1. Interboro School District Assessment Information Night for Parents October 20 th, 2015 Grades 3-5 PSSA

2. Notes on State-wide Performance on the PSSA (from PDE) The heightened difficulty of the PA Core and the limited time between final adoption and implementation of the new PSSA have resulted in fewer students scoring proficient or advanced. Other states have experienced similar results when making the transition to more rigorous standards. A thorough transition to the new standards requires time to develop new curriculum, train teachers, and provide resources to support the new curriculum. The 2014-15 school year marks year one of what will be a multi-year transition. With time, and as student and teacher familiarity with the new PA Core grows, student performance should steadily improve.

3. Notes on Score Comparison and Analysis of PSSA Scores (from PDE) It is not useful to directly compare students’ scores on the new assessments to student scores from previous years because the 2015 PSSA measures different content than the previous years’ PSSAs. In fact, some content is now being taught a full grade level earlier than under the previous Academic Content Standards. In addition to new content, the new assessment requires deeper knowledge, along with stronger problem solving and critical thinking skills. PDE and educators are confident that as teachers and students become more familiar with the PA Core and more resources are directed toward teaching and learning the PA Core, student performance will steadily grow.

4. Interboro’s 2015 Results

5. Comparison of STATE Proficiency Percentages in Math 2014 vs. 2015 in Grades 3-8

6. Comparison of STATE Proficiency Percentages in ELA 2014 vs. 2015 in Grades 3-8

7. Assessment Layout of PSSA Math Grades 3-5

8. 2015 Math – Interboro vs. State Grades 3-5

10. Elementary Math Programming & Professional Development at Interboro TimeframeActivityGrade Level Sept. 2013Go Math1 - 5 July 2014Realigned SBRC & Created Pacing Guides1 – 5 Sept. 2014Go MathK Sept. 2014MAP Testing3 - 8 Sept. 2014RtII Cohort ModelK-5 June 2015Realigned SBRC & Created Pacing GuidesK Aug. 2015Elem. Math Coach/District Data & Assessment CoordinatorK - 8 Sept. 2015MAP Testing for Primary GradesK - 2 Sept. 2015End of Trimester Standards-Based Assessment Percentage on SBRC3-5 Why Common Core Math? https://youtu.be/tBkQAxt1JXAhttps://youtu.be/tBkQAxt1JXA

11. PSSA ELA Layout Grade 3 PSSA ELA Layout Grades 4-8

12. 2015 ELA – Interboro vs. State Grades 3-5

14. Elementary ELA Programming & Professional Development at Interboro TimeframeActivityGrade Level Sept. 2014Initial Implementation of Journeys4 - 5 Sept. 2014MAP Testing3 - 8 SY 14 – 15Increased Focus on Running RecordsK - 3 Feb. 2015Text Dependent Analysis (TDA) Professional Dev.4 - 8 Sept. 2015Initial Implementation of JourneysK - 3 June 2015Realigned SBRCK - 5 Aug. 2015Literacy Coach/District Data & Assessment CoachK - 8 SY 15 – 16Continued TDA Professional Development3 - 8 Sept. 2015End of Trimester Standards-Based Assessment Percentage on SBRC3-5 KtO Grant Year 4 Interboro has been awarded over $2.6 million to support the literacy environment for our students!

15. 2015 Science – Interboro vs. State Grades 4 and 8

16. TimeframeActivityGrade Level Sept. 2014CDT4 & 8 Sept. 2014Study Island4 & 8 Feb. 2015PSSA Question Analysis4 & 8 June 2015Curriculum Writing3 - 8 June 2015Inventory Supplies and Replenish Elementary Kits3 - 5 Nov. 2015Natl. Sci. Teachers Assoc. Conference4 & 8 Elementary/MS Science Programming & Professional Development at Interboro

17. Interpreting Results: Individual Student Reports Parent’s Guide to Understanding PSSA Results

18. Testing Dates 2015-2016

19. ELA PSSA Test Taking Strategies Read the questions before you read the passage. Don’t read the answer choices because it will take too long and confuse you later. In each question, underline the important words that tell you what the question wants you to do. It might ask main idea, compare, author’s purpose, opinion, summarize, etc. Also underline unusual or very specific words or phrases that you can look for while you’re reading.

20. ELA PSSA Test Taking Strategies Pay close attention to wording. Some words like NO, NOT, NEVER and ALWAYS can change the whole meaning of the question. Read the question and all answer choices before marking anything If you’re asked for 2 examples from the passage, give 2 examples – nothing less!

21. Math PSSA Test Taking Strategies Show all your work and write as legibly as possible. Line up place value correctly (thousands, hundreds, tens, ones) or the answer will be incorrect If your answer does not match one of the choices, reread the problem, recopy the numbers and try solving it again. When using scratch paper, double check to make sure that you have copied the problem correctly from the test booklet.

22. Tips for Answering Multiple Choice Questions Go back to the passage Cover the answer choices Get rid of wrong answer Intelligent guessing Advice for bubbling Finishing

23. How to Help Prepare Your Child At Home Ask lots of questions… and let your child answer them! For example… How did you get your answer? Can you explain to me the steps you took to find it? Why did the author …..(use that word, describe that character, etc.)? What evidence (words, lines) did you find in the reading to support your answer? Why does that happen? Why do you think it is interesting? What are your curious about or what do you want to know more about? The best type of questions to ask begin with: “Why?” and “How?”

24. Contact Info Feel free to contact any member of the Curriculum & Instruction Team with further questions Valerie Eckman, Ed.D, Director of Curriculum and Instruction Valerie.Eckman@interborosd.orgValerie.Eckman@interborosd.org 610-461-6700 ext. 1146 Mark Avitabile, Supervisor of Secondary Curriculum and Instruction Mark.Avitabile@interborosd.orgMark.Avitabile@interborosd.org 610-461-6700 ext. 1144 Lauren Harrell, Data & Assessment Coordinator and Math Coach Lauren.Harrell@interborosd.orgLauren.Harrell@interborosd.org 610-461-6700 ext.1152 Michele Borcky, KtO Grant Manager and Literacy Coach Michele.Borcky@interborosd.orgMichele.Borcky@interborosd.org 610-461-6700 ext. 1122

25. Resources PSSA Practice at Study Island – students log in with the same username and password: Go! followed by their 5-digit Lunch ID (for example, Go!12345) http://www.studyisland.com/login http://www.studyisland.com/login Why Common Core Math? – short clip to explain available at: https://youtu.be/tBkQAxt1JXA https://youtu.be/tBkQAxt1JXA Parent’s Guide to Understanding PSSA Results available on the PDE Website or at: http://www.education.pa.gov/Documents/K- 12/Assessment%20and%20Accountability/PSSA/Individual%20Student%20Reports/Report%20Guide%20English.pdf http://www.education.pa.gov/Documents/K- 12/Assessment%20and%20Accountability/PSSA/Individual%20Student%20Reports/Report%20Guide%20English.pdf Detailed Performance Level Descriptors available on PDE Website or at: http://www.stateboard.education.pa.gov/Documents/About%20the%20Board/Board%20Actions/2015/PSSA%20Englis h%20Language%20Arts%20Performance%20Level%20Descriptors.pdf http://www.stateboard.education.pa.gov/Documents/About%20the%20Board/Board%20Actions/2015/PSSA%20Englis h%20Language%20Arts%20Performance%20Level%20Descriptors.pdf