Londonderry C3 Meeting Oct. 17th 2019 Update #1 on Math in Focus - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

Londonderry C3 Meeting Oct. 17th 2019 Update #1 on Math in Focus and Digital Citizenship Discussion

Math in Focus Updates

K to 5 Math in Focus Implementation Timeline 2015-16 2016-17 2017-18 2018-19 2019-20 Informal Formal K, 3 to 5 1 - 2 Pilot Pilot Implement Implement After the middle school adopted Math in Focus, an informal pilot began 5 years ago, followed by a more formal pilot four years ago, that lead to Kindergarten and Grades 3 to 5 adoption, followed by Grades 1 and 2 adoption last year.

Impact of Math in Focus so far . . . Big Picture Anecdotally, staff will say they are seeing much stronger math skills and knowledge in the students as they move up in the system than before Math in Focus. However, we have not yet seen a dramatic impact in student outcomes as measured by i-Ready, State Tests in grades 3 to 8, as well as the PSATs and SATs in High School.

Anecdotal Evidence on Math in Focus Implementation 4th & 5th Anecdotes 2nd & 3rd Anecdotes 1st Anecdotes Stronger vocabulary Journaling & expressing thinking Better grasp of tools (ten frames) Use multiple methods to solve Stronger sense of where Place value awareness Less backfill numbers are When asked to “explain their thinking” students are able to do this verbally using correct Stronger number sense Better integration with centers vocabulary (writing is still a work in progress) More comfortable taking risks Stronger math vocabulary and Students grasp concepts faster and knowing that it’s okay to are getting better at using it in which allows “to get through solve in different ways their explanations more” Getting stronger and sharing out Number bonds is better Better understanding of the why and peer sharing math understood

Same Data, just in a chart. In general, we have had a downward trend in math achievement, as measured by state math tests, over the last decade. Most of this trend is driven by a change in the tests. 2010 to 2014 is NECAP Data. 2015 to the present is the state test in Grades 3 to 8 aligned to the more challenging Common Core Standards, and for 11th grade to the SATs (which is now the “state test” as well) We can see that the 11th graders are more invested in the SAT scores in Math, than their NECAP predecessors. We can also see a large drop in outcomes between NECAP and Common Core aligned tests in grades 3 to 8. The newer tests better gauge how prepared students will be for Algebra, which the prior tests did not emphasize and masked outcomes that were most likely always there.

Even during NECAP data, we did see less and less students being “proficient” in Math as they progressed from grades 3 to 8. Now we see a much steeper decline in performance from grades 3rd to 6th, with an uptick by grade 7, and Then back towards lower performance by Spring of 8th grade year.

How do we compare to neighboring and similar school districts when it comes to Math Performance?

Does i-Ready tell us a different story than what we see on State Tests when it comes to Mathematics?

i-Ready data, when we look at the Spring Diagnostics generally shows us a similar picture. Overall, less than half of our students are proficient. Students tend to do better in grades 1 to 4, than they do in grades 5 to 8. We do see a more precipitous drop in performance at the middle school in the Spring compared to the Fall and Winter.

i-Ready Fall to Winter to Spring Journey For the last three years, we have seen a huge chunk of growth from the Fall to Winter, but not keeping up that growth into the Spring. The spring assessment is harder. We have identified about 25% of the students as “early on grade level” during the spring assessment. These students are a little behind for this harder test, but were considered on grade level during the Fall and Winter. Getting those students on grade level for the Spring would have a dramatic impact on our overall outcomes.

i-Ready National Comparison

i-Ready National Comparison

Questions and Discussion

Continued Math in Focus Implementation K to 8 1) Stay on our path, with a focus on building conceptual understanding so students excel in at least Algebra. Shared Beliefs and Guidelines for Elementary School Math Curriculum, Assessment, & Instruction. Students Stronger Student Use knowing the = Teacher Anchor Math Real World Conceptual Of standard Questioning Tasks Journaling Application algorithm & Understanding Manipulatives other methods 2) As a school system, we need to better manage expectations around student performance. We have a lot of i-Ready data on how students compare to being on grade level, and how much they grow from year to year. But as a system we are used to students moving from grade to grade, not being on grade level and not growing in skills over a year; and we are not having frank enough discussions about our student’s performance and what we need to change to help them improve.

Math in Focus Parent Videos

Plan for MIF Video Resources Right now, under “News” at MT, or the bottom of the homepage at South and North, parents can find Math in Focus Parent Resources which we rolled out a few years ago. Each grade level has a series of videos to look at for each Chapter and then a few specific Parent Video resources that are good for the entire grade level. We will continue to use these links, and remind parents of them, as well as make a few of them “On Demand” and more prominent on all the websites.

The general idea would be to make the Parent Support Videos more prominent on our websites and then also point parents back to the chapter specific materials to look through them as well if they need them.

A Starting Point on Digital Citizenship

Common Sense.org They have free K to 12 resources on Digital Citizenship. They are a highly reputable organization, that has lead this push for years. (And their lessons are back up by research and buy in from educators that use them.) https://www.commonsense.org/education/ digital-citizenship

Next Steps between Now and March 19th C3 Meeting 1) We would need some volunteers to peruse the 13 grade K to 2 lessons, and volunteers to peruse 18 grade 3 to 5 lessons and determine: a) If they are useable and adaptable b) Within our current K to 5 staffing model c) Within our current K to 5 time constraints d) To make recommendations back to C3 on potential future use 2) I will catch up with LMS Teachers who handle Digital Citizenship between now and then so we can plan backwards on what they need for all entering 6th graders to see if the Common Sense resources make a good fit.