Goal 1: Student Growth and Achievement
What We Will Achieve
All students are engaged in a rigorous education resulting in college, career, and life readiness.
What Is Our Priority Work
- Strategy 1 - Course and instructional units include common critical competencies, aligned assessments between the two high schools, and multiple measures of success.
- Strategy 2 - Students explore big ideas, leverage technology, make real-world connections, and use authentic ways to demonstrate their knowledge and interests.
- Strategy 3 - Students use their individual data to shape decisions about career and life readiness.
Accomplishments and Initiatives
- Accomplishments from the 2021-22 School Year
- Initiatives for the 2022-23 School Year
- Board Presentations
Accomplishments from the 2021-22 School Year
- Special education program team completed Phase 1 of its work and will present the results of that work to PTAC and the board in the fall.
- All academic content areas continued Phase 2 of their work.
- All developmental teams started using common curriculum guides and templates.
- The science program writing team completed the Phase 3 work for the PCB sequence, AP Biology and AP Chemistry, and started Phase 3 alignment for the freshman biology courses within the biology-first pathway.
- The math program writing team completed the Phase 3 alignment work for Algebra, College Prep Math and Algebraic Reinforcement.
- Work on grading practices continued.
- The Learning Leadership Team reviewed data and discussed revisions to practices.
- PTAC and the board received updates and discussed practices.
- Academic cabinet and the Curriculum Leadership Team reviewed data and discussed practices.
- Departments and course teams engaged in discussions during Flex Learning Days.
- Building and district administrators participated in listening sessions and visited department meetings.
- Superintendent’s Roundtable provided feedback.
- HHSTA leadership provided feedback.
Initiatives for the 2022-23 School Year
Curriculum Alignment - Focus of Phases 2 and 3
- CTE - Introduction to Business (Earned Honors), Consumer Economics, Marketing, Exploring FACS, Culinary 1 & 2, Pre-Engineering 1 & 2, and Woods
- English - junior and senior courses and English 1
- Fine arts - Drawing & Painting, 3D Art Classes, Photography, Orchestra and Choir
- Math - Geometry and Multivariable Calculus
- PHD - Tumbling and Intro to Sports Medicine
- Science - Earth Science Capstone, Anatomy & Physiology, APES, AP Physics C and AP Physics C-M
- Social studies - World Cultures, APUSH, AP Modern World, US History and AP Psychology
- World languages - Spanish 3, Spanish 4, Latin 2, French 2 and German 1
- The aligned (digital) program of studies is scheduled to be ready for use during the 2023-24 school year
- Pandemic pivot - slowed the alignment work; extending the expected completion date by two years (2025-26 school year)
Earned Honors Credit Pilot
- Four courses - Exploring Visual Arts, Introduction to Business, Psychology in Literature and Creative Nonfiction
- Families with students enrolled in the courses will receive communications about the pilot during the summer and at beginning of school year
Grade Category Weight Revisions for the 2022-23 School Year
Course teams used the final Flex Learning Days to reflect, discuss, and potentially make revisions to their grading practices in preparation for the 2022-23 school year. The revisions to the grade category weights for next year include:
- A shift to a majority of courses with a 70/30 summative to formative weight.
- Aligned shift to higher summative weights for honors/capstone/AP classes.
- 10 courses adding a Learning Readiness category in their gradebook.
- Teams completing curriculum alignment have identical grade weights and reassessment practices.
- All teams completing alignment work (Phase 3) are also aligning reassessment practices.
Grading Practices
Grading practices that are staying the same next year include:
- Common grading philosophy.
- Common grading scale.
- Common gradebook weights.
- Common alpha indicator for missing work.
- All course teams will continue to develop relearning and reassessment opportunities.
- The Learning Leadership Team will shift back to being a study/research team.
Professional development for next year will be focused on core assessment concepts, student self-assessment, relearning and reassessment, and coaching and effective feedback.
Revisions to the grading practices for next year include:
- The Missing and Essential (ME) indicator will no longer be used.
- An M indicator now represents all missing work. Missing work will no longer automatically translate to an Incomplete (IC) grade.
- When a student does not submit an assignment or take an assessment, they will receive an M, which will be calculated as a zero in the gradebook.
The revisions to the grading practices will be applied for all grading categories (summative, formative and learning readiness) in the following ways:
- If assignments or assessments are completed/submitted by the assigned due date, and are done in alignment with the appropriate standards or instructions, the 50-100 grading scale will be applied.
- Since M scores will remain in the gradebook and be calculated as zeros, students will continue to be encouraged to complete/submit all assignments or assessments on time.
- In order for an assignment or assessment to receive credit and be scored on the 50-100 scale, the work that is done on it must comply with the instructions provided (i.e. be completed in good faith).
- Students who need additional time for an assignment or assessment must advocate for themselves. They must request and receive their teacher’s approval for an extension prior to the due date of the assignment or assessment, and demonstrate that they are taking advantage of the school’s/district’s academic support services (e.g., tutoring, interventionists, early release Wednesdays, help before and after school, etc.).
- If an assessment was assigned prior to an excused absence, the student must be prepared to turn it in or take it the day they return unless they have made arrangements with their teacher to extend the number of days.
- If an assessment was assigned during an excused absence, the student will have an equal number of days to complete and turn in class assignments and make-up any tests or quizzes unless they have made arrangements with their teacher to extend the number of days.
Communications
- Grading (summer and fall) - district communications to the staff, families and the board about changes to grading practices; teacher communication to classes via their syllabi and during Curriculum Night; PTAC discussion and board update.
- PTAC discussions - academic health (August), AP scores, SAT/PSAT/MAP growth, chronic absenteeism, grade analysis, MTSS/intervention.
- Potential topics for monthly PTAC meetings - curriculum alignment, continuum of special education services, grading, final exams, earned honors pilot and college/career readiness.