Curriculum
The School District of Arcadia is committed to the continuous improvement of our teaching and learning to inspire and prepare every child, every day. Staff develop curriculum, assessments, and determine instructional best practice through the context of the PLC (Professional Learning Communities). Our staff collaborate around data and share best practices to enhance learning for all. Curriculum revision cycles include a review of existing curriculum, review of standards, high quality instructional materials review and selection, and implementation plan development. All curriculum is aligned to state and/or national standards.
- Standards Based Assessment and Grading
- Assessments
- PLC
- Instructional Coaches
- ESSA
- New Teacher Mentor Program
- ACT 20
Standards Based Assessment and Grading
What is it?
Academic standards have two components. 1) content students need to know and 2) practices or what we want students to be able to do with the content. Each subject or course has different standards that are determined to be mastered by students. However, most report cards offer a single overall grade for performance on all standards within that subject or course. Standards based grading allows teachers to evaluate student performance on the different standards separately, which provides a clear picture of which standards students have mastered or are still working on.
Each school building is at different phases of implementation. In the 22-23 school year the elementary school adopted a new grading scale. Instead of having 4 grading marks (Below, Approaching, Meets, Exceeds) we are transitioning to 3 levels being 1, 2, 3. The image below defines the grading scale in more detail.
Middle and High School started the Standards Based Grading journey in 22-23 by separating Work Habits (behaviors) from the academic grade. If we incorporate behavior, attendance, and effort in the grade, we no longer consider grades accurate indicators of mastery of written standards. The grade should reflect what the student knows and is able to do (Wormeli, 2006). Teachers will be giving students a grade that reflects what they know and are able to do with the content they are learning and a separate grade for their Work Habits. See the rubric below for details.
The middle school will be implementing standards based grading during the 2023-2024 school year. Arcadia High School will complete implementation during the 2024-2025 school year.
HIGH SCHOOL WORK HABITS RUBRIC
MIDDLE SCHOOL WORK HABITS RUBRIC
More information will be provided about each of these components of Standards Based Grading as the year progresses. Carmen Lee Director of Curriculum, Instruction and Assessment
Purpose of Grading
Why the Switch?
FAQ'S
Standards Based Grading
Frequently Asked Questions
School District of Arcadia
Why have we moved to Standards-Based Grading?
As we evaluated our curriculum, instruction and assessment systems, we learned more about this grading system. It became more and more apparent that students’ grades should be based on how well they comprehend a specific target/power standard and not a percentage of work completed. Standards-based grading empowers students to understand their own learning strengths and areas that need improvement. Students get direct and timely feedback on the areas/skills they need to focus on. With this system, parents will know how their child is progressing toward mastering standards in each subject area. Additionally, parents will know whether their child is "on target" with district and state standards.
How does standards-based grading differ from traditional grading?
Unlike traditional grading systems, a standards-based grading system measures a student’s mastery of grade-level learning targets by prioritizing the most consistent level of performance. Thus a student who may have struggled at the beginning of a course, when first encountering new material, may still be able to demonstrate mastery of key content/concepts by the end of a grading period. A student who is at grade level at the start of the course can then work to apply the knowledge and background they already have to push themselves further. In a traditional grading system, a student’s performance for an entire trimester is averaged together. Early quiz scores that were low would be averaged together with more proficient performance later in the course, resulting in a lower overall grade than current performance indicates. Standards-based report cards separate academic performance from work habits and behavior in order to provide parents a more accurate view of a student’s progress in both academic and behavioral areas. Variables such as effort, participation, timeliness, cooperation and attitude are reported separately, not as an indicator of a student’s academic performance.
Are there a certain amount of power standards required in each curriculum area?
No. This is up to the teacher(s) and is based on our Wisconsin State Standards.
Does a student have to be perfect to earn a 3?
No. A score of 3 means your child has consistently demonstrated the knowledge, skills, strategies and processes of the grade level standard at this point in the school year. Please see the descriptions below.
Can a student perform at a level 3 and then move to a lower level in the next marking period?
Yes. The expectations change from one marking period to the next as students move toward the end of the grade-level expectations. This means:
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A student may meet the grade level expectation during the first marking period, but as the expectations increase, the student may not demonstrate the same level of proficiency during the next marking period
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A student may receive a 3 in the first marking period and then receive a 2 in the second or third marking period
Can a student exceed a 3 for the standard score?
No. A proficiency score of 3 is the highest level of attainment.
Can you retake a summative assessment?
Yes. A student may reassess on target(s) after they have demonstrated new evidence of learning on that target and completed any other reassessment requirements in place for the class.
How can I see how my child is doing in their academic progress?
You will be able to log in to Infinite Campus parent portal and view your child’s progress on both their practice activities and assessment (evidence) pieces.
What are tips and tricks to view my child’s progress in a more effective manner in Infinite Campus?
Add the Parent Portal app onto your phone.
There are many ways to access information about your child through the parent portal app. Below you will find our recommended path to access information about grades, missing assignments, and attendance.
Toggle between multiple children.
Grades
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Click on the Hamburger in the green band.
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Click on Grades
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Click on Λ Settings and click checkbox to hide rows
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Click the current trimester
Missing Assignments
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Click on Hamburger in the green band.
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Click on Assignments
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Choose Missing on top menu bar
Attendance
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Click on Hamburger in the green band.
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Click on Attendance
How can I see only graded standard scores?
If using app on phone……
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Filter by Trimester
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Click on Grades
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View In-progress grades and then for standard scores of “1”, click on the arrow to view the evidence.
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If using a Computer…..
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In Settings, select scored to view only standards that have pieces of evidence scored.
Why isn’t homework included in the academic grade?
Homework is a tool that helps learning (practice). We do not want to penalize students while they go through the learning process. Homework completion is included in the determination of the student’s work habit scores.
MIDDLE SCHOOL SPECIFIC
How does my child get a letter grade?
Power standard scores for each trimester are calculated on the 3,2,1 proficiency scale using mean calculation. The scores of all power standards are then averaged, which is then converted to a letter grade using the following conversion.
|
Power Standard Score Average |
Letter Grade |
|
2.60-3.0 |
A |
|
2.10-2.59 |
B |
|
1.70-2.09 |
C |
|
0.0-1.69 |
Not Passing (F) |
If a student has a “1” for a standard score, they are in jeopardy of not passing the class. The teacher will look at the evidence provided to determine if the student has demonstrated enough mastery of knowledge to pass the course for that grading period.
Example Explanation: The student has a “C” letter grade, however, they have not mastered one of the key power standards. The teacher will look at the 5 pieces of evidence for the “1” standard and could change this letter grade to Not Passing (F).
How does Standards Based Grading work with athletic eligibility?
Grade reports are run every 4, 8, and 12 weeks of each trimester. Students receiving an academic grade of Not Passing (F) AND a work habit score of 1 in the corresponding failing course will be ineligible until the academic grade is passing.
Students who were ineligible at the 4- or 8-week grade checks may also become ineligible if they have failing grades in other courses during the monitoring weeks between 4-week grade checks.
HIGH SCHOOL SPECIFIC (HS Math, PE, Business, Foundations 1,2,3)
How does my child get a letter grade?
Power standard scores for each trimester are calculated on the 3,2,1 proficiency scale using mean. The scores of all power standards are then averaged, which is then converted to a letter grade using the following conversion.
|
Average of all Power Standards for Course |
Letter Grade |
|
2.750-3.000 |
A |
|
2.500-2.749 |
B |
|
2.250-2.499 |
C |
|
2.000-2.249 |
D |
|
0.000-1.999 |
F |
If a student has a “1” for a standard score, they are not passing the class.
Example Explanation: The student has a “C” letter grade, however, they have not mastered one of the key power standards. The teacher will change the grade to Not Passing (F).
How does Standards Based Grading work with athletic eligibility?
Grade reports are run every 4,8, and 12 weeks of each trimester. Students receiving an academic grade of Not Passing (F) will be ineligible until the academic grade is passing. Students who were ineligible at the 4- or 8-week grade checks may also become ineligible if they have failing grades in other courses during the monitoring weeks between 4-week grade checks.
Parent Resources
Parent Portal Video
Assignments start at 5:07 to show how to filter missing scores.
Grades start at 5:30 and the setting options available i.e. (Hide Dropped Courses and hide rows without grades or assignments)
Assessments
Assessment is a critical part of school improvement and student learning. The district assessment program allows the district to gather information for a variety of purposes. Well-designed and appropriately used assessments provide the following benefits:
- Teachers gain information about individual students’ strengths and areas of improvement.
- Teachers can evaluate the effectiveness of their instruction.
- Students are made aware of their skills in a variety of areas.
- Teachers, parents, students, and policy makers make more informed decisions.
- Programs can be evaluated for their impact on learning.
- School buildings and the district as a whole can report on academic progress.
The School District of Arcadia uses a variety of assessments including formative, summative, screening, diagnostic, benchmark and state level assessments. The primary goal of the assessment program is to monitor and improve student achievement. The second role of assessment is to provide necessary information to improve curriculum and instructional practices. On-going assessment data analysis is completed during grade/department level PLC meetings, school level data meetings, and school and district level data retreats.
PLC
Educators in the School District of Arcadia are committed to having high functioning professional learning communities. PLCs focus on the following Big Ideas.
- A focus on learning,
- Building a collaborative culture, and
- A Focus on results
Educators use the following questions during collaboration time on Wednesdays from 3:45-4:45 to guide their work.
- What do we want students to learn?
- How will we know they have learned it?
- What will we do if they have learned it?
- What will we do if they have not learned it?
If you would like to learn more about the work of PLCs, please contact your child’s teacher or building administrator.
Instructional Coaches
The role of instructional coaches is to increase opportunities for teacher success and to cultivate student growth and achievement. Coaches encourage teachers to reflect on their practices and to implement high impact instructional strategies to foster positive change in their schools. Coaching encourages reflective practices and leads to improvements in instructional capacity and it improves the school-based culture.
There are three primary elements driving the development of the Arcadia School District Instructional Coaching Framework:
- District mission and district goals
- Promote a collaborative PLC culture that supports reflective teaching and learning
- Closing achievement gaps
- Effective schools research
- Student achievement is more likely to increase when the quality and consistency of classroom instruction improves. (Marzano, 2012)
- Collective Teacher Efficacy is the number one influence related to student achievement. (Hattie, 2018)
- Collective teacher efficacy is the belief that together teachers can achieve more, especially when they collectively believe students can learn at high levels.
- Instructional coaching research
- Research shows that instructional coaching has a positive impact on the rate of implementing instructional methods.
ESSA
What is ESSA? ESSA (Every Student Succeeds Act) is the newly reauthorized law, formerly ESEA (Elementary and Secondary Education Act). This law is broken into different titles which provide the district with federal dollars to support the education of all students. The law contains a number of provisions districts are required to implement for each Title. Title programs in which the Arcadia School District receives funds are:
- Title I - Improving The Academic Achievement of the Disadvantaged
- Title II - Preparing, Training, and Recruiting high-quality Teachers, Principles, and other School Leaders
- Title III - Language Instruction or English learning and Immigrant Students
- Title IV - Student Support and Academic Enrichment Grant and 21st Century Schools
For more detailed information, please watch the Every Student Succeeds Act - Overview Video
New Teacher Mentor Program
Many factors contribute to a student’s academic performance, but research from Marzano suggests that teachers matter more to student achievement than any other aspect of schooling. To help our new staff as they begin their journey as an educator at Arcadia School District , we have a number of supports in place.
The components of this support system are:
- Mentor training
- New staff orientation
- Ongoing mentor/new teacher activities
Program Goals
1. To improve the learning environment for students.
New teachers create positive classroom environments using the PBIS framework. As they gain confidence in using the available resources, they become more effective in utilizing advanced teaching techniques. Effective management benefits students in the learning process.
2. To meet the individual professional needs of new teachers and to assist them in understanding the mechanics of various district functions.
Time and emotional energy can be saved if new teachers can be introduced to the workings of the school district, their assigned school and the rudiments of classroom procedures and practices. This introduction can lead to a more relaxed beginning and a quicker focus on individual needs and staff development.
3. To provide a vehicle for socialization and camaraderie.
For many new teachers, a new job may mean a new community with unfamiliar surroundings. Helping teachers find housing, meet school personnel and become familiar with the cultures of the community in a relaxed, informal setting will improve their social and personal well-being.
4. To retain quality teachers in the district and in the profession.
The new teacher orientation program will have a positive influence on new teachers by reducing stress and thereby reducing the attrition rate.
