USD 232 School Improvement News
Second Quarter 2019-2020
News with Purpose
- Math Adoption Update
- Parent Education and Connection
- PreACT for 9th and 10th Grade Students
- ACT Scores Stay Strong
- Special Services Advisory Committee
- Data Tracking in Formative Assessment
- MTSS Handbook
Math Adoption Update
The Elementary Math Adoption concluded the first pilot phase, which revolved around use of Ready Math by Curriculum Associates. Teacher-pilot training was provided at the end of August, and representatives from Curriculum Associates visited teachers’ classrooms to support them in buildings throughout first quarter. Teachers on the committee were able to pilot both print and online resources, as well as use the iReady online diagnostic, to instruct student learning. Each student workbook and teacher guide contains direct links to the 8 Mathematical Practices, which is a focus of elementary teacher professional development this year.
Training for the second pilot phase took place on October 24th with My Math by McGraw Hill. McGraw Hill states that this resource is used by over three million teachers across the country, and the program’s integrated assessments help teachers monitor student ability and progress. Both print and online resources are being provided to teachers for this pilot. In addition to My Math, McGraw Hill also agreed to allow pilot teachers access to the Redbird Math supplementary resource, which is an adaptive learning program that incorporates STEM applications and project-based learning into math instruction. The pilot phase will conclude in December, and the committee will reconvene in January to select a resource that will be recommended to the USD 232 Board of Education.
Secondary Math Adoption has concluded at the middle level. Pilot teachers at each grade level had the opportunity to utilize four programs within their courses. The pilot teachers were trained on each program to understand mathematical practices related to the program. Teachers primarily utilized digital resources with supplemental workbooks to evaluate resources and utilize them with their students. The four programs they chose to sample were Houghton-Mifflin Harcourt’s Go Math, Into Math, Pearson’s Envision, and Big Ideas by Cengage. Rubrics have been completed by the middle school pilot teachers and a recommendation will be made to the school board in November.
High school teachers were also trained on the following programs, and had full access to student and teacher digital and paper materials. The high school adoption team is piloting two programs for the Intermediate Math courses; Big Ideas by Cengage, and Pearson’s Envision. During October Professional Development, teachers discussed the two programs and elected to further evaluate the resources. The teachers of College Algebra and AP Statistics also reviewed materials related to their courses. The College Algebra teachers reviewed two resources for the course from Cengage, College Algebra 2018 and College Algebra 7th Edition Robert F. Blitzer, Miami Dade College 2018 by Pearson. AP Statistics teachers chose Bedford, Freeman and Worth’s Practice of Statistics, 6th Edition. A recommendation will be made to the USD 232 Board of Education in late November, based on the result of the evaluation rubrics.
Parent Education and Connection
Angst is a documentary designed to raise awareness around anxiety. The film includes interviews with kids, teens, educators, experts, and parents. The goal is to help people identify and understand the symptoms of anxiety and encourage them to reach out for help.
Families were invited to view the documentary October 15th at Mill Valley High School. Following the film, parents were able to participate in discussion with mental health professionals from Kansas City Center for Anxiety Treatment.
The Angst project is an IndieFlix Original documentary designed to raise awareness around anxiety, with an emphasis on youth and families. The film includes interviews with kids, teens, experts, and parents. Our goal is to help people identify and understand the symptoms of anxiety and encourage them to reach out for help. Angst will be screened in schools, communities, and theaters around the world. The film and corresponding materials provide tools, resources, and hope. AngstMovie.com
PreACT for 9th and 10th Grade Students
All 9th and 10th grade students take the fall PreACT.
PreACT simulates the ACT testing experience within a shorter test window on all four ACT test subjects: English, Math, Reading, and Science.
This year for the first time, the state of Kansas is funding all freshman PreACT participants across the state. USD 232 has incorporated 10th grade PreACT into the district assessment alignment, to serve as a predictor for ACT testing and data, relating to instructional need. Mill Valley High School and De Soto High School 9th and 10th graders took the PreACT October 24-25th.
Results predict future success on the ACT test, and provide both current achievement and projected future ACT test scores on the familiar 1-36 ACT score scale.
To help all students achieve success, accommodations offered include locally assigned accommodations and available Braille, large print, reader script and audio.
Key Benefits
- Early practice for the ACT test with flexible test administration dates
- PreACT score and predicted ACT score ranges align to the ACT 1–36 scale
- Students may opt to share their information with colleges and scholarship agencies
- ACT Interest Inventory results provide students with a personalized view of interests with college and career alignment
- Valuable results provide actionable insights to help educators, parents and students make important decisions for the future
- Rapid reporting turnaround within 2-4 weeks of receipt of answer documents allows for early and effective planning to ensure students can attain the future and career success they envision
Please read the Benefits of PreACT Fact Sheet HERE to learn more.
ACT Scores Stay Strong
Students in Unified School District No. 232, Johnson County, Kansas, continue to score above state and national peers on the ACT College Readiness Exam. According to official 2019 data released by ACT, district students (Class of 2019) recorded a composite average of 23.5. The score represents a slight decrease of just one-tenth of one point compared to the previous year.
The overall scores remain strong in USD 232 even with a record number of students taking the exam. Nearly 80 percent of all graduating seniors took the ACT, or 444 students.
ACT scores reflect the achievement of graduates on the exam over time and is an indication of the extent to which students are prepared for college in the areas of English, Mathematics, Reading, and Science.
The district implemented a long-term strategic plan for increasing academic rigor for students. An essential component is the expansion of Advanced Placement (AP) and College Now course offerings, as well as pre-AP for students in middle school and in grades nine and ten. In an effort to help students with College and Career Readiness, both high schools offer ACT Preparatory courses as an elective.
Questions about ACT results and student preparation for the assessment may be directed to each high school. The ACT is a national college admissions examination that consists of subject area tests in English, Math, Reading, and Science. For more information, please visit http://www.act.org/.
Special Services Advisory Committee
The USD 232 Special Services Department continues to proactively engage our community to improve educational programming and provide resources to parents. A key strategy to this is the organization of the USD 232 Special Services Advisory Committee (SSAC).
The SSAC was organized beginning in the Fall of 2017 and continues to function this year. SSAC is made up of approximately two-thirds parents and one-third staff and seeks to promote positive and joint advocacy efforts to enhance and improve the implementation of educational programs offered throughout our continuum of special education services.
The SSAC has agreed upon goals for the '19-'20 school year. These goals are to connect families of students with exceptionalities and to increase an awareness and understanding of the different exceptionalities within our schools and community. In addition, the committee has developed a resource website with many resources, including a parent resource guide to assist in understanding the processes involved with special education. Finally, the SSAC is hosting a variety of parent forums throughout the year. The next forum will be in November and is centered around connecting families of students with exceptionalities. Please visit our website for a complete list of forum dates and topics. The committee looks forward to continuing to support our mission and vision throughout the year and welcomes input to further enhance our work. We would encourage those interested to visit our website listed below.
Purpose:
- Serve as a liaison for students receiving special education and related services and impact decisions made on their behalf.
- Provide a forum to collaborate and share ideas related to the provision of special education services.
- Empower parents of children with disabilities through the acquisition of knowledge and understanding of IDEA processes and procedures while serving as a resource to others.
- Promote joint advocacy and positive communication efforts between parents and district staff.
- Work together on the implementation of educational programs offered throughout our Continuum of Special Education Services.
- Share success stories of our students while maintaining student confidentiality.
- Submit regular updates and recommendations to Superintendent for submission to USD 232 Board of Education.
- Provide a yearly reflection on accomplishments and activities within SSAC Committee.
Ways to Track Formative Assessment
Formative assessment—discovering what students know while they’re still in the process of learning it—can be tricky. Designing just the right assessment can feel high stakes for teachers because we’re using it to figure out what comes next. When it comes to figuring out what our students really know, we have to look at more than one kind of information. A single data point—no matter how well designed the quiz, presentation, or problem behind it—isn’t enough information to help us plan the next step in our instruction.
1. Entry and exit slips: Those marginal minutes at the beginning and end of class can provide some great opportunities to find out what kids remember. Start the class off with a quick question about the previous day’s work while students are getting settled. Exit slips can take lots of forms. You can use tools like Padlet, which makes seeing what students know a snap.
No matter the tool, the key to keeping students engaged in the process of just-walked-in or almost-out-the-door formative assessment is the questions. Ask students to write for one minute on the most meaningful thing they learned. You can try prompts like:
- What are three things you learned, two things you’re still curious about, and one thing you don’t understand?
- How would you have done things differently today, if you had the choice?
- What I found interesting about this work was...
2. Low-stakes quizzes and polls: If you want to find out whether your students really know as much as you think they know, polls, quizzes, or in-class games and tools can help you get a better sense of how much they really understand. Because you can design the questions yourself, you determine the level of complexity. Ask questions at the bottom of Bloom’s taxonomy and you’ll get insight into what facts, vocabulary terms, or processes kids remember. Ask more complicated questions and you’ll get more sophisticated insights.
3. Dipsticks: So-called alternative formative assessments are meant to be as easy and quick as checking the oil in your car, so they’re sometimes referred to as dipsticks. These can be things like asking students to:
- write a letter explaining a key idea to a friend,
- draw a sketch to visually represent new knowledge, or
- do a think, pair, share exercise with a partner.
4. Interview assessments: If you want to dig a little deeper into students’ understanding of content, try discussion-based assessment methods. Casual chats with students in the classroom can help them feel at ease even as you get a sense of what they know, and you may find that five-minute interview assessments work well.
5. Methods that incorporate art: Consider using visual art or photography or videography as an assessment tool. Whether students draw, create a collage, or sculpt, you may find that the assessment helps them synthesize their learning. Or think beyond the visual and have kids act out their understanding of the content.
6. Misconceptions and errors: Sometimes it’s helpful to see if students understand why something is incorrect or why a concept is hard. Ask students to explain the “muddiest point” in the lesson—the place where things got confusing or particularly difficult or where they still lack clarity.
7. Self-assessment: Don’t forget to consult the experts—the kids. Often you can give your rubric to your students and have them spot their strengths and weaknesses. You can use sticky notes to get a quick insight into what areas your kids think they need to work on. Ask them to pick their own trouble spot from three or four areas where you think the class as a whole needs work, and write those areas in separate columns on a whiteboard.
No matter which tools you select, make time to do your own reflection to ensure that you’re only assessing the content.
~Excerpt Citation: Edutopia, Laura Thomas , April 26, 2019
MTSS Handbook
All protocol for reading and math, from core instruction through Tier 3, were created through district leadership and building administration throughout the '18-'19 school year. Research, topic, and development times were held in monthly meetings, and were then taken back to Building Leadership Teams and staff for review, revision, and input in the creative process.
The goal of MTSS in USD 232 is to provide an integrated systemic approach to meet the needs of every student, and for schools to use resources in ways that enable every child to be successful. This is accomplished by:
·Evaluating current practices to identify those that yield evidence of effectiveness; addressing areas that are missing; and replacing approaches with those that are supported by research.
·Being prevention oriented: knowing who needs support as early as possible, and putting necessary and appropriate supports in place.
The Kansas Multi-Tier System of Supports Integrated Framework (MTSS) is a set of evidence-based practices implemented to meet the needs of all learners. MTSS builds a system of prevention, early intervention, and supports to ensure that all students are learning from the instruction. MTSS establishes a system that intentionally focuses on leadership, professional development, and an empowering culture and content areas of reading, mathematics, behavior, and social-emotional learning.
MTSS is a continuum of evidence based, system-wide practices which support rapid response to academic, behavioral, and social-emotional needs. Frequent data-based monitoring for instructional decision-making empowers each student to achieve high standards. The focus of MTSS Integrated Framework is system- level academic and behavioral improvements across the classroom, school, district, and state.
This is a framework that guides schools through a process of needs assessment and decision-making that assists in not only selecting effective practices, but also creating a sustainable, aligned system. School districts use MTSS as one component of the framework in school improvement to address the academic, behavioral, and social-emotional growth and achievement of all students.
Tiered intervention is built upon strong educational practices at the center of instruction. These basic educational practices include using evidence-based curriculum and practices to provide differentiated learning experiences that challenge all students. In addition, teachers must be effective in the delivery of instruction in order for students to attain high achievement.
The USD 232 website includes substantial information to utilize regarding the MTSS Integrated Framework. This includes overview information and other documents. For more information, please visit this portion of our website at: USD 232 MTSS .
Bringing Awareness to Our Communities and Stakeholders
- District Programs- Early Childhood-to-Postsecondary
- Student and Staff Highlights
- Academic and Extracurricular Events of Interest
- Updates in Standards, Curriculum, Technology, and Assessments
- Relationships with Internal and External Stakeholders
- Relevance in Innovative Learning and Leadership
USD 232 School Improvement News
Email: mhite@usd232.org
Website: http://www.usd232.org/
Location: 35200 West 91st Street, De Soto, KS, USA
Phone: 913-667-6200