FROM THE OFFICE OF
Christopher Martelli
May Whitney Elementary School
PRINCIPAL
100 CHURCH STREET LAKE ZURICH, ILLINOIS 60047
PHONE: (847) 438-2351 FAX: (847) 438-2696
3.7.16
Dear May Whitney Community,
A HUGE thank you to our PTO for a fantastic Bingo and Auction Night! Thank you to all of
our amazingly dedicated parents who volunteered their time for this fantastic event. We
had a huge turn-out and our students had a wonderful time playing Bingo and spending
time with friends and family. It is always nice to see our community and school come
together for such a great event.
In addition we also had two very large school events that were extremely successful. Two
weeks ago our 5th grade students completed their trip to Taft where they participated in a
variety of outdoor education activities. This event is always a highlight for our 5th grade
students as they get to experience outdoor education in a hands-on manner. We also had
our variety show last week where nearly 50 acts performed. Thank you very much to Mrs.
Elliott, Mrs. Guerrero, Mrs. Hosteland and many other teacher and parent volunteers that
gave of their time to provide our students with an outlet for their creativity! The
performances were fantastic and we hope our students enjoyed the opportunity to
highlight their talents.
In the coming months we will begin our student/teacher assignments for next year. Our
school process is a team effort that is completed with great care. The grade level teams,
special area teachers, special education teachers, and the administration play a role in the
process. We consider a wide variety of factors including learning styles, peer relations,
special needs, class size, and gender. We strive to create learning communities that are
well balanced and provide the best environment for each learner. If you would like to
provide input about the kind of classroom environment you believe will best serve the
learning needs of your child, please stop by our office and pick-up a Student Profile Form. If
you are not able to come to school, please contact our office and we will be happy to send
one of these forms home with your child. It is not necessary or required to complete one of
these forms.
Lastly, I wanted to share some information about Partnership for Assessment and
Readiness of College and Careers (PARCC), which will be administered throughout the
month of April. The PARCC assessment is administered to students in grades 3-5 and the
testing windows will begin on Monday, April 4.
Major Test Focuses
PARCC is using an evidence-centered universal testing design approach that views
assessment as a process of reasoning from evidence to support specific claims about
student understanding.
PARCC ELA Assessment Focuses
ELA Focus
Students can . . .
Area
Reading
independently read and closely analyze a range of increasingly complex texts.
Writing
Research
produce well-grounded and effective writing for a variety of purposes and
audiences.
build and present knowledge through research and the integration, comparison,
and synthesis of ideas.
PARCC Math Assessment Focuses
Math Focus
Students can . . .
Area
Concepts &
explain and apply mathematical concepts and procedures and carry out
Procedures
mathematical processes with precision and fluency.
Problem
solve a range of complex, well-posed problems in pure and applied
Solving
mathematics.
Communicating
clearly and precisely construct viable arguments.
& Reasoning
Modeling &
Analyze complex, real-world scenarios and construct and use mathematical
Data Analysis
models to interpret and solve problems.
Level of Rigor (Depth of Knowledge)
Webb’s depth-of-knowledge (DOK) framework has been utilized to establish the level of
complex thinking required of students to respond to a PARCC test item. Webb has
identified four levels of knowledge that may be assigned to any give assessment task or
item. The table below provides an explanation and brief example of what an assessment
item at that level of knowledge complexity might look like.
Webb’s Depth of Knowledge and Representative Assessment Task/Item
DOK
Level
1
DOK Level Definition
DOK Sample Task/Item
basic knowledge, recall, and rote learning
Literal comprehension in reading or
simple 1-step word problem in math.
May Whitney
Elementary School
100 CHURCH STREET
LAKE ZURICH, ILLINOIS 60047
2
3
4
Some application and cognitive processing of
learning
Research, synthesize, reason with evidence, and
communicate effectively
Extended planning, research, problem solving
that call on students’ self-management and
reflective skills
Finding the main idea of a story when the
idea is not specifically stated or doing a 2step word problem in math.
Have a student read an editorial on
nuclear energy and use evidence from the
editorial to analyze the strength of the
author’s argument.
Students might make and justify an
investment decision on the basis of their
interpretation of complex data.
Students might be asked to research a
topic from multiple perspectives and
present their findings orally and in
writing, using multiple media.
Students might use their mathematics
knowledge to research and recommend
the most cost-effective plan for solving an
authentic problem, like building a new
structure or buying a car.
PARCC assessments will have one-third (33%) of its assessment items and tasks at a Level
3 or higher.
Please feel free to contact us with any questions you may have about PARCC.
Sincerely,
Chris Martelli
Principal
Alison Kos
Assistant Principal
May Whitney
Elementary School
100 CHURCH STREET
LAKE ZURICH, ILLINOIS 60047