State Board of Education members spent time reviewing the proposed new curriculum standards for K-12 science courses during their meeting this week. The new standards are the latest deliverable in North Carolina’s Accountability and Curriculum Reform Effort (ACRE) approved by the State Board as part of its "Framework for Change." January marks the second month in which the science standards have come before Board members for discussion. Draft 4.0 of the N.C. Standard Course of Study Science Essential Standards will be posted online Jan. 18 at www.ncpublicschools.org/acre/standards/. Public feedback will continue to be reviewed and incorporated as the standards are finalized. The Board will vote for approval of the new science curriculum in the next few months so it can be implemented no later than the 2012-13 school year.
The State Board of Education has already approved the essential standards for K-12 Mathematics, English 10, the Occupational Course of Study and K-12 Information and Technology at its meeting in September and they will go into effect for the 2011-12 school year. Each new set of standards is the result of efforts of statewide writing teams comprised of classroom teachers, school administrators, content and curriculum experts from the NCDPI, university and community college faculty and national experts on curriculum design and testing. Writing teams study standards from other states and countries and meet with and receive feedback from members of the business community and the public before the revisions go before the State Board for approval.
Writing teams are currently working on essential standards for K-9 and 11-12 English Language Arts, K-12 social studies, foreign languages, healthful living and fine arts which are projected to go into effect in the 2012-13 school year. In addition, NCDPI staff members continue to develop teacher "toolkits" for each content area and are working on plans for professional development to help roll out new standards to educators across the state.
Monday, January 11, 2010
On report card: student's math achievement level
North Carolina Department of Public Instruction ADOPTS NEW MATH MEASURE TO BOOST STUDENT ACHIEVEMENT
Beginning this year, students receiving their end-of-grade and end-of-course score reports for mathematics will notice a new number beside their test grades. This new number reflects a Quantile measure and offers another way to gauge a student's math achievement level while also providing teachers and parents with an additional tool they can use to connect students with targeted instructional resources. The new number is a result of work the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction completed last year to link all statewide mathematics assessments to the Quantile Framework® for Mathematics.
The Quantile Framework was developed by MetaMetrics, an educational measurement organization based in Durham, and provides a common, developmental scale for measuring student mathematics achievement, the difficulty of mathematical skills and concepts, and the materials for teaching mathematics. By placing the curriculum, teaching materials and students on the same scale, Quantile measures enable teachers to describe which math skills and concepts a student is ready to learn and identify those that will require additional instruction so students can be matched with resources that meet their learning needs. North Carolina is one of four states currently using this framework.
Parents can use Quantile measures to support students' mathematical development by connecting them with targeted mathematics activities at home. Additional information about Quantile measures as well as resources including a math skills database, family-friendly math activities and a math textbook search tool, are available at www.quantiles.com.
Since 1996, North Carolina students in grades 3–8 have received a Lexile® measure for reading on their end-of-grade score reports. Last December, the NCDPI extended the availability of Lexile measures to ninth graders who took the English I end-of-course test. The NCDPI also joined with Gov. Bev Perdue last summer to promote the Lexile Find-a-Book online book database, available at http://www.lexile.com, to encourage students to use their Lexile scores to select books for summer reading.
Beginning this year, students receiving their end-of-grade and end-of-course score reports for mathematics will notice a new number beside their test grades. This new number reflects a Quantile measure and offers another way to gauge a student's math achievement level while also providing teachers and parents with an additional tool they can use to connect students with targeted instructional resources. The new number is a result of work the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction completed last year to link all statewide mathematics assessments to the Quantile Framework® for Mathematics.
The Quantile Framework was developed by MetaMetrics, an educational measurement organization based in Durham, and provides a common, developmental scale for measuring student mathematics achievement, the difficulty of mathematical skills and concepts, and the materials for teaching mathematics. By placing the curriculum, teaching materials and students on the same scale, Quantile measures enable teachers to describe which math skills and concepts a student is ready to learn and identify those that will require additional instruction so students can be matched with resources that meet their learning needs. North Carolina is one of four states currently using this framework.
Parents can use Quantile measures to support students' mathematical development by connecting them with targeted mathematics activities at home. Additional information about Quantile measures as well as resources including a math skills database, family-friendly math activities and a math textbook search tool, are available at www.quantiles.com.
Since 1996, North Carolina students in grades 3–8 have received a Lexile® measure for reading on their end-of-grade score reports. Last December, the NCDPI extended the availability of Lexile measures to ninth graders who took the English I end-of-course test. The NCDPI also joined with Gov. Bev Perdue last summer to promote the Lexile Find-a-Book online book database, available at http://www.lexile.com, to encourage students to use their Lexile scores to select books for summer reading.
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