A transitional approach

1. A transitional approach

2. FORMS OF COMMUNICATION WITH PARENTS REPORT CARDS PHONE CALLS TO PARENTS EMAILS PARENT-TEACHER CONFERENCES STUDENT-TEACHER CONFERENCES EVALUATED STUDENT WORK STANDARDIZED ASSESSMENTS NEWSLETTERS TO PARENTS TEACHER WEBSITES SCHOOL/DISTRICT WEBPAGES EXHIBITS OF STUDENT WORK CLASSROOM VISITATION CAN YOU THINK OF MORE?

3. WHAT IS THE PURPOSE OF A STANDARDS BASED REPORT CARD? • Grades are based on teacher evidence of student performance against year-end standards. • There is a clear focus on student learning toward goals • A consistent grading and report system is in place for all grades, schools. • Communication with parents is clearer. • Grades are no longer composites, but distinct measures of student performance.

4. RATIONALE FOR THE COMMON CORE • Declining US competitiveness with other developed countries • High rates of college remediation • NAEP performance that is largely flat over the past 40 years in 8th grade • Slight improvement at the 4th grade level • Slight decline at the high school level

5. WHY THE CHANGE? • Traditional grading is subjective. • Report card grades generally consider other factor components. • There is limited consistency across teachers, grades, buildings. • Students may be rewarded or penalized for good or bad work habits, irrespective of their mastery of learning.

6. ELA STANDARDS: A BRIEF SUMMARY Reading: • Increasing complexity: college and career readiness • Engagement in both classic and contemporary, as well as informational text Writing: • Write logical arguments using substantive claims, sound reasoning and relevant information • Research, both short and long term

7. ELA STANDARDS: SUMMARY CONTINUED Speaking and Listening • Students gain, evaluate, and present increasingly complex information, ideas, and evidence through listening and speaking and media. • Academic discussion in one-on-one, small-group, and whole-class settings. Formal presentations as well as informal discussion that takes place as students collaborate to answer questions, build understanding, and solve problems. Language • Vocabulary is gleaned through a mix of conversations, direct instruction, and reading. Word meanings as well as the connotation of words are a focus. • Vocabulary and conventions are treated in their own strand not because skills in these areas should be handled in isolation but because their use extends across reading, writing, speaking, and listening.

8. SHIFTS IN ELA • Building knowledge through content-rich nonfiction • Reading, writing, and speaking grounded in evidence from text, both literary and informational • Regular practice with complex text and its academic language

9. MATHEMATICS SUMMARY: A BRIEF SUMMARY Stress not only procedural skill but also conceptual understanding K-5: Provides students with a solid foundation in whole numbers, addition, subtraction, multiplication, division, fractions and decimals – building blocks for middle and high school. Focuses work on the number core at the primary level: learning how numbers correspond to quantities, and learning how to put numbers together and take them apart (the beginnings of addition and subtraction). Content builds upon content as grade levels progress. Offers detailed guidance on how to navigate topics such as fractions, negative numbers, and geometry by maintaining a continuous progression from grade to grade. Middle School: Students are encouraged to participate in hands on learning in geometry, algebra and probability and statistics to be well-prepared for algebra in grade 8. The middle school standards provide preparation for high school mathematics. The high school standards call on students to practice applying mathematical ways of thinking to real world issues and challenges; they prepare students to think and reason mathematically and emphasize modeling.

10. SHIFTS IN MATHEMATICS • Focus: Focus strongly where the standards focus. • Coherence: Think across grades, and link to major topics • Rigor: In major topics, pursue conceptual understanding, procedural skill and fluency, and application

11. THE STANDARDS BASED REPORT CARD (SBRC) • The SBRC can provide teachers, parents and students with a more accurate description of student progress toward meeting the grade level Common Core state standards. • Important, specific information is offered to parents in terms of their child’s achievement and progress. • Components of the Common Core Standards are outlined and included in the report card; parents have a better understanding of our instructional program and expectations for student learning. • Useful and relevant information (such as participation, involvement) will be reported in a separate category (Behaviors that Support Learning).

12. STANDARDS BASED AND TRADITIONAL REPORT CARDS

13. WHERE ARE WE CURRENTLY? • The current school year is a transitionary one. • In addition to the removal of the overall grade, the rating scale has been revised. • A re-imaged report card will be available next year. • Indicators and scale will be aligned. • Common core standards will be presented; academic end of year indicators are included.

14. FOR MORE INFORMATION… Websites: • Common Core Standards Initiative (http://www.corestandards.org/) • National Governors Association (http://www.nga.org/cms/home.html) • Council of Chief State School Officers (http://www.ccsso.org/)