001welcome to the 2025 K12 stem update I'm Mike Reed serving as the program coordinator for K8 mathematics alongside me is Tara Fogle the program coordinator for K8 science and K5 social studies together we are excited to guide you through the latest advancements and initiatives from our math and science team up first a recap of math achievement this slide provides a review of GPS strategic IC plan goal number two Mastery of mathematics which is broken down into four key sub goals to track our progress we use specific performance metrics and where possible we've included actual results alongside our Targets this data helps us evaluate our efforts identify areas of success and determine where further support is needed to ensure continued growth in mathematics achievement math SBA results for grades 3 to 5 show strong growth from
0022021 to 2024 grade three Rose from 75 to 79 in 2023 before a slight dip to 77 in 2024 maintaining overall progress grade four showed consistent Improvement climbing from 66 to 80 grade five increased steadily from 59 to 73 these gains highlight effective instruction and strong commitment to math achievement math SBA results for grades 6 through 8 show a steady upward trend from 2021 to 2024 grade six improved from 61 to 72 reflecting strong foundational skills from elementary grade seven rebounded from 64 and 20122 to 70 in 2024 showing a strong recovery grade 8 saw slight fluctuations But ultimately increased from 62 to 65 these results confirm sustained growth in middle school math achievement ensuring students complete algebra by grade 8 has been a long-standing priority over the last 3 years we have seen a
003slight decline in the percentage of students enrolled in algebra by 8th grade from 60% in 2122 to 57.9% in 2324 however this year's data is encouraging despite the slight enrollment decline 62.5% of current eighth graders are on track to successfully complete Algebra 1 by June 2025 indicating a positive shift in successful course completion this suggests that our efforts in curriculum alignment instructional support and targeted interventions are helping more students reach this important Milestone now let's take a look at recent student performance let's review the latest Benchmark data the Greenwich Benchmark assessment is administered two times a year to track student progress in grades 3 through 8 and predict performance on the SBA this chart shows the percentage of students projected to score to level three or higher on the SBA based on Benchmark B results
004from the past 3 years overall we see a positive trend with notable strengths in grades 3 four and five where performance remains strong or continues to improve When comparing past Benchmark B results to actual SBA performance we observe a consistent alignment reinforcing the general predictive nature of our benchmark assessments based on these Trends we anticipate continued growth and proficiency levels for 2025 this year marked the inaugural offering of the PSAT to all Juniors at ghs at no charge out of 654 Juniors 608 participated in the exam with 64% achieving The Benchmark the board has set a target of 69% for the 2425 Academic Year students who did not meet The Benchmark have been invited to join the SAT Academy a complimentary sat preparation program at ghs furthermore the program administrator has held discussions with each
005teacher to review individual student performance and strategize on ways to improve their scores in addition to these meetings the department has developed a website featuring released sat questions and continues to utilize Con Academy to assist students in reaching the Benchmark let's review what phases we are in with regard to the curriculum management plan the KA curriculum is currently in phase four progress monitoring and will move into Phase One internal audit for the 2526 school year during this phase the math program coordinator and chief officer of K 12 curriculum and Leadership will review performance Trends standards alignment and the relevance of current resources in 2627 we progress to phase two or the selection and creation phase where core materials such as textbooks will be reviewed and potentially selected in collaboration with the curriculum advisory committee whether
006we continue with Big Ideas Math or adopt a new program a cost will be incurred in the 2728 school year the curriculum management plan for grades 9 through 12 is being executed with a high degree of fidelity this year focused on the integration of new resources for pre-calculus and calculus in the upcoming year we plan to initiate an internal audit of various electives including statistics topics in math and AP Computer Science additionally we will need to reassess AP Statistics as the College Board has recently indicated that they will be modifying the syllabus starting in the 26 27 school year the summer months remain an opportunity for reflection and enhancement of our curriculum this year ghs will evaluate the modifications made to AP Statistics revise our College Prep statistics curriculum and persist in integrating preap resources
007into the algebra 1 geometry and Algebra 2 curricula now some math celebrations from around the district last year we focused on an initial implementation of building thinking classroom strategies to Foster engagement collabor oration and deep mathematical thinking we saw significant success in promoting student- centered learning and problem solving through vertical non-permanent surfaces randomized groups and Rich tasks this year we have started expanding these practices into grade three and some grade 2 classrooms further strengthening foundational problem solving skills at an earlier stage the pictures highlight this expansion showing how younger students are engaging in Rich mathematical discussions and developing itical thinking habits that will support them in later grades additionally our professional development efforts have grown to bring middle and high school teachers together this cross-grade collaboration allows for greater alignment in instructional strategies and a
008stronger progression of thinking skills across all levels by continuing to refine and expand these practices we are building a culture where students take ownership of their learning think flexibly and engage deeply with mathematics Fact fluency is a critical foundation for students in grades 2 through 5 developing automaticity with basic math facts allows students to free up cognitive resources for more complex problem solving and higher order mathematical thinking research consistently shows that students who achieve fluency in the four operations during Elementary School experience greater success in middle and high school including algebra and Beyond this data highlights the impact of the reflex program on fact fluency growth in three different grade four cohorts each group started at varying levels of fluency but show significant gains through consistent reflex usage these dramatic increases directly support student ability
009to tackle multi-step problems and advanced concepts in later grades reflex helps students build fluency efficiently by adapting to their needs and providing engaging structured practice by ensuring that students Master their facts as early as possible we set them up for long-term success in middle and high school where solving and algebraic reasoning become the focus investing in fluency now means reducing math anxiety later and fostering confidence in advanced mathematical thinking each year our elementary and middle school students compete in the amc1 and 12 in November and the amc8 January contests hosted by mathematical Association of America these prestigious competitions challenge students with complex math problems that promote critical thinking several GPS students ranked among the nation's top scorers earning invitations to the American Invitational mathematics examination while National amc8 scores for 25 26 are not yet
010available eight of nine students outp performed last year's top 50 their achievements showcase both their dedication to math and our commitment to academic Excellence the ghs math and computer science department takes great pride in our students outstanding achievements notably 189 students participated in the inaugural AP pre-calculus exam last year demonstrating their dedication to Advanced learning our math team continues to excel competing at high levels in the Fairfield County Math League and various State and National competitions these accomplishments reflect both our students hard work and our commitment to academic excellence and now we move on to science to recap achievement as was reported at the October report this slide provides an overview of our grenage Public School strategic plan goal number three Mastery of science displayed here is the 5-year goal and our performance to date
011against our metrics we surpassed the 2024 goals in all three grade levels of measurement and based on our interim data we are on Pace to meet our 2025 goals grade 5 continues to show an upward trajectory over the past four years despite a minor dip in grade 8 we surpassed our 2024 goal and the grenwich high school science department exceeded their 2028 Target with approximately 86% of students at or above level three showcasing the success of our ngss aligned curriculum K12 as reported in October from 2021 to 2024 our ngss cohort data reveals impressive growth in student mastery levels current n9th graders have increased their Mastery from 60 65.3% to 76.1% achieving a notable 10.8 growth even more remarkable our current 12th graders have surged from 63.3% to 86% reflecting a phenomenal 22.7 increase aside
012from the end of year and GSS assessments sea and I are excited to share interim data and midyear scores with the board this evening as we reported at last year's report in April of 2024 we introduced inner orbit formative assessments to the curriculum in grades 6 through 12 science this year inner orbit formative assessments are designed to gauge student understanding and progress on specific learning objectives during the learning process these assessments often involve questions focused on analyzing phenomena and making sense of real world situations with the goal of supporting ongoing learning we are excited Ed to use the assessments because of the increased detail available in reporting the customization available to teachers and the district level tracking of student growth which they provide the first level of reporting I share with you tonight is based
013on disciplinary core ideas or content level standards assessed across our grade levels in September teachers in grades 6 through 8 supported students by taking a beginning of the year inner orbit assessment matched to great grade level expectations skills and crosscutting concept the assessment was given again in January shown here are the Middle School disciplinary core ideas assess and growth from the beginning to the middle of the Year this is an aggregate of student performance across grades 6 through 8 you will notice our highest success in the areas that are instructed in sixth 7th and 8th grade repeatedly where students have 3 years of Middle School instruction to support them this is an encouraging metric as we look forward to our May grade 8 NG GSS assessment again here you see an aggregate of student performance
014in grades 6 through 8 this time through the lens of Science and Engineering practices we show growth from beginning to middle of year assessments across all eight practices we continue to be strongest in data analysis and scientific testable questions with areas for additional curriculum and instruction support needed in modeling and constructing scientific explanations and to conclude our interim assessments for grades 6 through 8 here you see our performance from beginning to middle of the year in respect to our crosscutting Concepts or the themes in which we review our science content and skills our strongest areas are in patterns and cause and effect with areas of growth in scale quantity and proportion and stability and change the ghs science department has also implemented the new assessment platform to monitor student progress throughout the school year students
015in all ngss align courses have shown growth throughout the year here as well teachers have been implementing formative assessments regularly utilizing various strategies to support their students in identifying strategies to effectively answer three-dimensional assessments let's review what phases we are in with regard to the curriculum management plan plan in K12 science beginning with our summer work plans we are going to be utilizing this summer to continue our 3-year realignment of science standards in K5 this summer we will focus on new units in first and fourth grade in first grade our units will focus on light and sound structure and function and seasonal patterns and Cycles on Earth in fourth grade we will look at energy waves structure and function and the processes that shape our Earth at the 6 through eight level we will continue
016to look closely at inner orbit data and use this to inform our summer working plans currently we know that we will ensure time to work on science and engineering practices mini lessons to support student skills the ghs science department will continue to update curricular materials that were modified throughout the school year as teachers implement the curriculum they provide valuable feedback on lessons documents that are modified will be updated in the curriculum documents some examples include new curricular materials including using verier lab equipment and lessons that involved vertical whiteboarding ghs science will also update our biology curriculum to incorporate extra scaffolds differentiated lessons and resources that will remove barriers for students to access the curriculum looking forward to the curriculum management plan based on this year's internal audit of the K5 science curriculum we have identified
017an opportunity to bring together a 2025 26 curriculum advisory Council to review four different K5 science programs and determine a path forward for the 26 27 school year and Beyond based on this year's internal audit of the 68 science curriculum and our continued success on the ngss assessments we will not be reviewing new curriculum for middle school science and in said we will continue to make minor refinements to our curricular units in response to the data provided from our new assessment platform the ghs science department continues to monitor modify and implement the curriculum with Fidelity AP Physics 1 and AP Physics C curriculum were updated over the summer of 2024 to be consistent with the AP curriculum changes teachers worked in groups to review the current curric culum documents and modify the curriculum as necessary
018AP Physics C completed a book review and recommended a book to the Board of Education the ghs science department is currently reviewing our nonap ngss aligned courses to identify courses that may need new primary resources in the 25 26 school year we have identified Three core subjects that should go through the review process next these include biology chemistry and physics now I'd like to move on to celebrations across K12 science we start by sharing that our students are now using new curriculum units in K and three teachers and kids alike are enjoying the Hands-On activities we've designed for them and showcasing their understanding of force motion weather climate plants animals in the environment be sure to ask your kindergartener and third grade students how they're doing in science this year here enjoying our new lessons
019as always we take time in the science report to share celebrations from our highest Achievers in stem our Junior innovators and science research students because our report is happening in March this year instead of April I am not able to Showcase these celebrations just yet but our competitions end on Saturday March 15th so I look forward to sharing student achievements live at the March 20th report that being said we have added an addendum of student research projects and some celebrations from last year's innovators at the end of our slideshow please take a look Mike Andrew Sean and I are happy to provide this update to the board and will be available to answer questions live during the March 20th meeting thank you