Assessment Report Presented at Long Beach BOE Meeting

At the Long Beach Public School District’s Board of Education meeting on Oct. 14, Assistant Superintendent for Curriculum and Instruction Dr. Kenneth Graham provided a report on the 2013-14 grade 3-8 state assessment results.

This overview reflected changes in the state’s defined performance levels, indicative of increased standards and expectations for students. The math and ELA assessments were revamped last year to align with the more challenging Common Core Learning Standards.

The presentation included the percentages of Long Beach students scoring at level 3 and level 4 on the state assessments, which according to the newly defined performance levels, is not an indicator of passing the exam. Students scoring at a performance level 2 or higher are on track to high school graduation, according to these performance levels. The full score charts are included in the presentation on the district’s website at www.lbeach.org.

The eighth-grade math assessment percentage includes the total of both the eighth-grade state assessment and algebra regents, since students may select one or the other rather than be double-tested. While the district has discussed offering universal algebra, Dr. Graham explained that this would not be done until more mastery is achieved.

Noting that the district seeks better results, Dr. Graham discussed an action plan. He also shared other measures of success, which include evaluation of Scholastic Reading Inventory data and the NWEA results, which show Long Beach students out-performing the national norm.

“The key isn’t the assessment, it is in the feedback you receive about the learning that the assessment provides,” Superintendent of Schools Mr. David Weiss said.

He explained that research shows feedback as being one of the most effective factors in improving learning, and that the newer high school Common Core-based Regents assessments are designed to be measures of eight or nine years of education under that curriculum, which will not be the case for the first groups of students that take them.

A Parent Academy will be held on Tuesday, Oct. 21, at 7:30 p.m. at Lido School to provide parents with strategies for helping their children with schoolwork based on the Common Core at home.

Director of English Language Arts Mr. Joshua Anisansel summarized the initiatives that have been underway in his department. The district is in its second year of a curriculum revision cycle for ELA units of study and is focusing on developing frames from which teachers can instruct and plan lessons while utilizing their own creativity. The Literacy 6 class was revised last year to provide 45 more minutes of literacy instruction. The district is also piloting the use of Raz-Kids resources, which prompt students to read at home and answer comprehension questions

Teachers have participated in many professional development opportunities. Long Beach staff members represented one-third of all participants in a summer literacy institute attended by more than 100 teachers from across Long Island and are now unpacking units of study that were developed with the inputs of consultants and Mr. Anisansel. The district is considering appointing a literacy coach to further enhance reading and writing improvements.

Mathematics Director Dr. Cheriese Pemberton discussed recent developments in the math department. This is the district’s second year implementing a scope and sequence that involves pre-teaching in Math Strategies in grades 6-8, and feedback has been positive. Grade 6 teachers have said that students entered their classrooms this year with greater readiness resulting from use of the modules in grade 5. Long Beach also looks at best practices used in other districts and is exploring a collaborative effort to utilize Eureka Math’s concepts at the elementary level.

Professional development has been a major focus in the math department as well, specifically supporting modules aimed to provide students with the skills needed to grasp and solve complex problems. Modules were fully implemented in grades 1-4 and are in the second year of implementation for grade 5.

The district curriculum committee is focusing on homework practices, STEM initiatives and one-to-one devices this year. The work of the committee will be presented later in the school year. Additionally, the district is focusing on early literacy to help improve student learning.

Administrators are meeting every other week to examine instructional data and will continue their efforts to improve instruction and student engagement with the goal of seeing greater consistency in assessment results.

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Submitted by Long Beach School District