HIGH SCHOOL SCIENCE RECOMMENDATIONS MARCH 11, 2013

CLARIFICATIONS Aligned by Design: a data-driven, skills-based curricular framework based on ACT student learning benchmarks, that focuses on College + Career Readiness EXPLORE/PLAN/ACT Discovery Education: a source of streaming and digital instructional materials, used as resource or textbooks. Next Generation Science Standards: Practices, Crosscutting Concepts, Core Ideas Common Core State Standards: Literacy in Science

ACT: % OF STUDENTS COLLEGE READY

AUDIT REVEALED A LACK OF CONNECTION WITH CURRENT SEMESTER MODEL CURRICULUM IS TOPICS DRIVEN VS. SKILLS ENVIRONMENTAL SCAN REVEALED NO HIGH PERFORMING STATES OR SCHOOLS OFFER THE SEMESTER MODEL CURRENT 1.5 YEAR MODEL DELAYS ACCELERATION IN SCIENCE RATIONALE FOR CHANGE

DATA RATIONALE ACT SCIENCE COLLEGE READINIESS ACT SCIENCE SUBJECT COMPARISON COMPARISON TO OTHER HIGH PERFORMING DISTRICTS WKCE SCIENCE SCORES STUDENT SURVEYS: SEMESTER COURSES NOT NEEDED STUDENT SURVEYS: E.S. WAS A REVIEW OF 8 TH GRADE

BEST PRACTICE AND RESEARCH  NEXT GENERATION OF SCIENCE STANDARDS  COMMON CORE STATE STANDARDS  JK-12 SCIENCE PROGRAM REVIEW RECOMMENDATIONS, LeRoy Lee  ENVIRONMENTAL SCAN of MODEL PROGRAMS (WI + other)  ALIGNED BY DESIGN MODEL

COMMITTEE RECOMMENDATIONS TRANSITION TO YEAR LONG COURSES  BIOLOGY: GRADE SCHOOL YEAR  CHEMISTRY: GRADE SCHOOL YEAR  PHYSICS: GRADE SCHOOL YEAR 3 FOUNDATIONALS WILL HAVE ADVANCED AND REGULAR OFFERINGS EARTH SCIENCE WILL BE EMBEDDED PER NGSS SAMPLE GRADUATION REQUIREMENT- MINIMUM of 3 YEARS of SCIENCE  1 YR BIOLOGICAL SCIENCE, 1 YR PHYSICAL SCIENCE ALIGNED by DESIGN [© 2009 Vengoni] DISCOVERY EDUCATION [© 2013 Discovery Education] Resource of DIGITAL TEXT and MEDIA

H.0. IMPLEMENTATION PLAN H.0.

PROGRAM DESCRIPTION SKILLS FOCUSED WITH NGSS ALIGNED CONTENT SUPPORT ALIGNED TO COLLEGE AND CAREER READINESS SKILLS (ACT) SUPPORTED WITH DISCOVERY EDUCATION DIGITAL TEXT

BENCHMARKS(ON HANDOUT) 1. Students will solve problems using inquiry and critical thinking. 2.Students will apply critical thinking and research to support or refute arguments in written format 3. Students will read to infer, interpret and to draw conclusions. 4. Students will interpret data (tables, graphs, charts & diagrams) to evaluate relationships and draw conclusions. 5. Students will design and perform scientific investigations to evaluate relationships and draw conclusions. 6. Students will evaluate models, inferences and experimental results to analyze relationships and draw conclusions. 7. Students will communicate information about science topics, concepts, core ideas and crosscutting themes. 8. Students will use mathematics and computational thinking to evaluate relationships and draw conclusions.

COMMITTEE PROCESS All high school science teachers Consensus-based decision making model October 26, 2013 December 19, 2013 January 10, 2013 February 18, 2013

STAFF DEVLOPMENT PLAN BENCHMARK DEVELOPMENT NGSS – BRIAN REISER, NORTHWESTERN UNIVERSITY NATIONAL SCIENCE TEACHER CONVENTION 2012 AND 2013 ($12,000) ALIGNED BY DESIGN [ABD] HERSEY HIGH SCHOOL VISIT MARCH 8, 2013 ($250 + mileage) ABD 2 DAY WORKSHOP LEVEL JUNE 2013 ($2500 and $2000) ABD LEVEL 2 JULY 2013 ($2500 and $2000) + mileage DISCOVERY EDUCATION RESOURCE TRAINING: SPRING/SUMMER 2013

DISCOVERY EDUCATION: FINANCES $90,000 6 years 1650 students: 75% of HS student body Bio, Chemistry, Physics

ELECTIVES RETAIN AP (ADVANCED PLACEMENT) COURSES COMPLETE ELECTIVE DEVELOPMENT

DIVERSE LEARNERS Continually updated Leveled Reading Audio Media presentations on topics GlossariesDiscovery Ed Virtual labs Simulations Real world application Spanish Version

PROGRAM EVALUATION Increase in student readiness for college or career as indicated on the ACT test Increase in student performance on the WKCE Science Test Baseline Science grades compared to future science grades; reduction in number of failures, increase in number of students improving

BOARD APPROVAL Course restructuring from semester to year-long New foundational courses : Biology 1; Advanced Biology 1 FROSH 1.0 credit Chemistry 1; Advanced Chemistry 1 SOPH 1.0 credit Physics 1; Advanced Physics 1 JUNIOR 1.0 credit Remove: Semester Earth Science, Physics, Chemistry, Biology Require 3 yrs of science beginning with freshman class, to include 1 yr of biological science and 1 yr of physical science. Discovery Education