001Good evening. I'd like to call the teaching and learning subcommittee to order. And at this point in time, I'll turn it over to Miss Fawn to give us an update on the K through eight writing update. Thank you. Thank you, Mrs. Lebo. Would you choose this one? Yeah, there we go. Hi everyone. I hope everyone's doing well. Um, my name is Bridget Vaughn. I'm excited to present an update on the K to8 writing initiatives in Quinsey public schools. Um today I'll be sharing the progress we've made in improving writing writing instruction. Uh the steps that we're taking to enhance student performance and the impact that our strategies have had on both students and teachers. So, writing is an essential skill that serves as a foundation for success in both academic settings and future careers. Strong
002writing abilities help students think critically, communicate effectively, and express their ideas with clarity. Recognizing its importance, we have set specific goals for improving improving writing outcomes, and we're working diligently to implement strategies that will lead to measurable improvements. So tonight, I'll recap all of this and show you some very real um specific examples of student progress. So in October, I shared that our primary goal for this school year is to improve student writing performance in English language arts as measured by the Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment System, MCCAST. Specifically, we aim to increase the percentage of students achieving higher scores in the writing domain by two percentage points in grades three and four and by four percentage points in grades 5 through 8. These targets have been established to ensure steady progress in writing proficiency across all
003grade levels. By focusing on clear, structured writing instruction and providing students with the tools they need to improve, we're confident that we can help them develop stronger analytical and expressive skills. So to accomplish this goal, we've taken several important steps. One of the most significant initiatives um has been the formation of the Quinsey Public Schools District K to8 Writing Team. This team is composed of English language arts teachers representing seven different schools along with the principal and myself. Our mission is to enhance direct writing instruction by developing resources, lesson plans, and best practices that can be shared across the district. The team met regularly throughout the fall to collaborate on strategies that will improve student writing outcomes. Another critical component component of our plan is the continued use of standardized writing assessments that are aligned
004with ELA standards and MCCAST performance tasks. These assessments provide valuable insights into student progress and help us tailor instruction uh to better meet their needs. Professional development has also been a major focus of our efforts. Teachers participate in systemwide professional development days as well as training sessions specifically designed to support writing instruction. One of the most impactful training opportunities this year has been the writing revolution courses which provide educators with research-based strategies for teaching writing in a way that is structured, clear, and effective. Um, we were also fortunate to have one of the co-authors of the book, Natalie Wexler, join us for sessions during our professional day of learning in November, which was very exciting and rewarding. So, um, I have a copy of the book right here. All the teachers received the book and
005got to meet um, Natalie. She was virtual on screen for two sessions. Uh, but they were really excited to see her in person um, and spit spend an hour with her. Um, additionally, I provide ongoing sitebased training sessions to ensure that all teachers have continuous support as they implement new strategies in the classrooms. Um, this extends well beyond ELA and reading classrooms. Um, for example, last month I provided a writing workshop for grades 6 through 8 science and social studies educators at Atlantic Middle School. This morning I worked uh with both general and special education teams from language development classes at um Athetherton how to discuss ways to approach MCCAST prompts and compositions and um a group of technology math and science educators from Southwest as well as the principal, the assistant principal and our
006math coordinator Kim Quinn. They just finished the Writing Revolution STEM course which helps students improve mathematical and scientific literacy. To further support educators, we've developed a wide range of district-wide resources. These include the QPS writing guidance slides, student work samples, detailed lesson plans, and a collection of shared materials available through Google Classroom and Padlet. These resources provide teachers with structured tools to guide writing instruction and create consistency across all of our classrooms. Ongoing communication among educators has also been a key part of our approach. By sharing ideas, templates, videos, and best practices across grade levels, uh we're fostering a collaborative environment where teachers can learn from one another and refine um instructional strategies. So with all of this information and training happening concurrently, it was really crucial to share the importance of reflecting on our
007writing instruction. Uh with learning and implementing new core curricula like CKLA and um illustrative math, uh we realize that in writing instruction may have been uh sacrificed a bit or taken a back seat. So we developed these three questions. Um and I've encouraged educators to keep coming back to these. So um question one is in a given week how much time do I spend on direct explicit explicit instruction in writing? You know sort of as opposed to assigning writing? Um the second question, how much time do students spend writing in class as opposed to writing at home? And um how often are educators assessing and monitoring progress in writing? not necessarily for a grade, but basically like taking the temperature and seeing how students um are improving throughout the year on low stakes assessments. So
008now I'll move into the impact and evidence um of improvement with student writing and teacher feedback. The impact of these initiatives is already becoming clear. students have shown noticeable growth in their writing abilities as a result of the direct instruction using Writing Revolution. Um, I'm going to show you a few before and afters so that you can see these differences. Um, so you don't have to read this. I know the print is small, but you'll get a sense once I show you the before and after of what this looks like. The the first example here, um, is a paragraph written by a fourth grade student at Snug Harbor. The paragraph is clearly about Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and you can see there are some examples in this paragraph of how Dr. King was an
009inspiring leader. Um, however, you know, this writing here kind of lacks organization and depth. Um, it's clear it's like this student, you know, had some specific information about how how Dr. King was an inspiring leader, but it's not organized in a coherent way. Um it mentions how Dr. King had an impact during segregation, but it's he it was like the student was unable to put it all together. Um so then this is after having direct instruction with the writing revolution. Um, the same student revised their writing and produced a much more structured and insightful piece incorporating topic sentences, supporting details, transitional phrases. Um, this obviously makes the the writing much more clear for the reading the the audience, you know, who is reading the piece and it's more effective. Um, it's the the evidence is
010presented in an organized way. There's much more of it. Um, the vocabulary is more sophisticated as well. And you can tell by the closing sentence there, it says, "Thanks to Dr. King's great leadership and independence and by learning about his legacy, our world can continue to improve." Um, so the level of understanding that the student now has. So this is, you know, writing and reading is a reciprocal process. So this is improve improving the students reading comprehension and understanding of what they're learning as well. Uh the next example here, this is a little bit different. I wanted to show you um on, you know, different topics what a student writing could look like at the beginning of the year versus at the end of the year. So this is a grade five example, the same
011student um at the beginning versus uh right not end of year, I shouldn't say that right now. This is this is just a recent um sample. So on the on the left you see that the student wrote um about why Cape Verity was was interesting to them. Um it has some specific examples but it doesn't go into much depth. Uh by winter now you see the same student is able to read and respond to a complex text such as Don Kiote. They read um an a bridge version in grade 5 and CKLA. Um, they write about it indepth providing an insightful character analysis using eloquent vocabulary. I I had to go back and Google what quicksotic meant and explain how the protagonist changed from the beginning of the novel to the end. I mean, there's
012such um amazing writing improvement in just um, you know, a handful of months there. Teachers have also observed meaningful changes obviously in their student writing habits. Many educators have reported that students are more engaged in the writing process and they're taking um more greater ownership of their work. In one case here, a teacher shared that a studentre expressed excitement about revising older pieces um using the new strategies they had learned. I'll be honest, you know, when I was in the classroom, revision was not something that students really got excited about doing. So, that that's really a step in the right direction. Um, and seeing students recognize and take pride in their progress is um, like I mentioned, one of the most rewarding aspects of this initiative. Beyond just improving quality of writing, we've also introduced
013new instructional strategies to make writing more engaging and accessible for students um with lots of scaffolds. So um one particularly successful method has been the use of sentence summaries. So in this example from grade seven at central um Mrs. Quinnland shared positive feedback about using this tool. So instead of uh traditional chapter quizzes um they're writing concise summaries of what they read. So in their classroom they're reading this novel Refugee. Um and you know instead of doing chapter quizzes um this approach not only helps them retain information but ensures they're actively engaging with the text. Many students feel that they prefer this method. I would prefer it rather than a chapter quiz um because it feels fair they said and allows them to better demonstrate their understanding of the material which is great. And so
014um we were able to capture one of the writing revolutions in action at Southwest Middle School. So, you're going to see a very explicit lesson on incorporating a positives into writing to improve and expand sentences and how students feel about these lessons. So, I have to come. Do I have to come around? Maybe I don't. Just a matter of whether I can see this. There we go. So, this is Miss Regan's grade seven ELA classroom. Give me a because example. I love to eat because then I feel full. Perfect. Or food is delicious. Perfect. All right. So, because we're reading The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind and today we read the prologue. That's perfect. To check our comprehension, we're going to practice writing these because but so sentences. So, in the prologue of The Boy
015Who Harnessed the Wind, the narrator is nervous because In the prologue of The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind, the narrator is nervous, but And in the prologue of The Boy Who the Win, the narrator is nervous. So practice writing these sentences [Music] now. Perfect. Jacqueline, talk about the first one. How does that expand this idea that he's nervous? It tells us what details about why he's nervous. The why he's nervous. It answers the why. Perfect. Awesome. What's in a positive? Um, a positive is a noun next to a noun that helps add clarifying details. Can you read the example? Um, Massachusetts, a small state in the northeast. The location of the American Revolution is also home to the city of presidents, Quinzy. What do you guys notice about the placement of the aositives, Julia? Um,
016it's a noun next to a noun. It's a noun next to a noun and it's in the subject and it's in the So, does it matter where it is? No. As long as it's a noun next to what? And what do these do? They add details about what? What's the subject? Good. Okay. Oopsy daisy. We're going the wrong direction. So if we're practicing a positives, we're going to be focusing on chapter one in the book. So you guys have this in front of you. William Kimqaba blank was raised in Malawi. Blank where he lived in a village of 10 houses made of mud and brick. His family grew maze so they were busy harvesting in the fall. Poverty was a major issue for farmers in Malawi. What do these blanks have to be? Are the
017positives? So, it has to be a noun or like noun clause, right? The writing revolution has helped me learn more about writing by teaching me like more details about sentences. The writing revolution has helped my writing cuz I can clarify my sentences much more and I don't just put all kinds of words together. The writing revolution has helped my writing better because now I understand the concept of writing and the many details that go into making people better writers. The writing revolution has um helped my writing because it gives more clarification and it shows that um I'm getting like better at writing and yeah, the writing revolution has helped me with my other subjects such as um social studies or science because I learn about things that are also in those classes. Um so in
018summary our efforts to improve K to8 writing instruction are already showing positive results. Um those students talked about the writing revolution but I want to talk about the educators that are implementing those strategies with the students. Um that is really having a great impact the way that the teachers have grabbed hold of this um with so many other you know competing priorities. uh I think it's really great that they, you know, they are taking it and and moving forward with it because they're seeing the immediate impact on the student writing. It's pretty immediate, which is which is um really great to see. So um by having a set clear um goals for student achievement, implementing a structured plan to enhance writing and developing resources and professional development opportunities to support educators. We are seeing a
019significant improvement in student writing and in student engagement. Um so I want to thank everyone for their dedication to improving student writing and their ongoing support of these initiatives. um your commitment to fostering strong writing skills in our students is making a real difference and I'd be happy to answer any questions you might have. Thank you so much. Yeah, Mrs. Hub, please. Just a comment. Um I love hearing from the students. I think that that's wonderful. Thank you for sharing that with us and um and I love that the teachers are finding this extremely useful to them. So, thank you so much for that as well. Thank you for the presentation. Thank you so much, Mr. McGoli. I found when I was in the classroom, the kids were uh if they had to write, they
020were they were scared about writing. And it was a hard it was a hard place to start for them, right? Um and I used to tell them I said I used to ask them, "Can you speak? Can you talk?" And they said, "Yes." I said, "Well, writing is just speaking on paper." I'm not sure if that's still used or if anybody uses that, but uh it was it was a starting point for some kids. Absolutely. um you know I focus because we're talking about written expression I focused more on that um but in the younger grades the oral expression um there is a course that a lot of students in um teachers are taking in K to2 and using some of these strategies and it's just through oral language you know and then they're a
021if they're able to express their ideas orally then it's easier um to do that in writing because it is um one of of the hardest things we ask students to do um especially on MCCAST where they have to read analyze and then write and compose in an or in an organized way um there's a lot of cognitive overload load that can happen. So if you can express it orally um it really is a big help. I agree. Thank you. Sure. Thank you. Thank you Mr. McGo and Mr. Purios. Thanks. Um I just wanted to point out two of the things that uh the the student said in the video. Um one was uh that the last student mentioned the effect that it's having on his other subjects and just seeing you know how that writing
022step that writing piece really does impact social studies science if you're doing you know a STEM fair and you have to describe how you did a project and the procedure. Um, and the second one went to one of what the other student said that she it taught her how to write. And I think um often times we just expect students at a certain age or certain to know how to write and so when we ask them a question they may be answering the question but they may not do it with the depth that was intended. So I think finding, you know, going deeper, you know, understanding how more phrases um can definitely make some make your understanding of something a lot deeper and show what you know a little bit more. And I think, you
023know, it's really important that those students know how to get taught that and and learn that. And it sounds like this uh curriculum is doing that. So that's fantastic. Um and I would uh I would love if it was the other way. And uh it could tell my teenagers how to express things orally. So when I ask them how their day was, it's more than just fine. And you can get more more uh uh a positives in the sentences when they describe their just ask them to do a because but so my day was fine because my day was fine. So and then they have to automatically add more detail to to express what they did. So that would be share more with you. Appreciate it. Thanks. Thanks, Ma. I'd be afraid what they say
024with that because so many of my grandchildren who are teenagers too. Um, this is great. It really is great. I love seeing that the difference from the the student writing, the particular students writing, the fourth grader at I mean the student at Athen and how was phenomenal. Absolutely phenomenal to see that change and for them to actually be understanding why that's good. We've been struggling for years with the writing on the MCAST. We really have and we've done so many great things in our curriculum, but I think this is the first time that I've seen a concrete writing curriculum. Um, this is that is so focused. So, I'm thrilled. I I'm I'm thrilled. The early early reports are it's great. So, I'm thank you for it and thank you for helpful. I mean, the teachers
025too who are So, which schools have it in place now? um every school has it in place and those that weren't able to maybe take the course then I kind of fill in wherever I can. Um we're also going to encourage some of our QPS educators that maybe provided you know a session on that professional day. Um they may be able to offer that the more people that that we train um and they can pass it on and and then when we have other systemwide professional development days for example they can debrief about it. they can share what they're doing. Um, and Google's wonderful for that, too. You know, with technology, we can share a lot electronically. So, it it really looks great. I hope it stays this good. I mean, it's I'm sure we'll
026have a the I'm sure we'll meet our goals with this kind of work. I'm sure we will. I hope so. I hope so, too. I have one question for you and then Mr. Regali does, too. Uh, on slide six, I don't understand what process writing is. Oh, sure. So, just tell me quickly the difference. Yeah. So, um, let me just go back to that. It's number two. The answers to number two on slide six. Is that in the reflection questions? Yeah. Um, so it says, um, in other words, do students comp complete ondemand writing in response to text regularly or do they usually only engage in process writing? Yeah. So process writing is um the stages of writing prewriting, drafting something and then composing it, revising it, editing it and then making making it into
027what we know as like a final draft. But um it it's really important you know of course the teach process writing is important and by the way other types of writing are important as well that I didn't really talk about like poetry writing. We have poetry journals and and all of that. We do incorporate all that too. But on the MCAST test and in real life, sometimes we're tasked with ondemand writing. So our students able to read something and respond, understand it, and respond to it in writing without making it everything into a final product. Yeah, that's the difference between the on demand and the process. Thank you very much. You're welcome, Mr. Just a question for our ESL kids where some of their subject predicates are different, verbs are at different position in the
028sentence. How do we address that with this particular um packet? Well, um so for example, we have support for that. It when we use uh Lexia for example, some of the programs that we're using are becoming more more enhanced. One of the things that we can do now in Lexia is to provide native language support in many different languages. In CKLA with the vocabulary, the the key vocabulary words in English um there are also they call them glosseries. I don't know why they call them glosseries, but they're in 10 different language. All of the key vocabulary is available to that student in 10 different languages, whatever their language might be. Another thing that we do um a a kind of a partner site to to someone who used to work at the writing revolution is
029called the writing pathway and it's an AI tool. So you can take and and by the way this is kind of like a supplementary method that can go with any curriculum. So, they can take something that they're learning in their science or social studies or ELA class and they can apply the strategy in English through this and then the writing pathway, which is kind of like that companion AI site, can translate it into any language so that they can kind of see the differences. Um, you know, it's it's not an EL program, right? Yeah. It's not an EL method, I should say. Uh but we have a lot more accessibility to translating things. It has to be difficult for them. Absolutely. Yeah. Um you know, I believe one of the samples that I showed you
030was from an EL student beginning of year and at winter. So, um they've come a long a long way. So, program. So, I'm I'm glad to see it's in place. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. You all set, superintendent? Yes, all set. Thank you. Thank you very much. And now we want to believe in Dr. Perkins and Mr. Morray. Just Mr. Moran. Mr. Moran and Mr. Moray. That's all right. Good evening everybody. Uh I do just want to also add that you know with the implementation of the writing revolution it reinforces a lot of the skills that students need to show throughout MCCAST. Um, you know, the tonight I'll be sharing with you information about uh more information about the civics and the STE uh MCCAST assessments that are um upon us in the next
031few months. And so I do have some updates, but I do think it's important to emphasize that, you know, what's happening within ELA classes within the writing revolution is paying dividends well beyond that classroom. as that student alluded to and as you mentioned, Miss Pio, that the reality is is these are skills that are transferable across any content area and knowing that our writing scores were an area of concern uh in the past. You know, I'm hopeful that the implementation of the writing revolution will help us not just in our ELA results, but in our results throughout. Uh I'll be talking about in particular civics that there's absolutely a need for students to be able to write and convey what they know. And so the more skilled and comfortable they are writing obviously the the
032more equipped they are to answer those questions and and get those full points. Um so before I move forward I do just want to acknowledge the teams of teachers. to uh the the middle school social studies teachers, the middle school science teachers under uh Michelle Connor's leadership for science, Sufo's leadership for social studies, they are really working so hard behind the scenes to ensure that our students are as prepared as they possibly can be uh for these assessments. These assessments are challenging no matter what. So, the fact that there's changes that are happening with both civics and science, it's certainly uh imperative for us to make sure that we're constantly vetting what we're doing and making sure that we're not teaching to the test, but that we're adequately preparing our students to be as successful
033as they possibly can. So my goal tonight is just to briefly share I've given you a few updates in the past over civics andce in terms of the new assessments but there is some new information that has come out recently since then. So I just want to make sure uh you all have the opportunity to to learn about it and certainly to ask uh any questions about it that you might have. So to do that I'm going to first start by going over the civ the civics assessment um looking at the test design. uh that shouldn't be too new, but I have some more specific information about that. And then we also do have the 2024 field test data. So, as you know, our students last year, our eighth grade students were able to participate
034in the field test. So, we were able to get some data that I can share with you tonight just to see how we did on that field test. It's a baseline, but it's still a good way of gauging uh you know, anticipating what we might see uh over the next few years as far as results are concerned. I'll also do the same thing with the science uh test design. However, I do just want to point out the state is not releasing the expanded pilot data for the science. So, I can't share that data with you. I do just want to note though we have put in a request with Desi if they could share it with us even in raw format so that if we can put something together to share, we certainly will. Uh
035we've put in a couple requests. We're still waiting. We'll see. but it is something we're looking to obtain just to help us see how we're doing as we take on this transition to a new assessment. And then of course any questions or comments that you have, we can uh go deep as deep as you'd like into any of these topics. So with the civics assessment review, um there's really two uh sections of this and so the state level performance task will be session one. So that will be a standalone session and then the end of course test will be session two. And I only say it that way because science is a little bit different which I'll explain in a little bit. But the state level performance test that covers one of seven topics which
036I'll go over in the next slide. It covers one of seven topics and that topic is the same throughout the state. So the good news is we do know what that topic is. Uh and it is the same throughout the state. That's a little bit different than what we experienced last year because last year where it was um a field test we were assigned topics and the topics were different depending on the school. So now it's every school it is fully operational. So this is a a full MCCAST assessment uh and every uh school will be assigned the same uh topic which I'll go over momentarily. And then session two that's where they cover all the standards. So I would say the way I kind of look at it is that first session is really
037a deep dive into one topic and then the end of course test is a broader uh shallow dive into all of the topics. So here we have the test design. These are the topics here. Um it may may not be as obvious on the sheets that you have depending if it's colorcoded but I color coded these just so you can see how it's organized. So we have three major reporting categories. So that's the um table right there towards the bottom. So foundations and development of the US political system and government. And so those cover topic I'm sorry that covers topics one and two. So the red ones topic one and two the uh philosoph excuse me philosophical foundations of the United States political system along with the development of the United States government that falls
038within that foundations reporting category. Then you have topic three and topic six. Those two topics fall within the institutions and structure of US government reporting category and the remaining four, five and seven fall within the rights and responsibilities uh reporting category. So the reason why that's important to note is because for that session one which is the deep dive version we are going to cover only topic four. So that's the rights and responsibilities of citizens. So that is the only assessed topic within that first session of the civics test. That's obviously that I as from an educational standpoint that's great to know because it's certainly you know we can make sure that we emphasize it throughout our instruction. However, as I mentioned throughout session two we'll be covering all of these topics. But that's new.
039We did not know that the last time I updated each of you um I think maybe a month and a half ago. So now we do know that uh rights and responsibilities of citizens will be the major topic in session one for our students and I have mentioned this before but just to briefly recap uh that will be a total of um three-point constructive response questions uh one four-point constructive response question and seven onepoint uh selected response questions. Now the selected response are multiple choice, multiple select and technology enhance which could mean like a drag and drop fill-in- thelank dragging you know certain content in there. So that those are the types of questions students will encounter in that state level performance test that session one test. That's the format of it. But I do
040just want to add that when students are taking this test, there's four additional points, not necessarily four questions, but four points worth of questions that are still within field test status. So in other words, there'll be a total of 11 questions that are actually applicable to the score which will get reported out and then there's four additional points within that first session that will not be counted towards our student scores and will not be included in reported results. So I say that only because there might, you know, that's the Desessie's way of kind of experimenting with the different question types and it won't count against the student. It's obviously important to point out now for the end of course test. So this is session two. Um all the same types of questions and you'll see
041here the table shows kind of the breakdown by reporting category. It's very simple. There's three there's three reporting categories and they're roughly a third each. So they're approximately you know uh 33% of that session uh covering each of those reporting categories which again that covers all seven of the topics. So just a couple important points to note for that session it's a total of 32 questions in addition to roughly four to six um field test questions. So students are looking at roughly, you know, 36 to 38 questions for that session two when they take that on. Um all roughly the same percentage in terms of weight. So there's really no um priority content area other than topic four for that for that first uh for that first session. And uh I do just want to
042point out that uh a lot of the uh responses for students to provide are going to be based on text sources or graphics. So a lot of reading, reviewing some sort of graphic, interpreting that and then answering questions based on that. So less about fact recall, but more so about interpreting information, processing meaning, and then being able to answer questions accordingly. And so, uh, I do just want to thank, uh, data coordinator Chris Tanny. So, when we received this data from Jessie, it's it's essentially one giant spreadsheet. They did not give us the standard Edwin reports that we typically have. Uh, so he really helped out in terms of making this something that we could process and share out with teachers and make sure that we know how our students are doing as compared to
043the state. And so each slide, the next three slides is going to be a data table for each of those reporting categories. Um, so in terms of takeaways here, you'll see that of the all three slides, there's only one category where we did not do as well as the state. Every other category, every other, I'm sorry, test item, we achieved at or higher than the the state level. So, we're doing pretty well as far as finding our our starting point when we when we look at the comparison of Quinsey public schools as compared to the state average. Um, and I do just want to point out, you know, our lowest one there um within the district was described how characteristics of ancient Athens influenced the creation of the US government. 46% obviously higher than the
044state but still lower as compared to the others. And I do think that it it's those type of topics that are particularly challenging because that's the focus of connecting the sixth and seventh grade standards to the eighth grade standards. So a lot of the reasons why we have uh teachers really emphasizing continuity from sixth seven and 8 is because if you're not a social studies teacher, it's really hard to see the connection between ancient civilization and then civics in 8th grade. And so I think you know throughout the state I think that's indicative throughout the state that it is a challenge. It's a pain point for a lot of test takers that it is hard to connect that but that's definitely going to drive a lot of our professional development focus of making sure our
045students can bridge that ancient civilization topics that they've learned throughout grade six and seven and bringing them over into civics and the US Constitution and the US government. So that's just important to note. Um, not to mention, you know, it's a score uh lower than the rest of those. So, it certainly jumps out as an area of uh needed improvement. Uh, the second slide here uh and I'm sorry, I should have explained on the first slide, the top uh row there, that is the reporting category. So, in the first one I showed you was the first reporting category. The second one, institutions and structure of US government, that's the second reporting category. And so these are the items within that reporting category. Again, you'll see that uh in all of them with the exception of
046one we achieved at a higher level than the state. So looking at the one where we performed a little bit lower described state and federal powers granted by the US and the Massachusetts constitution. Um that's we achieved 29% correct whereas the state uh performed at 30%. So that jumps out at me is that's a challenging set of questions whatever those questions are because the state I believe that's the lowest result across the state and obviously for us as a district too. So, I interpret that as saying, okay, not only did our students struggle with that, but it looks like that was a challenging topic uh for students to address on the test anyways, which definitely tells us, okay, it's an area that we have to consider uh in terms of what we choose to emphasize
047as we get closer um to that test. Um, and I do just want to point out that teachers, social studies teachers have this exact data that you're seeing, but also with their individual schools assigned, so they're able to see how their schools performed. And so, it's absolutely something we prioritized on February 12th during the systemwide, digging into those squares a little bit more, digging into individual test items. But we also have another systemwide coming up on April 9th for social studies teacher. We'll we'll dig into this a little bit further because we still have time uh at that point to prepare for the civics test. Uh and then lastly, um with the rights and responsibilities, it appears to be our strongest reporting category. So, and and the way I've, you know, concluded that is simply
048because our difference is higher across the board. So our lowest difference, we're five points greater than every state score or more. Uh the the strongest one being where if you look at analyze and edit editorial and describe an action that might be taken to evaluate the credibility of the editorial's claim, we're at 48% where the state's at 39%. So a 9point difference there. So again challenging topic still a concern that the 48% is the percent correct but when compared to the state gives you a sense of the level of difficulty and uh clearly our students perform pretty well in that as compared to the state. So it's certainly uh a strong point for us and I guess you know what's somewhat encouraging is that this falls um this is a reporting category that includes topic
049four which is that session one focus point which is the rights and responsibilities of citizens. So I do want to add that this this is based on a different group of kids. So that's you know these students are now in ninth grade and we have a whole new group of kids that are currently eighth grade. So by no means are these, you know, predictions of what will happen, but in terms of takeaways around, okay, what are some points that we feel confident that we've adequately covered and relayed to our students? We know last year these were our strong points. So from an instructional standpoint, it tells us we're able to convey it to our students uh w with a lot of efficacy there. So now shifting gears to the science, technology, and engineering assessment. So
050I had mentioned with civics that session one is a a deep dive into one topic whereas session two is uh a broader set of all topics and standards within the civics. For science it's a little bit different. So science last year we had the expanded pilot. So for our eighth grade students um and our fifth grade students so it's both fifth and eighth as compared to just eighth grade with civics. Last year they had session one which was we we'll just say the common MCCAST, right? What they would typically see and then session two was the pilot MCCAST. So it was kind of the newer questions that we wouldn't see. Now our results last year only accounted for session one. Where things are different this year is that now as a field test both sessions
051are going to have those matrix questions which are the we'll say experimental questions or the field test questions. Those are going to be embedded in both session one and session two. And I will in a couple slides show you kind of what the proportion is in terms of how many matrix questions versus how many more typical science questions uh that they would see. So I'll show you all of that, but I did just want to point out that it's slightly different. It's not like one is unique to session one and one is unique to session two. It's going to be pretty much the same in both session one uh and session two. And so this is the breakdown. So when we look at just a number of common questions, so these are the questions that
052do count for our students in terms of this will impact their score. It will impact data and school results. So there's a total of 54 points that students can earn. Uh there's 32 uh onepoint uh selected response questions, three twopoint selected response questions, two twopoint uh constructed response, and then four threepoint constructed response. And as you can see, that's the same for grade five and grade 8. So it's the same spread. There's 54 points that essentially our students will be uh trying to get as close to 54 as possible, right? They'll try to earn as the highest percentage of those 54 points uh as possible, but what they'll also encounter are the matrix questions. So, this is in addition to the numbers I just gave you. And you'll see it's the same for grades five
053and eight. So, there's a total of 10 points again that won't be counted against our students regardless of how they respond, but 10 points in addition to the 54 points um where students will see those matrix questions. Those are essentially Desi's way of testing out different questions and seeing what should and should not be included in the operational test, which I'll talk about momentarily. But we're looking at 10 total points, seven total questions, and that's across both sessions. So when you put it all together, students are answering roughly 51 questions over two sessions, right? So just in terms of thinking about what our students are going to be taking on, they're looking at uh two sessions each of roughly 25 to 26 questions. That includes both the matrix questions and the common questions. And so
054finally, um, to to wrap up the STE assessment, I do just want to point out that this field test status is actually going to last not just for 2025, but also for 2026. So what I just showed you as of now, unless DESIE makes a change, will apply to testing for 2026 as well for our fifth and eighth grade students next year. where things are being or the anticipated operational date is the science 2027 testing. So we essentially have two more rounds of MCCAST assessment within science where we're going to see this embedded matrix and common questions and then in 2027 we'll see a full shift to this new uh STE test. And so there's kind of three core building blocks that that they're that Desi is looking to use to enhance the testing process.
055And so uh the first one is an illustrated story line about students making sense of a science phenomenon. So that's one core component to the new test when it's operational in 2027. The second building block is an interactive simulation in which students conduct investigations, collect data, make observations. And so just to add to that, so we're using Gizmos. I' I've mentioned that in previous uh presentations, but that's a great opportunity uh for students to practice answering questions based on simulation. So even though that's not going to count against them this year, it's something that we're building the practice to already in there. Uh quite frankly, my observations, students appear to like those questions because they're far more interactive. They allow a student to kind of poke and prod to find an answer versus just you
056either know it or you don't. So, it actually does. I was impressed with some of the engagement that I saw in terms of student participation in that Gizmos platform. They seem to enjoy it. Uh, and and some of the stuff they're going into is pretty impressive. And the third building block is selective response items and constructive response items aligned to the standards. So, that's obviously not new. It's really the the one and two that make it stand out as compared to what our fifth and eighth grade students have uh been assessed upon withince in the past. So with that, again, it's a lot of information and I know that I've reported on this a few times, but every time Desi drips out some information, I want to make sure everybody is up to date and
057aware. Um, I started this presentation by acknowledging those teams of teachers. They're the ones that are really looking at what sort of pedagogical shifts are necessary to make sure that our students are prepared for this, but not in a way that promotes teaching to the test. I think that's important to verbalize. It's just to make sure our students can go as deep as they need to into answering these questions. They're going to have to be very thoughtful and looking at data points where they're going to be changing the data. That's the simulation aspect. So we need our students to feel comfortable uh kind of getting out of the habit of here's the question now here's an answer but okay what information do I have what information do I need and then how do I answer
058a question based on that so it's shifting the way they approach an assessment therefore there are some shifts in our instruction that needs to happen the good news is uh if you talk to these teachers they're doing it anyways they're doing it already but it's just now making sure we're doing it with a bit more intention and making sure that we're aligning professional development to make sure everybody feels equipped to do so. So with that, I open up to any questions or comments you might have. Mr. Mrs. Bios, thank you. Thank you, Mr. Moran. That was a really good update. Um, a couple questions I had. Um, so will we get for the STE the science one, will we get the results for this year and next year? Um I know we didn't get it
059for last year because it was the field the um pilot but will we get it or will we not get results until 2027? So my guess um and I I can't say this for sure. We have uh inquired about that and it's a kind of we'll get back to you type of response. My guess is that we won't uh only because of the total amount of points that students can earn only 10 of them are covering those matrix questions and since they're embedded throughout and I should add that stu there's different uh MCCAST forms so students will be answering the same questions but it's not always in the same order and so I don't necessarily know if DESIE will be able to provide us with that neat data of here are your common questions and
060here are your matrix questions certainly we are I'll share those out and make sure people are aware of how we perform not just within the common questions but the the matrix questions embedded. Okay. It's um frustrating that we did this pilot that you know I mean you're kind of asked to do something extra for them to be kind of guinea pigs and you can't get that data that's really frustrating that you know we don't get anything on that end of things. I agree for having done it. So that's frustrating. So thank you for keep asking about that. I think um and you know I know we place especially on you know the SIP uh presentations but a lot of emphasis on MCCAST and sometimes the scores aren't as high as we want them to be
061especially in science. Um but just I just wanted to mention take this opportunity to mention that the STEM fairs I've been at this year. Yeah both of the high schools um Point Webster Southwest I mean I have been so impressed um and that you know this is just a perfect example that the scores on MCCAST are not isn't the whole picture. it's not what our kids are learning in science and that these teachers um are just fantastic and the kids seemed especially at Point Webster and Southwest I'd say so engaged and so excited about their projects and just spoke about them you know they weren't just reading it off their board like they they were in that experience and they could really speak to it um which was really exciting to see I feel like
062I hadn't seen that in previous years so I don't know if that energy or excitement is kind of building but it's um it was really great to see on that and I just had one quick idea or suggestion um for the civics test. Uh so in 8th grade I remember um they kept the notebooks for science for from sixth and seventh grade science classes. There were notebooks that the kids created um and the teachers the staff would keep them and give them to the eighth grade science teacher and then they could review the kids could review their own notebooks from those times so that they didn't have to retach that stuff. So would that be an interesting kind of or some kind of model for the civics where like if they have to pull upon
063that ancient Greece they wouldn't have to retach that they could just maybe if they kept notebooks and stuff like that. I don't know if that's a a good idea but it seemed to work really well for central as far as not taking extra eighth grade class time to go over what they've already learned. No, I I do think that's a great idea and I would I would kind of put it in a a group of possible strategies that we could incorporate to help keep that continuity across the different curricula and the different standards six, seven, and eight. Um that's certainly one one thing we could look at. We're also looking at um um kind of restructuring what our civics project looks like, creating a little bit more alignment across the district and then building to
064that and and almost once we have that structure kind of firm and in place looking at well what would the sixth grade and seventh grade version of that be. Um but these are all that's certainly something I'll note because we're looking for different ways to connect it because I think for a lot of parents and guardians and for a lot of student a lot of students and I'll say this as the father of a seventh grade uh daughter who has no idea why we need to learn ancient civ right and I get it you know and I think I remember asking the same thing when I was there so I think if the more we can do to emphasize the connection of it all um it's in the interests of our students uh so I
065appreciate that idea and I think it's one we'll definitely look at thank you thank you Mrs. Thank you. Um I just I'm very excited about the civics test actually. I think um I think this is stuff that's we haven't been teaching it for years and the kids getting this kind of access to this information and the and the fact that they did so well on some of the questions. I wonder about how things are going now around question five the constitution. Hopefully they're not reading anything outside of school. Really could confuse it could confuse them. And I you shared with us some of some of the development of those matrix questions earlier and I thought it was fascinating that I think you're right. I think it's going to be much more engaging for the kids
066when they can actually go through something. Um and I think probably it's it's a big lift for the Department of Education who now is kind of short staffed, right? So it's a big lift for them. So I understand why they're not getting back to you because just designing that type of question has to be a tremendous amount of work. But I do think it's going to be way more worthwhile in the end. and whether or not it's a school thing. I just think it's going to be more it's going to be more valid. Yeah. Those kind of those kind of things. So, and and I'm thrilled about the civics. I really am. So, thank you to all the educators and the two teachers. You said, Miss Foley and Miss F and Miss Connor. Yeah. For
067for leading those two groups and helping them with it. And the one thing I wish I had mentioned to Miss Vaughn is and I quote was kind of alluding to this but we should make sure the social studies teachers understand the writing revolution as well at some point in time because just they're being trained as well. Yeah, they're right. Okay, because it's true we'll be using it in this subject. Uh so this is great. Thank you very much. Thank you for your time. Thanks. All set. All set. Okay. Motion to adjurnn by Mrs. Hley. Second by Mr. Thanks.