curriculum, instruction, & assessment...
TRANSCRIPT
November/December 2012 VOL. 2 ISSUE 3
Division of Curriculum, Instruction , & Assessment
Inside This Edition:
Upcoming Assessments, pg. 2
Early Childhood & Literacy Wk., pg. 3
ESOL Corner, pg. 4-5
Social Studies, pgs. 6-7
Math Concept Byte, pg. 8
Literacy Grading & Assessment:
The Final Four, pgs. 9-15
HMH Think Central Updates, pg. 16
The Framework Buzzz... pg. 17
Write from The Beginning PD, pg. 18
SHINE, pg. 19
NBC NEWS
EDUCATION
NATION
Common Core in
Prime Time
St. Lucie Public Schools
“Common Core, a common standard for high expectations for our stu-dents…” This brief yet significant seg-ment [03:40] highlights our nation’s shift to common standards with high expectations and critical thinking with fewer topics and greater depth.
CLICK THE IMAGE BELOW TO WATCH!
Curriculum, Instruction, & Assessment .
Partnering to Advance Quality Instruction and
Student Achievement
Consistency in our terminology helps with the clarity of our communication. With this in mind, Performance Matters’ headings will change from "Lagging" and "Leading" to "State Test" and "Local Tests."
Performance Matters Performance Matters –– What’s In a Name?What’s In a Name?
Partnering to Advance Quality Instruction and Student Achievement
Division of Curriculum & Instruction Partnering to Advance Quality Instruction and Student Achievement
St. Lucie Public Schools
Upcoming Assessments Upcoming Assessments
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ST. LUCIE COUNTY PUBLIC SCHOOL TESTING SCHEDULE 2012-2013
Assessment Begin Date End Date Purpose Grade/Semester Subject
High School Semes-
ter Exams*
1/7/2013 1/14/2013 Summative 1st Semester –
High School and
LPA
All Subjects
Middle School Se-
mester Exams*
1/7/2013 1/14/2013 Summative 1st Semester –
Middle Grades
6-8
All Subjects
Aims Web 1/7/2013 1/17/2013 Screener Gr 6 -12 Reading
VPK Assessment 1/7/2013 1/31/2013 Progress
Monitoring
VPK, Pre- K Pre-K
Easy CBM Reading 1/14/2013 2/5/2013 Screener K-5 Reading
(All Students)
Reading
Easy CBM Math 1/14/2013 2/5/2013 Screener K-2 Math
(All students)
Math
Practice Quarter 2
Benchmark Math
1/23/2013 2/1/2013 Progress
Monitoring
Grade 5 Math
SAT 1/26/2013 Acceleration High School
Grades 11 and 12
College
Readiness Test
ACT 2/9/2013 Acceleration High School
Grades 11 and 12
College
Readiness Test
Florida Alternative
Assessment (FAA)
2/25/2013 3/29/2013 Summative ESE Alternative
Assessment
Students
Reading, Math,
and Writing
FCAT 2.0 Writing 2/26/2013 2/27/2013 Summative Grades 4, 8,
and 10
Writing
Assessment
Type
Testing
Window
Paper and Pencil Test Computer Based Test (CBT)
*Semester
One Exams
1/7/13
through
1/17/13
HS and
MS
Exams
SLC Midterm for Gr 7 Civics
SLC Midterm for Gr 11 US History
SLC Midterm for Biology
SLC Midterm for Geometry
+ School-created Common Exams
SLC Midterm Algebra 1 OLA
Division of Curriculum & Instruction St. Lucie Public Schools
Learning Goal Success
in VPK Classrooms!
VPK teachers and paraprofessionals are hard at
work stating learning goals and targets with stu-
dents for each lesson.
The teachers are helping the children to under-
stand their learning goals and targets in student
friendly language each and every day!
Early ChildhoodEarly Childhood A Message From Kelly Seay About This Year ’s Celebrate Literacy Week The 5th annual Celebrate Literacy, Florida! event is coming up January 14-18, 2013. This year we are inviting all of our SRO’s to read to their corresponding elementary school’s VPK, K, and/or 1st grade classes. FDOE will provide the books and will be donating them to the schools after the readings. Please contact your school’s SRO and be sure they are on the lookout for more infor-mation. Each SRO will be responsible for sched-uling a day and time during the event week to read. The schools will be responsible for letting me know how many books will be needed. Thanks and Happy Reading!!
Kelly Seay Kelly Seay, M.Ed. Deputy Director of Educator Relations Florida Department of Educa-tion Just for Teachers 850.245.5029
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ESOL CornerESOL Corner
Meet the New Faces of ESOL!
Michelle Barreto
Sheri Reichard
Clarissa Duskin
Cielo Zapata
Supported by: John Lynch, Assistant Superintendent Federal Programs, School Renewal and Title 1 Schools
Our mission is to develop skills and build capacity to improve student academic achievement to en-
sure that our ELL students meet the same challenging goals all students encounter.
Curriculum, Instruction , and Assessment Partnering to Advance Quality Instruction and Student Achievement
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Curriculum, Instruction , and Assessment St. Lucie County
Resource Objective: Location Before/After
School Academic
Support Program
To provide ELL students additional
support in content areas and credit
retrieval.
Port St Lucie High St Lucie West Centennial Treasure Coast
Oak Hammock K-8 Dan McCarty 3-8
Before/After School
Language Support Program
To provide ELLs students and their
parents with the opportunity to acquire
English language skills.
Bayshore Elementary Mariposa Elementary St Lucie Elementary Weatherbee Elementary
Imagine Learning
English
To provide students with a systematic and
explicit support in phonics, phonemic
awareness, fluency, vocabulary, and
reading comprehension.
Identified Schools For more information email Clarissa Duskin
Professional Learning Communities
To provide participants with the opportu-
nities to engage in a PLC that will discuss
issues and strategies that relate to second
language acquisition and academic
achievement.
District Office For more information email Michelle Barreto
Power of Two+ Professional
Development
To provide ELL students related
professionals the opportunity to attend a
professional development that will pro-
mote and enhance collaboration to better
serve the needs of ELL students.
District Office For more information email Michelle Barreto
Word Language for Educators
To provide participants with the
opportunity to learn a second language to
enhance communication with ELL
students and their families.
Grant Approval Required
For more information email Clarissa Duskin
Teacher Support
To provide research-based ELL strategies
to improve instruction and raise
achievement levels of ELL students.
School site at teacher request
(planning time, before and af-
ter school)
Faculty workshops per
Principal request
Parent Outreach
To provide parents information on the
following topics: Skyward Access, Supporting ELLs
During Statewide Assessments,
Homework Assistance, Graduation Re-
quirements and Career Planning
District Office Various School Sites
On November 3, the ESOL department had our first Principals EXPO. The purpose of the EXPO was to provide awareness of the programs and services we
have to offer for the 2101-2013 School Year. Here are some of the programs and services we can offer through Title III.
ESOL Corner, Cont’dESOL Corner, Cont’d 5
Curriculum, Instruction , & Assessment Partnering to Advance Quality Instruction and Student Achievement
St. Lucie Public Schools
Call for Judges!Call for Judges! Volunteer judges are needed to judge 7
th grade Civics student proposals to solve a
school/community problem at our 3rd
annual Project Citizen Showcase on
Thursday, January 17, 4:30-7:30 p.m. at Samuel S. Gaines Academy.
Judges for the District History Fair are needed as well. The District History
Fair is Saturday, March 2 from 8:00 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. at Oak Hammock K-8.
Please contact Tim Norfleet to volunteer.
District Assessment Study Guides Study guides for the Civics and 11th Grade US History semester exams are available for download from the Parents and Students section of the district website. Online Civics PD A FREE on-line professional development opportunity for 7th Grade Civics teachers is available 24/7 at: http://mscivics.floridacitizen.org Teaching Middle School Civics is a 27 module, self-paced, online professional devel-opment program that provides background content knowledge, pedagogy training, and resources for teaching the Next Generation Sunshine State Standards for 7th Grade Civics. Teachers and administrators can create an account at any time and the login will be valid for one calendar year. Each learning module targets one to three civics benchmarks and is designed to provide content and pedagogical videos and text to support a middle school civics teacher.
Learning modules include the following resources: 1. Teacher's Content Corner - background content knowledge reading 2. Conversations in Civics Video - a 15 minute content based interview 3. Teaching Perspectives Video - a 15 minute lesson demonstration & interview 4. A Featured Lesson Plan & Related Lesson Resources 5. Module Assessment 6. Supplemental Advanced Study and Lesson Plan Resources Module Completion: Participants successfully complete a module once they have completed Steps 1-4 and have completed the module assessment (Step 5) with a grade of 70% or higher.
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Curriculum, Instruction , & Assessment Partnering to Advance Quality Instruction and Student Achievement
St. Lucie Public Schools
Not Just for Social Studies…
In order to better address the academic and social/emotional needs of boys, the district will be offering two professional development opportunities from Aha! Process (Ruby Payne) on this topic. Each offering is limited to a maximum of two partici-pants per school based on principal recommendation with a total capacity of 60 participants. First come, first served. Hear Our Cries - Boys in Crisis January 29, 2013 in the Board Room ERO SRN - 05610129130001 This workshop focuses on the "why" behind male behavior in schools and what schools can do to begin making school more "boy-friendly." Issues that affect boys who come from poverty, as well as middle class, will be explored in this session. Full-day Workshop for Teachers, 8:30-3:30 Evening Workshop for Parents, “Creating Well-Adjusted Boys at Home and at School,” 5:00 – 7:00 Presenter: Jim Littlejohn Meeting the Educational Needs of African-American Boys February 27, 2013 in the Board Room ERO SRN - 05610227130001
One of the most misunderstood, maligned, and underserved segments of the public school popula-tion is the urban minority male student. African-American males often operate within a "hidden rule system" that is vastly different from the mid-dle class rule system that governs America's schools. Full-day Workshop for Teachers, 8:30-3:30 Evening Workshop for Parents, 5:00 – 7:00 Presenter: Rita Pearson
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Curriculum, Instruction , & Assessment St. Lucie Public Schools
MATH CONCEPT BYTE
Math Routines & Math Technology
Connecting Math to Common Core Literacy
Did you know that Literacy Standards are already embedded into the course descriptions of our middle school
and high school courses? Vocabulary development is an important aspect of our students’ experiences with
math. It is more than just the terms within the textbook, but students should determine the meaning of sym-
bols as well. Students should make connections with words in math and other content areas. How can you
support this in your classroom?
MACC.K12.MP.3
Construct Viable Arguments and Critique the Reasoning of Others Mathematically proficient students understand and use stated assumptions, definitions, and previously estab-
lished results in constructing arguments. They make conjectures and build a logical progression of statements
to explore the truth of their conjectures. They are able to analyze situations by breaking them into cases, and
can recognize and use counterexamples. They justify their conclusions, communicate them to others, and re-
spond to the arguments of others. Mathematically proficient students are also able to compare the effectiveness
of two plausible arguments, distinguish correct logic or reasoning from that which is flawed, and—if there is a
flaw in an argument—explain what it is. Students at all grades can listen or read the arguments of others, de-
cide whether they make sense, and ask useful questions to clarify or improve the arguments.
To support our students in this practice, we can ask our students: Will it still work if…?
What was the same and different about …?
Math Routine Spotlight
Direct Instruction The purpose of the direct instruction is to give students a
brief interaction with the content. Students should be given
small chunks in which they can process immediately.
What elements do you think align with this
component of the SLC Math Routine?
Elements 9 and 10 should be the main focus.
Math Technology Spotlight Fast Fact: Did you know that the Internet is full
of resources to help students who are struggling
with math concepts?
We have three sites that are free of charge and
may be of interest to you and well worth your time
to review.
Brightstorm, Kahn Academy and Sophia all
offer great explanations of math concepts and
sample problems. Khan Academy offers the ability
to track students! Sophia offers the ability to see
multiple ways of solving problems. Brightstorm
offers videos to help students with homework.
Take a few moments and check out these
additional resources!
www.brightstorm.com
www.khanacademy.org
www.sohpia.org
Geometry EOC News
Test Item Specifications have been
updated for Geometry. There are
some major revisions. Check out the
revisions HERE. Contact Liz Pruitt for information!
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Division of Curriculum & Instruction Partnering to Advance Quality Instruction and Student Achievement
St. Lucie County
Since standards based grading on the grading scale for K-2 has been
implemented, many questions have been posed. Here are some of those
answers that specifically relate to literacy.
How does a student earn a 3 in reading?
For a student to earn a 3, mastery of the standard must take place. A 3 is earned by
successfully mastering a grade level standard.
How does a student earn a 4 in reading?
The Common Core State Standards has the answer embedded in its vertical spiraling.
The 4 is earned when a student successfully and independently masters the next
grade level standard that vertically aligns with the current grade level standard.
The Final Four: The Final Four:
Grading and AssessingGrading and Assessing
A sevenA seven--page Guidepage Guide
On grade level standard.
Once mastered,
students will earn a 3.
Spiraling vertically. If
student masters the
standard independently,
they will earn a 4.
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Curriculum, Instruction , & Assessment
St. Lucie Public Schools
How do I assess to determine if a student earns a 4? A teacher can use various methods to assess a 4. Here are a few:
*Teacher created assessment using Level 4 terms and phrases *Custom assessments via Think Central using the next grade level’s standards *A blend of all of the above
How do I know if I should be providing a student with an assessment that deter-mines level 4 understanding? If you notice a student is consistently earning 3’s, then give the student the opportunity to test on the vertical standard. Remember: for a student to earn a 4, he/she has to master the next grade level standard independently. How do I use the scale to grade for reading? The scale provides focus standards per unit of study. Always keep in mind that with Common Core State Standards, you are working with end of course expectations. Therefore, grading is dependent of the instruction that has occurred
thus far in the classroom.
Remember, these
Common Core State
Standards are end of
course expectations.
You are only as-
sessing what you have
taught. Looking at the
standard/target with
initial, medial, and
final sounds, if you
have only taught initial
sounds, you will only
assess initial sounds.
Even though
these are Score
2.0 standards/
targets, if the
student shows
mastery of
these, he/she
can earn a 3 in
Skyward.
Even though
these are Score
3.0 standards/
targets, if the
student does not
show mastery of
these, he/she can
earn a 2 in
Skyward.
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Curriculum, Instruction , & Assessment St. Lucie Public Schools
When creating Common Core State Standards based assessments using Journeys, the most efficient way to do so is by logging onto Think Central’s website at www.thinkcentral.com. Available for teacher use are the Benchmark Assessments and the Weekly Unit Assessments. It is not necessary to use all of the questions that are provided on the assess-ments since the assessments cover a wide range of material that may not apply to the standards that are being taught. Creating a custom assess-ment will ensure that what is being assessed is a standard that has been taught:
If you are selecting questions from a Benchmark Test, do not select questions from Benchmarks 1, 3, or 5 since these are SLC District tested Benchmarks. Select from Benchmarks 2, 4, or 6. You can also use the Unit End of Lesson Test questions.
In addition to assigning tests that HMH publishes,
you can construct your own exams, using a bank of
items aligned to standards.
I. To create a custom test, click Add from the Cus-tom Tests area of the Assignments navigation pane.
The Create Custom Test page opens.
1. Select a Grade Level.
2. Select a Subject.
3. Type a Test Name.
4. In the Mastery Level field, set a percentage you
believe would demonstrate that the student has
mastered the standards and objectives on this test.
5. Click Next.
The Final Four: The Final Four:
Grading and AssessingGrading and Assessing
Creating Custom AssessmentsCreating Custom Assessments
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Curriculum, Instruction , & Assessment Partnering to Advance Quality Instruction and Student Achieve-
ment St. Lucie Public Schools
II. Select a Standard Set (NGSSS or CCSS)
1. Click a standard set in the View by Standard Set drop-down list.
2. Select the types of questions you want to include from:
Multiple Choice
Essay
Fill-in the Blank
Question types that do not appear in the test
will not show in the Include question types list.
3. Click Next.
The Final Four: The Final Four:
Grading and AssessingGrading and Assessing
Creating Custom AssessmentsCreating Custom Assessments
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Curriculum, Instruction , & Assessment Partnering to Advance Quality Instruction and Student Achievement
St. Lucie Public Schools
III. Search the Standard Set
1. Click a standard set in the View by Standard Set drop-down list.
2. To narrow down your search, you can type specific terms found in standards
(e.g., “difference”) in the Search by box, then click Search.
3. Select items from the Search Results column to add to the criteria for your
test. Click the icon to collapse the list or the icon to expand it.
4. To view a standard’s description, click that standard’s number.
5. To add selected items to the criteria list for your test, select one or more check
boxes and click Add to Criteria. The choices you make will appear in the
Criteria box.
You can also drag items from the Search Results box to the Criteria box.
The Final Four: The Final Four:
Grading and AssessingGrading and Assessing
Creating Custom AssessmentsCreating Custom Assessments
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Curriculum, Instruction , & Assessment Partnering to Advance Quality Instruction and Student Achievement
St. Lucie Public Schools
IV. Preview the Test
1. Click Detail View or Student View to select a preview mode.
Detail View shows you all the test questions and the standards
correlated to each test question in the custom test. You can see the
images and answers and hear any related audio files.
The Final Four: The Final Four:
Grading and AssessingGrading and Assessing
Creating Custom Assessments Creating Custom Assessments
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Assessments can be designed
in Think Central for Reading,
Math, and Science .
Curriculum, Instruction , & Assessment Partnering to Advance Quality Instruction and Student Achievement
St. Lucie Public Schools
IV. Preview the Test (continued)
2. Student View shows you the test as the students will see it.
3. To view a description of any standard associated with a question, click the standard’s
number. An icon next to each test item identifies it as:
· Multiple Choice (MC)
· Fill-in the Blank (FIB)
· Essay (ER)
4. Click a test item name to preview that test item and answer. If an item has an as-
sociated sound file, click Play to listen to it.
5. You can drag and drop test questions to change their order.
6. Click the icon to remove a question from the test.
7. Click Finish to finalize and create your custom test.
The Final Four: The Final Four:
Grading and AssessingGrading and Assessing
Creating Custom AssessmentsCreating Custom Assessments
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Dear HMH Community,
Houghton Mifflin Harcourt is delighted to inform you of the November
2012 improvements to the ThinkCentral application. Because we value customer
suggestions and feedback, we have taken steps to enhance the functionality with
new and additional capabilities. Please find a quick description of the improvements
below:
Custom Tests These improvements include new copy and edit functionalities to allow teachers to modify cus-
tom tests. The custom test list was also improved to provide a preview mode to easily see ques-
tions included on previously created custom tests.
Student Test View The students’ view of online assessments has been enhanced so students can easily see the point
value of each question.
Comparison Reports
New! The district, school, class and teacher level comparison reports can now be saved and
printed to PDF format.
Updated Help Files The ThinkCentral online Help links have been updated to better support all levels of users.
Search Resources View This view now displays in a single page format and no longer requires teachers to click through
pages of search results.
View Assignment Progress The View Assignment Progress page has been updated to provide a link to view assigned re-
sources.
We hope you and our customers find these developments beneficial and rewarding!
Sincerely,
Digital Customer Experience
Curriculum, Instruction , & Assessment Partnering to Advance Quality Instruction and Student Achievement
St. Lucie Public Schools
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The Framework Buzzz... We are hearing about all the powerful and exciting learning going on in the District centered around our Framework for Quality Instruction and we want you to be in the know. We'll be highlighting some of our teachers and schools throughout the year with The Framework Buzzzz. St. Lucie West Centennial High School has identi-fied "6 Big Rocks" this year and one of their Big Rocks is to develop the capacity of all teachers through meaningful and important professional development. The staff began by agreeing that “the experts and expertise is among us.” The Eagles are beginning with the first in a series of Teacher-Led, Teacher-Developed, Teacher-Owned Professional Development opportunities, from this point forward known as Centennial’s Teacher Showcases. The first Centennial’s Teacher Showcase was led by two teachers (Mr. Bauer and Mr. Britton) who showcased Element #27 - Using Physical Movement. All teachers at SLWCHS were invited to come watch their colleagues demonstrate strategies related to Element #27. Approximately 30 teachers attended the learning and the energy in the room was amazing. Every teacher left with real strategies and activi-ties that could be applied to their classroom. The next Showcase was on December 4th, and it was led by teachers Mrs. Rondeau and Mrs. Davis. The focus was Design
Question 3, Elements 14 and 19 as well as an
Introduction to Thinking Maps that can
successfully be used to address multiple Ele-
ments. Congratulations to the teachers at SLW Cen-tennial for their contributions and sharing of expertise with colleagues to enhance student learning! Your model of professional devel-opment using the collaborative efforts of teacher leadership and school leadership is outstanding. You are on to something great!
Curriculum, Instruction , & Assessment Partnering to Advance Quality Instruction and Student Achievement
St. Lucie Public Schools
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Curriculum, Instruction , & Assessment Partnering to Advance Quality Instruction and Student Achievement
St. Lucie Public Schools
Target Audience Date Location SRN#
Fourth/Fifth Grade Teachers
Thursday, November 29, 2012
District Office- Board Room
05221019121027
Second/Third Grade Teachers
Tuesday, December 4, 2012
District Office- Board Room
05221019121032
Second/Third Grade Teachers
Tuesday, December 11, 2012
District Office-Community
Room
05221019121035
Kindergarten/First Grade Teachers
Wednesday, December 12, 2012
District Office- Board Room
05221019121037
Kindergarten/First Grade Teachers
Thursday, December 13, 2012
Palm Pointe- Launch Pad
05221019121040
Enroll in ERO today!
www.stlucieschools.org> Teachers & Staff> Professional Development> ERO
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Curriculum, Instruction , & Assessment Partnering to Advance Quality Instruction and Student Achievement
St. Lucie Public Schools
SHINESHINE
Now that we are in Quarter 2, all SHINE folders and Quarter 1 mentor logs for
first year teachers should have already been completed and submitted to your school
liaison or Trish Cordeiro at the District Office. Quarter 2 logs will be due at the end of
January as well as 1st semester mentor logs for 2
nd year teachers. Administrators,
please remember to update your mentor/mentee Excel sheets with all changes in
mentors and/or mentees and send updated sheets to Trish Cordeiro.
Our second cohort meeting is quickly approaching. It will be held January 15th at
the District Office at 5:00 pm. Like the first cohort, there will be several break-out
sessions for participants to choose from; however, there will be a strong emphasis on
the Framework for Quality Instruction. Facilitators will primarily focus on lesson planning
through the Elements of Design Question 2 using Performance Scales as a tool.
Please plan to join us for a wonderful evening of learning!
Teachers collaborate during a recent Mentor training meeting at District Office led by Trish Cordeiro.
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