Academics Principal's Message
Week of April 6, 2020
Message from Dr. Elizabeth Blanco, CAO
Dear PUSD Team,
We have continued to grow as a learning organization and are exercising continuous improvement in ways we may not have imagined just a couple of months ago. Your continued leadership has been instrumental in securing the resources necessary for our students, caregivers, and families. As the pandemic reaches the projected apex it is imperative that your health and safety are at the forefront of the decisions we make in the interest of students, families and our community.
Beginning on April 14, 2020 all leaders and staff should plan to work remotely from home and not return to the school sites until further notice. All appointments with staff and families are to be scheduled prior to this date. A central distribution center will be set up to pick up devices and any other necessary materials for students.
You will receive additional information regarding the cleaning, year-end procedures, and packing/moving, if applicable, at a later date.
I have included some important updates from the CORE Collaborative to remind you, as public educators, we are all in this together and in partnership with you, we will continue to ground our plans for the response and recovery in evidenced-based practices.
Listening Sessions Summary
In response to the COVID-19 pandemic and the closures of schools and organizations across California, the CORE data team held several virtual listening sessions for partners and districts to share their opinions and concerns about their current “state of work” and “state of mind”, and to elicit ideas about how CORE can move forward in support. To view the full summary of those listening sessions click the following link: March 2020 Listening Sessions Summary.
CORE Collaborative Updates
Update from our Partners at PACE
Our partners at PACE released a commentary outlining their approach to support local educational agencies and the state in COVID-19 response and recovery: https://edpolicyinca.org/newsroom/evidence-inform-recovery.LADD Office Updates
Special Education
Early Childhood Education
PSAT/SAT and AP Information Updates-Please Read
If you would like to setup any help sessions or virtual workshops with staff around the resources for remote learning, please let me know! (our PUSD Contact Casie Hynes)
PSAT & SAT Related Assessments
Due to the coronavirus (COVID-19), guidance from public health organizations, school closures across the country, and discussions with local education leaders, the College Board is unable to provide the remaining spring SAT School Day, PSAT10 and PSAT 8/9 administrations. We know students are anxious about how the coronavirus crisis will affect the college application process, including taking the SAT. We're committed to being flexible and innovative to give all students opportunities to test as soon as the situation allows. We'll share more details as soon as possible, but today we can tell you the following:
- We'll add SAT test administrations (School Day & Weekend) in response to canceled administrations and be flexible in making the SAT available in school and out of school as soon as the public health situation allows. We're looking at a range of creative solutions to address increased demand.
- As of today, April 6th, the June Saturday administration is not cancelled; however, we will keep you aware of any changes to this status
- Official quotes for SAT School Day and PSAT-related assessments are currently on hold until we have the information above ready to share.
- If you need an unofficial quote or cost estimate whether that is for testing with or without a contract, please let me know and I can provide you with that information for budgeting purposes.
- If you are a charter school or network new to district pricing & support options for PSAT and SAT testing in school and want more information about how district pricing works and/or want a summary of individual school testing activities within your network, please let me know and I can provide you with that information.
AP
PUSD Specific: We have a Secure Browser for the College Board AP exams established. It is located in the APPS on the sign-in page of our Chromebooks. The APP is called "College Board." This is where our students and staff will have access to the exam. (Special thanks to Albert in ITS for their assistance in accommodating this opportunity).
On Thursday, April 2nd, College Board’s Senior Vice President of AP and Instruction, Trevor Packer, shared information around the content, structure, and timing of this year’s AP Exams and addressed FAQs from around the country. The full hour-long presentation can be found here, and below is a high-level summary.
- Exams will be given from May 11–22. Make-up test dates will be available for each subject from June 1–5.
- Each subject’s exam will be taken on the same day at the same time, worldwide.
- Most exams will have one or two free-response questions, and each question will be timed separately.
- Like many college-level exams, this year’s AP Exams will be open book/open note.
- The exam format and questions are being designed specifically for an at-home administration.
- Points will not be earned from content that can be found in textbooks or online.
- While we encourage students to wait until closer to the test date to decide, any student already registered for an exam can choose to cancel at no charge.
- No action is needed on the part of school staff to cancel an exam – students simply can chose to not to take their exam on the initial test date or make-up date.
- We recognize that the digital divide could prevent some low-income and rural students from participating. Working with partners, we are investing so these students have the tools and connectivity they need to review AP content online and take the exam. If your students need mobile tools or connectivity, you can reach out to us directly to let us know by April 24.
RESOURCES FOR REMOTE LEARNING
Advanced Placement YouTube Lessons:
- Students and teachers now have access to free, live AP review lessons, delivered by AP teachers from across the country. These optional, mobile-friendly classes are designed to be used alongside work that may be given by schools.
- The lessons enable AP students to complete the few remaining topics of each AP class, and then throughout April, focus on reviewing the skills and concepts from the first 75% of the course.
AP Classroom
- Teachers are encouraged to use AP Classroom to assign students official AP Exam practice in addition to other high-quality formative assessments, and utilize the tools available to give students feedback on their learning.
- Starting April 10, students will see a new Optional Student Practice section that includes the most relevant FRQs to help them practice the concepts and skills that will be tested in May 2020. They can answer these in any order and will have an opportunity to review how each question will be scored before they submit.
SAT Practice on Khan Academy
- Official SAT Practice allows students to focus on a narrow set of texts, content & standards that matter the most for college-readiness and that yields significant growth for students on the SAT.
- The lessons & practice sets that can be found on the OSP page are different from the rest of Khan Academy as they were designed in partnership with College Board and college-readiness experts in ELA & Math.
College Board Opportunity Scholarship (“CBOS”)
- Many schools were beginning to use the 6 steps of the CBOS in advisory & college readiness programming. Students can still engage in these steps remotely!
Remote Learning
On Monday, April 13th the gopusd.com/remoteHUB page will no longer be open publicly, as we are housing contextualized guidance and training for teachers regarding Stages 2 & 3 of remote learning. We will be moving information that parents may need onto the PUSD website. For PUSD employees, the remoteHUB will still be accessible as usual.
College and Career
State and Federal Programs
Title I carryover allocations may be adjusted once the State of California submits a waiver to the federal Department of Education. The Department of Education has made a commitment to a one-day turnaround time on states' waiver submissions. Until waivers are submitted and approved, current budgeting practices for calculating anticipated rollover cannot be adjusted. Currently, California has not submitted any such waiver for Title I regulatory exceptions.