1. DUTCH LANE SCHOOL PRESENTS: UNDERSTANDING THE COMMON CORE AND THE NEW YORK STATE ASSESSMENT PROGRAM March 2016

2. Why Test???  Today’s students need more than the basic reading and arithmetic skills.  To be prepared for the rigors of the 21 st century, they must be able to: 1. Think critically 2. Analyze and make inferences 3. Read complex and challenging text with understanding 4. Retrieve information 5. Transfer information across multiple contexts and knowledge domains

3. What Tests are used in District?  NWEA MAP  Reading Street Benchmark assessments  Go Math unit assessments  Spelling tests  Writing samples  Science exams  Social Studies exams  Physical Fitness tests  Art Portfolios  Music tests

4. What Tests are given in District? continued  New York State Assessments  ELA Grades 3-8  Math Grades 3-8  Science Grade 4 and 8  NYSESLAT Kindergarten – Grade 12  NYSAA Grade 3 – Grade 12  Regents Exams

5. Changes to the New York State Assessment Program  New test vendor – Questar Assessments Inc. will administer this year’s assessments and future NYS ELA and Math assessments - classroom teachers are being included in the process and will help to write test questions  Decrease in the number of test questions - reduces the length of the test - ELA assessment will have one less passage and fewer questions - Math assessment will have fewer questions

6. Changes to the New York State Assessment Program  A shift to untimed testing - students will be able to demonstrate what they know while working at their own pace Until the new system is fully phased in, the results from assessments aligned to the current Common Core Standards, as well as the updated standards, shall only be advisory and not be used to evaluate the performance of individual teachers or students

8. HOW DOES THE TIMING OF OUR ASSESSMENTS IMPACT THEIR USE AND INFLUENCE? Diagnostic or BaselinePeriodic or InterimFormativeSummative or Cumulative Description: Before teaching The initial phase of assessments for learning Assessments that sit outside teaching and learning cycle, calendar driven During teaching Focus is on assessment for learning AFTER teaching Focus is on assessment of learning Use: To gather data in order to plan for instruction, place students or secure services To gather data in order to make systematic decisions To gather data to adjust instruction and provide feedback Provides student involvement To evaluate and make decisions regarding grades, promotion, graduation; enable students to share what they’ve learned Stakes: Low High Examples: Pre-test, Placement Test, Graphic Organizer (KWL) NWEA MAPKeeping Learning on Track Strategies: Exit ticket, fist to five, cups, checklists, white boards, Show Me Boards Reports, Math unit tests, Reading chapter tests

9. What hasn’t changed?  Good instruction is good instruction  Use of high quality literature and informational text  Interdisciplinary instruction  Written explanations  Writing across the content areas  Fluency of math facts  Using context clues to define vocabulary  Use of instructional technology and websites

10. How can you help at home?  ELA  Use Reading Street Online  Encourage your child to read  Create a “print-rich” environment in your home  Encourage your child to write on a daily basis or to keep a diary  Encourage your child to create a home library of his or her favorite books  Buy your child a dictionary  Mathematics  Use Go Math! Online  Model real-life math for your child (comparison shopping, paying bills, using recipes)  Discuss survey results published in newspapers  Talk about probability in weather forecasting  Discuss graphs and percentages in the business section  Set up a savings account for your child – discuss compound interest

11. How can I help at home with ELA?  Kindergarten  Read rhyming poems and sing rhyming songs with your child. Have him or her identify the words that rhyme.  Write down words that rhyme. Have your child name the letters that are the same and that make the same sounds.  Have your child point to and name upper- and lower-case letters.  Grade 1  Read fables or other stories that teach lessons with your child.  Have him or her talk about the setting and characters using words from the story. Have your child tell you the moral or lesson of the story.  Grade 2  Have your child answer who, what, when, where, why and how questions about stories and books.  Have your child reads science, history, or social studies texts and tell you what the main idea was.

12. How can I help at home with ELA?  Grade 3  Read a story together. Have your child describe the characters in the story and tell how their actions contributed to events in the story.  Look at maps or graphs together. Have your child identify specific information from the map or graph.  Grade 4  Read a newspaper article together. Have your child identify specific facts, details, and evidence that support the author’s point of view.  Have your child read stories from different cultures, point out the lesson in each story and tell how these are similar or different.  Grade 5  Help your child to research using the Internet to find two or more articles that answer a question.  Have your child identify examples of figurative language in his or her reading or television viewing, e.g. “She was quiet as a mouse.”

13. How can I help at home with math?  Make flashcards with your child to practice fluency  Make different sets for multiplication, addition, division and subtraction.  Practice 10-15 minutes per day with your child  Show the cards to your child and have him or her answer  Keep a log of the number of questions and the number that your child answered correctly and continue to work on the incorrect cards.  Have your child make a chart to show his or her progress. This will also reinforce graphing skills and knowledge.

14. How can I help at home with math?  Incorporate math into daily activities.  When cooking, ask your child to convert recipes to increase or decrease the proportions of ingredients.  If your child plays a sport, or watches sports then scoring and elapsed time for the event can be explored.  Take your child to the supermarket and explore the unit price codes to determine the best deal and let them figure out what the change should be at the check out register from the bill.  If children are playing board games and using dice explore the probabilities of tossing the dice.  In a restaurant let the child determine how much should be left for a tip when the bill arrives.

15. Contacts  Teacher(s) 516-733-2361  Support Staff 516-733-2361  Principal – Susan Strauss 516-733-2361  Ronald Labrocca, Supervisor of Mathematics, Business, and Computer Education: 516-733-2146  Dr. Thomas P. Moss, Supervisor of English, Reading, and Libraries: 516-733-2147  Susan Guiliano, Director of Curriculum, Instruction, and Assessment (K-8): 516-733-2149  Marianne Litzman, Assistant Superintendent for Curriculum and Instruction: 516-733-2145

16. Any questions? Thank you for coming!