STUDENTS FIRST. QUALITY INSTRUCTION. TIME ON TASK.
STAFF BRIEFS
Stephen Thompson, Superintendent
Jay McTighe
Assessment
Dates
MARCH 2014
Twice
Exceptional?
Instructional
Updates
Assessment Leader Jay McTighe
After reviewing feedback from the professional development surveys and principals, the overarching
theme for professional development for the 2014-2015 school year will be Assessment. Assessment
touches every facet of our work together as professionals and with students. Assessment of
performance is ongoing and informs decisions we make. How should we adjust instruction? What
are our strengths and weaknesses as educators and students? How will my OTES or OPES
evaluations inform my professional development and practice? What are quality formative and summative assessments?
How do we determine appropriate student growth measures? How do we assess whether supplemental programming is
effective? To help us become better informed about these questions and more, we will tap into the knowledge and
leadership skills of author and assessment guru Jay McTighe for the 2014-2015 school year. We will share his work with
the staff through inservice programs, online and printed resources. This assessment focus ties in nicely with our efforts to
implement project-based learning in the district, not only for the future STEM school, but in all of the schools. McTighe
is well-known for his work with Grant Wiggins in developing essential questions and the framework for Understanding
by Design. You can learn more about Jay McTighe’s background by visiting his website at http://jaymctighe.com/.
Upcoming Field Tests for PARCC and Ohio Science/SS Tests
We are participating in several field tests of the new online assessments this spring.
All school principals and their building test coordinators should have shared with
their staff members the extent of their building’s participation in testing. Administrators share the concern of teachers about the amount of testing our students are
experiencing. However, by participating in these field tests we will become familiar
with the technology preparation required and we can test our equipment and the
strain on our wireless network to help us troubleshoot prior to mandatory testing in
the spring of 2015.
PARCC Field Tests: Performance-Based Assessment (March 24-April 11, 2014)
End-of-Year Assessment (May 5-June 6, 2014)
Ohio Sci/SS Tests: Performance-Based Assessment (March 24-April 18, 2014)
End-of-Year Assessment (May 5-May 16, 2014)