CALVERT COUNTY PUBLIC SCHOOLS BRIDGE TO EXCELLENCE IN PUBLIC SCHOOLS 2017 FIVE-YEAR COMPREHENSIVE MASTER PLAN
CALVERT COUNTY PUBLIC SCHOOLS BRIDGE TO EXCELLENCE IN PUBLIC SCHOOLS
2017 FIVE-YEAR COMPREHENSIVE MASTER PLAN
Nondiscrimination Statement
Calvert County Public Schools does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, age, ancestry or
national origin, familial status, marital status, physical or mental disability, sexual orientation, gender identity
and expression, or genetic information or age in its programs and activities and provides equal access to the
Boy Scouts and other designated youth groups. The following persons have been designated to handle
inquiries regarding the non-discrimination policies:
➢ Director of Student Services
➢ Director of Human Resources
443-550-8000
For further information on notice of non-discrimination, visit the Office of Civil Rights Complaint
Assessment System at: http://ocrcas.ed.gov or call 1-800-421-3481.
************************************************
Anti-sexual, Anti-racial and Anti-disability Harassment Statement
Discrimination can manifest itself in behaviors such as bullying, harassment, or intimidation of
individuals.
Calvert County Public Schools does not tolerate any form of harassment including, but not limited to, sexual,
racial, or disability. Any individual (student, employee, or community member) who believes that he or she
has been subjected to any form of harassment is encouraged to report the allegation of harassment. Students,
parents and community members may report allegations of harassment to:
Ms. Kimberly Roof
Director of Student Services
Calvert County Public Schools
1305 Dares Beach Road
Prince Frederick, MD 20678
Employees may report allegations of harassment to:
Ms. Laveeta Hutchins
Director of Human Resources
Calvert County Public Schools
1305 Dares Beach Road
Prince Frederick, MD 20678
Calvert County Public Schools is committed to conducting a prompt investigation for any allegation of
harassment. If harassment has occurred, the individual will be disciplined promptly. Disciplinary actions for
students found to have engaged in any form of harassment may result in suspension or expulsion. Disciplinary
actions for employees found to have engaged in any form of harassment may result in suspension or
termination.
Calvert County Public Schools encourages all students, parents, employees, and community members to work
together to prevent any form of harassment. For further information on notice of non-discrimination, visit the
Office of Civil Rights Complaint Assessment System at: http://ocrcas.ed.gov or call 1-800-421-3481.
Table of Contents
Certification Page iii
Local Planning Team Members iv
Executive Summary 1
Finance 13
Maryland’s Goals, Objective and Strategies 15
o PARCC English Language Arts Literacy Grade 3-8 and Grade
10
o PARCC Mathematics for Grades 3-8
o PARCC Algebra I
o PARCC Algebra II
o High School Assessment Biology
o High School Assessment Government
16
27
38
41
43
46
Annual Update Assessment Administered by CCPS 50
ii
2017 Master Plan Annual Update
(Include this page as a cover to the submission indicated below.)
Master Plan Annual Update
Due: October 16, 2017
Local Education Agency Submitting this Report: Calvert County Public Schools
Address: 1305 Dares Beach Road, Prince Frederick, MD 20678
Local Point of Contact: Diane A. Workman
Telephone: 443-550-8009
E-mail: [email protected]
WE HEREBY CERTIFY that, to the best of our knowledge, the information provided in the 2017
Annual Update to our Bridge to Excellence Master Plan is correct and complete and adheres to
the requirements of the Bridge to Excellence. We further certify that this Annual Update has
been developed in consultation with members of the local education agency’s current Master Plan
Planning Team and that each member has reviewed and approved the accuracy of the information
provided in the Annual Update.
_______________________________________ ________________________
Signature of Local Superintendent of Schools Date
or Chief Executive Officer
______________________________________ ________________________
Signature of Local Point of Contact Date
iii
Local Planning Team Members
Use this page to identify the members of the school system’s Bridge to Excellence Master Plan
planning team. Please include affiliation or title where applicable.
Name Affiliation/Title
Diane Workman Point of Contact, Assistant Superintendent of Instruction
Nancy Gregory Supervisor of Special Education
Marcy Gruver Supervisor of Special Education
Christina Harris Director of Special Education
Edith Hutchins Director of Finance
Christine Jewett Supervisor of Finance
Yovonda Kolo Supervisor of High School Science, STEM, Tech Ed,
Science Fair
Cecelia Lewis Supervisor of Social Studies, Student Councils, History Fair
Janel McPhillips Supervisor of Science, PreK – Grade 8
Leanne Meisinger Supervisor of Elementary Reading
Catherine Page Supervisor of Accountability
Kimberly Roof Director of Student Services
Earl Sorsby Staff Accountant
Britta Sparks Supervisor of World Language, PE, ESOL
Janet Stephanson Supervisor of Special Education
Joe Sutton Supervisor of Secondary Math
Sandy Walker Supervisor of Equity and School Improvement
Kimberly Watts Supervisor of Secondary English, Reading, Language Arts
Jennifer Young Supervisor of Elementary Math
All Local Planning Team Members are affiliated with Calvert County Public Schools.
iv
Executive Summary
Introduction
The mission of Calvert County Public Schools (CCPS) is to produce graduates who are
responsible citizens who are prepared for college and careers. To accomplish this
mission, CCPS is committed to ensuring that through a collaborative, research–based,
decision-making process students are provided effective, purposeful instruction that
results in high-levels of learning.
During the 2016-17 school year, CCPS staff engaged in developing a Strategic Plan,
identifying five priorities. For the next several years, the work of CCPS staff will be to
support the goals and objectives as listed in the Strategic Plan. The five priorities include:
• Equity
• Student Outcomes
• Climate/Culture
• Workforce
• Community Engagement
Calvert County Public Schools’ actions and initiatives are directed toward addressing the
priorities as outlined in the Strategic Plan over the life of the Master Plan and beyond:
Priority 1: Equity
In support of this priority area, CCPS will:
• Provide equitable learning opportunities to all students in order to help
them become determined, independent, and successful learners;
• Promote a culturally responsive workforce; and
• Promote equitable allocation of resources that is transparent and is clearly
communicated.
Equity Measures for Monitoring Progress:
• A district plan will be developed
• A comprehensive communication plan will be developed and implemented
to disseminate the district equity plan to all CCPS employees and
communities
• Staff will have completed cultural competency professional development
• Staff will perceive high expectations and positive attitudes towards all
students regardless of their background
• Students will perceive high expectations and positive attitudes towards all
students regardless of their background.
Priority 2: Student Outcomes
In support of this priority area, CCPS will:
• Promote the growth for all students;
• Eliminate all achievement gaps;
Bridge to Excellence 2017 Part I 2
• Enhance opportunities for high ability learners to thrive and be
academically challenged;
• Prepare students for postsecondary education and/or career focused
options; and
• Support the expansion and integration of digital learning to enable all
students to be connected to the world and prepare them to be 21st century
learners.
Student Outcomes Measures for Monitoring Progress:
• Students in grades 3, 5, 8, and 9 will be on or above grade level in reading
• Students in grades 3, 5, 8, and 9 will be on or above grade level in
mathematics
• Students will participate in dual enrollment courses at the high school
level
• Achievement gaps of specialized populations (e.g. race, ELL, students
with disabilities, FARMS) will decrease
Priority 3: Climate and Culture
In support of this priority area, CCPS will:
• Integrate students’ social-emotional and behavioral learning into daily
instruction;
• Provide a nurturing, respectful and safe environment for all; and
• Build and nurture the wellness and morale amongst staff.
Climate and Culture Measures for Monitoring Progress:
• Students will report feeling safe at school
• Students will report that at least one adult in their school cares about them
• School suspension rates will decrease
• Parents will report that they are satisfied with the school
• Parents will feel their children are supported by teachers
Priority 4: Workforce
In support of this priority area, CCPS will:
• Enhance the diversity of the CCPS workforce
• Retain high-quality staff
• Provide staff with personalized and differentiated professional learning
enabling them to grow and increase student success
Workforce Measures for Monitoring Progress:
• The percentage of racially diverse teachers that closely match the student
populations belonging to minority groups will increase
• The percentage of staff who report leaving CCPS for a neighboring school
system will increase.
Priority 5: Community Engagement
In support of this priority area, CCPS will:
Bridge to Excellence 2017 Part I 3
• Work to ensure that all staff, families, and community businesses and
organizations are actively engaged with the district as advocates, allies and
partners to increase equity, access, and results for all students
Community Engagement Measures for Monitoring Progress:
• The percentage of students who are receiving industry or business
experiences through internships or working partnerships will increase
• The percentage of schools in the district that have a parent involvement
organization or business partner will increase
• The number of opportunities for community members to meet with Board
members (and provide feedback on district initiatives) outside of the
Board meetings (e.g. through Board chats, Board coffees, or rotation of
location of Board meetings) will increase
• The number of school-business partnerships developed will increase
• The number of community mentors volunteering in the schools will
increase
As we continue to further develop our specific measures for monitoring progress, we will
also continue to identify, plan for and implement new initiatives in order to meet the
priorities of the strategic plan. Initiatives and strategies implemented to date to address
the priority areas include:
1. Equity:
a. The CCPS created and filled a new position for a Supervisor of Equity, for the
2016-17 school year.
b. A new policy, dedicated to equity was written and approved by the Board of
Education. Resources have been allocated to support the policy.
c. All schools have an Equity Team, comprised of a representative sampling of staff.
One representative from each team meets monthly with the Supervisor of Equity
to plan and develop professional development. These professional development
lessons will be shared in the schools by the Equity teams.
d. The District Equity Team has created lesson plans which will be presented to all
staff in faculty meetings during the 2017-18 school year.
e. The Supervisor of Equity has collaborated with the Director of Human Resources
to recruit certificated minority staff to fill vacancies for teachers and
administrators.
f. The Supervisor of Equity and other key staff members meet quarterly with the
Closing the Achievement Gap Coalition in an effort to address CCPS
achievement gaps.
g. The Supervisor of Equity is facilitating book studies, open to all CCPS
employees, on the Big Read, Closing the Attitude Gap.
h. The Supervisor of Equity has partnered with Concerned Black Women to develop
a student Summit focused on leadership, self-advocacy, and empowerment
i. The Supervisor of Equity has reached out to community organization leaders to
develop a community based Equity Leadership Team equipped to support and
promote equity initiatives within the school system.
Bridge to Excellence 2017 Part I 4
j. CCPS has made annual diversity training mandatory for all employees through
SafeSchools, an online learning platform.
k. The Supervisor of Equity has facilitated the collaboration of best practices and
shared resources among all Minority Achievement clubs.
l. The Supervisor of Equity and selected staff will attend state and/or national
conferences to increase their own professional capacity.
2. Student Outcomes:
a. Professional development has been provided to administrators and teachers in
unpacking the disaggregated data from PARCC, Pearson reports and other state
and local assessments. Students are being identified to participate in informal and
formal interventions. Instruction is targeted towards specific standards which have
proved to be challenging to identified students.
b. During the 2016-17 school year, CCPS began to use PreviLearn Diagnostic
assessments. Data was collected and analyzed during grade level or department
PLCs. Again, students were identified using this data to receive targeted
instruction during daily instruction or Flex Period (elementary), advisory period
or hour lunch (middle school) and hour lunch (high school).
c. CCPS has had a focus on Universal Design for Learning for the last 4 years.
Administrators and teachers have been provided with intensive and
comprehensive professional development on UDL. School Improvement Teams
have written strategies for implementing UDL into their School Improvement
Plans. Staff will continue to create and implement walk-through documents
during focused walk-throughs. A CCPS website focused on UDL has been created
and shared with administrators, teachers and parents. Planning and delivering
instruction following the tenets of UDL is an expectation.
d. All certificated staff (administrators, teachers, counselors, etc.) are required to
have an SLO or personal learning plan targeted to close a gap. Data conferences
are held with teachers, supervisors and administrators to review classroom and
student data. Teachers and administrators then collaborate to make data-driven
decisions regarding future instructional planning.
e. Dr. William Daggett, founder and president of the International Center for
Leadership in Education, provided a key note address during the 2017 A&S
Leadership Conference. Dr. Daggett is recognized for moving educational
systems towards more rigorous and relevant instructional programming. The
overarching theme for A&S professional development will be Rigorous and
Relevant Instruction.
f. CCPS continues to expand its use of SIOP strategies across the district. Evening
workshops were offered for teachers, professional development sessions were
held throughout the year at the PLC, building, and system level. SIOP strategies
were linked to ELA standards and embedded in curriculum. In addition, we
provide daily ESOL instruction to all ELs in our regional programs.
g. CCPS provides daily instruction to ELL students in regional programs. ESOL
teachers monitor EL progress through data from grade level and content teachers
as well as grade level and content assessments and ACCESS 2.0. ESOL and
content teachers collaborate through planning and during PLCs.
Bridge to Excellence 2017 Part I 5
h. The ESOL staff collaborate with content supervisors to embed SIOP strategies
into curricular resources and in providing professional development.
3. Climate & Culture:
a. Dr. Howie Knoff, leading expert on social/emotional learning, provided
professional development to all A&S members during a June training day.
b. Dr. Knoff has been contracted with to provide ongoing training and support to
identified schools to improve adult to student relationships, clearly identify
behavioral expectations, and reduce discipline referrals and suspensions and to
ultimately improve student achievement.
c. Four school social workers have been hired to support identified schools’ efforts
in improving social/emotional learning. These individuals will provide supports to
students and be the liaison between families and community resources.
d. All schools distributed climate/culture surveys with staff, students and parents
during the 2016-17 school year. Data collected will be used to develop plans of
improvement. Climate surveys will be used at the end of the 2017-18 school year
to document areas of growth and areas of needed improvement.
e. CCPS is providing Olweaus training to schools through feeder patterns as part of
a 5-year plan.
f. Training has been provided to staff and identified school(s) on Restorative
Practices
g. Differentiated staffing of school psychologist at targeted schools starting with
2017-2018 SY
4. Workforce
a. The Department of Human Resources planned and implemented a recruitment
plan which focused on recruiting minority certificated staff.
b. A teacher recruitment fair was held in April 2017 during which open contracts
were offered to highly qualified teachers.
c. The Director and Supervisor of Human Resources collaborated with the Coalition
of Closing the Achievement Gap to gain insight as to strategies to recruit and
retain minority certificated staff.
d. The CCPS Citizens Advisory Committee studied the challenge of recruiting and
retaining certificated minority staff and provided recommendations to the Board
of Education. These recommendations are currently under consideration for
implementation.
e. Under the direction of Dr. Curry, CCPS and CSM are investigating a partnership
for the recruitment of future educators.
f. The Human Resources Department is continuously exploring innovative measures
to recruit high need areas (SLP, Spec Ed, Math, World Lang, etc.) a new
recruiting process will be utilized for the 2017-2018 fiscal year.
5. Community Engagement:
a. A position of Director of Strategic Partnerships and Community Engagement
(SPCE) has been created and filled.
b. The Director of SPCE is responsible for creating a CCPS Foundation.
c. The Director of SPCE will seek out and create business partnerships to support
the initiatives of CCPS.
Bridge to Excellence 2017 Part I 6
All data reported in this Master Plan Update shows that CCPS is a high-performing
school system that has demonstrated growth in many of the state and federally-mandated
reporting areas; yet we continue to have a growing sense of urgency to move all students
to their highest levels of achievement. PARCC 2015 has provided us with baseline data
which has been compared with PARCC 2016 data and now PARCC 2017 data in order to
determine instructional implications. An analysis of the 2017 data indicates that CCPS
continues to struggle with specific sub-groups -- students with disabilities, FaRMS,
African American and ESOL. In addition to focusing on increased rigor for all students,
providing high-quality professional development to all instructional staff to ensure that
they are adequately trained to provide high-quality instruction in all content areas to all
students is a priority focus.
In order to address achievement gaps and equity and access gaps, a Supervisor of Equity
was hired in the 2016-17 school year. He was charged with providing professional
development, resources and guidance to all staff as we strive to close achievement gaps.
He has also worked closely, and will continue to work with the Department of Human
Resources to increase the hiring of minority staff. The District Equity Leadership Team
continue to meet on a consistent basis to plan for and deliver professional development to
staff. Modules have been developed which will be shared in each school during the 17-18
school year. The DELT committee is comprised of administrators and teacher leaders
who share the professional development modules in their schools.
The special education department has partnered with MSDE and the Maryland Coalition
for Inclusive Education (MCIE) to implement the MCIE Systems Change process. The
desired outcome for this partnership is increased achievement for students with
disabilities. Through our collaborative work with MCIE, three CCPS schools (Calvert
Elem., St. Leonard Elem. and Calvert Middle Schools) participated in the first phase of
systemic change. Three additional schools will be included in the project during the
2017-18 school year with the ultimate goal of training all CCPS teachers and
administrators. With a focus on installing quality instruction and intervention practices
within a multi-tiered system, CCPS proposes to improve staff capacity and strategically
change school-wide practices to demonstrate effective and high-quality inclusive
education. CCPS aims to increase access and equity for students with disabilities, funded
through an MSDE discretionary grant, federal passthrough and local funds.
The special education department has a strategic professional development plan for this
school year which is the third year of this plan. The special education department will be
offering a variety of PD to special education and general education teachers. The special
education department offers PD through a variety of means: on-line modules, face-to-
face sessions and an after-school course for MSDE credit. For special education
teachers, each school has at least two Professional Learning Community (PLC) meetings
during which the special educators participate in on-line modules created by the special
education department focused on the special education process, writing standards-based
IEPs and specialized instruction. After viewing the modules and participating in the
module activities, the following PLC provides time for special educators to process,
discuss and apply the information, as well as to discuss individual student needs. The
special education department hires and provides after school monthly training to special
education lead teachers who then serve as the facilitators in the PLCs at the schools. The
Bridge to Excellence 2017 Part I 7
lead teachers share their knowledge with their colleagues and serve as a resource for their
colleagues and the IEP Chairperson in their assigned buildings. The department of special
education, in collaboration with the department of instruction, will provide face-to-face
(F2F) trainings to all special educators and targeted general educators from each school
for two half day sessions during the school day focused on specialized instruction and
meeting the needs of diverse learners. The focus of the F2F PD is on specially designed
instruction and scaffolding instruction (funded through Local Priority Flexibility Grant).
Educators receive training as well as time to apply the information learned with support.
In the fall, the special education department will offer an after school course for MSDE
credit titled “Strategies for Teaching Struggling Learners” designed for general education
teachers funded through Local Priority Flexibility Grant. The special education
department will also have available on-line PD modules designed for general education
teachers focused on understanding executive functioning, understanding accommodations
and supports, proactive behavior strategies and understanding the IEP process.
Information and strategies learned can be directly applied to participants’ classrooms and
should impact student performance and increased inclusion of students with disabilities.
To help students in crisis return to classroom instruction sooner, Life Space Crisis
Intervention (LSCI) training has been provided to over 100 staff within CCPS including
the Behavior Development Programs. All schools/facilities have trained staff. This
interactive, therapeutic strategy has been successful in turning crisis situations into
learning opportunities for children and youth with chronic patterns of self-defeating
behaviors. This intervention has been effective in reducing suspensions, reducing time
students are in crisis, increasing time students are involved in instruction and improving
adult-student relationships. During the summer, a full-course was offered (funded
through Local Priority Flexibility Grant and local funds) and again during the school year
a full-course will be offered. Throughout the school year LSCI refreshers will be offered,
as well as trainings on components of LSCI and other de-escalation and behavior
trainings to instructional assistants on system PD days. Within the first month of school,
all staff are required to complete a SafeSchools training on De-escalation Strategies in
order to provide all staff with strategies to de-escalate students.
Calvert County Public Schools has worked strategically to transition to the Maryland
College and Career-Ready Standards (MCCRS). CCPS content supervisors have engaged
in face-to-face and online professional development in order to increase capacity of all
teachers to plan and implement lessons aligned with the MCCRS. Teachers report varied
levels of confidence in the implementation of the MCCRS. During the 2016-17 school
year, professional development sessions focused on developing a deep understanding of
the MCCRS. Teachers were provided with PD, followed by instructional coaching from
the supervisors and teacher specialists. Ongoing professional development will continue
through the 2017-18 school year with an emphasis on writing and disciplinary literacy.
Content supervisors and teacher specialists will continue to provide professional
development through after school sessions, professional learning communities, county-
wide professional development days and on Saturdays. The second annual Summer
Learning Academy for teachers was held in August 2017.
Special Education supervisors and teacher specialists are equal participants in monthly
Division of Instruction meetings where the departments of instruction and special
Bridge to Excellence 2017 Part I 8
education collaborate and co-plan. Special Education teachers routinely attend content-
specific professional development alongside general education teachers. Throughout the
school year, special education supervisors and specialists will be co-presenting with
content supervisors/specialists at various professional development sessions to help
general and special education teachers learn to implement UDL and scaffolding strategies
into classrooms and differentiate instruction to meet the needs of all learners. This will
help students with disabilities, but it will also benefit other struggling learners. All
special education teachers, including regional program teachers (e.g. behavior
development, intensive structured learning environment), will continue to be trained in
the Maryland College and Career Ready Standards, which will expand their knowledge
of content and assist them with providing greater access to the general education
curriculum for their students.
A year-long plan of providing professional development to administrators and
supervisors was developed and implemented during the 2016-17 school year. All
members chose an area of focus from one of the CCPS priority areas: Equity, UDL,
Coaching, Formative Assessment, and Future Ready. In addition, sessions will also be
provided on data analysis and leadership. This plan will continue through the 2017-18
school year. Topics will include Equity/Inclusive Practices, Climate and Culture,
Building Capacity, and Data-driven Decision Making. All sessions will include modeling
of or the integration of UDL, coaching, communication and customer service to reinforce
the topics from the 2016-17 school year.
CCPS continues to focus on the appropriate placement of students in special education.
We focus on appropriate decision-making strategies when placing students in a least
restrictive environment with the goal of increasing the percentage of students receiving
the majority of their educational services in the general education environment. Training
for administrators and general and special education teachers will be provided on-going
to focus on LRE decision-making. CCPS has implemented a web-based system to track
the fidelity of intervention delivery. This system is required for all students receiving
interventions. This will help to increase student progress, as well as to provide a more
comprehensive pre-referral/response-to-intervention system.
Budget Narrative
a. System priorities
• Equity:
o A new position for a Supervisor of Equity was added to the local
budget during FY 17. He will continue to work with the District
Equity Leadership Team (DELT) to develop professional development
modules to be delivered to school based staff during faculty meetings,
PLCs or professional development days. Funds have also been
allocated for the Supervisor of Equity and selected staff to attend state
and national conferences to develop their own capacity.
• Student Outcomes:
o In keeping with our emphasis on preserving instructional time, funds
in the unrestricted budget, originally dedicated to providing substitutes
Bridge to Excellence 2017 Part I 9
were reallocated to provide stipends for teachers to attend professional
development outside of the contractual day.
o CCPS provided professional development with an emphasis on
unpacking the MCCRS, to teachers at all levels. This focus will
continue through the 2017-18 school year. Consultants were brought in
to provide professional development to elementary teachers in reading
and writing.
• Climate/Culture:
o Social Emotional Learning has become a major focus in CCPS. During
the summer of 2017, Dr. Howie Knoff, nationally known expert, was
hired to share his expertise during a full day of training for
administrators and supervisors. Dr. Knoff will continue his work with
CCPS to focus on improving student outcomes (academic and
behavioral) at two elementary schools. Dr. Knoff will complete a
comprehensive analysis of current practice, observe in classrooms and
throughout the building and engage in conversations with school and
district leadership.
o All school based administrators are creating a plan to integrate some
aspects of social emotional learning into their school improvement
plans based on individual school’s needs.
o Four school social workers were hired for the 2017-18 school year.
These social workers will support the students and their families and
help support efforts to improve social emotional learning and the
culture and climate of a school building. These 4 social workers will
be providing supports to seven schools.
• Workforce:
o The Department of Human Resources continues to develop
recruitment plans and innovative practices to recruit staff for our high
needs content: special education, math, English/language arts,
speech/language and world language.
o A teacher recruitment fair was held in the spring in the hopes of
securing teacher candidates in our high needs content areas. Based on
feedback from staff and new teachers, the fair will be held earlier in
the school year in 2018.
Bridge to Excellence 2017 Part I 10
• Community Engagement:
o A position of Director of Strategic Partnerships and Community
Engagement (SPCE) has been created and filled. The Director of
SPCE is responsible for creating community partnerships, and mentor
opportunities for students.
A learning management system, Schoology was purchased and implemented
during the 2016-17 school year. Schoology houses digital curriculum,
professional development, and allows for student collaboration. Schoology is
being implemented in three phases. Phase 1 began in August 2017. Teachers
in phase I received training during May 2016 to provide strategies for
integrating the use of technology into daily instruction. Phase I teachers also
received a laptop for their professional use. Phase II will be implemented in
January 2018. All teachers received training on how to access curriculum in
Schoology.
All teachers will be provided with meaningful professional development to
increase capacity in providing daily instruction aligned with the MCCRS.
Teachers are provided with face to face and online professional development
to increase capacity to implement the MCRRS. Information is shared on
county-wide professional development days and during PLCs and faculty
meetings.
All employees will comply with all federal, state, and school system laws,
regulations, policies, procedures and/or guidelines.
The CCPS staff continue to use local funds to utilize online training modules
to provide easily accessible compliance training.
Security cameras are currently being installed at each of the 4 high schools in
CCPS. Following the high school implementation, middle schools will also be
equipped with cameras. Cameras have been/will be placed in common areas
within our schools.
b. Fiscal Outlook
The unrestricted operating budget for Calvert County Public Schools (CCPS)
increased by $2,821,603 for FY 2018 as a result of an increase in funding from
the Calvert County Government. At the end of FY 2017, the Board of Education
and the Board of County Commissioners agreed to a four-year funding formula
which became effective on July 1, 2017. The funding formula includes a
provision that holds CCPS harmless for declining enrollment. This means that the
local appropriation will not be decreased when student enrollment declines. This
provision is intended to aid in providing some stability and predictability in local
funding as CCPS continues to experience declining student enrollment. The
Bridge to Excellence 2017 Part I 11
funding provided by the Calvert County Government for FY 2018 exceeded
Maintenance of Effort (MOE) as a result of the implementation of the funding
formula. The local appropriation increased from $109,367,835 in FY 2017 to
$115,675,821 in FY 2018. The required contribution to the teachers’ pension for
FY 2018 is $4,994,291 (which represents a decrease of $331,712 over the original
cost calculation for the prior year). The total appropriation from the Calvert
County Government increased by $5,976,274 for FY 2018. The FY 2018
appropriation from the State of Maryland decreased by $965,339 due to one-time
funding in the amount of $1,090,580 CCPS received from the State of Maryland
in FY 2017. The purpose of the one-time funding was to provide relief from the
impact of declining enrollment on CCPS funding. Foundation Aid increased by
$524,250 in FY 2018.
Our projections indicate that annual operating costs will continue to increase. FY
2017 was the first year of a four-year labor agreement with teachers and support
staff. These employees received one step increase in FY 2017. The labor
agreement provides for one step increase and one restoration step in FY 2018 and
in FY 2019. The agreement also provides for one step increase and a 1% COLA
in FY 2020. Other factors driving the increase in operating costs continue to
include Federal mandates, State mandates, increases in health insurance costs, and
operating overhead. All costs are analyzed annually as local and state revenue
projections become available to ensure a balanced budget.
Bridge to Excellence 2017 Part I 12
Revenue and Expenditure Analysis
1. Did actual FY 2017 revenue meet expectations as anticipated in the Master Plan Update
for 2017? If not, identify the changes and the impact any changes had on the FY 2017
budget and on the system’s progress towards achieving Master Plan goals. Please include
any subsequent appropriations in your comparison table and narrative analysis.
The final FY 2017 revenues exceeded the expectations reported in the FY 2016 Master
Plan. The health insurance plan is a self-insured plan. Therefore, Calvert County Public
Schools (CCPS) is responsible for paying all claims associated with the plan. When the
funds paid by CCPS to the insurance company exceed the actual claims for the plan year,
then the insurance company issues a refund to CCPS for the excess funds paid. In FY
2017, CCPS received a refund from the health insurance company in the amount of $1.9
million for the FY 2016 plan year.
2. For each assurance area, please provide a narrative discussion of the changes in
expenditures and the impact of these changes on the Master Plan goals.
Most of the FY 2017 budget was spent as indicated in the Master Plan. However, due to
factors such as high employee turnover, low diesel fuel prices, and savings on energy
costs, CCPS experienced savings in instructional salaries, transportation costs, and
utilities for the second consecutive year. We reallocated some of the savings to meet
needs in other areas. We were able to use some of the savings to purchase textbooks with
multi-year digital licenses, security cameras for all secondary schools, and equipment
needed in operations and school facilities.
Bridge to Excellence 2017 Part I 14
English/Language Arts 2017 ELA Grades 3 - 5 1 2 3 4 5
SUBGRP n n % n % n % n % n % 4 and 5 %age
All Students 3483 261 7.5 515 14.8 881 25.3 1595 45.8 231 6.6 52.4
American Indian or Alaska Native 6 3 50 2 33.3 0 0 1 16.7 0 0 16.7
Asian 56 2 3.6 3 5.4 13 23.2 30 53.6 8 14.3 67.9
Black or African American 442 78 17.6 108 24.4 126 28.5 120 27.1 10 2.3 29.4
Hispanic/Latino of any race 209 19 9.1 36 17.2 64 30.6 79 37.8 11 5.3 43.1
Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander 4 0 0 2 50 1 25 1 25 0 0 25
White 2473 137 5.5 316 12.8 598 24.2 1244 50.3 178 7.2 57.5
Two or more races 293 22 7.5 48 16.4 79 27 120 41 24 8.2 49.2
Special Education 317 114 36 113 35.6 60 18.9 29 9.1 1 0.3 9.4
Limited English Proficient 27 6 22.2 11 40.7 9 33.3 1 3.7 0 0 3.7
Free / Reduced Meals 828 129 15.6 213 25.7 252 30.4 221 26.7 13 1.6 28.3
Title I 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
ADA 226 35 15.5 53 23.5 72 31.9 58 25.7 8 3.5 29.2
Migrant 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Special Education - Exited 68 11 16.2 14 20.6 15 22.1 26 38.2 2 2.9 41.1
Redesignated Limited English Proficient 37 3 8.1 9 24.3 16 43.2 7 18.9 2 5.4 24.3
Female 1703 97 5.7 207 12.2 387 22.7 855 50.2 157 9.2 59.4
Male 1780 164 9.2 308 17.3 494 27.8 740 41.6 74 4.2 45.8
Bridge to Excellence 2017 Part I 16
In 2017, the third year of PARCC, 52.4% of grade 3-5 students met (4) or exceeded (5)
expectations, compared to 47.3% in 2015.
Achievement gaps still persist through the new assessment battery, and challenges
exist in the following areas:
• Black or African American (n = 442): Levels 4 or 5; 29.4% (2015: 26.5%)
• Hispanic/Latino (n=209): Levels 4 or 5; 43.1% (2015: 37.9%)
• Special Education (n = 317): Levels 4 or 5; 9.4% (2015: 6.1%)
• LEP (n = 27): Levels 4 or 5; 3.7% (2015: 0%)
• FARMS (n = 828): Levels 4 or 5; 28.3% (2015: 23.2%)
• Male (n = 1780): Levels 4 or 5; 45.8% (2015: 41.3%)
Regardless of the overall performance, there continues to be a gap between subgroups
that are consistent from year to year. Although achievement increased for the overall
group, the disaggregated data revealed some consistent patterns.
• Students that are male, Hispanic/Latino, two or more races, and exited special
education tended to pass the assessments near the rate of the entire group.
• Students who are African American, or FARMS tended to pass assessments
below the rate of the entire group.
• Students who are LEP or SWD tended to pass assessments at rates that were
drastically below the rate of the entire group.
These patterns are consistent to what has been observed across our system, the state and
nation. To address these inequities, CCPS will continue to use evidence based strategies
that have been demonstrated to be effective at narrowing gaps by teaching all students,
regardless of background, gender, learning style, race, or culture.
1. Describe the changes or strategies, and the rationale for selecting the strategies and/or
evidence-based practices that will be implemented to ensure progress. Include timelines
and method(s) of measuring student progress where appropriate. Include a description of corresponding resource allocations. (LEAs should include funding targeted to changes or
adjustments in staffing, materials, or other items for a particular program, initiative, or
activity. The LEA should identify the source of the funding as restricted or unrestricted.
If the source is Federal IDEA or Title I – include the CFDA number, grant name, and
the attributable funds. Otherwise, identify the source (unrestricted or restricted) and
include attributable funds.) Refer to pages 9 and 10 to ensure your response includes
the reporting requirements for students receiving special education services and
students with Limited English Language Proficiency.
Changes or Strategies to improve gap reduction and growth:
• Purchase of The Comprehension Toolkit resource by Stephanie Harvey and Anne
Goudvis for system-wide implementation in grades two and three to provide explicit
instruction in comprehension strategies. Teachers will receive training on system-wide
Bridge to Excellence 2017 Part I 17
professional learning opportunities and throughout the school year during PLCs.
($4,500.)
• Purchase of Reading/ELA/Writing texts to support new and revised curricular
documents. Texts will support MDCCR Standards showing need of improvement on
PARCC Evidence Statements, address various genres, and promote a diversity of
cultures. ($30,000.)
• Implementation of new curricular writing units of study to address MDCCR Standards
and improve writing instruction system-wide. Blended learning courses (Annenburg
Learner), webinars, and system-wide professional development related to the writing
workshop framework of Lucy Calkins will be conducted throughout the school year.
These items will help to support the integration of seamless reading and writing
instruction. ($4,000. For workshops)
• A Writing Team with representatives from each school will meet monthly to review
curricular documents, conduct a book study, gather student writing samples, and create
teacher resources. The Writing Team will help serve as liaisons to build capacity back in
buildings. ($2,000. For workshops)
• National consultant and presenter, Kathy Bumgarner, will conduct professional
development for three days with grades three, four and five teachers including special
educators and ESOL teachers related to standards-based instruction. ESOL itinerant staff
will be included and assist teachers in revising curriculum to include best practices from
Kathy Bumgarner’s presentation and SIOP strategies. This training will start the focus of
interactive standards-based instruction in grades 3-5. (Consultant fees $5,700. and
substitutes $7,875.)
• Continued use of the online system wide assessment platform PreviLearn in grades three,
four, and five. Comprehension assessments will be administered three times to use
formative data to monitor growth on MDCCR reading standards. ($44,000.)
• A book study, Who’s Doing The Work? by Jan Burkins and Kim Yaris will be conducted
with school staffs to develop a deeper understanding of the gradual release of
responsibility model during reading workshop. Five copies of the book will be purchased
for schools and Title 1 teachers. ($1,380.)
• Learning Specialist and Content Integration Specialist positions were increased to 11
months. Specialists will meet with grade level teams during PLCs to review data,
conduct peer coaching and modeling of instructional practice, and assist with curricular
revision. Specialists will work with teacher teams during the summer to provide
professional learning opportunities and collaborate on curricular revisions. (10%
increase in salary)
• ESOL students will have access to the online resource Reading A-Z outside of the school
day to support oral language development and listening comprehension. ($327.00)
• Mr. John Dellegrotto, consultant, SLP and national speaker, will be presenting at a fall
Title 1 Family Night event on building oral language skills and strategies to get your
child reading at home. ESOL teachers will be in attendance and promote the event to
families that they serve. ($1,200.)
• Collaborative data discussions will take place during PLCs with grade levels teams to
analyze local assessment data and PARCC Evidence Statement data. These opportunities
Bridge to Excellence 2017 Part I 18
will help to build understanding of MDCCR Standards, inform instructional decisions
and help to monitor student growth toward standards.
• Implementation of a new SIOP resource that is aligned to MDCCR Standards and
provides instructional scaffolding based on language acquisition level. This resource will
support the gradual release model and strategies that will support all students to build
independence.
• Co-teaching in the content areas has proven to be an effective system wide strategy to address the achievement gap for students with disabilities, as well as to help
other struggling learners. Since the number of Co-taught classrooms continues to expand
and the pairs teaching continue to change with the teacher turn-over rate increasing, the
Inclusive Programming Teacher Specialists continue to provide initial training to
teaching pairs, which includes coaching of classroom teachers. In addition, CCPS offers
professional development to experienced co-teaching pairs; this second level of training
includes additional classroom observations and coaching discussion and focus on topics
such as differentiation, seamless instruction, student access, the appropriateness of
learning targets, and how to adjust to the more rigorous standards. Funds for the after
school training sessions are a combination of local and restricted special education funds.
Since the specialists do not evaluate teachers, but rather serve as coaches, the dialogue
can be open and supportive. In addition, the specialists are invited to present at school
staff meetings, Professional Learning Community (PLC) meetings and offer professional
development to general and special educators in multiple content areas. She also helps
schools appropriately schedule students into co-taught classrooms so there is an
appropriate mix of students for optimum learning.
• Co-teaching planning time outside of the school day is also offered. Each co-teaching
pair can submit timesheets for up to two hours each month for workshop pay. This
provides a structure for co-teachers to plan outside of the day since typically there is not
sufficient time to co-plan during the school day. The compensation is funded through
general and special education local budgets, as well as supported through restricted
special education funds (Medicaid funds).
PARCC English Language Arts/Literacy for Grades 6-8 and Grade 10:
1. Based on available PARCC data describe the challenges in English Language
Arts/Literacy for grades 6-8 and grade 10. In your response, identify challenges for
students requiring special education services, students with limited English proficiency,
and students failing to meet, or failing to make progress towards meeting State
performance standards. In the absence of State performance standards, LEAs are required
to report on any segment of the student population that is, on average, performing at a
lower achievement level than the student population as a whole. Refer to pages 9 and 10
to ensure your response includes the reporting requirements for students receiving
special education services and students with Limited English Language Proficiency.
Bridge to Excellence 2017 Part I 19
Data
2017 PARCC Assessment Performance Results – English Language Arts/Literacy for Grades 6 – 8
Student Group Level 1 Level 2 Level 3 Level 4 Level 5 Level 4 and 5
#
Tested
#
Prof.
%
Prof.
#
Prof.
%
Prof.
#
Prof.
%
Prof.
#
Prof.
%
Prof.
#
Prof.
%
Prof. % Prof.
All Students 3701 307 8.3 511 13.8 950 25.7 1466 39.6 467 12.6 52.2
American Indian or Alaska
Native 7 1 14.3 4 57.1 0 0 2 28.6 0 0 28.6
Asian 67 1 1.5 5 7.5 9 13.4 34 50.7 18 26.9 77.6
Black or African American 473 88 18.6 88 18.6 132 27.9 141 29.8 24 5.1 34.9
Hispanic/Latino of any race 207 16 7.7 34 16.4 58 28 82 39.6 17 8.2 47.8
Native Hawaiian or Other
Pacific Islander 4 0 0 0 0 2 50 2 50 0 0 50
White 2693 183 6.8 341 12.7 688 25.5 1099 40.8 382 14.2 55
Two or more races 250 18 7.2 39 15.6 61 24.4 106 42.4 26 10.4 52.8
Special Education 301 140 46.5 95 31.6 50 16.6 15 5 1 0.3 5.3
Limited English Proficient 12 3 25 6 50 2 16.7 1 8.3 0 0 8.3
Free / Reduced Meals 742 138 18.6 169 22.8 229 30.9 182 24.5 24 3.2 27.7
Title I 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
ADA 351 47 13.4 93 26.5 89 25.4 104 29.6 18 5.1 34.7
Migrant 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Special Education - Exited 63 9 14.3 20 31.7 20 31.7 11 17.5 3 4.8 22.3
Redesignated Limited English
Proficient 20 0 0 5 25 8 40 6 30 1 5 35
Female 1855 73 3.9 178 9.6 444 23.9 833 44.9 327 17.6 62.5
Male 1846 234 12.7 333 18 506 27.4 633 34.3 140 7.6 41.9
Bridge to Excellence 2017 Part I 20
Data Analysis (PARCC English Language Arts/Literacy for Grades 6-8)
The percentage of students who met or exceeded the proficiency expectations on the PARCC
Assessment for English Language Arts/Literacy for Grades 6 – 8 rose from 47.6% in 2016 to
52.2% in 2017. The percentage of students who did not meet expectations declined 4.6%.
Collectively, 75.6 % of students approached, met, or exceeded expectations.
Six student groups (Special Education, Limited English Proficient/English Learners,
Free/Reduced Meals, Black or African American, ADA, and males) with 10 or more students
performed at a lower achievement level than the All Student group.
2016 to 2017 Subgroup Comparative Data Grades 6 - 8
Student Group
Percent of Students to
Meet/Exceed Proficiency
Expectations in 2016
Percent of Students to
Meet/Exceed Proficiency
Expectations in 2017
Special Education 4.6% 5.3%
Limited English
Proficient/English Learners
10.5% 8.3%
Free/Reduced Meals 23.6% 27.7%
Black or African American 26.2% 34.9%
ADA 26% 34.7%
Males 37.6% 41.9%
The percentage of students who met and/or exceeded the proficiency expectations increased in
each of the student groups except Limited English Proficient/English Learners. (NOTE: The
number of Limited English Proficient/English Learners decreased 36.8%.)
Goals and Objectives
▪ To increase the number of students who meet or exceed the proficiency expectations on
the PARCC Assessment for English Language Arts/Literacy for Grades 6 – 8.
▪ To eliminate the gap between the All Students group and all other student groups.
Special Education
The percentage of Special Education students who met or exceeded the proficiency expectations
on the PARCC Assessment for English Language Arts/Literacy for Grades 6 – 8 rose from 4.6%
in 2016 to 5.3% in 2017.
Bridge to Excellence 2017 Part I 21
Data
2017 PARCC District Performance Level Summary – English Language Arts/Literacy for Grade 10
Bridge to Excellence 2017 Part I 22
Data Analysis (PARCC English Language Arts/Literacy for Grade 10)
The percentage of students who met or exceeded the proficiency expectations on the
PARCC Assessment for English Language Arts/Literacy Grade 10 rose from 66.6% in
2016 to 67.0% in 2017. The percentage of students who approached, met, or exceeded
expectations increased from 84.6% in 2016 to 85.6% in 2017.
Six student groups (Special Education, 504, Free/Reduced Meals, Black or African
American, Two or more races, and males) with 10 or more students performed at a lower
achievement level than the All Student group.
2016 to 2017 Subgroup Comparative Data Grade 10
Student Group
Percent of Students to
Meet/Exceed Proficiency
Expectations in 2016
Percent of Students to
Meet/Exceed Proficiency
Expectations in 2017
Special Education 13.6% 14.9%
504 50.8% 47.9%
Free/Reduced Meals 41.2% 40.5%
Black or African American 47.6% 45.7%
Two or More Races 58.5% 54.0%
Males 58.4% 59.5%
The percentage of students who met and/or exceeded the proficiency expectations
decreased in each of the identified student groups EXCEPT Special Education and Males.
Goals and Objectives
▪ To increase the number of students who meet or exceed the proficiency
expectations on the PARCC Assessment for English Language Arts/Literacy for
Grade 10.
▪ To eliminate the gap between the All Students group and all other student groups.
Special Education
The percentage of Special Education students who met or exceeded the proficiency
expectations on the PARCC Assessment for English Language Arts/Literacy for Grade
10 increased from 13.6% in 2016 to 14.9% in 2017.
Challenges
The Maryland College and Career-Ready Standards (MCCRS) pose rigorous grade-level
expectations in English Language Arts for all students. To eliminate the gap between the
All Student group and all other student groups, Secondary English, Reading, and
Language Arts will work collaboratively with all departments to specifically address the
following challenges:
Bridge to Excellence 2017 Part I 23
▪ Differentiation – Students with a variety of special needs and/or language
impairments encounter difficulties mastering the academic expectations of the
MCCRS. Therefore, CCPS teachers need targeted, recurrent training on personalized
differentiation to help students develop, access, or use skills and strategies to meet
grade-level expectations and demonstrate proficiency. Targeted professional
development will provide teachers with the tools to maintain the rigor of the MCCRS
while ensuring each child’s unique instructional needs are met. Specifically, the
challenges include the need for targeted professional development on differentiation
on accessing complex informational text, as well as intentional practices to improve
teacher-specific and student-responsive instruction in writing.
▪ Interdepartmental Collaboration –The integrative nature of MCCRS provides
opportunities for teachers (general content, Special Education, ESOL, Co-teachers,
etc.) to combine their expertise to create personalized, quality instruction that meets
the diversified needs of all learners. Interdisciplinary planning and collaboration
between the diversified staff (general content teachers, Special Education teachers,
ESOL teachers, Co-teachers, and Instructional Assistants) poses logistical and
staffing challenges that we continue to navigate.
▪ Teacher Use of Formative and Summative Data to Drive Instruction – Assessments
are measured by their ability to support teaching and learning. To close the
achievement gap between the underperforming student groups, we must ensure that
all educators are prepared to use assessment data as a tool to measure student
progress, as well as to improve individualized instruction and student learning.
▪ Co-teaching in the content areas has proven to be an effective system wide strategy to
address the achievement gap for students with disabilities, as well as to help other
struggling learners. Since the number of Co-taught classrooms continues to expand
and the pairs teaching continue to change with the teacher turn-over rate increasing,
the Inclusive Programming Teacher Specialists continue to provide initial training to
teaching pairs, which includes coaching of classroom teachers. In addition, CCPS
offers professional development to experienced co-teaching pairs; this second level of
training includes additional classroom observations and coaching discussion and
focus on topics such as differentiation, seamless instruction, student access, the
appropriateness of learning targets, and how to adjust to the more rigorous standards.
Funds for the after school training sessions are a combination of local and restricted
special education funds. Since the specialists do not evaluate teachers, but rather
serve as coaches, the dialogue can be open and supportive. In addition, the specialists
are invited to present at school staff meetings, Professional Learning Community
(PLC) meetings and offer professional development to general and special educators
in multiple content areas. She also helps schools appropriately schedule students into
co-taught classrooms so there is an appropriate mix of students for optimum learning.
▪ Co-teaching planning time outside of the school day is also offered. Each co-teaching
pair can submit timesheets for up to two hours each month for workshop pay. This
provides a structure for co-teachers to plan outside of the day since typically there is
not sufficient time to co-plan during the school day. The compensation is funded
Bridge to Excellence 2017 Part I 24
through general and special education local budgets, as well as supported through
restricted special education funds (Medicaid funds).
2. Describe the changes or strategies, and the rationale for selecting the strategies and/or
evidence-based practices that will be implemented to ensure progress. Include timelines and
method(s) of measuring student progress where appropriate. Include a description of
corresponding resource allocations. (LEAs should include funding targeted to changes or
adjustments in staffing, materials, or other items for a particular program, initiative, or
activity. The LEA should identify the source of the funding as restricted or unrestricted.
If the source is Federal IDEA or Title I – include the CFDA number, grant name, and the
attributable funds. Otherwise, identify the source (unrestricted or restricted) and include
attributable funds.) Refer to pages 9 and 10 to ensure your response includes the
reporting requirements for students receiving special education services and students
with Limited English Language Proficiency.
Strategies
▪ Conduct a comprehensive program evaluation targeting the following components of
secondary English, Reading, and Language Arts: Curricular Frameworks, Assessments,
Equity, and Professional Development.
▪ Establish a community of practice through leadership, shared responsibility, and professional
collaboration with each school’s English Language Arts department. Develop and implement
a consistent data analysis structure/protocol for departmental data meetings utilizing student
assessments and student work samples.
▪ Establish SY 2017 – 2018 departmental goals and expectations targeting intentional practices
for improving teacher-specific and student-responsive instruction. Provide professional
development opportunities and resources to enhance the use of diversified formative
assessment in instruction. Ensure all teachers understand the formative assessment process
and the corresponding instructional implications.
▪ Provide increased professional development opportunities for all teachers targeting student
differentiation and personalization in reading and writing instruction.
▪ Provide additional instructional opportunities to build effective collaboration between the
Special Education, ESOL, Co-Teachers, Instructional Assistants, and general content
teachers; Continue to promote and train teachers in UDL practices and
scaffolding/enrichment strategies for Mental Engagement in order to reach students at all
levels.
▪ Continue to build and implement instructional practices introduced in the SY 2016 –
2017 book study of Kylene Beers/Robert Probst’s Reading Nonfiction: Signposts and
Questions. Model implementation, monitor progress, and share close reading strategies
for informational text.
Bridge to Excellence 2017 Part I 25
▪ Research and identify assessment tools for educators that will feature sample test
questions, allowing teachers to periodically measure and assess their students throughout
the year using activities that mirror the PARCC tasks to ensure they are on track for the
end-of-year assessments. Create online PARCC toolkits and webinars through Schoology
to inform educators on how to support daily instruction through the cycle of teaching and
learning.
▪ Pilot Study Sync program to determine the platform’s effectiveness in using formative
assessments that are aligned to MCCR Standards in English classes.
▪ Work collaboratively with all ELA teams; attend collaborative team meetings each week
in order to provide professional development in content and pedagogy.
Funding
The unrestricted budget for SY 2017 – 2018 includes the following:
▪ General substitutes / Coverage: $6,130.50
▪ Stipends / Extra Duty Extra Pay - $5,200
▪ Staff Development / Professional Meetings: $7,500
▪ Materials of Instruction: $26,875.00
▪ Secondary ELA Workshops: $15,960
Bridge to Excellence 2017 Part I 26
PARCC Mathematics for Grades 3-5:
1. Based on available PARCC data, describe the challenges in Mathematics for grades
3-8. In your response, identify challenges for students requiring special education
services, students with limited English proficiency, and students failing to meet, or failing
to make progress towards meeting State performance standards. In the absence of State
performance standards, LEAs are required to report on any segment of the student
population that is, on average, performing at a lower achievement level than the student
population as a whole. Refer to pages 9 and 10 to ensure your response includes the
reporting requirements for students receiving special education services and
students with Limited English Language Proficiency.
Bridge to Excellence 2017 Part I 27
Mathematics Grades 3-5 2017 PARCC
1 2 3 4 5
SUBGRP n n % n % n % n % n % 4 and 5
All Students 3484 210 6 471 13.5 887 25.5 1508 43.3 408 11.7 55
American Indian or Alaska Native 6 2 33.3 2 33.3 0 0 2 33.3 0 0 33.3
Asian 57 0 0 1 1.8 12 21.1 30 52.6 14 24.6 77.2
Black or African American 442 68 15.4 107 24.2 135 30.5 121 27.4 11 2.5 29.9
Hispanic/Latino of any race 212 22 10.4 27 12.7 67 31.6 76 35.8 20 9.4 45.2
Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander 4 0 0 0 0 2 50 1 25 1 25 50
White 2471 102 4.1 275 11.1 598 24.2 1161 47 335 13.6 60.6
Two or more races 292 16 5.5 59 20.2 73 25 117 40.1 27 9.2 49.3
Special Education 316 99 31.3 104 32.9 67 21.2 44 13.9 2 0.6 14.5
Limited English Proficient 32 9 28.1 6 18.8 12 37.5 4 12.5 1 3.1 15.6
Free / Reduced Meals 827 122 14.8 202 24.4 247 29.9 230 27.8 26 3.1 30.9
Title I 5 1 20 0 0 2 40 1 20 1 20 40
ADA 225 26 11.6 47 20.9 66 29.3 71 31.6 15 6.7 38.3
Migrant 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Special Education - Exited 68 8 11.8 10 14.7 18 26.5 26 38.2 6 8.8 47
Redesignated Limited English Proficient 37 1 2.7 9 24.3 11 29.7 14 37.8 2 5.4 43.2
Female 1702 89 5.2 235 13.8 441 25.9 720 42.3 217 12.7 55
Male 1782 121 6.8 236 13.2 446 25 788 44.2 191 10.7 54.9
Bridge to Excellence 2017 Part I 28
In 2017, the third year of PARCC, 55% of students met (4) or exceeded (5) expectations,
compared to 44.9% in 2015.
Achievement gaps still persist through the new assessment battery, and challenges exist
in the following areas:
• Black or African American (n = 442): met or exceeded; 29.9% (2015: 20.8%)
• Hispanic/Latino of any race (n = 212) met or exceeded; 45.2% (2015: 38.2%)
• Two or more races (n = 292): met or exceeded; 49.3% (2015: 40.7%)
• Special Education (n = 316): met or exceeded; 14.5% (2015: 6.4%)
• LEP (n = 32): met or exceeded; 15.6% (2015: 3.0%)
• FARMS (n = 827): met or exceeded; 30.9% (2015: 20.3%)
2. Describe the changes or strategies, and the rationale for selecting the strategies and/or
evidence-based practices that will be implemented to ensure progress. Include timelines
and method(s) of measuring student progress where appropriate. Include a description of
corresponding resource allocations. (LEAs should include funding targeted to changes or
adjustments in staffing, materials, or other items for a particular program, initiative, or
activity. The LEA should identify the source of the funding as restricted or unrestricted.
If the source is Federal IDEA or Title I – include the CFDA number, grant name, and
the attributable funds. Otherwise, identify the source (unrestricted or restricted) and
include attributable funds. Refer to pages 9 and 10 to ensure your response includes
the reporting requirements for students receiving special education services and
students with Limited English Language Proficiency.
Mathematics Leadership Team
• September-June, meets after school, 2-hour sessions (workshop pay).
• Grade level teams review instructional organizers, identify new instructional
resources (print and electronic), and alignment of assessments and their alignment
to instructional practices and the content standards.
• Participation is voluntary with each grade level team having between 5-10
members.
Best Practices in Mathematics Sessions
• Full day session where teachers new to math have the opportunity to spend the
day with a master teacher at their grade level. Focus for the session is the major
content of the grade, the overall structure of the math block, and grade level
specific instructional strategies.
• After school sessions, for each grade level (2 hours each) where master teachers
meet with specific grade level teachers to review upcoming instructional modules.
Specific focus for the session is on what do the standards mean, what does
proficiency in the standards look like, instructional strategies and materials should
be used and the instructional resources/activities that align with the standards.
• Designed to assist teachers in deepening their understanding of the content
standards and use of identified effective instructional practices.
Bridge to Excellence 2017 Part I 29
On-Line Math Adaptive Software
• Continue to provide access to DreamBox Learning to all elementary schools to
support differentiated instruction in mathematics.
• DreamBox Learning is an online adaptive, software that focuses on mathematics
education at the elementary level.
• Software provides individualized learning paths, builds conceptual understanding
and procedural fluency.
• Students have access to the software at school and at home or any location with
internet access.
• Data is available to classroom teacher through DreamBox which examines time in
task, student growth and areas needing attention.
Co-teaching
• Co-teaching in the content areas has proven to be an effective system wide
strategy to address the achievement gap for students with disabilities, as well as to
help other struggling learners. Since the number of Co-taught classrooms
continues to expand and the pairs teaching continue to change with the teacher
turn-over rate increasing, the Inclusive Programming Teacher Specialists continue
to provide initial training to teaching pairs, which includes coaching of classroom
teachers. In addition, CCPS offers professional development to experienced co-
teaching pairs; this second level of training includes additional classroom
observations and coaching discussion and focus on topics such as differentiation,
seamless instruction, student access, the appropriateness of learning targets, and
how to adjust to the more rigorous standards. Funds for the after school training
sessions are a combination of local and restricted special education funds. Since
the specialists do not evaluate teachers, but rather serve as coaches, the dialogue
can be open and supportive. In addition, the specialists are invited to present at
school staff meetings, Professional Learning Community (PLC) meetings and
offer professional development to general and special educators in multiple
content areas. She also helps schools appropriately schedule students into co-
taught classrooms so there is an appropriate mix of students for optimum learning.
• Co-teaching planning time outside of the school day is also offered. Each co-
teaching pair can submit timesheets for up to two hours each month for workshop
pay. This provides a structure for co-teachers to plan outside of the day since
typically there is not sufficient time to co-plan during the school day. The
compensation is funded through general and special education local budgets, as
well as supported through restricted special education funds (Medicaid funds).
Benchmarks and Formative Assessments
• Grades 2-5 will continue to use PreviLearn, an online assessment platform.
Assessments are to be administered in the areas of math fluency and math
comprehension in September, December, January and June. This online platform
is also available for teacher use throughout the school year as a means to
formatively assess and predict student progress and proficiency.
• Grades PK-2 will continue to administer the NST (Numeracy Screening Tool), a
locally developed assessment that measures student level of proficiency on the
Bridge to Excellence 2017 Part I 30
critical learn phases of numeracy as identified by Kathy Richardson. The NST is
administered in September/October, December, February and June.
Data Analysis
• Instructional tools have been developed for Benchmark and Local Assessment,
and will continue to be used to assist teachers and grade level teams as they work
to close the instruction/data loop. Tools have been developed that guide the
disaggregation the student data and assist teachers in their formation of targeted
instructional groups.
o Math Supervisor and Math Learning Specialist will continue to meet with
grade level teams during PLCs to analyze their assessment data and plan
for targeted instruction.
• School Data Chats- Following the administration of Benchmarks, data chats will
be held with focus schools to assist with the monitoring of School Improvement
Plan Goals and Title I focus areas.
o Team members include content supervisor, building leadership team,
mathematics learning specialists, and Title I Staff
o Team will discuss school performance/grade level proficiency status
identifying school performance compared to district and classroom
performance related to school performance.
o Math Supervisor and Math Learning Specialist will also work with grade
level teams within individual schools as they analyze PARCC data,
specifically the Evidence Statements and their impact on instruction and
instructional practice.
• Changes in unrestricted budget from SY17 to SY18 include:
o Learning Specialist increased from 10-month employee to 11-month
employee (10% increase in salary)
o A decrease substitute budget from $14,100 to $9,000 to support the
district priority to keep classroom teachers in the classroom during
the school day. Some funds will be used to support teacher
attendance at the NCTM conference to be held in Washington, DC
this year.
o A decrease in workshop budget from $42,000 to $29,000 which will
primarily be used to support afterschool and weekend opportunities
for teachers to work with grade level master teachers in deepening
their understanding of the content.
o An increase in materials of instruction from $15,000 to $59,000
which includes the acquisition of PreviLearn our on-line assessment
system.
o An increase in professional meetings budget from $0 to $10,800 in
order to have our presenters experience a variety of sessions to bring
back to CCPS for use in county to provide for conference-style PD as
well as attendance at the NCTM national conference to be held in
Washington, DC this year.
o A decrease in printing and curriculum(textbooks) budget from $80,00
to $70,00 which reflects the signing of a 3-year deal with DreamBox
which dramatically reduced the overall cost.
Bridge to Excellence 2017 Part I 31
PARCC Mathematics for Grades 6-8:
1. Based on available PARCC data, describe the challenges in Mathematics for grades 3-8. In
your response, identify challenges for students requiring special education services, students
with limited English proficiency, and students failing to meet, or failing to make progress
towards meeting State performance standards. In the absence of State performance standards,
LEAs are required to report on any segment of the student population that is, on average,
performing at a lower achievement level than the student population as a whole. Refer to
pages 9 and 10 to ensure your response includes the reporting requirements for
students receiving special education services and students with Limited English
Language Proficiency.
Bridge to Excellence 2017 Part I 32
2017 Math 6 - 8
1 2 3 4 5
SUBGRP n n % n % n % n % n % 4 and 5
All Students 3126 336 10.7 647 20.7 1066 34.1 938 30 139 4.4 34.4
American Indian or Alaska Native 7 2 28.6 1 14.3 2 28.6 2 28.6 0 0 28.6
Asian 51 0 0 5 9.8 14 27.5 26 51 6 11.8 62.8
Black or African American 430 94 21.9 132 30.7 135 31.4 63 14.7 6 1.4 16.1
Hispanic/Latino of any race 178 24 13.5 43 24.2 50 28.1 53 29.8 8 4.5 34.3
Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander 4 1 25 0 0 2 50 1 25 0 0 25
White 2250 195 8.7 424 18.8 782 34.8 739 32.8 110 4.9 37.7
Two or more races 206 20 9.7 42 20.4 81 39.3 54 26.2 9 4.4 30.6
Special Education 296 133 44.9 107 36.1 46 15.5 8 2.7 2 0.7 3.4
Limited English Proficient 17 6 35.3 7 41.2 2 11.8 2 11.8 0 0 11.8
Free / Reduced Meals 693 152 21.9 211 30.4 226 32.6 98 14.1 6 0.9 15
Title I 6 4 66.7 0 0 0 0 2 33.3 0 0 33.3
ADA 327 48 14.7 93 28.4 111 33.9 70 21.4 5 1.5 22.9
Migrant 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Special Education - Exited 59 10 16.9 25 42.4 14 23.7 10 16.9 0 0 16.9
Redesignated Limited English Proficient 18 2 11.1 6 33.3 6 33.3 4 22.2 0 0 22.2
Female 1521 136 8.9 304 20 531 34.9 477 31.4 73 4.8 36.2
Male 1605 200 12.5 343 21.4 535 33.3 461 28.7 66 4.1 32.8
Bridge to Excellence 2017 Part I 33
With three years of PARCC data, we’re able to show positive trends. In 2017, the third
year of PARCC, 34.4% of Math 6 – Math 8 students met (4) or exceeded (5)
expectations, compared to 20.1% in 2015. In all, 68.5% approached, met, or exceeded (3,
4, 5) expectations, compared to 57.8% in 2015.
Achievement gaps still persist through the new assessment battery, and challenges exist
in the following areas:
• American Indian or Alaska Native (n = 7): Levels 4 and 5: 28.6% (2015: 0%),
Levels 3, 4, and 5: 57.2% (2015: 60%)
• Black or African American (n = 430): Levels 4 and 5; 16.1% (2015: 8.5%),
Levels 3, 4, and 5: 47.5% (2015: 34.7%)
• Hispanic/Latino of any race (n = 178) has almost closed: Levels 4 and 5; 34.3%
(2015: 15.1%), Levels 3, 4, and 5: 62.4% (2015: 50.7%).
• Two or more races (n = 206): Levels 4 and 5; 30.6% (2015: 19.1%), Levels 3, 4,
and 5: 69.9% (2015: 60.1%)
• Special Education (n = 296): Levels 4 and 5; 3.4% (2015: 3.6%), Levels 3, 4, and
5: 18.9% (2015: 16.9%)
• LEP (n = 17): Levels 4 and 5; 11.8% (2015: 8.7%), Levels 3, 4, and 5: 23.6%
(2015: 17.4%)
• FARMS (n = 693): Levels 4 and 5; 15% (2015: 9.7%), Levels 3, 4, and 5: 47.6%
(2015: 41.5%)
• Male (n = 1605): Levels 4 and 5; 32.8% (2015: 17.6%), Levels 3, 4, and 5: 66.1%
(2015: 54.3%)
Challenges:
One point to be made at all three levels with IEP students (and the pattern is evident in
other underperforming groups, such as African American and LEP) is that they’re not
failing to make progress toward state performance standards. In fact, they are making
very similar gains to the larger group, when looking at PARCC scores from two years
ago compared with PARCC scores from last year:
Gen. Ed
Bridge to Excellence 2017 Part I 34
The chart above shows growth of our students with disabilities compared to students without
disabilities. The color coding defines growth or students: dark blue = a student who
progressed 2 proficiency levels on PARCC, light blue = growth of 1 level, green = students
scoring on the same level and red shows a decrease in proficiency. A challenge is that
students in this group, as a whole, have lagged behind the whole group in the past. After
years of lagging growth, they were able to nearly close (but not reverse) the “growth gap”
last year. CCPS continues to work to find ways to grow these students by more than one
year during a single school year to help them catch up to a level that would be on pace for
college and career readiness.
These students have relatively less flexible time in their schedules with which to target math
intervention or acceleration. Students that struggle in math often also struggle in reading.
CCPS has a practice to prioritize reading, as well as any language support or other supports
related to a disability or second language acquisition, because these foundational skills help
students interact in all other content areas. This does pose a challenge to find opportunities
for students to earn the extra math support that would be needed to make more than the one
year of growth that is necessary for students that currently find themselves behind to progress
toward college and career readiness.
2. Describe the changes or strategies, and the rationale for selecting the strategies and/or
evidence-based practices that will be implemented to ensure progress. Include timelines and
method(s) of measuring student progress where appropriate. Include a description of
corresponding resource allocations. (LEAs should include funding targeted to changes or
adjustments in staffing, materials, or other items for a particular program, initiative, or
activity. The LEA should identify the source of the funding as restricted or unrestricted. If
the source is restricted IDEA, Title I or ARRA funding – include the CFDA number, grant
name, and the attributable funds. Otherwise, identify the source as unrestricted and include
attributable funds.) Refer to pages 9 and 10 to ensure your response includes the
reporting requirements for students receiving special education services and students
with Limited English Language Proficiency.
• The Middle School Math Learning specialist works with the Secondary Mathematics
Supervisor to support mathematics professional development through system wide PD,
department meetings, facilitating online professional development modules, and other
professional development opportunities provided by principals. She will support teachers
by providing professional development to identified general and special education
teachers and ESOL teachers to work on instructional strategies, content understanding,
data analysis, and effective use of flex grouping. The purpose of this professional
development is to ensure Mathematics for All, the idea that each child’s unique
instructional needs are met. In addition, she supports the middle schools in implementing
the strategies identified in the School Improvement Plan. She serves as a member of the
EEA math team and participates in multiple curriculum and assessment writing
workshops.
• In 2014, the Secondary Math Learning Specialist worked with middle school teachers to
build content understanding. In 2015, professional development expanded to real-world
application of concepts in the area of statistics. In 2016, the Secondary Math Learning
Specialist led teams of teachers through a year of content study. In 2017, the learning
specialist will continue to lead special education and general education teachers through
Bridge to Excellence 2017 Part I 35
data-driven content explorations, using evidence statement tables provided by PARCC to
identify content and pedagogical strategies for increasing all students’ access to
mathematics at the rigorous level measured with the PARCC assessment. One of the key
standards of both NCTM Principles to Action and TRU is deep content knowledge of
teachers.
• At targeted middle schools, the Secondary Math Supervisor had detailed conversations
with individual teachers as well as at team meetings about how to change classroom
instructional practices to meet the needs of all students. The conversation focused on the
use of flex grouping, use of rich tasks, discussion and reading strategies, and other
pedagogy to best meet the needs of struggling learners in the classroom. Teachers
analyzed data, discussed evidence of learning or lack of learning, explored possible
instructional strategies, and adjusted instruction to address the greatest areas of need.
Immediate, data-driven feedback is established and accepted as a best practice in
education.
• Use of Agile Mind curriculum will continue to be a practice. An analysis of PARCC
results showed that Agile Mind was an effective program, and moreover, teachers’ use of
the program within our middle school buildings was positively correlated with PARCC
scores. Internal data review has indicated that the better alignment of curriculum with
MCCRS and accompanying lessons, lesson planning guides, and PD will help round out
instruction to serve more than just the median student. This expansion of instruction to
focus on all should have effects on our lower-performing subgroups of students, as they
often are less represented in CCPS and CCPS math courses.
• Co-teaching in the content areas has proven to be an effective system wide strategy to
address the achievement gap for students with disabilities, as well as to help other
struggling learners. Since the number of Co-taught classrooms continues to expand and
the pairs teaching continue to change with the teacher turn-over rate increasing, the
Inclusive Programming Teacher Specialists continue to provide initial training to
teaching pairs, which includes coaching of classroom teachers. In addition, CCPS offers
professional development to experienced co-teaching pairs; this second level of training
includes additional classroom observations and coaching discussion and focus on topics
such as differentiation, seamless instruction, student access, the appropriateness of
learning targets, and how to adjust to the more rigorous standards. Funds for the after
school training sessions are a combination of local and restricted special education funds.
Since the specialists do not evaluate teachers, but rather serve as coaches, the dialogue
can be open and supportive. In addition, the specialists are invited to present at school
staff meetings, Professional Learning Community (PLC) meetings and offer professional
development to general and special educators in multiple content areas. She also helps
schools appropriately schedule students into co-taught classrooms so there is an
appropriate mix of students for optimum learning.
• Co-teaching planning time outside of the school day is also offered. Each co-teaching
pair can submit timesheets for up to two hours each month for workshop pay. This
provides a structure for co-teachers to plan outside of the day since typically there is not
sufficient time to co-plan during the school day. The compensation is funded through
general and special education local budgets, as well as supported through restricted
special education funds (Medicaid funds).
Bridge to Excellence 2017 Part I 36
• Changes in unrestricted budget from 2014-2015 to 2017-2018 include:
o A decrease in substitute budget from $13,268 to $2,745 in order to keep teachers
in classrooms with students for more time.
o A decrease in workshop budget from $54,900 to $36,800 to make financial
flexibility to start adopting curricula that are more robust and better aligned with
PARCC, MCCRS, and NCTM Principles to Action.
o A decrease in materials of instruction from $15,000 to $2,000 to make financial
flexibility to start adopting curricula that are more robust and better aligned with
PARCC, MCCRS, and NCTM Principles to Action.
o An increase in professional meetings budget from $0 to $3,400 in order to have
our presenters experience a variety of sessions to bring back to CCPS for use in
county to provide for conference-style PD.
o An increase in printing and curriculum budget from $109,083 to $141,215 in
order to provide teachers with curricular materials that ensure equity and
mathematics learning for all.
Bridge to Excellence 2017 Part I 37
PARCC Algebra I
1. Based on available PARCC data, describe the challenges in Algebra I. In your response,
identify challenges for students requiring special education services, students with limited
English proficiency, and students failing to meet, or failing to make progress towards
meeting State performance standards. In the absence of State performance standards,
LEAs are required to report on any segment of the student population that is, on average,
performing at a lower achievement level than the student population as a whole. Refer to
pages 9 and 10 to ensure your response includes the reporting requirements for
students receiving special education services and students with Limited English
Language Proficiency.
Bridge to Excellence 2017 Part I 38
2017
1 2 3 4 5 SUBGRP n n % n % n % n % n % 4 and 5
All Students 1296 41 3.2 191 14.7 411 31.7 631 48.7 22 1.7 50.4
American Indian or Alaska Native 2 0 0 2 100 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Asian 25 1 4 1 4 7 28 15 60 1 4 64
Black or African American 176 15 8.5 47 26.7 68 38.6 45 25.6 1 0.6 26.2
Hispanic/Latino of any race 84 1 1.2 21 25 27 32.1 35 41.7 0 0 41.7
Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
White 911 22 2.4 105 11.5 284 31.2 483 53 17 1.9 54.9
Two or more races 98 2 2 15 15.3 25 25.5 53 54.1 3 3.1 57.2
Special Education 91 14 15.4 34 37.4 29 31.9 14 15.4 0 0 15.4
Limited English Proficient 15 0 0 5 33.3 7 46.7 3 20 0 0 20
Free / Reduced Meals 252 21 8.3 61 24.2 100 39.7 68 27 2 0.8 27.8
Title I 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 100 0 0 100
ADA 118 4 3.4 25 21.2 49 41.5 38 32.2 2 1.7 33.9
Migrant 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Special Education - Exited 21 2 9.5 6 28.6 5 23.8 7 33.3 1 4.8 38.1
Redesignated Limited English Proficient 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 66.7 1 33.3 100
Female 685 21 3.1 93 13.6 215 31.4 347 50.7 9 1.3 52
Male 611 20 3.3 98 16 196 32.1 284 46.5 13 2.1 48.6
Bridge to Excellence 2017 Part I 39
In 2017, the third year of PARCC, 50.4% of Algebra I students met (4) or exceeded (5)
expectations (2015: 29.4%). In all, 82.1% approached, met, or exceeded (3, 4, 5)
expectations (2015: 71.5%).
Achievement gaps still persist through the new assessment battery, and challenges exist
in the following areas:
• Black or African American (n = 189): Levels 4 and 5; 26.2% (2015: 14.8%),
Levels 3, 4, and 5: 64.8% (2015: 49.7%).
• Hispanic (n = 84): Levels 4 and 5; 41.7% (2015: not identified), Levels 3, 4, and
5: 73.8% (2015: not identified).
• Special Education (n = 91): Levels 4 and 5; 15.4% (2015: 6.7%), Levels 3, 4, and
5: 47.3% (2015: 21.4%).
• LEP (n = 15): Levels 4 and 5; 20% (2015: 0%), Levels 3, 4, and 5: 66.7% (2015:
0%)
• FARMS (n = 252): Levels 4 and 5; 27.8% (2015: 13.0%), Levels 3, 4, and 5:
67.5% (2015: 55.0%)
• Male (n = 611): Levels 4 and 5; 48.6% (2015: 28.3%), Levels 3, 4, and 5: 80.7%
(2015: 69.4%)
Challenges:
One point to be made at all three levels with IEP students (and the pattern is evident in
other underperforming groups, such as African American and LEP) is that they’re not
failing to make progress toward state performance standards. In fact, they are making
very similar gains to the larger group, when looking at PARCC scores from two years
ago compared with PARCC scores from last year:
Gen. Ed
Bridge to Excellence 2017 Part I 40
A challenge is that they have lagged behind the whole group in the past. After years of
lagging growth, they were able to nearly close (but not reverse) the “growth gap” last
year. CCPS continues to work to find ways to grow these students by more than one year
during a single school year to help them catch up to a level that would be on pace for
college and career readiness.
These students have relatively less flexible time in their schedules with which to target
math intervention or acceleration. Students that struggle in math often also struggle in
reading. CCPS has a practice to prioritize reading, as well as any language support or
other supports related to a disability or second language acquisition, because these
foundational skills help students interact in all other content areas. This does pose a
challenge to find opportunities for students to earn the extra math support that would be
needed to make more than the one year of growth that is necessary for students that
currently find themselves behind to progress toward college and career readiness.
2. Describe the changes or strategies, and the rationale for selecting the strategies and/or
evidence-based practices that will be implemented to ensure progress. Include timelines
and method(s) of measuring student progress where appropriate. Include a description of
corresponding resource allocations. (LEAs should include funding targeted to changes or
adjustments in staffing, materials, or other items for a particular program, initiative, or
activity. The LEA should identify the source of the funding as restricted or unrestricted.
If the source is Federal IDEA or Title I – include the CFDA number, grant name, and
the attributable funds. Otherwise, identify the source (unrestricted or restricted) and
include attributable funds. Refer to pages 9 and 10 to ensure your response includes
the reporting requirements for students receiving special education services and
students with Limited English Language Proficiency.
PARCC Algebra II (Optional Reporting)
1. Based on available PARCC data, describe the challenges in Algebra II. In your response,
identify challenges for students requiring special education services, students with limited
English proficiency, and students failing to meet, or failing to make progress towards
meeting State performance standards. In the absence of State performance standards,
LEAs are required to report on any segment of the student population that is, on average,
performing at a lower achievement level than the student population as a whole.
2. Describe the changes or strategies, and the rationale for selecting the strategies and/or
evidence-based practices that will be implemented to ensure progress. Include timelines
and method(s) of measuring student progress where appropriate. Include a description of
corresponding resource allocations. (LEAs should include funding targeted to changes or
adjustments in staffing, materials, or other items for a particular program, initiative, or
activity. The LEA should identify the source of the funding as restricted or unrestricted.
If the source is Federal IDEA or Title I – include the CFDA number, grant name, and
the attributable funds. Otherwise, identify the source (unrestricted or restricted) and
include attributable funds. Refer to pages 9 and 10 to ensure your response includes
the reporting requirements for students receiving special education services and
students with Limited English Language Proficiency.
• Algebra teams will move toward joint planning for collaborative work to move
instruction forward. Algebra Core leads will use classroom data in order to identify
Bridge to Excellence 2017 Part I 41
targeted learners who have not yet met expectations and help teachers adjust instruction
to meet specific learner needs. Collaborative planning has been established and
identified by NCTM as an effective use of resources.
• The secondary learning specialist will continue to attend one collaborative team meeting
each week in order to provide professional development in content and pedagogy. This
support will help to connect the four teams, and give the individual teams degrees of
being one large collaborative team, when necessary.
• An Intensified Algebra Pilot will be used in 2017 – 2018 with the approximately 35
neediest Algebra I students in two buildings, CHS and NHS. An analysis of PARCC
results showed that Agile Mind was an effective program, and moreover, teachers’ use of
the program within our middle school buildings was positively correlated with PARCC
scores. Internal data review has indicated that the better alignment of curriculum with
MCCRS and accompanying lessons, lesson planning guides, and PD will help round out
instruction to serve more than just the median student. This expansion of instruction to
focus on all should have effects on our subgroups of students who have not yet met
expectations, as they often are less represented in CCPS and CCPS math courses.
• Core Leads will continue to lead all teachers of mathematics through data-driven content
explorations, using evidence statement tables provided by PARCC. The purpose of this
professional development is to ensure Mathematics for All, the idea that each child’s
unique instructional needs are met We know that data-driven professional learning and
instruction is more effective for students.
• Co-teaching in the content areas has proven to be an effective system wide strategy to
address the achievement gap for students with disabilities, as well as to help other
struggling learners. Since the number of Co-taught classrooms continues to expand and
the pairs teaching continue to change with the teacher turn-over rate increasing, the
Inclusive Programming Teacher Specialists continue to provide initial training to
teaching pairs, which includes coaching of classroom teachers. In addition, CCPS offers
professional development to experienced co-teaching pairs; this second level of training
includes additional classroom observations and coaching discussion and focus on topics
such as differentiation, seamless instruction, student access, the appropriateness of
learning targets, and how to adjust to the more rigorous standards. Funds for the after
school training sessions are a combination of local and restricted special education funds.
Since the specialists do not evaluate teachers, but rather serve as coaches, the dialogue
can be open and supportive. In addition, the specialists are invited to present at school
staff meetings, Professional Learning Community (PLC) meetings and offer professional
development to general and special educators in multiple content areas. She also helps
schools appropriately schedule students into co-taught classrooms so there is an
appropriate mix of students for optimum learning.
• Co-teaching planning time outside of the school day is also offered. Each co-teaching
pair can submit timesheets for up to two hours each month for workshop pay. This
provides a structure for co-teachers to plan outside of the day since typically there is not
sufficient time to co-plan during the school day. The compensation is funded through
general and special education local budgets, as well as supported through restricted
special education funds (Medicaid funds).
• Changes in unrestricted budget from 2014-2015 to 2017 - 2018 include:
o A decrease in substitute budget from $13,268 to $2,745 in order to keep teachers
in classrooms with students for more time.
Bridge to Excellence 2017 Part I 42
o A decrease in workshop budget from $54,900 to $36,800 to make financial
flexibility to start adopting curricula that are more robust and better aligned with
PARCC, MCCRS, and NCTM Principles to Action.
o A decrease in materials of instruction from $15,000 to $2,000 to make financial
flexibility to start adopting curricula that are more robust and better aligned with
PARCC, MCCRS, and NCTM Principles to Action.
o An increase in professional meetings budget from $0 to $3,400 in order to have
our presenters experience a variety of sessions to bring back to CCPS for use in
county to provide for conference-style PD.
o An increase in printing and curriculum budget from $109,083 to $141,215 in
order to provide teachers with curricular materials that ensure equity and
mathematics learning for all.
High School Assessment (HSA) Biology
1. Based on available trend data, describe the challenges in Biology.
The pass rates on the 2017 Biology HSA follows:
• All Students:
➢ 87.9%
The pass rate of 87.9% for 2017 represents a 5.6% decrease from 2016. During the 2016
school year, teachers changed their instructional practices to address the curricula needs
of the Next Generation Science Standards, which are different from the Maryland Core
Curriculum. Consequently, this may have impacted the pass rate for the Biology HSA.
Also, for this last administration of the Biology HSA, teachers and students were aware
that sitting for the test met the graduation requirement, which may have impacted student
motivation.
The challenge areas in Biology continue to be with the following subgroups:
• All Special Education:
➢ 51.7%
Special education score of 51.7% represents a 36.2% gap between special education and
all students. Although the overall gap remains a concern, special education student
showed a .1% increase from 51.6% in 2016 to 51.7% in 2017.
• All Limited English Proficiency
➢ 66.7%
Students with Limited English Proficiency scored 21.2% below all students. The student
count for LEP student was 18, which was a small group size compared to a count of 1735
for all students. Although the student count in this group is low, the large gap in
performance represents an area of concern.
• All FARMS:
➢ 73.4%
Bridge to Excellence 2017 Part I 43
The gap between FARM students and all students is 14.5%. Although the FARM
performance gap is not as large as the special education gap for all students, it still
represents an area of concern.
• All African American (AA):
➢ 75.1%
The gap between AA students and all students is 12.8%. The AA performance gap
(12.8%) is close to the FARM performance gap (14.5%). Both AA and FARM
performance gap represents better performance than Special Education and LEP students.
However, AA students decreased in performance by 7.5% from 2016, representing an
area of concern.
2. Describe the changes or strategies, and the rational for selecting the strategies
and/or evidence-based practices that will be implemented to ensure process.
Calvert County Public Schools are:
• Incorporating Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) practices to promote
critical thinking skills, deeper analysis and interpretation of content.
▪ Full implementation of NGSS is scheduled for 2017-2018. Prior to full
implementation, the implementation of the practices of science and cross-
cutting concepts identified in the NGSS will be beneficial to all learners as
we promote critical thinking and deeper analysis of content. Funds have
been allocated to support professional development activities that will help
move teachers towards full implementation of NGSS.
• Implementing claims, evidence, reasoning (CER) strategies which encourages
students to use evidence-based statements to support their claims.
• Implementing strategies to support scientific modeling will allow students to
demonstrate their conceptual understanding of the scientific concepts.
• Administering benchmark exams 4 times (October, December, March, & May)
during the school year to measure success of new strategies being implemented.
This formative assessment model allows for the opportunity of re-teaching and re-
assessing to ensure that students have gained an understanding of the content.
• Embedding STEM practices into biology lessons, which will promote critical
thinking, encourage creativity, engage more students, and build collaborative
skills. The goal is for more students to become innovative thinkers.
• Focusing on Productive Group which will provide opportunities for scientific
discourse to promote a deeper understanding of the content
• Implementing Universal Design for Learning strategies designed to provide
opportunities for all learners to gain access to the content
• Promoting the use of more Technology in the classroom to provide students with
different modalities for learning.
Bridge to Excellence 2017 Part I 44
• Implementing strategies that continue to be effective in supporting struggling
learners including Biology Core Leads, team planning meetings, remediation for
students who pass Biology but fail the Biology HSA, HSA Summer School, and
instructional support during the one-hour lunch program at each high school.
• Co-teaching in the content areas has proven to be an effective system wide
strategy to address the achievement gap for students with disabilities, as well as to
help other struggling learners. Since the number of Co-taught classrooms
continues to expand and the pairs teaching continue to change with the teacher
turn-over rate increasing, the Inclusive Programming Teacher Specialists continue
to provide initial training to teaching pairs, which includes coaching of classroom
teachers. In addition, CCPS offers professional development to experienced co-
teaching pairs; this second level of training includes additional classroom
observations and coaching discussion and focus on topics such as differentiation,
seamless instruction, student access, the appropriateness of learning targets, and
how to adjust to the more rigorous standards. Funds for the after school training
sessions are a combination of local and restricted special education funds. Since
the specialists do not evaluate teachers, but rather serve as coaches, the dialogue
can be open and supportive. In addition, the specialists are invited to present at
school staff meetings, Professional Learning Community (PLC) meetings and
offer professional development to general and special educators in multiple
content areas. She also helps schools appropriately schedule students into co-
taught classrooms so there is an appropriate mix of students for optimum learning.
• Co-teaching planning time outside of the school day is also offered. Each co-
teaching pair can submit timesheets for up to two hours each month for workshop
pay. This provides a structure for co-teachers to plan outside of the day since
typically there is not sufficient time to co-plan during the school day. The
compensation is funded through general and special education local budgets, as
well as supported through restricted special education funds (Medicaid funds).
Implementing STEM practices, NGSS practices, productive group work strategies, UDL,
and the use of technology into daily lessons provide the opportunity for more engagement
and critical thinking. Using benchmark exams to monitor student progress provides the
opportunity to identify struggling learners throughout the year. The Core Lead teachers
help with early identification of struggling learners, plan interventions, and assist teachers
with instructional strategies.
The development of instructional resources to support NGSS is a strategy that will help
teachers make shifts in planning and implementing instructional activities which will
promote critical thinking and deeper analysis of the content. The emphasis placed on
CER will guide teachers to plan lessons which require students to focus on evidence and
reasoning. Additionally, emphasis placed on modeling will allow teachers to assess
students’ conceptual understanding of science.
Funding
• Local funds have been allocated for workshops and professional development
activities designed to support the implementation of NGSS.
Bridge to Excellence 2017 Part I 45
• STEM Grant funds have been allocated for workshops, activities, and materials of
instructions designed to support the implementation of STEM and NGSS
practices into instructional units.
High School Assessment (HSA) Government
1. Based on available HSA data, describe the challenges in Government. In your response,
identify challenges for students requiring special education services, students with limited
English proficiency, and students failing to meet, or failing to make progress towards
meeting State performance standards. In the absence of State performance standards,
LEAs are required to report on any segment of the student population that is, on average,
performing at a lower achievement level than the student population as a whole. Refer to
pages 9 and 10 to ensure your response includes the reporting requirements for
students receiving special education services and students with Limited English
Language Proficiency.
Data analysis of the 2017 Government HSA assessment reveal positive pass rate trends as
it relates to overall and subgroup performance in Calvert County Public Schools. The
pass rate for ALL Government HSA first time test takers from the May 2017
administration is 95.1%. However, 58 of the 1,243 tested, failed to meet the state
performance standard in American Government with the greatest challenges identified as
students requiring special education services (SWD) and African American students.
White (96.5%), Hispanic (97.8%), and Asian (97%), continue to outperform African
Americans (86.9%) and students requiring special education services (52.4%). There
were three students who took the Government HSA who were identified as Limited
English Language Proficiency. All ESL students met the performance requirement with
a 100% pass rate. Based on 2017 HSA data, the challenges in American Government are
performance level gaps among ALL students and students receiving special education
services as well as African American students.
Specifically, data analysis reveals the following challenges for students receiving special
education services and students failing to meet, or failing to make progress towards
meeting State performance standards:
• Special Educators with limited content knowledge and minimal opportunities to collaborate
and plan with general education Government teachers due to the demands for them to
teach multiple content areas.
• Teacher training/professional development in effective teaching strategies related to
differentiation, seamless instruction, student access, the appropriateness of learning
targets, and how to adjust to the more rigorous standards for special education
students is in place but will need more time to develop.
• Identified students have difficulty reading complex text specifically related to close
analytic reading of primary sources and informational text
• Social studies’ teachers need additional support and training on teaching and
evaluating argumentative writing, historical investigations and methods for
conducting in-depth research, producing and supporting historical arguments
Bridge to Excellence 2017 Part I 46
2. Describe the changes or strategies, and the rationale for selecting the strategies and/or
evidence-based practices that will be implemented to ensure progress. Include timelines
and method(s) of measuring student progress where appropriate. Include a description of
corresponding resource allocations. (LEAs should include funding targeted to changes or
adjustments in staffing, materials, or other items for a particular program, initiative, or
activity. The LEA should identify the source of the funding as restricted or unrestricted.
If the source is Federal IDEA or Title I – include the CFDA number, grant name, and
the attributable funds. Otherwise, identify the source (unrestricted or restricted) and
include attributable funds. Refer to pages 9 and 10 to ensure your response includes
the reporting requirements for students receiving special education services and
students with Limited English Language Proficiency.
A Social Studies Learning Specialist has been allocated for the 2017-2018 school-year to
provide instructional coaching and professional development support with identified
strategies. The Supervisor of Social Studies purchased the DBQ online program to
specifically address the challenges related to close analytic reading of primary sources
and informational text, and teaching and evaluating argumentative writing. All American
Government teachers will implement the strategies from the DBQ Project. The
Supervisor of Social Studies will continue to allocate funds that supports the professional
development opportunities for the 2017-2018 school year. Funds for after school co-
teaching training sessions are available for all government teachers and are a combination
of local and restricted special education funds.
Co-teaching in the content areas has proven to be an effective system wide strategy to
address the achievement gap for students with disabilities, as well as to help other
struggling learners. Inclusive Programming Teacher Specialists will continue to provide
initial training to teaching pairs, which includes coaching of classroom teachers. In
addition, CCPS offers professional development to experienced co-teaching pairs; this
second level of training includes additional classroom observations and coaching
discussion and focus on topics such as differentiation, seamless instruction, student
access, the appropriateness of learning targets, and how to adjust to the more rigorous
standards.
In the fall of 2017 and spring 2018, the special education department will offer an after
school course for MSDE credit titled “Strategies for Teaching Struggling Learners”
designed for general education teachers of which every Government teacher will be
encouraged to participate. The special education department will also have available on-
line PD modules designed for general education teachers focused on understanding
executive functioning, understanding accommodations and supports, proactive behavior
strategies and understanding the IEP process. Information and strategies learned can be
directly applied to participants’ classrooms and should positive impact student
performance on the Government HSA.
A system-wide focus on equity will be implemented to ensure progress throughout the
2017-2018 school - year. Professional development during social studies department
meetings and county-wide PD sessions will provide CCPS American Government
teachers resources and training on culturally responsive teaching in order to assure a
quality, culturally responsive education for all students. In addition, there will be an
Bridge to Excellence 2017 Part I 47
enhanced focus on Universal Design for Learning (UDL) integration in all social studies
instruction which will further support creating highly effective and inclusive classroom
environments with culturally appropriate pedagogical strategies for all students. CCPS
proposes to improve staff capacity and strategically change school-wide practices to
demonstrate effective and high quality inclusive education that results in positive
outcomes for students with disabilities.
The CCPS social studies program will provide a continuum of programs and
interventions to prepare students to pass the American Government HSA as measured by
both the aggregate and each subgroup. CCPS will implement the following processes to
prepare students for success on the Government HSA. The Supervisor of Social Studies
and school based staff will:
a. Utilize data from the CCPS Student Assessment System to predict students’
success on the Government HSA, as well as modify instruction to meet
individual student needs.
b. Utilize local formative assessments to modify or adapt instruction as needed
to ensure student understanding. Plan and incorporate assessments directly
into the instructional process to assure that assessments are authentic with
real-world application.
c. Support co-taught HSA Government classes and teachers in each high school
to ensure that special education students receive critical Government content,
as well as appropriate and effective instruction. The Supervisor will work
with appropriate school-based administration/personnel to support scheduling
special educators’ opportunities to collaborate and plan with general education
government teachers.
d. A Government intervention program will continue to be offered to students at
every high school through a variety of opportunities throughout the school-
year. This may include lunch time, afterschool and/or Saturday sessions for
identified students.
e. Collaborative planning will be scheduled for all Government teachers.
Teachers will use this time to analyze student data to inform and adjust their
instruction as necessary. Teachers will also analyze teaching practices and
resources that support effective instruction related to the Government Core
Learning Goals and plan accordingly.
f. Continued professional development from the DBQ Project.
All students will continue to receive effective social studies instruction that supports the
system’s initiatives and student achievement. Teachers will provide authentic, rigorous
and relevant instruction through an inquiry-based approach to instruction that promotes
active student engagement aligned with the new C3 Framework. The power of an
inquiry-based approach to teaching and learning is its potential to increase intellectual
engagement and foster deep understanding through the development of a hands-on,
minds-on and ‘research-based disposition’ towards teaching and learning.
The CCPS social studies program will ensure consistent and systemic delivery of social
studies professional development for staff that consistent and competent instructional
delivery in the following areas:
Bridge to Excellence 2017 Part I 48
• Close Analytic Reading of primary sources and informational text
• Teaching and evaluating argumentative writing
• Historical investigations and methods for conducting in-depth research, producing
and supporting historical arguments and publishing findings
Processes that support achievement for all students will be implemented, such as
effective professional development, team and department meetings to analyze student
data, collaborative planning, and data conferences.
Bridge to Excellence 2017 Part I 49
ANNUAL UPDATE
ASSESSMENT
ADMINISTERED BY
CALVERT COUNTY
PUBLIC SCHOOLS
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