Implementing Georgia’s K-12 Mathematics Standards has involved a very comprehensive approach that has encompassed curriculum development, instructional strategies, assessment, and ongoing professional development for educators. Continue to familiarize yourselves with the new mathematics standards found on the Georgia Department of Education website. Link here.
Most school districts have selected a curriculum that aligns with the Georgia math standards. Ensure it covers the required content, skills, and learning progressions. The GADOE has created instructional learning plans for all grade level and mathematics courses, and they can be found through the Comprehensive Grade Level and Course Overviews. These learning plans may serve as your school district’s curriculum.
Professional development for teachers will continue throughout the school year to ensure teachers understand the standards and resources available, as well as, the use of best practices in mathematics instruction.
Remember that successful implementation of Georgia’s K-12 Mathematics Standards takes time and dedication. By taking a thoughtful and supportive approach to this process, teachers will feel more confident and capable in delivering a high-quality mathematics education to their students.
We are here for you!
Paulette Shoupe, K-5 Math Mentor
Amy Casper, 6-12 Math Mentor
CCRPI TEA LEAVES
Data that will inform the next CCRPI will begin to arrive in mid to late September. For the first time since 2019, schools should receive scores for all the big components and the smaller indicators. There are several very consistent rules of thumb that all school leaders should know about these numbers that will sketch a data portrait of their schools.
- If student performance goes up in a content area of the Content Mastery component, you will very likely see Green Flags for most subgroups in the Closing Gaps component. If performance goes down, you will likely see Red Flags because Content Mastery and Closing Gaps are cousins: They use the exact same data sets. Both use the weighted performance of Milestones which gives no credit for Level 1; half credit for level 2; full credit for level 3; and 1.5 credit for Distinguished. Non-FAY students are removed from both data sets and retest and GAA results count in both components.
- If state averages for Milestones in ELA or math go up and your school’s performance goes down, you will likely find that Progress component scores suffer because your students were outperformed by their state-wide peer groups.
- If your school’s performance goes up in ELA, in most cases, you will see an increase in the Literacy or Lexile indicator of the Readiness component.
The connections listed above will hold true as schools prepare for the slow release of data by GaDOE that will form our first full CCRPI since the fall of 2019.
Bobby Smith
School Improvement Specialist
PRUNING THE SCHOOL IMPROVEMENT GARDEN
Districts have been blessed with a windfall of financial resources during the COVID era. This federal money may bring positive effects, or it can lead to a host of problems as well. Because of depressed test performance, school leaders have been in a hurried search for some magical program that will be easy for teachers to implement and give some buoyancy to students’ test performance as well.
Experience has shown that schools often grab for programs when they can’t seem to change adult
behavior. We also forget that we are piling on programs and each one requires professional
learning followed by a good bit of implementation time and work. For successful implementation,
each program must be monitored along the way and evaluated at the end of the year. All these actions load up teachers’ plates and eat away at the forgotten static resource of time.
Before adding new initiatives or programs, please consider the following:
- Will the program being added align with your school goals and priorities?
- What are you going to eliminate to make room for the program? Look to eliminate resource-intensive programs that currently have a low impact on outcomes. You may choose to merge similar programs or projects.
- Is it better to do this program on a smaller scale like one grade level or one content area to work out the kinks and create a few demonstration classrooms?
- Do you have the resources, including time, human capital, and money to ensure that the new program has the best chance to succeed?
- Have you sought stakeholder input, especially those who will do the heavy lifting? Successful implementation must be preceded by honest communication and ongoing transparency.
- Is the program a good match for the problem that you have and is it a good fit for your specific setting?
- Can you afford the program this year and going forward? Yes, the purchase of the program helps to spend the glut of money, but can you afford it when the money dries up.
Given the reality of staff burnout, Teachers will gravitate to the leader of a school who is wise enough to realize that less is sometimes more.
“Let your affairs be as two or three, and not a hundred
or a thousand.” -Henry David Thoreau.
Bobby Smith
School Improvement Specialist
