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DECEMBER 3, 2014 MEETING NOTES
Worthington Schools
Curriculum Liaison Council 2014-15
In Attendance:
Laura Grindle (Brookside), Sarah Hanka-Stoddard (Colonial Hills), Aimee Wellejus (Evening
Street), Rebecca Billingslea (Granby), Kelly Comp (Slate Hill), Jaelith Taddeo (Sutter Park), Amy
Featherstone (Wilson Hill), Kristen Peterka (Worthington Estates), Bethany Moore
(Worthington Hills), Julie Petchal (Worthington Park), Karolyn MacLean (KMS), Ginger Maloney
(McCord), Lisa Skidmore (Phoenix), Kathy Kosanovich (Worthingway), Chloe Kowal (Linworth),
Traci Wilson (PTAC President), Jennifer Best (Board of Education), Trent Bowers, Jennifer
Wene, Tricia Palko, Brian Geniusz, Tom Kaczmarek, Ben Rule, Kathy Riebel (WEC).
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December 3, 2014 Agenda
Worthington Education Center Room 112
6:30- 6:45
Introductions and Welcome
6:45 -7:15
A Walk in the PARCC – what are our students expected to know and be able to do?
7:15 – 7:45
Science and Social Studies – Online Computer Based Assessments – a quick look;
Science Day, February 21, 2015 at WKHS
7:45 – 8:00
Parent Resource Site
8:00 – 8:30
Your Questions
Introductions of All in Attendance
Review of the Role and Guiding Principles of the CLC (See Above)
PARCC and OCBA
The majority of the meeting was spent on the new assessments, which are: PARCC - Partnership for
Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers for Language Arts & Mathematics and OCBA - Ohio’s
Computer Based Assessment for Science and SS. Click here to see the Powerpoint presentation.
Ohio is among 22 states that are working as a consortium, called the Partnership for Assessment of
Readiness for College and Careers (PARCC), to develop a common set of K-12 assessments in English and
mathematics. The assessments are based on what it takes to become ready for college and careers.
States will begin administering the tests during the 2014-2015 school year. The assessments are
comprised of a PBA (performance based assessment) and an EOY (end of year assessment). Students will
take the assessments on computers.
To check for updates log onto the Ohio Department of Education Homepage or PARCC Homepage. Take
a look at PARCC Item and Task Prototypes under The PARCC Assessment section. These prototypes are
just the first of the items and tasks that PARCC will share over time. Together they will represent the full
range of assessment tasks on the PARCC assessments that begin in 2014-2015.
The Ohio science tests in computer format are administered for the first time in the spring 2015 (OCBA).
These tests complement the computer format English language arts and mathematics tests. Additional
information can be found on the Ohio Online Portal. The Portal is your gateway to all systems and
resources for the spring 2015 Ohio science tests. It includes FAQs and resources for students and
families, teachers/test administrators, test coordinators, and technology coordinators. Although the
Portal is available to the public, several systems require users to log in using their account information.
Please note the science practice tests are now available on the Portal.
The Ohio Department of Education has released a set of test specification documents, including
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description of the assessment components and item types, assessment blueprints, and item
specifications, to help educators and the general public better understand the design of the new Ohio
developed state science tests in grades 5, 8 and high school Physical Science courses.
For ELA/Literacy, Students will be asked to do in depth analytical and narrative writings. They will read
more paired passages and be asked higher level thinking questions about the comparison. They will
engage with analyzing videos and informational text on a research simulation task.
Some points that were discussed, and questions asked after the presentation:
● In high school, students are no longer tested on the grade they are in but on the courses they
are in.
● New assessments are meant to show that students are “college ready”, not just proficient.
● Key differences between the OAA and PARCC tests for Language Arts - tests are asking for
evidence for the first time and to show it.
● Key differences for Math - interacting with the question rather than multiple choice.
● Amy Wellejus from Evening Street asked about drop in scoring with these new tests - Trent
Bowers said Ohio has not set cut scores yet; Jennifer Wene said it isn’t necessarily a drop in
scoring but rather a change in assessments.
● Laura Grindle of Brookside asking about practice tests - Tricia Palko said the online practice tests
are not preparing for the assessments but rather are for ongoing learning; Tom Kaczmarek said
the practice tests are part of the daily learning; Jennifer Wene said the state assessments should
look much more like what our classrooms look like.
● Amy Featherstone asked about college and career ready.
● Laura Grindle asked if we get PBA scores back before EOY - No we won’t this year, but intention
is that we will in the future - there will be a summative score of the 2 scores together.
● Ginger Maloney asked if MAP testing will still occur - Tricia Palko said it will continue.
● Laura Grindle asked about the rigor of the new assessments - discussion followed on the word
rigor and what it means in the classroom.
● Laura Grindle asked about the EOY assessments and if it affects a student’s grade - Jennifer said
no, it does not affect a student’s grade.
● Kelly Comp of Slate Hill asked if there are resources for parents to help with students and
homework - Tom Kaczmarek suggested parents talk to the teacher, teachers have resources
available and can work through it.
● Discussion on Khan Academy for help and other resources available online.
● Discussion on grades v. understanding.
● Ben Rule talked about accommodation for ELL students and students with IEP’s to answer
Ginger Maloney’s question. English Language Learners (ELLs) will still take the annual OTELA
test (four parts, Jan/Feb) in addition to the new assessments. On new assessments, ELLs will
have access to similar accommodations as on the OAA/OGT tests. We will continue working
diligently with our staff, our district testing coordinator, and ODE to comply with new (and still
developing) protocols to be sure these accommodations are in place by the start of the testing
windows. ELL staff will work closely with classroom teachers to best prepare our students for
assessment in a new digital environment and to continue moving our students towards
increasingly rigorous thinking, even with limited English skills.
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Jennifer Wene showed slides of Parent Resources. The Department of Academic Achievement
and Professional Development has created a website through Google with information for
everyone from teachers to parents; it is a work in progress with information on curriculum,
instruction and assessment. This link is available at the district website or by clicking here.
Jennifer Wene asked what types of resources would parents like to see? Some of the replies
were Raz kids, Sum Dog, bits of data each month with the parent resource links, teachers do
short videos instead of reading all this information on paper.
Jennifer Wene said a one page newsletter would be sent out by every building to their
communities regarding the new state assessments and timeline.
Jennifer Wene suggested everyone get on Twitter and follow the Worthington Schools accounts
to get the word out and to encourage their parents to do so too;
Twitter accounts are Jennifer Wene, @jenniferwene; Worthington Schools, @wcsdistrict; Brian
Geniusz, @bageniusz; Tom Kaczmarek, @tomkaz10
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Karolyn MacLean asked about who maintains the website? Trent said each building controls
their own website and our Director of Communications Vicki Gnezda helps the buildings with
their websites.
Aimee Wellejus talked about alerts from the portal on homework, grades, etc and wouldn’t it be
great to receive such notices for assessment scores.
Discussion on making the assessment tab in IC available for parents to view.
Brian Geniusz & Science Day
● Passed out sheets for judges and volunteers for Science Day on Feb. 21 at WKHS.
● December 15 is a steering committee meeting at 4:00 pm at the WEC.
● There will be 3 separate events on the same day, Science Fair, Invention Convention and Design
Challenge.
● There is a registration process for each of the events on the website and it is critical that
students register for planning purposes.
● Would love to have the WKHS PTA or any other PTA’s help with snacks and setup the morning of
Science Day.
Future Meetings, 6:30 pm – 8:30 pm
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February 18, room 101A: Update on Science and Social Studies, Preparation for New State
Assessments
April 8, room 101A: Agenda to be determined