COHASSET PUBLIC SCHOOLS MCAS ACTION PLAN

2023 - 2024

School Committee Meeting

12/6/23

Dr. Leslie Scollins, Assistant Superintendent

Rock Roberts, Director of Data, Evaluation, & Curriculum

2023 MCAS Headlines

• Cohasset High School and Deer Hill Elementary School are two of the 66 schools recognized by the state for demonstrating high achievement and strong growth under the state’s accountability system

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• In terms of meeting/exceeding expectations, the 10th MCAS scores were among the highest in the state
• ELA 5th
• Math 17th
• Science 14th (Introductory Physics)

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• Grades 6-8
• Achievement scores in ELA and Math are higher than 2019
• The average growth score percentage in math is 70%

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• Grades 3-5
• 5th grade achievement scores are higher in all subject areas
• 4th grade students exceeding expectations in math increased by 9%
• 3rd grade students exceeding expectations in ELA increased by 8%

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Outline

• Review of 2023 Implemented Districtwide Intervention Plan
• Highlight of Focus Areas for 2023-2024
• MCAS Focus Areas 2023-2024
• District Data-Based Action Plan (Our Approach to Utilizing MCAS Data)
• School-Based (Grade-Level and Subject Specific) Focus Areas Based on MCAS Item Analysis
• School-Based (Grade-Level and Subject Specific) Actions and Benchmarks
• Students with Disabilities and MCAS (Our Approach)

Review of Districtwide 2023 MCAS Inventions and Professional Development

New Staff hired:

• Director of Data, Curriculum, and Evaluation K-12
• Middle School Math Teacher
• .5 Math Specialists at JOS and DHS
• Math/Computer Science Teacher CHS

Professional Development and Teacher Training:

• Continued partnership with Teaching and Learning Alliance (TLA) to implement Comprehensive Reading Approach including PD for reading specialists
• Implementation Open SciEd (5-8)

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District Data-Based Action Plan 2023 and 2024

• Core teaching and special education staff engaged in an on-going analysis of district, school, and student results
• Continued use of MCAS scores, item analyses, and additional assessment results to track and monitor student performance and cohort results
• Continued opportunities for student to become more familiar with a variety of questions types, assessment measures, and test-taking strategies
• Implementation of Phase 2 in the Math Curriculum Review Process which included the adoption and implementation of Illustrative Math in grades 6-8
• Continued focus on instructional strategies which promote critical thinking, problem solving, and writing for a variety of purposes
• Use of teacher goals and supervision / evaluation to ensure consistent implementation of curriculum standards
• Title I programming to support eligible students
• Continual refinement of MTSS process to help students at all levels
• Educational Proficiency Plans (EPPs), for any high school student who is partially meeting or lower in a subject area have been created, and communication has gone home to those students’ families
• Curriculum mapping to ensure vertical and horizontal alignment

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Strengths

• Implemented a successful 2023 MCAS Action Plan
• Increased use of data to inform teaching and learning (MCAS, i-Ready, DIBELS, etc)
• Tracked student data in a more systematic manner (Aspen, Forefront, i-Ready Personalized Learning, IXL)
• Implementation of:
• Districtwide Curriculum Guide Work
• Elementary Comprehensive Literacy Approach
• Middle School Illustrative Math program
• Middle School Open Sci Ed

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Opportunities

• Focus on all types of writing: narrative, persuasive, informative
• Work across grade level and content area to identify common language, rubrics, and tools to guide writing instruction at the secondary level
• Focus on higher level thinking questions: synthesize, analyze, evaluate, etc.
• Focus on numbers of operations- fractions and numbers and algebraic thinking in elementary school
• Focus on ratios and proportional relationships, expressions in equations, statistics and probability, and geometry at the middle school level
• Review high school course sequencing to ensure coverage of geometry concepts
• Continue to focus on interventions and supports for high needs students

Writing Grades 3-5

Use of MCAS-like writing prompts and rubrics

• Common writing prompts administered throughout the year
• Use of exemplars
• Generating school-wide noticings to inform instruction
• Use of an MCAS-like rubric to score essays
• Class Glows and Grows
• After scoring, teachers write down the strengths and growth areas for the class as a whole
• Teachers develop a plan to address the classwide needs
• Teachers develop small groups around individual student needs

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Writing Rubric Grades 3-5

Writing Grades 6-8

• Develop language consistent with MCAS rubric
• Anchor grading using the MCAS rubric
• Analyze writing exemplars to better understand MCAS rubric
• Break down writing prompts so that students have a clear understanding of what they’re being asked to do
• Shannon Pirello is coming to work with special education teachers (grades 6-10) to collaborate on strategies and the use of specialized instruction with the co-teaching model in preparation of upcoming work around writing
• Clarify resources and models used for writing (graphic organizers, outlines, acronyms, etc)
• Curriculum mapping

Grade 6-8 Essay Rubric

High School Writing

• Continue with MCAS writing program that was implemented last year
• Anchor grading using MCAS rubric
• Look at exemplars in relation to our students writing to find opportunities to move students to the next performance level
• Frequent opportunities to write narrative, persuasive, and informative essays
• Work on developing common language and resources across disciplines

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Grade 10 Writing Rubric

Rubrics Linked to Exemplars

Sample Model Essay

Middle School Math

• Implementation of Illustrative Math (IM) approved by the MA Department of Elementary and Secondary Education
• IM pedagogy aligns with the State Frameworks which asks for more inquiry based learning
• Aligns with the Elementary Math program Bridges pedagogy
• Year long professional development (PD) with Better Lessons consulting that includes whole group and 1:1 PD for teachers
• IM Scope and Sequence

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Examples:

Grade 6 Statistical Questions: Teacher Manual, Lesson, Practice

Grade 7 Comparing Populations Using Samples: Teacher Manual, Lesson, Practice

Grade 8 Practice with Rational Bases: Teacher Manual, Lesson, Practice

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References

Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (2023, September ). Massachusetts Releases

2023 MCAS and Accountability Results [Press release].

https://www.doe.mass.edu/mcas/results.html

Department of Elementary and Secondary Education English Language Arts and Literacy Grades

Pre-Kindergarten to 12. Massachusetts Curriculum Frameworks (2017)

https://www.doe.mass.edu/frameworks/ela/2017-06.pdf

Department of Elementary and Secondary Education Mathematics Grades

Pre-Kindergarten to 12. Massachusetts Curriculum Frameworks (2017)

https://www.doe.mass.edu/frameworks/math/2017-06.pdf

Department of Elementary and Secondary Education Science and Technology/Engineering Grades

Pre-Kindergarten to 12. Massachusetts Curriculum Frameworks (2017)

https://www.doe.mass.edu/frameworks/scitech/2016-04.pdf

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