27.7%

Black or African American 26.2% 34.9%

ADA 26% 34.7%

Males 37.6% 41.9%

The percentage of students who met and/or exceeded the proficiency expectations increased in

each of the student groups except Limited English Proficient/English Learners. (NOTE: The

number of Limited English Proficient/English Learners decreased 36.8%.)

Goals and Objectives

▪ To increase the number of students who meet or exceed the proficiency expectations on

the PARCC Assessment for English Language Arts/Literacy for Grades 6 – 8.

▪ To eliminate the gap between the All Students group and all other student groups.

Special Education

The percentage of Special Education students who met or exceeded the proficiency expectations

on the PARCC Assessment for English Language Arts/Literacy for Grades 6 – 8 rose from 4.6%

in 2016 to 5.3% in 2017.


Data

2017 PARCC District Performance Level Summary – English Language Arts/Literacy for Grade 10


Data Analysis (PARCC English Language Arts/Literacy for Grade 10)

The percentage of students who met or exceeded the proficiency expectations on the

PARCC Assessment for English Language Arts/Literacy Grade 10 rose from 66.6% in

2016 to 67.0% in 2017. The percentage of students who approached, met, or exceeded

expectations increased from 84.6% in 2016 to 85.6% in 2017.

Six student groups (Special Education, 504, Free/Reduced Meals, Black or African

American, Two or more races, and males) with 10 or more students performed at a lower

achievement level than the All Student group.

2016 to 2017 Subgroup Comparative Data Grade 10

Student Group







Special Education 13.6% 14.9%

504 50.8% 47.9%

Free/Reduced Meals 41.2% 40.5%

Black or African American 47.6% 45.7%

Two or More Races 58.5% 54.0%

Males 58.4% 59.5%

The percentage of students who met and/or exceeded the proficiency expectations

decreased in each of the identified student groups EXCEPT Special Education and Males.

Goals and Objectives

▪ To increase the number of students who meet or exceed the proficiency

expectations on the PARCC Assessment for English Language Arts/Literacy for

Grade 10.

▪ To eliminate the gap between the All Students group and all other student groups.

Special Education

The percentage of Special Education students who met or exceeded the proficiency

expectations on the PARCC Assessment for English Language Arts/Literacy for Grade

10 increased from 13.6% in 2016 to 14.9% in 2017.

Challenges

The Maryland College and Career-Ready Standards (MCCRS) pose rigorous grade-level

expectations in English Language Arts for all students. To eliminate the gap between the

All Student group and all other student groups, Secondary English, Reading, and

Language Arts will work collaboratively with all departments to specifically address the

following challenges:


▪ Differentiation – Students with a variety of special needs and/or language

impairments encounter difficulties mastering the academic expectations of the

MCCRS. Therefore, CCPS teachers need targeted, recurrent training on personalized

differentiation to help students develop, access, or use skills and strategies to meet

grade-level expectations and demonstrate proficiency. Targeted professional

development will provide teachers with the tools to maintain the rigor of the MCCRS

while ensuring each child’s unique instructional needs are met. Specifically, the

challenges include the need for targeted professional development on differentiation

on accessing complex informational text, as well as intentional practices to improve

teacher-specific and student-responsive instruction in writing.

▪ Interdepartmental Collaboration –The integrative nature of MCCRS provides

opportunities for teachers (general content, Special Education, ESOL, Co-teachers,

etc.) to combine their expertise to create personalized, quality instruction that meets

the diversified needs of all learners. Interdisciplinary planning and collaboration

between the diversified staff (general content teachers, Special Education teachers,

ESOL teachers, Co-teachers, and Instructional Assistants) poses logistical and

staffing challenges that we continue to navigate.

▪ Teacher Use of Formative and Summative Data to Drive Instruction – Assessments

are measured by their ability to support teaching and learning. To close the

achievement gap between the underperforming student groups, we must ensure that

all educators are prepared to use assessment data as a tool to measure student

progress, as well as to improve individualized instruction and student learning.

▪ Co-teaching in the content areas has proven to be an effective system wide strategy to

address the achievement gap for students with disabilities, as well as to help other

struggling learners. Since the number of Co-taught classrooms continues to expand

and the pairs teaching continue to change with the teacher turn-over rate increasing,

the Inclusive Programming Teacher Specialists continue to provide initial training to

teaching pairs, which includes coaching of classroom teachers. In addition, CCPS

offers professional development to experienced co-teaching pairs; this second level of

training includes additional classroom observations and coaching discussion and

focus on topics such as differentiation, seamless instruction, student access, the

appropriateness of learning targets, and how to adjust to the more rigorous standards.

Funds for the after school training sessions are a combination of local and restricted

special education funds. Since the specialists do not evaluate teachers, but rather

serve as coaches, the dialogue can be open and supportive. In addition, the specialists

are invited to present at school staff meetings, Professional Learning Community

(PLC) meetings and offer professional development to general and special educators

in multiple content areas. She also helps schools appropriately schedule students into

co-taught classrooms so there is an appropriate mix of students for optimum learning.

▪ Co-teaching planning time outside of the school day is also offered. Each co-teaching


provides a structure for co-teachers to plan outside of the day since typically there is

not sufficient time to co-plan during the school day. The compensation is funded


through general and special education local budgets, as well as supported through

restricted special education funds (Medicaid funds).


evidence-based practices that will be implemented to ensure progress. Include timelines and

method(s) of measuring student progress where appropriate. Include a description of

corresponding resource allocations. (LEAs should include funding targeted to changes or



If the source is Federal IDEA or Title I – include the CFDA number, grant name, and the

attributable funds. Otherwise, identify the source (unrestricted or restricted) and include

attributable funds.) Refer to pages 9 and 10 to ensure your response includes the

reporting requirements for students receiving special education services and students

with Limited English Language Proficiency.

Strategies

▪ Conduct a comprehensive program evaluation targeting the following components of

secondary English, Reading, and Language Arts: Curricular Frameworks, Assessments,

Equity, and Professional Development.

▪ Establish a community of practice through leadership, shared responsibility, and professional

collaboration with each school’s English Language Arts department. Develop and implement

a consistent data analysis structure/protocol for departmental data meetings utilizing student

assessments and student work samples.

▪ Establish SY 2017 – 2018 departmental goals and expectations targeting intentional practices

for improving teacher-specific and student-responsive instruction. Provide professional

development opportunities and resources to enhance the use of diversified formative

assessment in instruction. Ensure all teachers understand the formative assessment process

and the corresponding instructional implications.

▪ Provide increased professional development opportunities for all teachers targeting student

differentiation and personalization in reading and writing instruction.

▪ Provide additional instructional opportunities to build effective collaboration between the

Special Education, ESOL, Co-Teachers, Instructional Assistants, and general content

teachers; Continue to promote and train teachers in UDL practices and

scaffolding/enrichment strategies for Mental Engagement in order to reach students at all

levels.

▪ Continue to build and implement instructional practices introduced in the SY 2016 –

2017 book study of Kylene Beers/Robert Probst’s Reading Nonfiction: Signposts and

Questions. Model implementation, monitor progress, and share close reading strategies

for informational text.


▪ Research and identify assessment tools for educators that will feature sample test

questions, allowing teachers to periodically measure and assess their students throughout

the year using activities that mirror the PARCC tasks to ensure they are on track for the

end-of-year assessments. Create online PARCC toolkits and webinars through Schoology

to inform educators on how to support daily instruction through the cycle of teaching and

learning.

▪ Pilot Study Sync program to determine the platform’s effectiveness in using formative

assessments that are aligned to MCCR Standards in English classes.

▪ Work collaboratively with all ELA teams; attend collaborative team meetings each week

in order to provide professional development in content and pedagogy.

Funding

The unrestricted budget for SY 2017 – 2018 includes the following:

▪ General substitutes / Coverage: $6,130.50

▪ Stipends / Extra Duty Extra Pay - $5,200

▪ Staff Development / Professional Meetings: $7,500

▪ Materials of Instruction: $26,875.00

▪ Secondary ELA Workshops: $15,960


PARCC Mathematics for Grades 3-5:

1. Based on available PARCC data, describe the challenges in Mathematics for grades

3-8. In your response, identify challenges for students requiring special education

services, students with limited English proficiency, and students failing to meet, or failing

to make progress towards meeting State performance standards. In the absence of State

performance standards, LEAs are required to report on any segment of the student

population that is, on average, performing at a lower achievement level than the student

population as a whole. Refer to pages 9 and 10 to ensure your response includes the

reporting requirements for students receiving special education services and



Mathematics Grades 3-5 2017 PARCC

1 2 3 4 5

SUBGRP n n % n % n % n % n % 4 and 5

All Students 3484 210 6 471 13.5 887 25.5 1508 43.3 408 11.7 55

American Indian or Alaska Native 6 2 33.3 2 33.3 0 0 2 33.3 0 0 33.3

Asian 57 0 0 1 1.8 12 21.1 30 52.6 14 24.6 77.2




White 2471 102 4.1 275 11.1 598 24.2 1161 47 335 13.6 60.6

Two or more races 292 16 5.5 59 20.2 73 25 117 40.1 27 9.2 49.3

Special Education 316 99 31.3 104 32.9 67 21.2 44 13.9 2 0.6 14.5

Limited English Proficient 32 9 28.1 6 18.8 12 37.5 4 12.5 1 3.1 15.6


Title I 5 1 20 0 0 2 40 1 20 1 20 40

ADA 225 26 11.6 47 20.9 66 29.3 71 31.6 15 6.7 38.3

Migrant 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

Special Education - Exited 68 8 11.8 10 14.7 18 26.5 26 38.2 6 8.8 47

Redesignated Limited English Proficient 37 1 2.7 9 24.3 11 29.7 14 37.8 2 5.4 43.2

Female 1702 89 5.2 235 13.8 441 25.9 720 42.3 217 12.7 55

Male 1782 121 6.8 236 13.2 446 25 788 44.2 191 10.7 54.9


In 2017, the third year of PARCC, 55% of students met (4) or exceeded (5) expectations,

compared to 44.9% in 2015.

Achievement gaps still persist through the new assessment battery, and challenges exist

in the following areas:

• Black or African American (n = 442): met or exceeded; 29.9% (2015: 20.8%)

• Hispanic/Latino of any race (n = 212) met or exceeded; 45.2% (2015: 38.2%)

• Two or more races (n = 292): met or exceeded; 49.3% (2015: 40.7%)

• Special Education (n = 316): met or exceeded; 14.5% (2015: 6.4%)

• LEP (n = 32): met or exceeded; 15.6% (2015: 3.0%)

• FARMS (n = 827): met or exceeded; 30.9% (2015: 20.3%)



and method(s) of measuring student progress where appropriate. Include a description of






include attributable funds. Refer to pages 9 and 10 to ensure your response includes



Mathematics Leadership Team

• September-June, meets after school, 2-hour sessions (workshop pay).

• Grade level teams review instructional organizers, identify new instructional

resources (print and electronic), and alignment of assessments and their alignment

to instructional practices and the content standards.

• Participation is voluntary with each grade level team having between 5-10

members.

Best Practices in Mathematics Sessions

• Full day session where teachers new to math have the opportunity to spend the

day with a master teacher at their grade level. Focus for the session is the major

content of the grade, the overall structure of the math block, and grade level

specific instructional strategies.

• After school sessions, for each grade level (2 hours each) where master teachers

meet with specific grade level teachers to review upcoming instructional modules.

Specific focus for the session is on what do the standards mean, what does

proficiency in the standards look like, instructional strategies and materials should

be used and the instructional resources/activities that align with the standards.

• Designed to assist teachers in deepening their understanding of the content

standards and use of identified effective instructional practices.


On-Line Math Adaptive Software

• Continue to provide access to DreamBox Learning to all elementary schools to

support differentiated instruction in mathematics.

• DreamBox Learning is an online adaptive, software that focuses on mathematics

education at the elementary level.

• Software provides individualized learning paths, builds conceptual understanding

and procedural fluency.

• Students have access to the software at school and at home or any location with

internet access.

• Data is available to classroom teacher through DreamBox which examines time in

task, student growth and areas needing attention.

Co-teaching

• Co-teaching in the content areas has proven to be an effective system wide

strategy to address the achievement gap for students with disabilities, as well as to

help other struggling learners. Since the number of Co-taught classrooms

continues to expand and the pairs teaching continue to change with the teacher

turn-over rate increasing, the Inclusive Programming Teacher Specialists continue

to provide initial training to teaching pairs, which includes coaching of classroom

teachers. In addition, CCPS offers professional development to experienced co-

teaching pairs; this second level of training includes additional classroom

observations and coaching discussion and focus on topics such as differentiation,

seamless instruction, student access, the appropriateness of learning targets, and

how to adjust to the more rigorous standards. Funds for the after school training

sessions are a combination of local and restricted special education funds. Since

the specialists do not evaluate teachers, but rather serve as coaches, the dialogue

can be open and supportive. In addition, the specialists are invited to present at

school staff meetings, Professional Learning Community (PLC) meetings and

offer professional development to general and special educators in multiple

content areas. She also helps schools appropriately schedule students into co-

taught classrooms so there is an appropriate mix of students for optimum learning.

• Co-teaching planning time outside of the school day is also offered. Each co-

teaching pair can submit timesheets for up to two hours each month for workshop

pay. This provides a structure for co-teachers to plan outside of the day since

typically there is not sufficient time to co-plan during the school day. The

compensation is funded through general and special education local budgets, as

well as supported through restricted special education funds (Medicaid funds).

Benchmarks and Formative Assessments

• Grades 2-5 will continue to use PreviLearn, an online assessment platform.

Assessments are to be administered in the areas of math fluency and math

comprehension in September, December, January and June. This online platform

is also available for teacher use throughout the school year as a means to

formatively assess and predict student progress and proficiency.

• Grades PK-2 will continue to administer the NST (Numeracy Screening Tool), a

locally developed assessment that measures student level of proficiency on the


critical learn phases of numeracy as identified by Kathy Richardson. The NST is

administered in September/October, December, February and June.

Data Analysis

• Instructional tools have been developed for Benchmark and Local Assessment,

and will continue to be used to assist teachers and grade level teams as they work

to close the instruction/data loop. Tools have been developed that guide the

disaggregation the student data and assist teachers in their formation of targeted

instructional groups.

o Math Supervisor and Math Learning Specialist will continue to meet with

grade level teams during PLCs to analyze their assessment data and plan

for targeted instruction.

• School Data Chats- Following the administration of Benchmarks, data chats will

be held with focus schools to assist with the monitoring of School Improvement

Plan Goals and Title I focus areas.

o Team members include content supervisor, building leadership team,

mathematics learning specialists, and Title I Staff

o Team will discuss school performance/grade level proficiency status

identifying school performance compared to district and classroom

performance related to school performance.

o Math Supervisor and Math Learning Specialist will also work with grade

level teams within individual schools as they analyze PARCC data,

specifically the Evidence Statements and their impact on instruction and

instructional practice.

• Changes in unrestricted budget from SY17 to SY18 include:

o Learning Specialist increased from 10-month employee to 11-month

employee (10% increase in salary)

o A decrease substitute budget from $14,100 to $9,000 to support the

district priority to keep classroom teachers in the classroom during

the school day. Some funds will be used to support teacher

attendance at the NCTM conference to be held in Washington, DC

this year.

o A decrease in workshop budget from $42,000 to $29,000 which will

primarily be used to support afterschool and weekend opportunities

for teachers to work with grade level master teachers in deepening

their understanding of the content.

o An increase in materials of instruction from $15,000 to $59,000

which includes the acquisition of PreviLearn our on-line assessment

system.

o An increase in professional meetings budget from $0 to $10,800 in

order to have our presenters experience a variety of sessions to bring

back to CCPS for use in county to provide for conference-style PD as

well as attendance at the NCTM national conference to be held in

Washington, DC this year.

o A decrease in printing and curriculum(textbooks) budget from $80,00

to $70,00 which reflects the signing of a 3-year deal with DreamBox

which dramatically reduced the overall cost.


PARCC Mathematics for Grades 6-8:

1. Based on available PARCC data, describe the challenges in Mathematics for grades 3-8. In

your response, identify challenges for students requiring special education services, students

with limited English proficiency, and students failing to meet, or failing to make progress

towards meeting State performance standards. In the absence of State performance standards,

LEAs are required to report on any segment of the student population that is, on average,

performing at a lower achievement level than the student population as a whole. Refer to

pages 9 and 10 to ensure your response includes the reporting requirements for

students receiving special education services and students with Limited English

Language Proficiency.


2017 Math 6 - 8

1 2 3 4 5

SUBGRP n n % n % n % n % n % 4 and 5

All Students 3126 336 10.7 647 20.7 1066 34.1 938 30 139 4.4 34.4

American Indian or Alaska Native 7 2 28.6 1 14.3 2 28.6 2 28.6 0 0 28.6

Asian 51 0 0 5 9.8 14 27.5 26 51 6 11.8 62.8




White 2250 195 8.7 424 18.8 782 34.8 739 32.8 110 4.9 37.7

Two or more races 206 20 9.7 42 20.4 81 39.3 54 26.2 9 4.4 30.6

Special Education 296 133 44.9 107 36.1 46 15.5 8 2.7 2 0.7 3.4

Limited English Proficient 17 6 35.3 7 41.2 2 11.8 2 11.8 0 0 11.8

Free / Reduced Meals 693 152 21.9 211 30.4 226 32.6 98 14.1 6 0.9 15

Title I 6 4 66.7 0 0 0 0 2 33.3 0 0 33.3

ADA 327 48 14.7 93 28.4 111 33.9 70 21.4 5 1.5 22.9

Migrant 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

Special Education - Exited 59 10 16.9 25 42.4 14 23.7 10 16.9 0 0 16.9

Redesignated Limited English Proficient 18 2 11.1 6 33.3 6 33.3 4 22.2 0 0 22.2

Female 1521 136 8.9 304 20 531 34.9 477 31.4 73 4.8 36.2

Male 1605 200 12.5 343 21.4 535 33.3 461 28.7 66 4.1 32.8


With three years of PARCC data, we’re able to show positive trends. In 2017, the third

year of PARCC, 34.4% of Math 6 – Math 8 students met (4) or exceeded (5)

expectations, compared to 20.1% in 2015. In all, 68.5% approached, met, or exceeded (3,

4, 5) expectations, compared to 57.8% in 2015.



• American Indian or Alaska Native (n = 7): Levels 4 and 5: 28.6% (2015: 0%),

Levels 3, 4, and 5: 57.2% (2015: 60%)

• Black or African American (n = 430): Levels 4 and 5; 16.1% (2015: 8.5%),

Levels 3, 4, and 5: 47.5% (2015: 34.7%)

• Hispanic/Latino of any race (n = 178) has almost closed: Levels 4 and 5; 34.3%

(2015: 15.1%), Levels 3, 4, and 5: 62.4% (2015: 50.7%).

• Two or more races (n = 206): Levels 4 and 5; 30.6% (2015: 19.1%), Levels 3, 4,

and 5: 69.9% (2015: 60.1%)

• Special Education (n = 296): Levels 4 and 5; 3.4% (2015: 3.6%), Levels 3, 4, and

5: 18.9% (2015: 16.9%)

• LEP (n = 17): Levels 4 and 5; 11.8% (2015: 8.7%), Levels 3, 4, and 5: 23.6%

(2015: 17.4%)

• FARMS (n = 693): Levels 4 and 5; 15% (2015: 9.7%), Levels 3, 4, and 5: 47.6%

(2015: 41.5%)

• Male (n = 1605): Levels 4 and 5; 32.8% (2015: 17.6%), Levels 3, 4, and 5: 66.1%

(2015: 54.3%)

Challenges:

One point to be made at all three levels with IEP students (and the pattern is evident in

other underperforming groups, such as African American and LEP) is that they’re not

failing to make progress toward state performance standards. In fact, they are making

very similar gains to the larger group, when looking at PARCC scores from two years

ago compared with PARCC scores from last year:

Gen. Ed


The chart above shows growth of our students with disabilities compared to students without

disabilities. The color coding defines growth or students: dark blue = a student who

progressed 2 proficiency levels on PARCC, light blue = growth of 1 level, green = students

scoring on the same level and red shows a decrease in proficiency. A challenge is that

students in this group, as a whole, have lagged behind the whole group in the past. After

years of lagging growth, they were able to nearly close (but not reverse) the “growth gap”

last year. CCPS continues to work to find ways to grow these students by more than one

year during a single school year to help them catch up to a level that would be on pace for

college and career readiness.

These students have relatively less flexible time in their schedules with which to target math

intervention or acceleration. Students that struggle in math often also struggle in reading.

CCPS has a practice to prioritize reading, as well as any language support or other supports

related to a disability or second language acquisition, because these foundational skills help

students interact in all other content areas. This does pose a challenge to find opportunities

for students to earn the extra math support that would be needed to make more than the one

year of growth that is necessary for students that currently find themselves behind to progress

toward college and career readiness.


evidence-based practices that will be implemented to ensure progress. Include timelines and

method(s) of measuring student progress where appropriate. Include a description of



activity. The LEA should identify the source of the funding as restricted or unrestricted. If

the source is restricted IDEA, Title I or ARRA funding – include the CFDA number, grant

name, and the attributable funds. Otherwise, identify the source as unrestricted and include

attributable funds.) Refer to pages 9 and 10 to ensure your response includes the

reporting requirements for students receiving special education services and students

with Limited English Language Proficiency.

• The Middle School Math Learning specialist works with the Secondary Mathematics

Supervisor to support mathematics professional development through system wide PD,

department meetings, facilitating online professional development modules, and other

professional development opportunities provided by principals. She will support teachers

by providing professional development to identified general and special education

teachers and ESOL teachers to work on instructional strategies, content understanding,

data analysis, and effective use of flex grouping. The purpose of this professional

development is to ensure Mathematics for All, the idea that each child’s unique

instructional needs are met. In addition, she supports the middle schools in implementing

the strategies identified in the School Improvement Plan. She serves as a member of the

EEA math team and participates in multiple curriculum and assessment writing

workshops.

• In 2014, the Secondary Math Learning Specialist worked with middle school teachers to

build content understanding. In 2015, professional development expanded to real-world

application of concepts in the area of statistics. In 2016, the Secondary Math Learning

Specialist led teams of teachers through a year of content study. In 2017, the learning

specialist will continue to lead special education and general education teachers through


data-driven content explorations, using evidence statement tables provided by PARCC to

identify content and pedagogical strategies for increasing all students’ access to

mathematics at the rigorous level measured with the PARCC assessment. One of the key

standards of both NCTM Principles to Action and TRU is deep content knowledge of

teachers.

• At targeted middle schools, the Secondary Math Supervisor had detailed conversations

with individual teachers as well as at team meetings about how to change classroom

instructional practices to meet the needs of all students. The conversation focused on the

use of flex grouping, use of rich tasks, discussion and reading strategies, and other

pedagogy to best meet the needs of struggling learners in the classroom. Teachers

analyzed data, discussed evidence of learning or lack of learning, explored possible

instructional strategies, and adjusted instruction to address the greatest areas of need.

Immediate, data-driven feedback is established and accepted as a best practice in

education.

• Use of Agile Mind curriculum will continue to be a practice. An analysis of PARCC

results showed that Agile Mind was an effective program, and moreover, teachers’ use of

the program within our middle school buildings was positively correlated with PARCC

scores. Internal data review has indicated that the better alignment of curriculum with

MCCRS and accompanying lessons, lesson planning guides, and PD will help round out

instruction to serve more than just the median student. This expansion of instruction to

focus on all should have effects on our lower-performing subgroups of students, as they

often are less represented in CCPS and CCPS math courses.

• Co-teaching in the content areas has proven to be an effective system wide strategy to


struggling learners. Since the number of Co-taught classrooms continues to expand and

the pairs teaching continue to change with the teacher turn-over rate increasing, the





















• Changes in unrestricted budget from 2014-2015 to 2017-2018 include:

o A decrease in substitute budget from $13,268 to $2,745 in order to keep teachers

in classrooms with students for more time.

o A decrease in workshop budget from $54,900 to $36,800 to make financial

flexibility to start adopting curricula that are more robust and better aligned with

PARCC, MCCRS, and NCTM Principles to Action.

o A decrease in materials of instruction from $15,000 to $2,000 to make financial



o An increase in professional meetings budget from $0 to $3,400 in order to have

our presenters experience a variety of sessions to bring back to CCPS for use in

county to provide for conference-style PD.

o An increase in printing and curriculum budget from $109,083 to $141,215 in

order to provide teachers with curricular materials that ensure equity and

mathematics learning for all.


PARCC Algebra I

1. Based on available PARCC data, describe the challenges in Algebra I. In your response,

identify challenges for students requiring special education services, students with limited

English proficiency, and students failing to meet, or failing to make progress towards

meeting State performance standards. In the absence of State performance standards,







2017

1 2 3 4 5 SUBGRP n n % n % n % n % n % 4 and 5

All Students 1296 41 3.2 191 14.7 411 31.7 631 48.7 22 1.7 50.4

American Indian or Alaska Native 2 0 0 2 100 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

Asian 25 1 4 1 4 7 28 15 60 1 4 64


Hispanic/Latino of any race 84 1 1.2 21 25 27 32.1 35 41.7 0 0 41.7


White 911 22 2.4 105 11.5 284 31.2 483 53 17 1.9 54.9

Two or more races 98 2 2 15 15.3 25 25.5 53 54.1 3 3.1 57.2

Special Education 91 14 15.4 34 37.4 29 31.9 14 15.4 0 0 15.4

Limited English Proficient 15 0 0 5 33.3 7 46.7 3 20 0 0 20

Free / Reduced Meals 252 21 8.3 61 24.2 100 39.7 68 27 2 0.8 27.8

Title I 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 100 0 0 100

ADA 118 4 3.4 25 21.2 49 41.5 38 32.2 2 1.7 33.9

Migrant 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0


Redesignated Limited English Proficient 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 66.7 1 33.3 100

Female 685 21 3.1 93 13.6 215 31.4 347 50.7 9 1.3 52

Male 611 20 3.3 98 16 196 32.1 284 46.5 13 2.1 48.6


In 2017, the third year of PARCC, 50.4% of Algebra I students met (4) or exceeded (5)

expectations (2015: 29.4%). In all, 82.1% approached, met, or exceeded (3, 4, 5)

expectations (2015: 71.5%).



• Black or African American (n = 189): Levels 4 and 5; 26.2% (2015: 14.8%),

Levels 3, 4, and 5: 64.8% (2015: 49.7%).

• Hispanic (n = 84): Levels 4 and 5; 41.7% (2015: not identified), Levels 3, 4, and

5: 73.8% (2015: not identified).

• Special Education (n = 91): Levels 4 and 5; 15.4% (2015: 6.7%), Levels 3, 4, and

5: 47.3% (2015: 21.4%).

• LEP (n = 15): Levels 4 and 5; 20% (2015: 0%), Levels 3, 4, and 5: 66.7% (2015:

0%)

• FARMS (n = 252): Levels 4 and 5; 27.8% (2015: 13.0%), Levels 3, 4, and 5:

67.5% (2015: 55.0%)

• Male (n = 611): Levels 4 and 5; 48.6% (2015: 28.3%), Levels 3, 4, and 5: 80.7%

(2015: 69.4%)

Challenges:

One point to be made at all three levels with IEP students (and the pattern is evident in

other underperforming groups, such as African American and LEP) is that they’re not

failing to make progress toward state performance standards. In fact, they are making

very similar gains to the larger group, when looking at PARCC scores from two years

ago compared with PARCC scores from last year:

Gen. Ed


A challenge is that they have lagged behind the whole group in the past. After years of

lagging growth, they were able to nearly close (but not reverse) the “growth gap” last

year. CCPS continues to work to find ways to grow these students by more than one year

during a single school year to help them catch up to a level that would be on pace for

college and career readiness.

These students have relatively less flexible time in their schedules with which to target

math intervention or acceleration. Students that struggle in math often also struggle in

reading. CCPS has a practice to prioritize reading, as well as any language support or

other supports related to a disability or second language acquisition, because these

foundational skills help students interact in all other content areas. This does pose a

challenge to find opportunities for students to earn the extra math support that would be

needed to make more than the one year of growth that is necessary for students that

currently find themselves behind to progress toward college and career readiness.












PARCC Algebra II (Optional Reporting)

1. Based on available PARCC data, describe the challenges in Algebra II. In your response,





performing at a lower achievement level than the student population as a whole.












• Algebra teams will move toward joint planning for collaborative work to move

instruction forward. Algebra Core leads will use classroom data in order to identify


targeted learners who have not yet met expectations and help teachers adjust instruction

to meet specific learner needs. Collaborative planning has been established and

identified by NCTM as an effective use of resources.

• The secondary learning specialist will continue to attend one collaborative team meeting

each week in order to provide professional development in content and pedagogy. This

support will help to connect the four teams, and give the individual teams degrees of

being one large collaborative team, when necessary.

• An Intensified Algebra Pilot will be used in 2017 – 2018 with the approximately 35

neediest Algebra I students in two buildings, CHS and NHS. An analysis of PARCC

results showed that Agile Mind was an effective program, and moreover, teachers’ use of

the program within our middle school buildings was positively correlated with PARCC

scores. Internal data review has indicated that the better alignment of curriculum with

MCCRS and accompanying lessons, lesson planning guides, and PD will help round out

instruction to serve more than just the median student. This expansion of instruction to

focus on all should have effects on our subgroups of students who have not yet met

expectations, as they often are less represented in CCPS and CCPS math courses.

• Core Leads will continue to lead all teachers of mathematics through data-driven content

explorations, using evidence statement tables provided by PARCC. The purpose of this

professional development is to ensure Mathematics for All, the idea that each child’s

unique instructional needs are met We know that data-driven professional learning and

instruction is more effective for students.

• Co-teaching in the content areas has proven to be an effective system wide strategy to


struggling learners. Since the number of Co-taught classrooms continues to expand and

the pairs teaching continue to change with the teacher turn-over rate increasing, the




















• Changes in unrestricted budget from 2014-2015 to 2017 - 2018 include:

o A decrease in substitute budget from $13,268 to $2,745 in order to keep teachers

in classrooms with students for more time.


o A decrease in workshop budget from $54,900 to $36,800 to make financial



o A decrease in materials of instruction from $15,000 to $2,000 to make financial



o An increase in professional meetings budget from $0 to $3,400 in order to have

our presenters experience a variety of sessions to bring back to CCPS for use in

county to provide for conference-style PD.

o An increase in printing and curriculum budget from $109,083 to $141,215 in

order to provide teachers with curricular materials that ensure equity and

mathematics learning for all.

High School Assessment (HSA) Biology

1. Based on available trend data, describe the challenges in Biology.

The pass rates on the 2017 Biology HSA follows:

• All Students:

➢ 87.9%

The pass rate of 87.9% for 2017 represents a 5.6% decrease from 2016. During the 2016

school year, teachers changed their instructional practices to address the curricula needs

of the Next Generation Science Standards, which are different from the Maryland Core

Curriculum. Consequently, this may have impacted the pass rate for the Biology HSA.

Also, for this last administration of the Biology HSA, teachers and students were aware

that sitting for the test met the graduation requirement, which may have impacted student

motivation.

The challenge areas in Biology continue to be with the following subgroups:

• All Special Education:

➢ 51.7%

Special education score of 51.7% represents a 36.2% gap between special education and

all students. Although the overall gap remains a concern, special education student

showed a .1% increase from 51.6% in 2016 to 51.7% in 2017.

• All Limited English Proficiency

➢ 66.7%

Students with Limited English Proficiency scored 21.2% below all students. The student

count for LEP student was 18, which was a small group size compared to a count of 1735

for all students. Although the student count in this group is low, the large gap in

performance represents an area of concern.

• All FARMS:

➢ 73.4%


The gap between FARM students and all students is 14.5%. Although the FARM

performance gap is not as large as the special education gap for all students, it still

represents an area of concern.

• All African American (AA):

➢ 75.1%

The gap between AA students and all students is 12.8%. The AA performance gap

(12.8%) is close to the FARM performance gap (14.5%). Both AA and FARM

performance gap represents better performance than Special Education and LEP students.

However, AA students decreased in performance by 7.5% from 2016, representing an

area of concern.

2. Describe the changes or strategies, and the rational for selecting the strategies

and/or evidence-based practices that will be implemented to ensure process.

Calvert County Public Schools are:

• Incorporating Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) practices to promote

critical thinking skills, deeper analysis and interpretation of content.

▪ Full implementation of NGSS is scheduled for 2017-2018. Prior to full

implementation, the implementation of the practices of science and cross-

cutting concepts identified in the NGSS will be beneficial to all learners as

we promote critical thinking and deeper analysis of content. Funds have

been allocated to support professional development activities that will help

move teachers towards full implementation of NGSS.

• Implementing claims, evidence, reasoning (CER) strategies which encourages

students to use evidence-based statements to support their claims.

• Implementing strategies to support scientific modeling will allow students to

demonstrate their conceptual understanding of the scientific concepts.

• Administering benchmark exams 4 times (October, December, March, & May)

during the school year to measure success of new strategies being implemented.

This formative assessment model allows for the opportunity of re-teaching and re-

assessing to ensure that students have gained an understanding of the content.

• Embedding STEM practices into biology lessons, which will promote critical

thinking, encourage creativity, engage more students, and build collaborative

skills. The goal is for more students to become innovative thinkers.

• Focusing on Productive Group which will provide opportunities for scientific

discourse to promote a deeper understanding of the content

• Implementing Universal Design for Learning strategies designed to provide

opportunities for all learners to gain access to the content

• Promoting the use of more Technology in the classroom to provide students with

different modalities for learning.


• Implementing strategies that continue to be effective in supporting struggling

learners including Biology Core Leads, team planning meetings, remediation for

students who pass Biology but fail the Biology HSA, HSA Summer School, and

instructional support during the one-hour lunch program at each high school.

• Co-teaching in the content areas has proven to be an effective system wide

strategy to address the achievement gap for students with disabilities, as well as to

help other struggling learners. Since the number of Co-taught classrooms

continues to expand and the pairs teaching continue to change with the teacher

turn-over rate increasing, the Inclusive Programming Teacher Specialists continue

to provide initial training to teaching pairs, which includes coaching of classroom

teachers. In addition, CCPS offers professional development to experienced co-

teaching pairs; this second level of training includes additional classroom

observations and coaching discussion and focus on topics such as differentiation,

seamless instruction, student access, the appropriateness of learning targets, and

how to adjust to the more rigorous standards. Funds for the after school training

sessions are a combination of local and restricted special education funds. Since

the specialists do not evaluate teachers, but rather serve as coaches, the dialogue

can be open and supportive. In addition, the specialists are invited to present at

school staff meetings, Professional Learning Community (PLC) meetings and

offer professional development to general and special educators in multiple

content areas. She also helps schools appropriately schedule students into co-

taught classrooms so there is an appropriate mix of students for optimum learning.

• Co-teaching planning time outside of the school day is also offered. Each co-

teaching pair can submit timesheets for up to two hours each month for workshop

pay. This provides a structure for co-teachers to plan outside of the day since

typically there is not sufficient time to co-plan during the school day. The

compensation is funded through general and special education local budgets, as

well as supported through restricted special education funds (Medicaid funds).

Implementing STEM practices, NGSS practices, productive group work strategies, UDL,

and the use of technology into daily lessons provide the opportunity for more engagement

and critical thinking. Using benchmark exams to monitor student progress provides the

opportunity to identify struggling learners throughout the year. The Core Lead teachers

help with early identification of struggling learners, plan interventions, and assist teachers

with instructional strategies.

The development of instructional resources to support NGSS is a strategy that will help

teachers make shifts in planning and implementing instructional activities which will

promote critical thinking and deeper analysis of the content. The emphasis placed on

CER will guide teachers to plan lessons which require students to focus on evidence and

reasoning. Additionally, emphasis placed on modeling will allow teachers to assess

students’ conceptual understanding of science.

Funding

• Local funds have been allocated for workshops and professional development

activities designed to support the implementation of NGSS.


• STEM Grant funds have been allocated for workshops, activities, and materials of

instructions designed to support the implementation of STEM and NGSS

practices into instructional units.

High School Assessment (HSA) Government

1. Based on available HSA data, describe the challenges in Government. In your response,









Data analysis of the 2017 Government HSA assessment reveal positive pass rate trends as

it relates to overall and subgroup performance in Calvert County Public Schools. The

pass rate for ALL Government HSA first time test takers from the May 2017

administration is 95.1%. However, 58 of the 1,243 tested, failed to meet the state

performance standard in American Government with the greatest challenges identified as

students requiring special education services (SWD) and African American students.

White (96.5%), Hispanic (97.8%), and Asian (97%), continue to outperform African

Americans (86.9%) and students requiring special education services (52.4%). There

were three students who took the Government HSA who were identified as Limited

English Language Proficiency. All ESL students met the performance requirement with

a 100% pass rate. Based on 2017 HSA data, the challenges in American Government are

performance level gaps among ALL students and students receiving special education

services as well as African American students.

Specifically, data analysis reveals the following challenges for students receiving special

education services and students failing to meet, or failing to make progress towards

meeting State performance standards:

• Special Educators with limited content knowledge and minimal opportunities to collaborate

and plan with general education Government teachers due to the demands for them to

teach multiple content areas.

• Teacher training/professional development in effective teaching strategies related to

differentiation, seamless instruction, student access, the appropriateness of learning

targets, and how to adjust to the more rigorous standards for special education

students is in place but will need more time to develop.

• Identified students have difficulty reading complex text specifically related to close

analytic reading of primary sources and informational text

• Social studies’ teachers need additional support and training on teaching and

evaluating argumentative writing, historical investigations and methods for

conducting in-depth research, producing and supporting historical arguments













A Social Studies Learning Specialist has been allocated for the 2017-2018 school-year to

provide instructional coaching and professional development support with identified

strategies. The Supervisor of Social Studies purchased the DBQ online program to

specifically address the challenges related to close analytic reading of primary sources

and informational text, and teaching and evaluating argumentative writing. All American

Government teachers will implement the strategies from the DBQ Project. The

Supervisor of Social Studies will continue to allocate funds that supports the professional

development opportunities for the 2017-2018 school year. Funds for after school co-

teaching training sessions are available for all government teachers and are a combination

of local and restricted special education funds.

Co-teaching in the content areas has proven to be an effective system wide strategy to


struggling learners. Inclusive Programming Teacher Specialists will continue to provide

initial training to teaching pairs, which includes coaching of classroom teachers. In

addition, CCPS offers professional development to experienced co-teaching pairs; this

second level of training includes additional classroom observations and coaching

discussion and focus on topics such as differentiation, seamless instruction, student

access, the appropriateness of learning targets, and how to adjust to the more rigorous

standards.

In the fall of 2017 and spring 2018, the special education department will offer an after

school course for MSDE credit titled “Strategies for Teaching Struggling Learners”

designed for general education teachers of which every Government teacher will be

encouraged to participate. The special education department will also have available on-

line PD modules designed for general education teachers focused on understanding

executive functioning, understanding accommodations and supports, proactive behavior

strategies and understanding the IEP process. Information and strategies learned can be

directly applied to participants’ classrooms and should positive impact student

performance on the Government HSA.

A system-wide focus on equity will be implemented to ensure progress throughout the

2017-2018 school - year. Professional development during social studies department

meetings and county-wide PD sessions will provide CCPS American Government

teachers resources and training on culturally responsive teaching in order to assure a

quality, culturally responsive education for all students. In addition, there will be an


enhanced focus on Universal Design for Learning (UDL) integration in all social studies

instruction which will further support creating highly effective and inclusive classroom

environments with culturally appropriate pedagogical strategies for all students. CCPS

proposes to improve staff capacity and strategically change school-wide practices to

demonstrate effective and high quality inclusive education that results in positive

outcomes for students with disabilities.

The CCPS social studies program will provide a continuum of programs and

interventions to prepare students to pass the American Government HSA as measured by

both the aggregate and each subgroup. CCPS will implement the following processes to

prepare students for success on the Government HSA. The Supervisor of Social Studies

and school based staff will:

a. Utilize data from the CCPS Student Assessment System to predict students’

success on the Government HSA, as well as modify instruction to meet

individual student needs.

b. Utilize local formative assessments to modify or adapt instruction as needed

to ensure student understanding. Plan and incorporate assessments directly

into the instructional process to assure that assessments are authentic with

real-world application.

c. Support co-taught HSA Government classes and teachers in each high school

to ensure that special education students receive critical Government content,

as well as appropriate and effective instruction. The Supervisor will work

with appropriate school-based administration/personnel to support scheduling

special educators’ opportunities to collaborate and plan with general education

government teachers.

d. A Government intervention program will continue to be offered to students at

every high school through a variety of opportunities throughout the school-

year. This may include lunch time, afterschool and/or Saturday sessions for

identified students.

e. Collaborative planning will be scheduled for all Government teachers.

Teachers will use this time to analyze student data to inform and adjust their

instruction as necessary. Teachers will also analyze teaching practices and

resources that support effective instruction related to the Government Core

Learning Goals and plan accordingly.

f. Continued professional development from the DBQ Project.

All students will continue to receive effective social studies instruction that supports the

system’s initiatives and student achievement. Teachers will provide authentic, rigorous

and relevant instruction through an inquiry-based approach to instruction that promotes

active student engagement aligned with the new C3 Framework. The power of an

inquiry-based approach to teaching and learning is its potential to increase intellectual

engagement and foster deep understanding through the development of a hands-on,

minds-on and ‘research-based disposition’ towards teaching and learning.

The CCPS social studies program will ensure consistent and systemic delivery of social

studies professional development for staff that consistent and competent instructional

delivery in the following areas:


• Close Analytic Reading of primary sources and informational text

• Teaching and evaluating argumentative writing

• Historical investigations and methods for conducting in-depth research, producing

and supporting historical arguments and publishing findings

Processes that support achievement for all students will be implemented, such as

effective professional development, team and department meetings to analyze student

data, collaborative planning, and data conferences.


ANNUAL UPDATE

ASSESSMENT

ADMINISTERED BY

CALVERT COUNTY

PUBLIC SCHOOLS


2017 five year comprehensive master plan

Documents