RIDGEFIELD, CT — The Ridgefield Board of Education’s Curriculum Committee reviewed the district’s standardized testing program, student support systems, a new middle school Innovation Lab course and summer curriculum work during a meeting May 29.
Committee Chair Angela Rice called the remote meeting to order at noon. The committee adjourned at 1:30 p.m.
Assistant Superintendent Cory Gillette and district administrators provided an overview of Ridgefield Public Schools’ standardized assessments, including SmarterBalanced, Next Generation Science Standards assessments, PSATs, SATs, universal screeners and Advanced Placement exams.
RPS Curriculum Instruction administrator Annie Tucci said assessment data is used to measure student growth, monitor academic progress and evaluate curriculum effectiveness.
"The student assessment results are used both formatively and summatively, meaning that we use formative assessments to monitor student learning in real time, providing ongoing actionable feedback, and we use summative assessments for reliable benchmarking, measuring the mastery of standards and student achievement," Tucci said.
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Committee members raised questions about screening tools used at the elementary level, testing time, student privacy and a pending lawsuit involving Curriculum Associates, the company behind the i-Ready assessment platform.
Gillette said Ridgefield uses only the assessment component of i-Ready and not the instructional or gamified portions that have drawn criticism in some districts.
“We've been looking into it for over a month since we heard about the lawsuit,” Gillette said. “We are continuing to monitor, and we've been in conversations with the leadership at Curriculum Associates.”
Superintendent Susie Da Silva said the district has not received any indication from the Connecticut State Department of Education that the vendor is out of compliance with student privacy requirements.
“As of right now, we have not received anything from the State Department of Ed indicating that this particular vendor is not in compliance with the student privacy laws,” Da Silva said.
Board member Scott Sigel expressed concern about how quickly districts can respond when privacy concerns emerge.
"It is effectively a very, very long lag until we're taking action, because these things are kind of happening at a state level, and I don't know how much we can supersede that, or take our own unique action to say if there's a list of approved vendors in the state that we can kind of go our own way on this," Sigel said.
Committee members also discussed the amount of instructional time devoted to assessments and test preparation.
Gillette said Ridgefield does not teach directly to state tests but does prepare students to navigate testing platforms and question formats.
“We don't believe that we have extensive test preparation as part of our curriculum,” Gillette said.
Da Silva added, “We are not teaching to the test, and I don't want any parent to believe that that is what our classrooms and our teachers do.”
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The administration reported spending approximately $81,000 on assessment tools during the current school year, excluding Advanced Placement exams, with about $92,000 budgeted next year due to licensing changes and cost increases. State-required assessments such as SmarterBalanced, NGSS and SAT School Day are provided at no direct cost to the district.
Administrators also presented an overview of the district’s MTSS framework, which provides academic, behavioral and social-emotional interventions for students.
RPS Elementary Curriculum Director Linda Johnson said school-based teams meet regularly to review student data, monitor intervention plans and coordinate transitions between grade levels.
Johnson said MTSS teams meet every six to 10 weeks and use multiple data sources to determine whether students need additional support or enrichment.
At the middle and high school levels, teams include administrators, counselors, specialists and teachers, with structures tailored to each building.
RPS 6-12 Match/Science Supervisor Jeffrey Corbishley said the goal is to bring together educators who see different aspects of a student's experience.
“The goal is to find the educators to get into that meeting who can see different parts of a student, different lenses of a student,” Corbishley said.
Da Silva praised the district’s implementation of MTSS at the secondary level, describing it as particularly challenging.
“It's rare that it's done at all, and then done well,” Da Silva said.
Board member Christine More commended the district’s work.
“I’m so impressed with the MTSS process in Ridgefield Public Schools,” More said. “It's comprehensive.”
The committee also received a report on the first year of the district’s middle school Innovation Lab, a quarter-long course required for seventh- and eighth-grade students.
Corbishley said the program was developed to expose students to STEM-related fields and ensure all students experience Connecticut’s computer science standards.
The first-year curriculum includes introductory coding, artificial intelligence and circuitry.
“This was intentionally designed to help create greater STEM pathways between our middle and our high school,” Corbishley said.
RPS Director of Education Technology Wes DeSantis said feedback from the first year led planners to develop a more advanced eighth-grade experience.
Beginning next year, eighth graders will study drone programming, advanced AI topics and product design and engineering concepts using programs such as Tinkercad and 3D printing technology.
“We felt that this is not only fun, but has an entry-level coding platform, as well as a more advanced coding platform,” DeSantis said.
Administrators emphasized that AI tools used in the course operate within a restricted environment and that students do not receive unrestricted access to artificial intelligence platforms.
“We allow general AI access at the high school level,” DeSantis said. “This is kind of our crawl, walk, run approach to integrating technology usage.”
Committee members praised the program’s focus on emerging technologies and career pathways.
The committee concluded with an overview of summer curriculum projects.
Gillette said curriculum leaders and teachers will spend more than 2,150 hours working on more than 60 projects over the summer, including curriculum revisions, assessment analysis, website updates, professional development planning and implementation of district priorities.
She said Ridgefield’s curriculum is reviewed continuously rather than on a traditional five-year cycle.
“Our curriculums are living documents,” Gillette said.
Gillette also highlighted the participation of teachers in summer curriculum work.
“One of the things that we just feel so lucky about in Ridgefield Public Schools is that our teacher participation is so high,” she said.
More thanked teachers for their willingness to contribute during summer months.
“It's because they love what they do,” More said.
No votes were taken during the meeting.
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