PARCC Update 3/31

The ELA component of the PARCC for all grade levels is complete. The students put forth tremendous effort. The feedback from the students is that they enjoyed the reading selections and video clips. As mentioned before there were different tests so not all students had the same stories or had a video. We will have make-up tomorrow (Wednesday 4/1). If a student missed more than one session we will only test one session tomorrow. There are additional make -up days built into our schedule. Teachers will be notified the day before make-ups so they can inform the students. 

Today (3/31) 4th grade started the math section. The math is broken down into 2 testing days for each grade level. The students are plugging away and demonstrating our W in PAWS with working towards success! 

Update 3/17

Another successful day of PARCC testing! Today grade 3 took the Research section of the PARCC. As with most standardized tests not all the students have the same test. Today there were some students that video clips to watch and respond to. Like yesterday the students were focused on the test and appeared to be comfortable using the technology. We are fortunate to have Kathy Santilli, our tech integration specialist in the building with us. Between Kathy and me we are able to be in the classrooms to support the teachers and students in the event of any issues. During the entire testing block the Joshua Eaton School will not be testing on Wednesdays. The length of day does not allow us to provide the appropriate time for all testing sessions. We are looking forward to continued success with the PARCC testing sessions. I will continue to keep you posted.

Yesterday (Monday 3/16) was a busy meeting day. SAC (school advisory committee) met to finalize the School Improvement Plan. We wanted to make sure that we were capturing the concerns of the school community so between gathering information and snow days the plan has been delayed in getting to the final stages. Dr. Doherty has supported us taking the time needed to capture the needs of our school. I will be making the final revisions and will post the final SIP on Edline by the end of this week. SAC will now focus our attention to how to implement some of the action steps.  

Also on Monday night (3/16) the Task Force met. We reviewed information from the World Café. More information about Monday’s meeting will be shared when the notes are finalized.

This morning Tuesday the MTSS (Multi -Tiered System of Support) team met. This is a team of teachers that meet twice a month before school to work on core values (PAWS – practice compassion, act responsibly, work towards success, and show respect). This meeting we worked with the consultant from Wedikko, who is funded through a recent grant that the district received, to discuss our plans for moving forward in sub-groups. These groups will focus on rolling out PAWS in a more comprehensive way. The groups will develop ways to share this information with staff, students, and families. We are excited to have core values a part of our day to day routine and look forward to having them embedded into our school culture.

PARCC Update

Today was the first day of PARCC testing for grade 3. The students did an AMAZING job. They took their time and took the test seriously. I was able to be all of the testing sessions and all of the students put forth great effort. We were fortunate that there were minor technology glitches to tend to. This session contained 7 questions one was a short answer. It was nice to see students using their skills to maneuver the computer. Everyone appeared comfortable using the equipment. A majority of the students finish before the scheduled end time. I am very proud of ALL of the 3^rd grade students and the effort that they demonstrated today. I am looking forward to tomorrow when they take their second section. The PARCC schedule can be found on edline. If you have any questions please contact me at karen.feeney@reading.k12.ma.us .  

 

Math In Focus

Kindergarten teachers from across the district are taking part in a Math in Focus training with Patti Chesney. Patti is a consultant through the program. 

Grade 2 Success

The second graders completed the math fluency section of the Diagnostic Field Test. They did a great job and we did not experience any technology issues! Great done by the teachers and students! 

Way to go Grade 4

Well yesterday's diagnostic field test went very well...we can't say the same for today. We were able to get Ms. Callan and Ms. Johnston classes connected and able to take the field test. However, we ran into some issues with Mrs. Lydecker's class. They were supposed to start their session at 8:35.  This is when we recognized that the COW (Computer on Wheels – the laptops) was not properly charged. We resolved this by adding power cords to all the computers and plugging them in. Once we solved that bump in the road we ran into trouble with connecting to the test site. After trying many different strategies, at one point we had 5 district tech members in Mrs. Lydecker’s room; the decision was made not to take the field test for Mrs. Lydecker and Mrs. Nazzaro classes. Mrs. Nazzaro’s class would not have had enough time to take the test based on the half day schedule and the difficulty that we were having.  It was identified that there were issues with the strength of the internet connection in room 10 as well as some errors from Pearson.

I am looking at this as a GREAT test run for PARCC. Lou Caputo, the district Network Manager and I walked through the building and identified classrooms that have the strongest internet connect and therefore should be used during PARCC. I will personally double check before leaving that the COWs are plugged in properly the night before all PARCC tests.  We are moving forward with grade 2 tomorrow and Friday.

A BIG SHOUT OUT to the students in room 10 for being so well behaved and patient as we were troubleshooting the issues

Great job 3rd grade

Way to go 3rd grade students and teachers! They completed the math fluency diagnostic field test. This test is an opportunity to test questions so we will not receive any data. The students did a wonderful job using the computer to take the assessment. We did work through some technology issues at the very beginning of the testing sessions but issues were

resolved quickly. The district IT staff was on hand to address the concerns. A BIG THANK YOU to Kathy Santilli for her role in preparing and supporting our school during this period. We will have grade 4 testing tomorrow followed by grade 2 on Thursday and Friday. They students should be very proud of themselves!!