Welcome to the Western Boone County Community Schools’ Webpage for Curriculum and Instruction.

 

Recent developments in education have brought about many changes in our schools locally, statewide, and across our nation.  The information below is a summary of some of the initiatives currently in the educational spotlight, as well as Western Boone’s continued commitment to excellence that ensures that every Western Boone student receives a quality education that will lead them on the path to college and career-readiness.

Common Core State Standards

In 2010, the Indiana State Board of Education adopted the Common Core State Standards (CCSS) in English-Language Arts and Mathematics, joining over 40 other states nationwide. The CCSS are a national set of standards that will gradually replace the Indiana Academic State Standards (IAS) for all grade levels, kindergarten through Grade 12.  With the CCSS, comes a shift in emphasis from, “What is taught,” in the classroom, to “What students are able to do,” as a result of classroom experiences and direct instruction. While many of the Indiana Academic Standards align with the CCSS, the CCSS provide a more rigorous balance of content instruction and application of skills through higher-order thinking activities and experiences.   Another difference between the IAS and the CCSS is that CCSS are divided into quarterly periods to specify when students are introduced to specific standards and when they should be expected to demonstrate mastery.  Quarterly divisions ensure a consistent, sequential, spiral delivery of content material.

During the 2011-2012 school year, kindergarten students will be the first class to be taught using only the Common Core State Standards.  Subsequent grades will transition gradually by phasing in the CCSS over the course of the next 3 years.  Full implementation of the CCSS is projected to occur in 2014-15 for students in all grades.

PARCC Assessment

Also projected for release in 2014-2015 is a new national measure of student academic achievement currently in development by the Partnership of Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers Consortia (PARCC).  Early predictions indicate that this assessment will be administered quarterly to align with the quarterly standards outlined in the CCSS and will be administered to all students in grades 3-11, replacing the ISTEP+ assessment that is currently administered to students in Grades 3-8.

IREAD-3

Indiana Public Law 109 requires the evaluation of reading skills for students who are in third grade beginning in the Spring of 2012. This legislation was created to ensure that all students can read proficiently before moving on to grade four. In response to Public Law 109, Indiana educators from across the state worked with the Indiana Department of Education to develop a test that has now become the Indiana Reading Evaluation And Determination (IREAD-3) Assessment.  The IREAD-3 assessment will be administered to all Indiana students in Grade 3 beginning in the Spring of 2012.

 

Throughout this transition period, educators and administrators in the Western Boone County Community Schools continue our commitment to provide quality education to our students.  Teachers continue to revise and align curriculum maps and instructional resources to ensure a smooth transition to the CCSS.   In addition, our focus on data-informed planning and instruction assures that all students’ academic needs are met in the classroom.  For students in grades 4-8 who participated in the ISTEP+ during the previous school year, the Indiana Growth Model provides educators with a tool to measure the amount of growth each student achieved over the course of the previous school year.  In addition, teachers use formative assessments to measure student growth throughout the academic year and modify instruction as needed.  Faculty and administrators meet regularly to discuss assessment data, student growth, instructional goals, intervention outcomes, and design quality assessments as needed to guide student-centered instruction and ensure that each student has the instructional support they need to meet his or her learning potential.

For more information on the Common Core State Standards, the Transition and Assessment Timeline, the Indiana Growth Model, or the IREAD-3 assessment, please follow the links below to the Indiana Department of Education or contact Mrs. Tricia Reed, Director of Curriculum and Instruction, at 765-482-6333.

Common Core State Standards

http://www.doe.in.gov/commoncore/   
(Indiana Department of Education: Common Core State Standards)

PARCC Assessment

http://www.doe.in.gov/commoncore/docs/Transition-Road-Map-for-Implementing-the-Common-Core-State-Standards.pdf 
(View the Common Core State Standards and PARCC Assessment Transition Road Map)

Indiana Growth Model

https://learningconnection.doe.in.gov/GrowthModel/ModelFAQs.aspx
(Indiana Growth Model -Answers to Frequently Asked Questions)

IREAD-3

http://www.doe.in.gov/assessment/docs/iread-3_item_sampler_final-09-30-11-kc.pdf
(IREAD Item Sampler)