>> YES. FIVE O'CLOCK. [1.01 Call to Order] [00:00:04] I'M GOING TO CALL TO ORDER THE MARCH 27TH, 2024 BOARD OF EDUCATION OF CECIL COUNTY WORK SESSION. WE HAVE FOUR BOARD MEMBERS PLUS ONE STUDENT MEMBER PRESENT, SO WE DO HAVE A QUORUM. CAN YOU PLEASE STAND FOR THE PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE? >> >> FIRST UP ON THE AGENDA IS MATH IN CCPS PRESENTATION, DR. LAWSON. [1.03 Math in CCPS Presentation] >> THANK YOU MS. HOLLY. FOR AS OCCUPIED AS THE LEADERSHIP TEAM AND THE BOARD HAVE BEEN IN THE BUDGET PREPARATION, BUDGET DEVELOPMENT, BUDGET APPROVAL, AND LET'S FACE IT, IN THE COMMUNITY, JUST A TON OF DISCUSSION ABOUT BUDGET MATTERS, I THINK SOMETIMES IT'S EASY TO LOSE SIGHT OF REALLY OUR CORE MISSION, AND THAT'S STUDENT ACHIEVEMENT. I WOULD ARGUE THAT THERE HAS BEEN A LITTLE BIT OF A MESSAGE OUT THERE THAT WE DON'T DO VERY WELL AS IT RELATES TO ACHIEVEMENT. WE FIGURED IT WOULD BE TIME TO PUT OUR EXPERTS IN FRONT OF YOU TO GIVE YOU AN IDEA OF WHAT WE DO, HOW WE PERFORM, HOW WE STACK UP TO THE STATE OVERALL AND I THINK YOU'LL BE PLEASED. YESTERDAY THE STATE BOARD OF EDUCATION ANNOUNCED THE STATE GRADUATION RATES. AGAIN, WE'RE ABOVE STATE AVERAGE. OUR CLASS OF '23 COHORT IS BACK UP ABOVE 90% AND THAT WAS THE STUDENTS WHO WERE SOPHOMORES. THIS YEAR'S STUDENTS WERE FRESHMEN DURING COVID. WE STILL ARE FEELING THE EFFECTS, I WOULD ARGUE, AND SOME OF THE GRADES WE'RE BOUNCING BACK FOR SURE. BUT KEEP IN MIND THAT SOME OF THESE STUDENTS STILL, AS FAR BACK AS THEIR FRESHMAN YEAR, MISSED AN ENTIRE YEAR OF SCHOOL, AND THAT FRESHMAN YEAR IS CRITICAL. THERE'S A TREMENDOUS AMOUNT OF RESEARCH OUT THERE THAT WILL SHOW YOU THAT IF A STUDENT DOESN'T MAKE IT FROM NINTH GRADE TO TENTH GRADE ON TIME, NEARLY 80% OF THOSE STUDENTS WILL NOT GRADUATE., AND SO THAT FRESHMAN YEAR IS A KEY YEAR FOR PROGRESSING STUDENTS THROUGH THE GRADUATION PROCESS. I THINK YOU'LL BE PLEASED WITH WHAT YOU SEE IN THE NEXT HOUR, AND WITH THAT, I'LL TURN IT OVER TO DR. HAMMER, WHO WILL LEAD THE OVERALL PRESENTATIONS IN MATH AND LANGUAGE ARTS. >> OH, I'M GETTING DOUBLE TEAMED. GOOD EVENING, EVERYONE. I'M PLEASED THIS EVENING TO SHOWCASE SOME OF THE WORK THAT WE DO IN OUR ACADEMICS. TWO OF OUR MAIN CORE SUBJECT AREAS ARE OBVIOUSLY, MATH AND LANGUAGE ARTS AND WE HAVE THE FOLKS WHO, YES, ARE HOUSED HERE AT CARVER CENTER, AND THEY WORK INCREDIBLY HARD TO UNDERSTAND THE CONCEPTS THAT ARE REQUIRED TO TRANSLATE THE REQUIREMENTS FROM THE STATE STANDARDS AND TURN THAT INTO ACTION IN THE CLASSROOM. THIS EVENING, WE HAVE MR. MIKE FELL, WHO IS OUR SECONDARY MATHEMATICS COORDINATOR AND DR. JESSE KUBECK WHO IS OUR ELEMENTARY MATH COORDINATOR. THEY ARE HERE THIS EVENING AND FOLLOWING THEIR PRESENTATION, WE ARE GOING TO HAVE OUR LANGUAGE ARTS TEAM IN TO TALK ABOUT WHERE WE ARE AND WHERE WE'RE HEADED. DR. FOY IS GOING TO GET US STARTED. >> THANK YOU SO MUCH. GOOD EVENING, PRESIDENT HOLLY, BOARD OF EDUCATION, DR. LAWSON, LEADERSHIP TEAM, AND GUESTS WHO ARE PRESENT AND ALSO VIRTUAL. THIS EVENING WE'RE GOING TO TALK IN REFERENCE TO MATHEMATICS IN CECIL COUNTY PUBLIC SCHOOLS. BEFORE WE GET STARTED IN TALKING IN REFERENCE TO OUR PROGRAMMING THAT WE DO FOR MATHEMATICS, I WANTED TO PUT THIS ON THE SCREEN FOR YOU, BECAUSE ALL OF OUR FOCUS IS GETTING STUDENTS TO THE POINT WHERE THEY'RE COLLEGE AND CAREER READY BY THE CONCLUSION OF THEIR SOPHOMORE YEAR. WE OFTENTIMES ASK THE QUESTION, WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO BE COLLEGE AND CAREER READY? WELL, BEFORE YOU, YOU'LL SEE THE MEASURE THAT MSDE BOARD OF EDUCATION HAS JUST APPROVED AS FAR AS THE NEW COLLEGE AND CAREER READY CCR STANDARD AND I'LL SEE IF I CAN EXPLAIN THIS TO YOU SO YOU HAVE A PICTURE OF WHAT THE OPTIONS. THERE'S TWO OPTIONS FOR COLLEGE AND CAREER READY IN ITS NOUN. IF YOU LOOK AT OPTION 1, OPTION ONE HAS TWO MEASURES. YOU HAVE ACADEMIC SUCCESS, SO IF A STUDENT EARNS A HIGH SCHOOL GPA OF A 3.0 OR HIGHER AT THE CONCLUSION OF THEIR SOPHOMORE YEAR, THAT'S THEIR TENTH GRADE YEAR, THAT'S PART OF BECOMING CCR, OR COLLEGE CAREER READY. THAT IS COUPLED WITH MATH MASTERY, AND WE'RE LOOKING AT IF THEY HAVE A 3.0 GPA OR HIGHER, IF THEY EARN AN A, B, OR C IN ALGEBRA 1, THEY'RE DEEMED TO BE COLLEGE AND CAREER READY. [00:05:03] SAY THAT THEY DO NOT EARN THE A, B, OR C IN ALGEBRA 1, THEY CAN ALSO BE CONSIDERED CCR BY PASSING THE MCAP MATH ASSESSMENT, AND THAT'S THE ALGEBRA ASSESSMENT, SO THAT'S OPTION 1. OPTION 2 FOR STUDENTS TO BE COLLEGE AND CAREER READY IS STUDENTS SCORE PROFICIENT OR ABOVE ON ENGLISH 10, MCAP, AND ALGEBRA 1 MCAP ASSESSMENTS. THIS IS NEW VOTED ON THIS PAST YEAR IN JANUARY. OUR MARK IS STILL TO GET STUDENTS PREPARED FOR EACH GRADE LEVEL, BUT THIS GIVES US LIKE A GOAL POST TO GET TO, LOOKING AT ACADEMIC SUCCESS AND MATH MASTERY, OUR GOALS FOR THIS EVENING AND WHICH WE'RE GOING TO SHARE IN OUR PRESENTATION. TONIGHT, WE'LL LOOK AT OUR MATHEMATIC STORY. WE'LL GIVE YOU SOME BACKGROUND TO SET THE STAGE OF WHERE WE WERE, WHERE WE ARE, AND WHAT'S NEXT, SO YOU'LL GET A PICTURE OF OUR MATH PROGRESSION. WHEN YOU LOOK AT MATHEMATICS, SPECIFICALLY WHEN YOU LOOK AT THE RESEARCH AND ALSO WHEN YOU LOOK AT OUR CURRICULUM DOCUMENTS, THERE'S FIVE MAJOR COMPONENTS WHEN YOU'RE LOOKING AT MATHEMATICS AND THESE ARE, BROADLY SPEAKING HERE, CONCEPTUAL UNDERSTANDING, AND THIS IS MAINLY LOOKING AT UNDERSTANDING MATH, CONCEPTS, OPERATIONS, RELATIONSHIPS, CONCRETE EXAMPLES, OR WHETHER YOU'RE LOOKING AT REPRESENTATIONAL OR ABSTRACT. LIKEWISE, YOU'RE LOOKING AT PROCEDURAL FLUENCY AND THIS IS MORE ALONG THE LINES OF NUMBER, SENSE AND ROUTINES. STRATEGIC COMPETENCE, YOU'RE LOOKING AT HOW DO WE DO THIS IN OUR CLASSROOMS? HOW DO WE GET STUDENTS PREPARED TO DO THIS TYPE OF THINKING? THIS IS IN OUR DAILY LESSON PLANS THAT WE DO WITH STUDENTS, OUR WORD PROBLEMS, OUR WARM UPS WHEN STUDENTS COME INTO THE CLASSROOM GETTING STARTED EXACTLY ON THOSE TYPES OF THINGS TO GET THEM PREPARED. ADAPTIVE REASONING, THIS IS REALLY LOOKING AT, AND THIS IS THE PART I WOULD POINT OUT, LOOKING AT MATH DISCOURSE, THIS IS LIKE EXPLAINING WHY THIS IS THE CORRECT ANSWER, WHY THIS IS NOT THE CORRECT ANSWER AND HAVING THAT DIALOGUE TO DO THAT. PRODUCTIVE DEPOSITION, AND THIS IS WHAT IT ALL I THINK ENCOMPASS, THE IDEA THAT MATH IS USEFUL. WE WANT STUDENTS TO LEAVE SCHOOL TO SAY, OH, I'M GOING TO USE THIS, I'M NOT NEVER GOING TO USE THIS. MANY STUDENTS COME INTO A MATH CLASSROOM, WHETHER YOU'RE LOOKING AT THE ELEMENTARY LEVEL OR THE SECONDARY LEVEL, SOMETIMES WITH SOME EXPERIENCE THAT THEY CANNOT DO MATH AND THAT'S NOT THE CASE IN WHICH WE'RE TRYING TO REALLY DEVELOP OUR STUDENTS AS FAR AS MATHEMATICS. OUR JOURNEY. THE KEY PART ABOUT OUR JOURNEY IS WE'RE GOING TO TOUCH ON THREE DIFFERENT ASSESSMENTS IN THE SPAN OF TIME. YOU'RE LOOKING, 2017-2021 OR WHERE WE'RE AT TO DATE. IF WE LOOK AT OUR HISTORY, IN 2007, EVEN DATING BEFORE THEN, WE HAD THE PARCC ASSESSMENT. WITH THE PARCC ASSESSMENT, THIS WAS REALLY THE UNDER-GIRTH OF COMMON CORE OR COLLEGE CAREER READINESS. THIS IS WHERE THE PARCC ASSESSMENT BECAME IN PLAY. DURING THAT TIME, WE'RE TRYING TO ADJUST TO A TEST BECAUSE WE'RE COMING OFF OF HSA AND WE'RE INTO A NEW ASSESSMENT, SO WE HAD TO GET ALIGNED WITH RESOURCES. IN 2017, ACROSS THE SYSTEM, WE GET ALIGNMENT WITH ENVISION MATH FROM THE ELEMENTARY LANE ALONG WITH SECONDARY. NOW, WE HAVE THE ABILITY TO PROVIDE TEACHERS WITH RESOURCES SO THEY CAN INSTRUCT STUDENTS AND WE ALSO PROVIDED DAILY LESSONS PLANS DURING THE SAME TIME SO THINGS AS FAR AS STRATEGIES CAN BE IMPLEMENTED WITH FIDELITY. YOU MOVE DOWN IN OUR TIMELINE TO 2018, THAT WAS THE LAST YEAR OF THE PARCC ASSESSMENT. SOME OF THE REASONS WHY MOVING FROM THE PARCC ASSESSMENT, IF YOU KNOW, DURING THAT TIME, IT WAS MUCH CONVERSATION IN REFERENCE TO ARE WE TESTING STUDENTS TOO MUCH? IF YOU REMEMBER THAT CONVERSATION AND MOVING FROM PARCC TO MCAP REALLY SHED A LIGHT ON MCAP WAS SUPPOSED TO MAKE THE TEST A LITTLE SHORTER. IN 2019, THIS IS THE FIRST YEAR FOR MCAP, THIS WAS A NO FAULT YEAR. THIS IS A YEAR WHERE STUDENTS TO TAKE THE ASSESSMENT, TO GET BASELINE INFORMATION TO SEE HOW THEY PERFORM. BUT AS YOU KNOW AND I KNOW, WHEN YOU'RE A STUDENT AND WE'RE SAYING WE JUST WANT TO SEE HOW YOU DO ON THIS AND IT'S NOT TIED TO GRADUATION OR SOMETHING TO THAT MEASURE, DO WE GET OUR BEST EFFORTS SOMETIMES IN THOSE THINGS? [LAUGHTER] KNOW THAT THAT'S SOME OF THE BACKGROUND IN 2019. ONCE WE MOVE INTO 2020 AND 2021, THIS IS WHEN COVID HITS. WE HAVE NO ASSESSMENT, WE DO NOT HAVE THOSE STUDENTS TAKE THAT ASSESSMENT REMOTE, [00:10:03] SO WE HAVE A BREAK AS FAR AS STATE TESTING IS CONCERNED. MOVE TO 2022, YEAR 2 OF MCAP, SO THIS IS OUR FIRST REALLY OFFICIAL YEAR WHEN IT REALLY COUNTS FOR OUR STUDENTS, BUT NOTE THAT WE HAD TWO YEARS OF NO LONGER TESTING. WE WERE NOT TESTING STUDENTS DURING THAT TIME. FAST FORWARD TO THIS PAST YEAR, WE HAVE A NEW ASSESSMENT, ALTHOUGH IT SAYS MCAP, BUT YOU SEE AT THE BOTTOM OF IT ADAPTIVE, IT'S NOT THE SAME MCAP. THIS IS AN ASSESSMENT. I THINK MR. PHELPS, EXCUSE ME, IS GOING TO TALK LATER IN REFERENCE TO THE DETAILS OF AN ADAPTIVE TEST, WHEREAS IT ADJUSTS TO YOUR PROFICIENCY LEVEL ON ANSWERING THE QUESTIONS. IF YOU GET A QUESTION RIGHT, YOU GET A MORE DIFFICULT QUESTION, YOU PROCEED ON, YOU GET A QUESTION, NOT RIGHT, IT STARTS TO SCALE BACK. WHICH LEADS TO OUR JOURNEY WHERE WE WERE. >> COMPING OFF OF WHAT DR. FOY JUST EXPLAINED WITH REGARD TO THE HISTORY OF OUR MEASURE, SO HOW WE'VE BEEN MEASURED FROM 2017 TILL NOW, THIS GRAPH ACTUALLY PROVIDES YOU, I THINK, WITH JUST SOME FURTHER UNDERSTANDING OF THAT STORY. YOU CAN SEE IN 2016-2017, AND THIS REPRESENTS GRADES 3, 4 AND 5; EACH COLOR REPRESENTING THE APPROPRIATE GRADE, EVEN IF YOU'RE JUST LOOKING AT THE BARS THEMSELVES, YOU CAN SEE FROM 2016-2017, OUR STUDENTS PERFORMED MUCH BETTER WHEN YOU LOOK AT THE 2017 PERFORMANCE. BUT KEEP IN MIND, DR. FOY JUST ITERATED THAT WE RECEIVED SOME NEW MATERIALS. PRIOR TO THAT, TEACHERS WERE ACTUALLY CREATING THEIR OWN SCOPE AND SEQUENCE, THEIR OWN LESSON PLANS, THEIR OWN ASSESSMENTS. THEY WERE SEEKING TO UNDERSTAND STANDARDS THAT WERE RELATIVELY NEW. WE'D ONLY HAD THEM FOR ABOUT 2-3 YEARS. WITH THE IMPLEMENTATION OF ENVISION, WE SAW A BIG JUMP IN TERMS OF OUR PERFORMANCE, WHICH IS NOT ALWAYS LIKELY. SOMETIMES WHEN YOU IMPLEMENT SOMETHING NEW, YOU SEE AN IMPLEMENTATION DIP. BUT THAT WASN'T THE CASE FOR US. SO WE ACTUALLY REAP THE BENEFITS OF THAT NEW ENVISION IN 2017 AND '18. YOU CAN SEE FOR THE MOST PART WE DO CONTINUE TO GROW AND SEE THOSE GAINS IN GRADES 3, 4, AND 5. THEN IN 2019, WHAT HAPPENS IS NOW WE MOVE OVER TO A NEW MEASURE, WHICH IS DIFFERENT THAN PARCC, SO THIS IS MCAP. IT IS SHORTER, BUT MARYLAND AT THAT TIME WAS ALREADY TALKING THROUGH BEING THE BEST IN CLASS. THAT MIGHT NOT BE THE EXACT WORDS, BUT WE WANT OUR STUDENTS TO BE THE BEST IN THE NATION, AND SO WE WERE ADOPTING A SHORTER, BUT MUCH MORE RIGOROUS TEST FOR OUR STUDENTS. IN 2019, YOU SEE THE IMPACT THERE. THEN OF COURSE 2022, WE CONTINUED TO DECLINE, BUT WE KNOW THAT THOSE WERE A DIRECT RESULT OF COVID. 2023, DESPITE THE FACT THAT IT'S ONLY OUR WHAT? SECOND YEAR OF MCAP TESTING AND THE FACT THAT IT WAS A NEW ADAPTIVE, YOU'RE ALSO THOUGH STARTING TO SEE THAT RECOVERY IN TERMS OF COVID AND THE HARD WORK THAT OUR TEACHERS HAVE BEEN DOING. >> GOOD EVENING, FRIENDS. THIS TABLE SHOWS THE DATA IN A SLIGHTLY DIFFERENT MANNER. WHEN YOU TAKE A LOOK, YOU'LL SEE THE LEFT COLUMN BY GRADE LEVEL. THE NEXT COLUMN IS THE PROFICIENCY LEVEL, AND THEN WHERE WE RANK IN THE STATE BOTH IN TERMS OF MCAP AND THEN THE OTHER MEASURES, AND THE LAST ONE IS HOW WE'RE FUNDED. I WANT TO HIGHLIGHT GRADE 8. IF YOU TAKE A LOOK AT GRADE 8, OUR PROFICIENCY WAS 8%, EIGHT, AND YET WE WERE 10TH IN THE STATE. THAT ACCENTUATES HOW MUCH DIFFERENT THIS TEST IS THAN SOME OF THE OTHER TESTS. LET ME SAY THAT AGAIN. WE'RE 10TH IN THE STATE WITH A PROFICIENCY RATE OF 8%. WHEN WE START TALKING ABOUT WHAT WE'RE DOING FOR KIDS, JUST KNOW THAT WE'RE DOING WELL IN COMPARISON. WHEN YOU LOOK AT THE OTHER, WHERE WE RANK IN THE STATE, WE'RE VERY CONSISTENT, THREE THROUGH ALGEBRA 1. WE'RE NOT WHERE WE WANT TO BE, BUT WE CERTAINLY ARE DOING WELL IN COMPARISON TO OUR PEERS ACROSS THE STATE. ON THE NEXT SLIDE, I WORK EXTENSIVELY WITH THE STATE ON THEIR ALGEBRA 1 TEST AND HAVE DONE SO SINCE 1998. SO I'M GOING TO TRY TO EXPLAIN WHY AN 8% GETS A RANKING OF 10 IN THE STATE. WHEN WE HAD PARCC, THERE WERE FIVE LEVELS, LEVEL 4 AND 5 WERE PROFICIENT; [00:15:02] 750 WAS THE CUT SCORE FOR THAT. KIDS WHO GOT A THREE ON PARCC ALGEBRA 1 PASSED AND WERE ON LINE TO GRADUATE. IN ORDER TO GET THE FOUR, THE PROFICIENCY LEVEL WHICH WAS ACHIEVED BY ROUGHLY 30% OF THE KIDS IN THE STATE OF MARYLAND ON PARCC, YOU ONLY HAD TO GET ABOUT 30% OF THE AVAILABLE POINTS. 30% OF THE KIDS GOT 30% OF THE AVAILABLE POINTS AND WERE DEEMED PROFICIENT. THE TEST WAS HARD. THERE WERE NO REAL EASY QUESTIONS ON THAT TEST, NO LAYUPS, NOTHING LIKE THAT. QUESTIONS REQUIRED STUDENTS TO THINK AND TO GO THROUGH PROBLEMS AT A DEEP LEVEL. THEN WHEN WE ROLLED INTO MCAP, MARYLAND KEPT THE PARCC FORMAT BY AND LARGE. AS DR. KUBEK SAID, THEY REDUCED THE NUMBER OF QUESTIONS, BUT THE FORMAT ESSENTIALLY STAYED THE SAME. BUT MSDE MADE SOME CHANGES THAT I WOULD LIKE YOU TO BE AWARE OF. THEY CHANGED THE NUMBER OF LEVELS FROM FIVE TO FOUR, MAKING A THREE AND A FOUR THE PROFICIENCY LEVEL, BUT MAINTAINED THE 750 SCALE SCORE AS THE CUT SCORE. BUT INSTEAD OF ONLY HAVING TO GET 30% OF THE AVAILABLE POINTS, YOU NOW HAD TO GET 60% OF THE AVAILABLE POINTS. THEY SHORTENED THE TEST AND REQUIRED THE STUDENTS TO DO BETTER. NOW, MSDE BEGAN WITH A FIXED-FORM TEST. THE SCALE THAT THEY USE TODAY IS STILL BASED ON THE FIXED-FORM TEST. BUT THE TEST IS NO LONGER A FIXED-FORM TEST. IT'S AN ADAPTIVE TEST. AS DR. FOY SAID, AS STUDENTS WORK THROUGH THE TEST, DEPENDING ON THEIR ANSWERS, THE NEXT SERIES OF QUESTIONS MIGHT BE EASIER AT THE SAME LEVEL OR HARDER. SO KIDS WHO GET SOME QUESTIONS IN A ROW RIGHT, THEY START TO GET HARDER QUESTIONS. AS KIDS STRUGGLE, THE QUESTIONS BECOME EASIER. MSDE WILL MAINTAIN THE 60% THRESHOLD BECAUSE THEIR CONTENTION IS THAT IT IS IMPORTANT TO GET SOME OF THE MEDIUM AND HIGHER LEVEL QUESTIONS RIGHT IN ORDER TO BE DEEMED PROFICIENT. YOU CAN'T JUST GET EASY ONES RIGHT TO BE PROFICIENT. WHEN YOU LOOK AT THE SCORES ACROSS THE STATE OF MARYLAND ON ALGEBRA 1, THEY'RE ALL LOWER. RIGHT NOW, AND I THINK WE HAVE IT ON THIS SLIDE, 18% WAS THE PROFICIENCY RATE IN THE STATE OF MARYLAND ON ALGEBRA 1. WE WERE AT 14%, NOT WHERE WE WANT TO BE AND WE'RE GOING TO DO SOME THINGS ABOUT THAT. BUT JUST TO GET AN IDEA OF WHERE WE WERE AND NOW WHERE WE ARE WITH RESPECT TO STATE TESTING. >> THAT'S WHERE WE WERE. NOW WE'RE GOING TO TALK A LITTLE BIT, SINCE YOU HAVE SOME OF OUR STORY AND KIND OF THE MOVING TARGET THAT WE'VE HAD, WE CONTINUE STILL TO FOCUS ON, HOW ARE WE GOING TO BUILD TEACHER EFFICACY AND STUDENT EFFICACY? HOW ARE WE GOING TO CONTINUE TO GROW TOWARDS PROFICIENCY? HERE I'M JUST HIGHLIGHTING SOME OF THE WORK THAT WE DID THIS YEAR. FOR ONE THING, BECAUSE WE'VE SEEN RELATIVE STABILITY WITH THE MEASURE, MEANING THE TEST IS STILL MCAP, EVEN THOUGH HOW WE TAKE IT HAS CHANGED A LITTLE BIT, IT WENT FROM FIXED FORM TO ADAPTIVE, WE FELT LIKE IT WAS TIME NOW FOR US TO REALLY HELP OUR TEACHERS UNDERSTAND WHAT THE BLUEPRINT OF THE TEST IS. MSDE RELEASED FOR US WHAT YOU CALL THE MAKEUP. IF THERE ARE 23 MULTIPLE CHOICE ITEMS, 14 OF THEM IN GRADE 4 ARE GOING TO BE ON FRACTIONS, SIX OF THEM WILL BE NUMBERS BASE 10, FIVE WILL BE OPERATIONS AND ALGEBRAIC THINKING. TEACHERS CAN REALLY THINK THROUGH OUR MAJOR CONTENT IN THE YEAR, AND IF STUDENTS ARE STRUGGLING, ENSURE THAT THEY'RE SLOWING DOWN. WE PRESENTED THEM WITH THE BLUEPRINT STATEMENTS AND ALSO WHAT WE CALL EVIDENCE STATEMENTS. WITHOUT GETTING TOO MUCH INTO THE WEEDS, THE EVIDENCE STATEMENTS WERE WRITTEN ACTUALLY FOR ITEM WRITERS, SO PEOPLE THAT ARE WRITING THE TEST QUESTIONS, TO PROVIDE PARAMETERS WITHIN WHICH THEY CAN WRITE THE QUESTIONS. IF IT'S ADDRESSING A STANDARD, FOR EXAMPLE, IN SECOND GRADE THAT ASKS STUDENTS TO ADD AND SUBTRACT, IT HAS TO BE WITHIN 1,000 BECAUSE THAT IS WHAT THE STANDARD INDICATES THAT THEY NEED TO KNOW IN ORDER TO REACH MASTERY. WE ALSO PROVIDED OUR GRADES 3, 4, AND 5 TEACHERS WITH THOSE EVIDENCE STATEMENTS. PROVIDED TIME FOR THEM TO LOOK THROUGH THE DATA ON A WEDNESDAY AFTERNOON, LOOK AT THEIR STUDENT DATA AND HOW THEY PERFORMED LAST YEAR, AND THEN THINK THROUGH THE CURRICULUM AND WHERE THEY ARE THIS YEAR TO TRY AND PLAN FOR REPEATED EXPOSURE TO THOSE TYPES OF ITEMS. [00:20:05] THE OTHER THING WE DID THIS YEAR THAT WE'RE REALLY PROUD OF IS WE TURNED OUR FOCUS TO THE FORMATIVE ASSESSMENT CYCLE, AND I DON'T WANT TO SAY THAT WE'VE NEVER DONE THAT BEFORE, BUT IT REALLY HAS BECOME GREATER EMPHASIS. WHAT I MEAN BY FORMATIVE ASSESSMENT CYCLE IS LOOKING AT STUDENT WORK, DETERMINING WHAT THEIR STRENGTHS ARE AND WHAT AS A TEACHER I'M GOING TO DO TO INTERVENE, IF I NEED TO AT ALL. SO REALLY USING DATA-INFORMED DECISION-MAKING TO INSTRUCT OUR KIDS. WE HAVE TO DO THAT BECAUSE SINCE COVID, THE VARIABILITY OF CHILDREN'S STRENGTHS WITHIN A CLASSROOM IS VERY LARGE, AND SO WE NEED TO PROVIDE TEACHERS OPPORTUNITY TO BE ABLE TO LOOK AT THAT WORK AND DETERMINE HOW THEY'RE GOING TO GROUP THEM IN SMALL GROUPS AND MEET THEIR NEEDS. ON TOP OF THAT, WE'VE ALSO BEEN DOING A NUMBER OF WORKSHOPS WITH THE ONGOING ASSESSMENT PROJECT, WHICH IF YOU'RE IN THE SCHOOLS, YOU MIGHT HEAR THAT CALLED OGAP. THAT IS ACTUALLY WORK ON LEARNING TRAJECTORIES OR HOW STUDENTS ACQUIRE MATHEMATICAL THINKING IN THE EARLY YEARS. WE'RE REALLY PROUD OF THIS WORK BECAUSE WE JUST FOUND OUT THIS YEAR THAT THE STATE HAS CONTRACTED WITH OGAP. SO ALL OF MARYLAND NOW WILL ACTUALLY BE GOING THROUGH THESE WORKSHOPS TO GAIN THIS UNDERSTANDING OF HOW CHILDREN LEARN HOW TO ADD, SUBTRACT, MULTIPLY, DIVIDE, AND WORK WITH FRACTIONS, AND I'M REALLY HAPPY TO SHARE WITH YOU ALL THAT WE'VE BEEN DOING THAT SINCE 2018. WHEN DR. HAMMER ASKED ME IF I WANTED TO GO DOWN BECAUSE MSDE WAS GOING TO TALK ABOUT OGAP, SECRETLY I WAS LIKE, I COULD PROBABLY GIVE THAT PRESENTATION. SO I'M REALLY HAPPY TO SAY THAT WE'VE BEEN IN THOSE WEEDS FOR A WHILE NOW. THEN, AS YOU MAY OR MAY NOT BE AWARE OF, BUT WE ARE PILOTING ILLUSTRATIVE MATH IN A COUPLE OF OUR SCHOOLS. IT'S A PROBLEM-BASED LEARNING PROGRAM THAT'S HIGHLY REGARDED. WE ARE SLOW TO ROLL ON THIS. WE JUST WANT TO MAKE SURE THAT WHILE IT LOOKS AMAZING AND OUR KIDS ARE RESPONDING, THE TEACHERS ARE LOVING IT. THEY'RE VERY ENGAGED. WE ARE SEEING SOME SUCCESS. WE JUST WANT TO MAKE SURE THAT THAT'S TRANSLATING ON ALL OF OUR BENCHMARKS AND ALSO ON THE STATE ASSESSMENT. WE'RE ALSO NOT IN A POSITION RIGHT NOW WITH THE UNCERTAINTY OF NEXT YEAR, QUITE HONESTLY, TO ROLL OUT ANY NEW PROGRAMMING. IT MIGHT CAUSE SOME UNDUE STRESS ON TEACHERS BECAUSE IT IS A LOT TO ROLL OUT A NEW CURRICULUM. JUST REALLY QUICKLY, I INCLUDED THIS SLIDE JUST SO YOU COULD GET AN IDEA OF WHAT I MEAN BY FORMATIVE ASSESSMENT CYCLE. THIS IS THE TYPE OF PROBLEM A SECOND GRADER MIGHT SEE. WHAT WE'RE HIGHLIGHTING HERE IS THAT AS A TEACHER, YOU MIGHT SEE THESE TWO STRATEGIES. THEY LOOK SIMILAR, BUT THEY'RE ACTUALLY DIFFERENT. ONE IS COUNTING UP, SO THEY'RE ADDING ON, WHILE THE OTHER IS ACTUALLY SUBTRACTING USING THE SAME TOOL. SO JUST TO GIVE YOU AN IDEA OF HOW SPECIFIC WE ARE WHEN WE'RE LOOKING AT STUDENT WORK, AND THESE ARE ACTUALLY TWO OF OUR STUDENTS HERE IN CECIL COUNTY, SO. >> SECONDARY MATH, WE ALTERED SOME OF OUR CURRICULUM DOCUMENTS. ONE OF THE THINGS WE DID IS WE DESIGNATED QUESTIONS FROM THE PRIMARY RESOURCE, WE CALL THEM M, M FOR MCAP. THESE ONES PARALLEL THE RIGOR AND THINGS THAT KIDS ARE EXPECTED TO DO ON THE MCAP TEST, WE REARRANGE THE ALGEBRA CURRICULUM. AS DR. KUBEK SAID, USING THE DOCUMENTS, QUADRATICS ARE PROBABLY THE MOST IMPORTANT CONCEPT ON THE TEST. WE MOVED THAT EARLIER IN THE COURSE AT THE HIGH SCHOOL TO GIVE THOSE TEACHERS TIME TO TEACH IT AND TEACH IT WELL, AND THEN NOW TIME TO CONTINUE TO SPIRAL IN THOSE TOPICS. I DON'T WANT TO FORGET ABOUT THE SAT. WE HAVE SAT MODULES THAT ALL SOPHOMORES AND JUNIORS ARE REQUIRED TO DO, BECAUSE THAT'S STILL PART OF SOMETHING WE WANT TO MAKE SURE THAT OUR KIDS ARE ON TRACK FOR COLLEGE AND CAREER. IN TERMS OF PD, IT'S ESSENTIALLY THE SAME THING THAT DR. KUBEK SAID. WE FOCUSED ON TEST DESIGN, THE BLUEPRINT, THE MSDE DOCUMENTS. IN TERMS OF ALGEBRA, ONE WHICH ONE COULD ARGUE IS THE MOST IMPORTANT. OUR OFFICE WROTE A BOOK TO PREPARE STUDENTS FOR MCAP ALGEBRA I. A BOOK A LITTLE MORE THAN 100 PAGES LONG. IF I WAS A SMARTER MAN, I WOULD HAVE DONE IT ON MY OWN LAPTOP AND CHARGED 29.99 A COPY. BUT STUDENTS ARE EXPECTED TO WORK THROUGH THIS AS THEY ARE PREPARING FOR THE TEST. THIS BOOK COVERS BOTH CONTENT AND TEST DESIGN BECAUSE THERE ARE QUESTIONS ON THERE THAT ARE A LITTLE BIT TRICKY FOR KIDS AND HOW TO INTERACT WITH THE TECHNOLOGY. WE'VE ALSO DEVELOPED SPIRAL REVIEWS BECAUSE WE REALIZE WITH AN 8% PROFICIENCY IN EIGHTH GRADE THERE ARE GAPS. THE SPIRAL REVIEWS ARE DESIGNED TO FILL IN THOSE GAPS. ESSENTIALLY, ROUGHLY SLIGHTLY UNDER 20% OF THE TIME, TEACHERS ARE REQUIRED TO DO THESE WARM UPS WITH STUDENTS IN THE CLASSROOM. SOME OF THE ONES IN EIGHTH GRADE ARE SOLVING TWO STEP EQUATIONS. BECAUSE IF YOU CAN'T SOLVE A TWO STEP EQUATION, [00:25:02] YOU'RE NOT GOING TO BE ABLE TO SOLVE A MULTI STEP EQUATION WITH VARIABLES ON BOTH SIDES, MUCH LESS TWO EQUATIONS AT THE SAME TIME. THIS IS A SAMPLE ITEM FROM GRADE EIGHT. MSDE USES THE RATIO 2.5 MINUTES PER POINT. A STUDENT IS EXPECTED TO DO THIS IN 2.5 MINUTES. I THINK IT'S SAFE TO SAY THAT WHEN WE TOOK A STATE TEST BACK IN THE DAY, WHICH MIGHT NOT HAVE BEEN THAT LONG AGO FOR YOU, IT WAS JUST THE TOP QUESTION. SOLVE THIS EQUATION, AND THE CHOICES WERE 8, 9, 10, 11 AND ONE OF THOSE IS RIGHT. BUT THAT'S NOT THE WAY THIS TEST IS DESIGNED. NOT ONLY DOES A STUDENT HAVE TO SOLVE THAT TOP EQUATION, BUT THEN THEY HAVE TO FIGURE OUT WHICH OF THE REMAINING FOUR HAS THAT SAME SOLUTION IN 2.5 MINUTES. WE MAKE SURE THAT OUR STUDENTS ARE PREPARED FOR THEM. WELL, WELCOME BACK AT HOME. THIS IS ONE FROM ALGEBRA I, A PUBLIC RELEASED ITEM. THE SCREENSHOT YOU SEE IS FROM ONE OF OUR TESTS. NO WORRIES. THEY'VE ALREADY TAKEN THIS TEST. JUST TO SHOW YOU THAT WE HAVE INCORPORATED THESE ITEMS ON OUR ASSESSMENTS. THAT ENSURES, FROM MY END, THE FIDELITY OF CONTENT DELIVERY FROM OUR TEACHERS. BECAUSE THIS IS THE EXPECTATION LEVEL FOR OUR STUDENTS, AND THESE ARE ALL OVER OUR TEST, NO MATTER WHERE YOU ARE, IF YOU'RE TAKING AP, WE HAVE SAMPLE ITEMS ON ALL OF OUR TESTS. >> CAN I ASK YOU ONE QUESTION REAL FAST WHEN YOU SAY THEY HAD 2.5 MINUTES TO FINISH, THEY CAN'T GO BACK, RIGHT? >> THEY CAN CERTAINLY GO BACK. >> OKAY. >> MSDE'S RATIO OF 2.5 MINUTES PER POINT, THE FIRST UNIT ON THE MATH TEST, WHICH IS A NO CALCULATOR UNIT, IS 40 MINUTES LONG. SIXTEEN QUESTIONS ARE IN THAT PART OF THE TEST. A STUDENT HAS 40 MINUTES TO DO 16 QUESTIONS LATER IN THE TEST, THERE ARE CONSTRUCTED RESPONSES, SOME ARE WORTH THREE, SOME ARE WORTH FOUR. THAT WILL LESSEN THE NUMBER OF QUESTIONS THAT ARE IN THAT SECTION. BUT IN TERMS OF ROUGH TIME PER QUESTION, 2.5 MINUTES PER POINT. >> WHAT'S NEXT? HERE WE'RE TALKING THROUGH WHAT ARE OUR PLANS GOING INTO NEXT YEAR. YES, WE ALREADY ARE. I'M NOT GOING TO HIT ON A LOT OF THIS BECAUSE WE'VE ALREADY TALKED ABOUT THE FORMATIVE ASSESSMENT CYCLE. WE'RE GOING TO CONTINUE TO WORK WITH THAT. IT IS A WAY FOR OUR TEACHERS TO WORK WITH EACH OTHER IN ORDER TO DETERMINE BEST PRACTICES WHEN IT COMES TO TEACHING MATHEMATICS. WE'RE ALSO GOING TO CONTINUE WITH OGAP. I MEAN, THE STATE IS ALSO ADOPTING THAT. NOT ALL OF OUR TEACHERS HAVE BEEN THROUGH THAT. WE'RE EXCITED THE STATE'S GOING TO PICK UP THE TAB BECAUSE THAT IS ACTUALLY WE'RE PRICED OUT OF IT. THEN LASTLY, JUST QUICKLY, WE ARE LOOKING AT EARLY CHILDHOOD DATA AND WE'RE TRYING TO ADDRESS SOME EARLY GAPS SO THERE AREN'T AS MANY STANDARDS THAT THEY NEED TO CATCH UP ON TRYING TO GET THEM BEFORE THE BIG PIVOT OF THIRD GRADE, WHICH IS A BIG SHIFT FOR THEM, AND THAT'S WHAT WE'RE PLANNING ON DOING AND MOVING FORWARD. >> THE NEXT SLIDES SHOW SOME OF THE THINGS FOR SECONDARY MATH NEXT YEAR TO HIGHLIGHT ONE, AND THAT'S MATH LAB. OUR GOAL IS TO HAVE ALL INCOMING NINTH GRADERS WHO WILL BE FIRST TIME ALGEBRA ONE TEST TAKERS TAKE MATH ALL YEAR LONG. THEY WILL TAKE ALGEBRA I, AND THEY WILL TAKE MATH LAB. MATH LAB IS NOT A STUDY HALL OR ANYTHING LIKE THAT. IT'S NOT A PLACE WHERE THEY DO THE WORK THAT THEY DIDN'T DO BEFORE. MATH LAB IS A PLACE WHERE THEY'RE GOING TO LEARN SOME OF THE THINGS THAT THEY DIDN'T LEARN, WE'LL PRE TEACH. WE'LL GET THEM READY FOR THE TESTS. WE'LL COVER SOME TOPICS THAT WE WERE UNABLE TO COVER IN GREAT DEPTH DURING THE REGULAR ALGEBRA ONE COURSE. IN ESSENCE, THE STUDENTS WILL HAVE THAT COURSE EVERY DAY. I SAY THAT A LITTLE LOUDLY BECAUSE THAT IS IN PART, DEPENDENT ON FUNDING BECAUSE THERE'S A STAFFING ISSUE WITH THAT. I APPRECIATE ALL THE WORK THAT DR. LAWSON AND A LEADERSHIP TEAM AND THE BOARD HAS DONE WITH RESPECT TO FUNDING. BUT THIS IS GOOD FOR KIDS BECAUSE WHAT WE'RE LOOKING AT ARE THE EIGHT PERCENTERS, THE ONES THAT WE REMEMBER. EIGHTH GRADE ONLY 8% WERE PROFICIENT. THAT LEAVES A LARGE NUMBER OF KIDS THAT WE NEED TO TARGET. THAT'S THE PURPOSE OF THIS MATH LAB. FOR NINTH GRADE, FIRST TIME ALGEBRA ONE TEST TAKERS. >> THE EIGHTH GRADERS WHO WERE PROFICIENCY ARE THE ONES TAKING THE HYBRID MATH CLASS? >> NO. I HATE SAYING TO THE PRESIDENT NO. >> NO. THAT'S FINE, IF THERE'S ANY RELATION THERE. >> IN THE NUMBER WHERE 8% OF OUR EIGHTH GRADERS ARE PROFICIENT, THAT DOES NOT INCLUDE ANY EIGHTH GRADER TAKING ALGEBRA I. THEY COUNT IN OUR ALGEBRA ONE SCORE. [00:30:01] THESE ARE JUST THE ROUGHLY 70% OF STUDENTS WHO ARE TAKING ON GRADE LEVEL MATH EIGHT. THESE ARE THE ONES WHO WILL BE TAKING ALGEBRA ONE FOR THE FIRST TIME IN GRADE NINE. >> THEN JUST TO CLARIFY THAT 70% THAT WHEN THEY GO INTO NINTH GRADE, IF WE HAVE THE WORLD WE WANT, THEY'RE GOING TO BE TAKING ALGEBRA I ON A DAY, PER SE, AND THEN MATH LAB ON DAY. >> THAT IS EXACTLY RIGHT. >> OKAY. >> I THINK WHAT'S STRIKING TO ME IS THAT WHEN YOU LOOK AT THIS 8% THAT ARE PROFICIENT IN GRADE EIGHT, AND AGAIN, THAT DOES NOT INCLUDE THE EIGHTH GRADERS WHO ARE TAKING EITHER THE HYBRID OR THE ALGEBRA I. WHAT'S FRUSTRATING IS JUST A COUPLE OF YEARS DOWN THE ROAD, THESE ARE THE VERY SAME STUDENTS WHO ARE PERFORMING ABOVE THE AVERAGE ON THE SAT. CLEARLY, THERE'S A DISCONNECT BETWEEN THE LEVEL OF DIFFICULTY SEEING STUDENTS ARE SEEING IN MATH AS GAUGED BY THE MCAP VERSUS WHAT THEY SEE ON THE SAT. THAT'S A FRUSTRATION. I TAUGHT ALGEBRA ONE, ALGEBRA TWO FOR A DECADE. THAT IS NOT THE ALGEBRA ONE I TAUGHT, THAT'S FOR SURE. THIS IS SUCH A DIFFERENT LEVEL OF RIGOR AND MR. FELL WAS ON POINT IN 2018 19 WHEN NSDE DECIDED TO RE PRIORITIZE THE ALGEBRA STANDARDS THAT WERE GOING TO BE ASSESSED. HE SAID, THIS IS GOING TO TANK ALL ALGEBRA SCORES IN THE STATE. I GOT QUITE A BIT OF PUSHBACK WHEN I RAISED THAT AT THE SUPERINTENDENT'S LEVEL. WHAT IT'S DONE, IT HAS TANKED THE ALGEBRA ONE SCORES ACROSS THE STATE, AND WE ARE FIGHTING ON THIS. I'M PROUD OF WHAT WE'VE DONE. AGAIN, 8% PROFICIENCY LEVEL IS TENTH IN THE STATE. IT GIVES YOU AN IDEA. WHILE OUR MATH SCORES HAVE DECLINED, OUR STATE RANKINGS REALLY HAVEN'T, THEY'VE REMAINED PRETTY STRONG. I THINK THAT DOES SPEAK TO THE TEST AS MUCH AS ANYTHING. ANY OTHER QUESTIONS FOR THE BOARD BEFORE WE SHIFT? >> I'M A LITTLE BIT CONFUSED. IF I GET THIS RIGHT, WE'RE HAVING ALGEBRA 1 ON MONDAY AND MATH LAB ON TUESDAY AND ALGEBRA 1 ON WEDNESDAY. WHY DON'T WE JUST DO MATH LAB AND GET IT RIGHT AND THEN START ALGEBRA 1? >> THAT'S A GREAT POINT. WE HAVE DEBATED THAT. A LOT OF THE RESEARCH SHOWS THAT PRE-TEACHING OF CONCEPTS PAYS A LARGE EFFECT SIZE WITH STUDENT ACHIEVEMENT. PART OF MATH LAB WILL BE PRE-TEACHING BEFORE THEY GO INTO THE ALGEBRA 1 CLASS TO LEARN WHAT THEY'RE DOING. >> I GET IT. >> WHEN WE WEIGHED BOTH OPTIONS, THE BETTER OPTION WE FELT WILL BE TO HAVE IT ON ALTERNATING DAYS. THE PROOF WILL BE WHEN THE SCORES COME BACK, WHEN THAT GROUP TAKES THE ALGEBRA 1 MCAP TEST AND WE CAN SEE HOW WELL THEY DID VERSUS THE GROUP THAT DID NOT HAVE MATH LAB. >> SO ON THE MATH LAB DAY, YOU'RE ACTUALLY STILL GETTING THEM READY FOR ALGEBRA 1. WHATEVER IS GOING TO BE TAUGHT NEXT IN ALGEBRA 1, YOU'RE GETTING THEM READY FOR? >> TIMES 100. YES, MA'AM. >> THAT MAKES. >> THEN ONE MORE QUESTION. IT LOOKS LIKE BACK IN 2018, WHEN WE STARTED ENVISION, EVERYBODY LOVED IT. APPARENTLY IT REALLY DID A GREAT JOB. NOW I'M NOT HEARING AS MUCH LOVE FOR ENVISION. I KNOW SOME PEOPLE WHO ARE USING SOME ILLUSTRATIVE, AND THEY ARE REALLY LIKING THAT AND REALLY SEEING KIDS REALLY STARTING TO GET THE CONCEPTS FROM THAT. I KNOW THAT IT'S A FUNDING ISSUE AS WELL. ALSO NOT WANTING TO TURN IT OUT TOO QUICKLY. IF THIS WORKS, ARE WE DROPPING ENVISION? EVEN THOUGH WE BACK IN THE DAY WE THOUGHT IT WAS GREAT. >> WELL, I THINK ONE THING TO REMEMBER IS THAT ENVISION IS OUR RESOURCE. WE'VE BEEN THROUGH A CYCLE OF ADOPTION WITH THAT AS WELL. I THINK THAT'S A GREAT QUESTION. WHEN WE FIRST ADOPTED ALL OF THOSE MATERIALS, WE WANTED THEM TO IMPLEMENT WITH FIDELITY BECAUSE WE WERE COMING FROM NOTHING, AND OUR SCORES WERE LOWER, AND WE WANTED TO SHOW THAT OUR STUDENTS WERE ACHIEVING. WHAT'S HAPPENED OVER TIME, AND SOME OF THIS I THINK IS EXACERBATED BY COVID IS THAT OUR TEACHERS ARE COMFORTABLE WITH THE RESOURCE AND HAVE LOCKS STEPPED THROUGH IT, AND SO THE KIDS ARE STARTING TO DISENGAGE A LITTLE. BECAUSE IF YOU'RE FAMILIAR WITH ENVISION, THERE'S A VIDEO THAT'S PLAYED. IT'S A VISUAL LEARNING VIDEO. IF YOU WERE A KINDERGARTEN STUDENT WITH US, AND NOW YOU'RE IN FIFTH GRADE, YOU'VE BEEN WATCHING THIS NOW YOU KNOW SINCE KINDERGARTEN. DIFFERENT CONCEPTS. THEY'RE CHILDREN STILL. THEY NEED TO BE ENGAGED. WE ARE MOVING AWAY FROM LOCKS STEPPING IN ENVISION. BUT THE BOTTOM LINE IS THAT THE RESOURCES ALL SUPPORT THE STANDARDS AND WHAT DR. FELL TOLD US IN TERMS OF THOSE STRANDS OF MATHEMATICS. IT REALLY IS UP TO TEACHER AND TEACHER EFFICACY TO UTILIZE THAT RESOURCE TO MEET THE NEEDS BASED ON THE DATA WITHIN THEIR CLASSROOMS. [00:35:03] WHAT WE'RE TRYING TO DO IS BUILD THAT EFFICACY BECAUSE NOT ALL TEACHERS LOVE MATH, ELEMENTARY SCHOOL TEACHERS. I KNOW IT'S A SHOCKER. WE WANT THEM TO FEEL COMFORTABLE AND EMPOWERED TO MAKE THOSE DECISIONS. WE'RE WORKING THROUGH THAT. I THINK YOUR QUESTION IS A VALID ONE. I'M HOPEFUL THAT REGARDLESS OF WHICH RESOURCE WE END UP TAKING, THAT TEACHERS AND STUDENTS WILL BEGIN TO UNDERSTAND THAT ENVISION IS A GOOD RESOURCE. IT DOES OFFER ALL OF THOSE COMPONENTS AND MORE, WE JUST HAVE TO MAKE IT MORE FOR THE KIDS THAT ARE IN FRONT OF THAT. I HOPE THAT ANSWERS YOUR QUESTION. >> I HAVE JUST A QUICK QUESTION. IS THE FUNDING NEXUS THAT WE'RE REFERRING TO, IS THAT MORE TEACHER-DRIVEN AS FAR AS NOT GOING FORWARD WITH THIS CONCEPT? COULD YOU SPEAK A LITTLE MORE TO THAT? >> ARE YOU ASKING ABOUT WHY WE WOULDN'T JUST GO AHEAD AND ADOPT ILLUSTRATIVE MATH? >> YES. >> WELL, ANYTIME WE PUT A NEW PROGRAM IN PLACE, IT'S ALWAYS A BENEFIT TO US TO PILOT IT. WHILE WE ARE, OUR TEACHERS LOVE IT, BUT SOMETIMES WE LIKE NEW SHINY THINGS, HONESTLY. I'M NOT SUGGESTING THAT IT'S NOT GOOD, BUT I'M OPTIMISTICALLY CAUTIOUS BEFORE WE INTRODUCE THAT TO 6,000 CHILDREN. RIGHT NOW WE HAVE IT CONTAINED IN A FEW SCHOOLS, AND THOSE SCHOOLS HAVE DIFFERENT DEMOGRAPHICS. BUT WE ALSO HAVE TO THINK ABOUT WHAT IS THAT GOING TO LOOK LIKE OVER 17 SCHOOLS. SOMETIMES IT'S BETTER TO GO SLOW RATHER THAN JUMP ALL THE WAY IN. THEN WE HAVE TO CONSIDER THE ENVIRONMENT. WE DON'T HAVE A LOT OF PD TIME, WE DON'T HAVE A LOT OF PD MONEY. WE MIGHT BE IN A SITUATION WHERE WE HAVE LARGE CLASS SIZES. WE HAVE TO CONSIDER AND PLAN FOR ALL OF THOSE SCENARIOS. IT REALLY IS US JUST TRYING TO MAKE SURE WE'RE MAKING THE BEST DECISION FOR OUR STUDENTS AND ALSO FOR THE TEACHERS THAT HAVE TO DELIVER THE INSTRUCTION. >> THANK YOU. >> YOU'RE WELCOME. >> THANK YOU, DR. KUBEK. THANK YOU, MR. FELL VERY MUCH. >> THANK YOU. >> WELL DONE. THANK YOU. NEXT UP. [1.04 English Language Arts in CCPS Presentation] >> ENGLISH LANGUAGE ARTS AND CCPS PRESENTATION, DR. LAWSON. >> MS. RHONDA ASPLEN, OUR INSTRUCTIONAL COORDINATOR FOR SECONDARY LANGUAGE ARTS, AND MS. SHERRY EICHINGER, OUR INSTRUCTIONAL COORDINATOR FOR ELEMENTARY LANGUAGE ARTS. SAME KIND OF THEME. I THINK YOU'LL BE IMPRESSED WITH WHAT SHE SAY. >> GOOD EVENING, PRESIDENT HOLLY, MEMBERS OF THE BOARD, DR. LAWSON, LEADERSHIP TEAM, AND GUESTS. I'M EXCITED TO INTRODUCE MS. ASPLEN AND MS. EICHINGER WILSON TO YOU THIS EVENING. THEY'RE COMING OFF A WONDERFUL WEEK, LAST WEEK WHERE WE HOSTED EDUCATORS FROM ACROSS THE STATE IN LITERACY LEARNING LABS BECAUSE OF OUR ENGLISH LANGUAGE ARTS STATED, THERE'S A LOT TO CELEBRATE HERE TONIGHT, SO I'M GOING TO STOP TALKING AND LET THEM TALK TO YOU ABOUT IT. >> IT'S WEIRD SITTING DOWN. [LAUGHTER] >> THERE YOU GO. >> I DID LOWER IT BECAUSE NOW MY FEET ARE DANGLING. IT'S OKAY. I GOT IT. IT'S WEIRD NOT TO STAND UP WHEN YOU'RE BENDING. GOOD EVENING. THE FIRST PART WE JUST WANTED TO HIGHLIGHT ON THIS SLIDE BECAUSE PROBABLY A NUMBER OF YOU HAVE HEARD THE PHRASE SCIENCE OF READING, AND SO JUST TO CONTINUE TO BUILD OUR SCHEME AND OUR UNDERSTANDING OF SCIENCE OF READING, THAT PHRASE. HERE ARE FIVE AREAS OF LITERACY PLUS WRITING. THESE ARE THE KEY COMPONENTS, AND WHAT YOU WANT TO FIND WITHIN OUR PROGRAMMING IN ELEMENTARY SPECIFICALLY, IS THAT THESE KEY COMPONENTS ARE BEING ADDRESSED THROUGH OUR CURRICULAR RESOURCES. FROM KINDERGARTEN TO GRADE 3, YOU WILL FIND ALL OF THESE COMPONENTS. THEN IN GRADES 4 AND 5 YOU WILL SEE THAT THERE'S THAT SHIFT THAT ACTUALLY OCCURS EVEN A LITTLE BIT EARLIER OF LEARNING HOW TO READ, TO READING TO LEARN, AND LEARNING HOW TO WRITE, TO WRITE TO LEARN. YOU'LL SEE THAT SOME OF THE TEACHERS ARE SPENDING MORE OR LESS TIME ON, SO OUR RESOURCES ARE DESIGNED TO SPEND MORE OR LESS TIME ON SOME OF THESE KEY COMPONENTS OF LITERACY. ON THIS SLIDE, YOU'LL SEE FOR THE MOST PART, OUR INSTRUCTIONAL BLOCKS ARE DIVIDED INTO THREE 45 MINUTE BLOCKS. THE FIRST ONE IS ENGLISH LANGUAGE ARTS, WHERE TEACHERS ARE INSTRUCTING BOTH READING OF COMPLEX TEXT THROUGH AN INTERACTIVE READ ALOUD. THE PRIMARY FOCUS THERE IS VOCABULARY AND COMPREHENSION, IF YOU'RE THINKING BACK TO THOSE ELEMENTS OF LITERACY. THEN WRITING INSTRUCTION THROUGH WHAT'S CALLED GENRE-BASED WRITING. [00:40:02] CENTRALLY, STUDENTS ARE LEARNING HOW TO WRITE THEIR OPINION BASED ON WHAT THEY READ. THEY'RE WRITING STORIES BASED ON WHAT THEY READ IN THEIR OWN PERSONAL CONNECTIONS, AND THEY'RE WRITING INFORMATION AND EXPLAINING, WHICH IS SOMETHING THAT MIGHT BE FAMILIAR TO IS RESEARCH. BUT ALL OF THIS WRITING INSTRUCTION IS CONTEXTUALIZED IN THE TEXT THAT ARE USED IN THE ELA BLOCK. THEN THE NEXT ONE IS SHARED READING, WHERE STUDENTS ARE ENGAGING IN PRACTICES THAT FOCUS ON FLUENCY AND COMPREHENSION, AS WELL AS PHONICS AND PHONEMIC AWARENESS. WHERE THEY'RE USING AUTHENTIC PIECES OF LITERATURE THAT ARE COMPLEX AS FAR AS ALIGN TO THE GRADE LEVEL AND SOMETIMES THE END OF THAT GRADE LEVEL BAND. THEY'RE READING THOSE AS A WHOLE CLASS, AND THEN WITH PARTNERS, AND THEN IN SOME CASES INDEPENDENTLY. THOSE DECISIONS ARE DATA-INFORMED BASED ON THE DATA WITHIN THAT CLASSROOM, SO MORE SUPPORTS OR LESS SUPPORTS. THEN THE THIRD BLOCK IS THE DIFFERENTIATED READING INSTRUCTION. THIS BLOCK IS DESIGNED TO PROVIDE ADDITIONAL INSTRUCTION BASED ON STUDENT NEED. WE HAVE WHAT'S CALLED A UNIVERSAL SCREENER, AS WELL AS A DIAGNOSTIC THAT INFORMS THE INSTRUCTION THAT OCCURS DURING THIS BLOCK. THEN WE'RE ALSO IMPLEMENTING, AS WELL A FOUNDATIONAL SKILLS, WHICH ALIGNS TO THOSE KEY LITERACY COMPONENTS AS WELL, SO A COMBINATION OF THINGS ARE HAPPENING DURING THAT 45 MINUTE INSTRUCTIONAL BLOCK. THIS JUST FURTHER EXPLAINS THAT THIRD INSTRUCTIONAL BLOCK THAT YOU SAW AT THE BOTTOM AND CONNECTS BACK TO THAT FIRST SLIDE OF THE KEY COMPONENTS OF LITERACY. STUDENTS ARE ADMINISTERED A SCREENER AND THEN BASED ON THE SCREENER DATA, THEY'RE GIVEN A DIAGNOSTIC THAT INFORMS THE FOCUS OF THE SMALL GROUP INSTRUCTION THAT THE TEACHER PROVIDES DURING THAT LITERACY BLOCK. >> BEFORE WE MOVE INTO SECONDARY LANGUAGE ARTS, WE'LL TALK BRIEFLY ABOUT SOME DATA POINTS. THE FIRST ONE BEING KINDERGARTEN READINESS ASSESSMENT, THAT PELI, WHICH YOU KNOW IS THAT PRESCHOOL EARLY LITERACY INDICATOR DATA, AS WELL AS OUR MEASURES OF ACADEMIC PROGRESS. MISS [INAUDIBLE] MENTIONED THE UNIVERSAL SCREENER, THAT'S ACADIENCE, AND ALSO OUR MCAP SCORES. WE'LL TALK BRIEFLY ABOUT THOSE. WE'LL START WITH KRA DATA, AND THE BOARD HAS SEEN THIS DATA BEFORE. BUT A QUICK REVIEW HERE IS THAT IF YOU LOOK AT OUR DATA, AGAIN, FROM LEFT TO RIGHT, THE '21-'22 YEAR, THE FAR RIGHT BEING THE '23, '24 YEAR, REALLY PROUD TO REPORT THE PROGRESS OF OUR STUDENTS THERE. WE HAVE THOSE LEVELS OF READINESS, THE BLUE BARS EMERGING. THEN YOU HAVE APPROACHING AND DEMONSTRATING. YOU OBVIOUSLY WANT YOUR STUDENTS TO DEMONSTRATE READINESS FOR KINDERGARTEN. THIS IS THE FIRST ASSESSMENT THEY TAKE WHEN THEY'RE WITH US AS FULL-TIME LEARNERS, AND IT REALLY MEASURES EVERYTHING THAT'S HAPPENED UP TO THAT POINT, INCLUDING OUR PRE-K, WHICH MANY OF OUR STUDENTS ARE ENROLLED IN. WE HAVE 43% OF OUR STUDENTS WHO WERE DEMONSTRATING READINESS IN THIS MOST RECENT ASSESSMENT. RIGHT NOW THE STATE IS REVISING THE KRA, AND SO WE'RE ON HOLD WITH ADMINISTERING IT THIS FALL AND WE'RE WAITING ADDITIONAL DIRECTION FROM THE STATE ON THOSE REVISIONS TO IT. WE'LL TALK ABOUT THAT UNIVERSAL SCREENER FOR ACADIENCE AND THE MEASURES THAT WE USED TO INFORM THAT INSTRUCTION THAT MISS [INAUDIBLE] REFERRED TO. >> WHAT YOU'LL SEE HERE IS YOU'LL SEE AT THE BOTTOM THERE, COMPARISON OF FALL 2022 TO FALL 2023. WHAT YOU'LL NOTICE AND WHAT YOU'RE LOOKING FOR IS THAT UPWARD TREND FROM THE PREVIOUS FALL TO THIS CURRENT FALL. FOR THE MOST PART, YOU SEE THAT UPWARD TREND OVER THAT YEAR'S GROWTH OF TIME. WE THEN ADMINISTER THE SCREENER AGAIN IN THE MIDDLE OF THE YEAR AND THE END OF THE YEAR, AND WE'LL CONTINUE TO LOOK AT THAT DATA. THIS DATA IS ALSO COMMUNICATED AND SHARED WITH FAMILIES AS PART OF THEIR READY TO READ ACT, AS WELL AS WHAT SUPPORTS ARE BEING PROVIDED AS A RESULT OF THEIR STUDENTS' PROFICIENCY LEVEL ON ACADIENCE. >> NEXT UP WE'LL SPEAK TO THOSE RESULTS OF THE MCAP ASSESSMENT. THERE'S BEEN SOME STABILITY IN THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE ARTS ASSESSMENT. THERE HAVE BEEN SOME MINOR REVISIONS, BUT THE DATA THAT WE SEE HERE IS HELPFUL FOR US TO REFLECT ON THE PROGRESS OUR STUDENTS HAVE MADE, AS WELL AS MAKE DECISIONS ABOUT CURRICULUM INSTRUCTION. >> KNOWING THAT SOME OF THIS INFORMATION WAS SHARED WITH YOU PREVIOUSLY, WE ALSO JUST PICKED CERTAIN GRADE LEVELS TO JUST REITERATE AND PUT IN FRONT OF YOU AGAIN. YOU'LL SEE HERE THE PROFICIENCY FOR GRADE 4 OVER TIME. I THINK JESSE AND MIKE DID A REALLY NICE JOB OF JUST EXPLAINING THE TIMELINE AND WHAT WAS HAPPENING WITH THE ASSESSMENTS AND THAT ALSO APPLIES TO ELA. [00:45:03] THEN THIS ONE HERE I'M JUST GOING TO QUICKLY SHOW YOU, BECAUSE SOMEONE EXPLAINED TO ME AND IT'S VERY HELPFUL. ESSENTIALLY, IF YOU LINE UP THE FOURTH GRADERS IN THE STATE, FROM A LINE FROM HERE TO HERE, WHAT THE MEDIAN MEANS, ARE THE STUDENTS IN THE MIDDLE? TYPICALLY WHAT YOU WANT ARE STUDENTS WITHIN THAT MEDIAN, OR OVER HERE ON THIS SIDE. WHAT YOU CAN SEE IS WE ARE SURPASSING THE MEDIAN IN FOUR OUT OF FIVE OF THOSE LEVELS. IT'S SOMETHING TO CELEBRATE AND IT'S NOT ALWAYS CAPTURED WHEN YOU'RE LOOKING JUST AT STRAIGHT PROFICIENCY LEVELS. THIS IS LOOKING AT STUDENT GROWTH FROM THE PREVIOUS YEAR TO THE NEXT YEAR, WHICH WAS ONE OF THE REASONS WE WERE SELECTED FOR THE LITERACY LEARNING LAB. >> LOOKING AT THESE DATA, CECIL COUNTY PUBLIC SCHOOLS IN THE STUDENT GROWTH INDEX IS NUMBER 3 IN THE STATE OF MARYLAND. THAT IS ONE OF THE MAIN REASONS WHY ONE OF TWO DISTRICTS IN THE STATE OF MARYLAND WERE SELECTED TO BE A LITERACY LEARNING LAB. THAT WAS JUST HIGHLIGHTED IN THE CECIL WIG THIS PAST WEEK. OUR FIRST VISIT WAS THIS PAST WEEK AS WELL, WE HAD SEVERAL DISTRICTS COME AND WATCH OUR PRACTICE. CECIL COUNTY PUBLIC SCHOOLS IN WASHINGTON COUNTY ARE THE TWO SCHOOL SYSTEMS THAT WERE SELECTED. VERY PROUD OF THESE LADIES. >> I'LL TALK ABOUT SECONDARY NOW. THIS JUST PROVIDES A LITTLE BIT OF BACKGROUND. WHEN I ASSUMED THIS POSITION IN 2017, WE WERE REALLY JUST OVERHAULING THE CURRICULUM, AND DR. LAWSON HAD ESTABLISHED A PARTNERSHIP WITH THE UNIVERSITY OF DELAWARE, AND THAT'S HOW WE STARTED USING BOOKWORMS. ONE OF THE AUTHORS OF BOOKWORMS IS DR. SHARON WALPOLE, AND SHE HAD WRITTEN THIS BOOK TO PROVIDE GUIDANCE IN SECONDARY. WE USED THIS BOOK TO GUIDE CURRICULUM DEVELOPMENT. UNLIKE WHAT WE'RE SEEING MOSTLY NOW THROUGHOUT THE STATE AND EVEN THE COUNTRY, OUR CURRICULUM IS DEVELOPED BY TEACHERS. THIS WAS OUR BIBLE FOR A FEW YEARS. WE PICKED JUST A FEW EVIDENCE-BASED PRACTICES, LIKE RECIPROCAL TEACHING, INTERACTIVE READ-ALOUD, PALS, STRATEGIES THAT REALLY BUILD FLUENCY AND COMPREHENSION FOR ADOLESCENT READERS. WE FOCUSED ON CLEAR ALIGNMENT TO STANDARDS, AND ALSO, JUST LIKE WITH BOOKWORMS, WE USE AUTHENTIC GRADE-LEVEL TEXTS. THAT WAS JUST A HUGE SHIFT FOR US. THEN IN THE YEARS SINCE THEN, WE'VE REALLY GROWN A STRONG GROUP OF TEACHER LEADERS WHO CONTINUE TO LEAD THIS WORK. EVERY YEAR WE DO DATA ANALYSIS, WE SEND OUT CURRICULUM SURVEYS JUST TO GET, WHAT UNITS NEED TO BE WORKING? WHAT'S WORKING? WHAT'S NOT WORKING? FOR US, CURRICULUM WRITING GOES ALONGSIDE WITH PD. IT'S ITERATIVE, IT'S GENERATIVE, AND WE ALL JUST GROW AND LEARN TOGETHER THROUGH THAT. AS FAR AS PD, SO WE TRY TO KEEP PD VERY FOCUSED. WITH THE EVIDENCE-BASED PRACTICES, WHAT I WANT TO SEE PEOPLE DOING IS USING THOSE EVIDENCE-BASED PRACTICES MORE FLEXIBLY. SECONDARY FOLKS JUST HAVE A STAND AND DELIVER. THAT'S OUR DEFAULT. INSTEAD OF EVERYBODY DOING PALS, WHICH IS LIKE PARTNER READING, I'M REALLY TRYING TO GET TEACHERS TO A PLACE WHERE IT'S LIKE, FOR THIS CLASS, BASED ON THIS DATA, THIS GROUP OF STUDENTS WILL USE PALS. I'M GOING TO HAVE THIS SMALL GROUP OVER HERE AND WE'RE GOING TO DO AN INTERACTIVE READ ALOUD, AND THE REST OF THE CLASS WHO ARE MORE ON LEVEL ARE GOING TO USE A READING GUIDE TO READ INDEPENDENTLY. THAT'S WHERE I'M TRYING TO MOVE FOLKS, BUT THAT'S A BIG SHIFT FOR SECONDARY. THE OTHER MAIN FOCUS IN PD IS THE MARYLAND WRITING PROJECT. I PARTNERED WITH DR. VICKI MCQUITTY MY FIRST YEAR IN THIS JOB. SHE'S THE DIRECTOR OF THE MARYLAND WRITING PROJECT, AND SHE HAS REALLY HELPED US GROW, BECAUSE WRITING INSTRUCTION IS SO DIFFICULT, AND OUR TENDENCY WAS TO TRY TO SIMPLIFY WRITING AND MAKE IT EASY FOR KIDS, WITH BASIC SENTENCE COMPOSING ACTIVITIES, OR GIVING THEM SUPER, ALMOST FILL-IN-THE-BLANK ORGANIZERS. THEN WHAT HAPPENS IS THEY GET GOOD GRADES BUT THEY STILL CAN'T WRITE, AND EVERYBODY'S ESSAY LOOKS THE SAME. THAT'S BEEN A HUGE SHIFT FOR US. DO YOU WANT TO GO TO THE NEXT? >> SURE. AS DR. FOY MENTIONED A COUPLE MOMENTS AGO, AS IT RELATES TO THAT COLLEGE AND CAREER READINESS STANDARD, [00:50:05] THE OPTION 2 INCLUDES PASSING THE ELA MCAP 10. MISS ASPLEN WILL WALK US THROUGH HOW OUR STUDENTS ARE PERFORMING THERE AND GIVE YOU SOME PERSPECTIVE ON THE GROWTH WE SEE IN OUR STUDENTS. >> THIS IS THE EVIDENCE STATEMENTS, I THINK IT'S CALLED. ANYWAYS, THE STANDARDS ARE AT THE BOTTOM. THIS GRAPH, THE ONE WITH THE STANDARDS AT THE BOTTOM, THOSE ARE THE SELECTED RESPONSE ITEMS. THAT'S WHERE THEY READ THE PASSAGE AND THEY ANSWER MULTIPLE-CHOICE QUESTIONS. AS YOU CAN SEE, WE'RE THE GREEN DOT, MARYLAND IS THE BLUE SQUARE. WE'RE RIGHT WITH THE STATE WHEN IT COMES TO THOSE SELECTED RESPONSE ITEMS. >> MISS ASPLEN, CAN YOU GIVE AN EXAMPLE OF ONE OF THE STANDARDS AT THE BOTTOM? JUST PICK ANY ONE. >> SURE. RI 9-10.3, IT'S NUMBER 4, THAT WOULD BE READING INFORMATIONAL TEXT FOR KEY IDEAS AND DETAILS. >> SO THAT WE CAN BREAK DOWN THE STUDENT'S PERFORMANCE BASED BY STANDARD. THERE'S A SERIES OF STANDARDS GOING ALONG THE BOTTOM THERE, AND WHAT THE GRAPH SHOWS IS HOW WE PERFORM ON EACH OF THOSE INDIVIDUAL STANDARDS AS COMPARED TO THE STATE. >> BUT WHAT I WANTED TO ILLUSTRATE WITH THIS IS THAT WE'RE DOING ABOUT AS WELL AS THE STATE WITH THOSE MULTIPLE-CHOICE QUESTIONS. WHERE WE'RE REALLY PULLING AHEAD IS WITH THE WRITING TASKS. THAT'S THE ONE OVER THERE ON THE SIDE. I JUST FEEL LIKE THAT'S A STRONG TESTAMENT TO THE PD WE'VE DONE AROUND WRITING, AND I REALLY ATTRIBUTE OUR STATUS IN THE STATE TO THE WRITING PD AND OUR GROWTH IN WRITING PEDAGOGY. >> CAN YOU EXPLAIN A LITTLE BIT ABOUT SINCE WE'RE NOT DOING THE FORM WRITING ANYMORE, HOW HAVE WE CHANGED? HOW DO WE GET THE KIDS TO THINK OUTSIDE THE BOX FOR THEIR WRITING INSTEAD OF, THIS IS THE FILL-IN-THE-BLANK TYPE OF THING? WHAT WOULD A LESSON LOOK LIKE? >> I WOULD SAY TWO HIGH LEVERAGE PRACTICES. ONE WOULD BE USING MENTOR TEXTS OR MODELS. LIKE I'M WRITING MY DISSERTATION RIGHT NOW AND I HAVE TWO MODELS THAT I'M REFERRING TO. THAT IS THE MOST HELPFUL RESOURCES TO SEE A MODEL. ANOTHER HIGH LEVERAGE PRACTICE IS JUST COGNITIVE THINK-ALOUD. SO MUCH OF WHAT WRITERS DO ARE IMPLICIT PROCESSES, AND SOME PEOPLE HAVE THAT NATURAL ABILITY AND A LOT OF KIDS DON'T. SOME PEOPLE CAN DO IT AND SOME PEOPLE CAN'T. A COGNITIVE THINK ALOUD IS WHERE THE TEACHER MODELS, FOR EXAMPLE, HOW TO WRITE A THESIS STATEMENT AND THINKS ALOUD THE WHOLE TIME JUST TO MAKE THOSE IMPLICIT PROCESSES EXPLICIT FOR KIDS. KEEPING IN MIND THAT WRITING SKILL DEVELOPS REALLY SLOWLY OVER TIME. THE WAY THAT I WAS WRITING AS A SENIOR IN HIGH SCHOOL COMPARED TO NOW, IT'S A SKILL THAT DEVELOPS REALLY OVER THE COURSE OF A LIFETIME, WHICH IS THE NEXT. THIS IS OUR 2023 DATA. YOU CAN SEE LIKE IN SIXTH GRADE, OUR KIDS ARE ON THEIR WRITING TASKS, SCORING RIGHT WITH THE STATE, BUT EACH YEAR WE GET THEM A LITTLE ABOVE THE STATE UNTIL BY 10TH GRADE WE HAVE SOME PRETTY STRONG ACADEMIC WRITERS. >> THIS HAS TO BE ACKNOWLEDGED BY PEOPLE, IS THAT FOR ALL THE HITS WE TAKE ABOUT NOT PERFORMING WELL, IT'S UTTER NONSENSE. WHEN SOMEBODY GOES ON SOCIAL MEDIA AND POSTS THAT, ALL THEY'RE SHOWING IS THAT THEY HAVEN'T DONE THEIR HOMEWORK. THEY LOOK AT THE EIGHT PERCENT FOR EIGHTH GRADERS AND THEY SAY, WELL, YOU SEE. BUT IF YOU LOOK AT WHAT HAPPENS HERE, THIS IS A COUNTY WERE 55 PERCENT OF OUR STUDENTS ARE FROM POVERTY. WE ARE 16TH TO 17TH OUT OF 24 IN TERMS OF WEALTH AND WHAT WE DO WITH CHILDREN, PARTICULARLY IN THE AREA OF LANGUAGE ARTS, FROM GRADES 3-10, IS INCOMPARABLE ACROSS THE STATE. NOBODY MOVES KIDS, THE WAY WE MOVE. THAT TERM, MOVING KIDS, IS A WAY THAT EDUCATORS SAY FOR HAVING THEM IMPROVE AND WE WERE THIRD IN THE STATE AS IT RELATES TO OUR STUDENTS IMPROVING. THAT DOESN'T GET REVEALED. WHEN YOU LOOK AT RAW PROFICIENCY, YOU REALLY HAVE TO DIG IN AND FRANKLY, SOME OF THIS DATA SURPRISED ME. BECAUSE WE GET SO SUCKED INTO LOOKING AT THIS SUPERFICIAL RAW PROFICIENCY NUMBER THAT YOU LOSE TRACK OF WHAT'S HAPPENING. THE UNIVERSITY OF DELAWARE DID A PRETTY LARGE PIECE OF RESEARCH THAT'S BEEN PEER REVIEWED AND SHOWED CECIL COUNTY'S MOVEMENT OF STUDENTS IN LANGUAGE ARTS IS REALLY SOMETHING WORTH RECOGNIZING. I CAN'T GIVE ENOUGH CREDIT TO SHERRY AND RHONDA FOR THE WORK THAT THEY'VE DONE. I'VE BEEN WITH THEM FOR A WHILE, IT SEEMS LIKE I JUST RIDE ON THEIR COAT TAILS. I WAS A MATH TEACHER. NO OFFENSE TO JESSE AND MIKE, I REALLY ENJOY LISTENING TO THEM SPEAK ABOUT LITERACY AND THE WORK THEY DO. [00:55:01] IT'S JUST SECOND TO NONE SO THANK YOU LADIES. KEEP GOING. JUST AN OBSERVATION. >> THIS JUST SHOWS AGAIN JUST WITH THAT GROWTH MINDSET. YOU CAN SEE, THIS IS AGAIN 2023 DATA, WHERE STUDENTS WHO FIT INTO DIFFERENT SUBGROUPS ARE PERFORMING IN SIXTH GRADE AND HOW THAT CHANGES BY THE 10TH GRADE. I CAN'T EMPHASIZE ENOUGH THE IMPORTANCE OF THAT VERTICAL COLLABORATION AND EFFORT, BECAUSE LITERACY IS JUST, IT'S A LIFELONG SKILL. THEN THIS IS JUST SOME OF OUR MCAP DATA. YOU CAN SEE WHERE WE WERE, THIS IS SIXTH GRADE, THE COVID DIP, AND THEN COMING BACK UP FOR SECONDARY ELA, AND THAT'S OUR 10TH GRADE DATA. THEN HERE THIS YEAR, WE WERE ASKED TO DEVELOP, AS PART OF THE WORK OCCURRING WITH THE BLUEPRINT, A COMPREHENSIVE LITERACY PLAN FOR THE DISTRICT, SO KINDERGARTEN THROUGH GRADE 12. THERE'S A HEAVY EMPHASIS FIRST ON K-5. WE JUST RECEIVED FEEDBACK LAST WEEK FROM A COMPANY IDENTIFIED AS MILES, WHO THE MARYLAND STATE DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION CONTRACTED TO GIVE FEEDBACK. THEN PART OF THAT FEEDBACK WILL ALSO INCLUDE ADDITIONAL SITE VISITS WHERE SOME OF OUR SCHOOLS WILL HOST VISITORS AND THEN A PANEL OF LITERACY TEACHERS WILL COME TOGETHER AS WELL TO SERVE ON THAT PANEL TO PROVIDE ADDITIONAL INFORMATION. THAT'S REALLY THE STATE IS MEETING WITH THOSE INDIVIDUALS AND VISITING CLASSROOMS TO SEE OUR IMPLEMENTATION OF THE PLAN WE SUBMITTED AND TO ALSO MEET WITH TEACHERS TO SERVE AS AN ADVOCACY GROUP TO DETERMINE WHAT SUPPORTS DO YOU STILL NEED AND WHAT SUPPORTS CAN WE PROVIDE AT THE STATE LEVEL AS WELL, NOT JUST THE LOCAL LEVEL. AS PART OF THAT PLAN, HERE ARE THE FIVE DIFFERENT AREAS WE FOCUSED ON AND YOU'LL SEE THAT THE THREE IDENTIFIED AS A CIRCLE ARE AREAS WHERE WE'VE IDENTIFIED OUR PATH FORWARD AND AREAS WHERE WE WANT TO CONTINUE TO GROW. WE'RE CELEBRATING OUR GROWTH, RECOGNIZING WE STILL HAVE A LOT OF GROWTH THAT WE'RE ABLE TO DEMONSTRATE IN OUR COMMUNITY FOR SURE. UNDER THOSE THREE CATEGORIES, YOU'LL SEE WHERE WE'VE COLLABORATED TO IDENTIFY GOALS THAT APPLY TO BOTH ELEMENTARY AND SECONDARY AND THEN AREAS WHERE WE MIGHT WANT TO GROW IN ONE OF OUR SPECIFIC AREAS. THE OTHER REASON WE WERE IDENTIFIED AS THE LITERACY LEARNING LAB IS TO HIGHLIGHT THE WORK OCCURRING WITH OUR ACADEMIC, MULTI TIERED SYSTEM OF SUPPORT. PART OF REPORTING AND SHARING WITH FAMILIES, RIGHT, IS NOT ONLY IS HOW YOUR CHILD IS PERFORMING, BUT WHAT ARE THE ADDITIONAL SUPPORTS THAT WE'RE PROVIDING FOR YOUR CHILD AS A DISTRICT. THAT WAS ONE OF THE FOCUS AREAS FOR LAST WEEK, AND THEN THAT TRANSITION AND CONTINUING THAT WORK INTO SECONDARY. SO YOU'LL SEE BOTH OF US TALKED ABOUT THIS, AND I BELIEVE JESSE AND MIKE TALKED ABOUT THIS AS WELL. TEACHERS ARE WORKING REALLY HARD, AND THEY'RE ENGAGING IN A LOT OF PROFESSIONAL LEARNING, NOT ONLY DURING THE SCHOOL DAY, BUT A NUMBER OF THEM AFTER SCHOOL. THAT'S EVEN IN ADDITION TO JUST THEIR OWN PROFESSIONAL ASPIRATIONS AND STUDIES, THAT MIGHT BE INDEPENDENT OF WHAT WE'RE OFFERING AS A DISTRICT. JUST PROVIDING THAT SPACE FOR TEACHERS TO BE REALLY INTENTIONAL WITH MAKING DATA INFORMED DECISIONS. I BELIEVE ALL OF OUR TEACHERS ARE ABLE TO DO THAT. JUST HAVING MORE SPACE TO COLLABORATIVELY LOOK AT STUDENT WORK AND MAKE THOSE DATA INFORMED DECISIONS. AND THEN BUILDING UP OUR MULTI TIERED SYSTEM OF SUPPORT SO THAT THEY HAVE OPTIONS AS FAR AS WHAT TIERED SUPPORTS CAN BE PROVIDED TO OUR STUDENTS. YOU'LL SEE SOME OF THOSE PIECES ARE CAPTURED ACROSS, ALL THREE ARE RELATED TO ACADEMIC TIERED SYSTEMS OF SUPPORT AND I'LL LET RUN IF THERE'S ANYTHING YOU WANT TO ADD THERE. >> I THINK THAT WHERE THERE'S GROWTH FOR US HERE. I HEARD SOMEONE SAY THIS LAST WEEK AT THE LITERACY LAB, WE THINK OF OURSELVES AS ENGLISH TEACHERS AND WE NEED TO START THINKING OF OURSELVES AS READING TEACHERS, ESPECIALLY IN MIDDLE SCHOOL. THAT'S A HUGE SHIFT FOR US, LIKE WE HAVE A LOT OF PD TO DO AROUND, SCIENCE OF READING, DIAGNOSING, WHERE THERE ARE GAPS IN THOSE FOUNDATIONAL SKILLS, AND THEN HAVING SOME GOOD STRATEGIES THAT BUILD ON THE WORK IN ELEMENTARY TO CONTINUE CATCHING KIDS UP. >> THANK YOU BOTH FOR SHARING. >> QUESTIONS FROM THE BOARD. I'LL SAY ONE THING. OBVIOUSLY WE GET ALL GIDDY AND HAPPY ABOUT THE THINGS WE SEE COMING OUT. I HAVE A CONCERN, AND EVERYBODY HERE KNOWS THIS, IS THAT IT'S A LITTLE BIT OF A HEAD SCRATCHER AT THE MOMENT, THE WAY WE'RE NOT MOVING OUR THIRD GRADERS, OUR THIRD GRADERS SEEM FLAT YEAR AFTER YEAR. [01:00:01] I FIND CERTAINLY SOLACE IN THE WAY WE MOVE THEM FROM THE TIME THEY'RE IN THIRD GRADE UP THROUGH 10TH. I WOULD ARGUE THAT IF WE COULD PULL OUT STUDENTS WHO HAVE BEEN WITH US, WHERE THERE'S NO TRANSIENCY, THESE STUDENTS ARE WITH US FOR THOSE SEVEN OR EIGHT YEARS, YOU WOULD SEE JUST UNBELIEVABLE GROWTH WITH THOSE STUDENTS. THAT SAID, WE HAVE PUT IN SOME INTERVENTION PROGRAMS, FOUNDATIONS COMES TO MIND. IT'S A PROGRAM VERY MUCH GROUNDED IN PHONICS, PARTICULARLY AT THE EARLY LEVEL. WE WERE AHEAD OF OUR TIME WITH THAT, THE SCIENCE OF READING, AND WE'VE BEEN DOING IT SINCE 2016. WE DO TEACH CURSIVE HANDWRITING. THAT MAKES SOMEBODY FEEL BETTER. NOT ME PARTICULAR, BUT YEAH. SO THERE'S AN AWFUL LOT GOOD GOING ON. AGAIN, I WANT TO THANK THESE FOLKS TO MY LEFT. WITH THAT, ANY QUESTIONS FROM THE BOARD? >> BOARD HAVE ANY QUESTIONS? YOU GUYS ARE BEING. >> ONE THING IF I CAN ADD, PLEASE. THIS WAS CURSORY. IF YOU HAVE ANYTHING THAT YOU WOULD LIKE TO GO AND VISIT OR SEE ANY OF THIS FACE TO FACE, WE'RE HAPPY TO TAKE YOU AROUND TO DO THAT. >> IF YOU HAVE NOT SEEN FOUNDATIONS IN ACTION, I ENCOURAGE ALL OF YOU. >> LET'S TAKE A TRIP. >> IT IS GOOD STUFF. >> THESE LADIES CAN DO THIS FOR HOURS IN CASE YOU'RE INTERESTED. THAT'S THE TIP OF THE ICEBERG THERE. >> DANNY, YOU AND I WENT TO HOLLY HALL AND THAT WAS PHENOMENAL, THE WORK THAT THEY WERE DOING AT HOLLY HALL THAT WE WERE WATCHING. I DON'T HAVE MY NOTES RIGHT IN FRONT OF ME EXACTLY WHAT IT WAS CALLED, BUT IT WAS GREAT LIKE HOW THEY WERE LEARNING THEIR PHONICS AND THEIR WORD SOUNDS AND IT WAS FANTASTIC. >> THESE STUDENTS LIKE IT. >> THEY WERE HAVING FUN, YEAH. BOTH TEACHERS, THEY LIKED IT TOO. IT WAS GREAT TO DO. >> I DO HAVE A CONCERN WITH THE AMOUNT OF PD THAT IS GOING TO BE NEEDED, ESPECIALLY IN TERMS OF SCIENCE AND READING AND FUNDING AND TEACHER TIME. THAT'S A CONCERN MOVING FORWARD. WE WANT TO SEE GROWTH IN ALL THESE AREAS AND CONTINUED GROWTH, BUT THAT TAKES PD. >> I HAVE A QUICK QUESTION FOR DR. LAWSON. DR. LAWSON, WHAT DO YOU THINK AS FAR AS THE MESSAGING, I MEAN, THE DATA THAT YOU PROVIDED IN OUR STATE RANKING AND THINGS OF THAT NATURE, WHY IS IT THAT YOU THINK PEOPLE ARE STILL HAVING SUCH A DIFFICULT TIME UNDERSTANDING WHERE WE ARE, THAT WE'RE NOT AS LOW AS SOME FOLKS WOULD HAVE YOU BELIEVE? >> YEAH, I THINK IT BECOMES A LITTLE BIT POLITICAL. IT'S A MESSAGING ISSUE AMONG SOME, NOT EVERYBODY. I THINK PEOPLE WHO FOLLOW US CLOSELY KNOW THE GROWTH THAT'S THERE, THE CONSISTENT, HIGH LEVEL OF PERFORMANCE. BUT LET'S FACE IT, YOU KNOW, UNFORTUNATELY IT'S EASIER TO TEAR THINGS DOWN, THAT IT IS BUILD THINGS UP. >> IT'S EASIER TO TAKE DATA OUT OF CONTEXT, SO I THINK THAT'S WHAT WE SEE. IT'S EASY TO DO FOR PEOPLE. >> I STAND BY OUR KIDS, OUR TEACHERS, OUR GRADUATES ARE PARTICULARLY IMPRESSIVE. >> OUR MEETINGS WHERE WE TALK ABOUT OTHER THINGS. THIS MEETING IS A WORK SESSION WHERE WE TALKED ABOUT MATH AND ELA ACHIEVEMENT AND THE PEOPLE WHO ARE THE NAYSAYERS THAT SAY YOU'RE TERRIBLE, WHERE ARE THEY? I ENCOURAGE ANYBODY TO HOPEFULLY, I MEAN THIS IS A RECORDED SESSION. SHARE IT. >> THANK YOU FOR THE QUESTION. >> THANK YOU. >> WITH THAT BEING SAID, WILL WE BE ABLE TO GET THESE? >> THANK YOU. >> WE ARE AT THE END OF THIS AGENDA 603. WORK SESSION IS ADJOURNED. WE WILL MOVE. * This transcript was compiled from uncorrected Closed Captioning.