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State of Curriculum Report

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Assistant Superintendent, Dr. Tricia Murin, gives a State of Curriculum Report for the 2019-2020 school year. A copy of the slideshow can be accessed at cencam.org under the "Resources" tab.

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Hello. My name is Dr. Tricia Murin and it is my pleasure to be the assistant superintendent of the Central Cambria School District. This state of the curriculum report is a school board initiative and it is our hope that this becomes an annual report with updates made throughout the year. This report contains data regarding our updated assessment scores and other curricular endeavors. Our goal is to share this information with parents, families, students and community members to better understand our curriculum goals and vision for the Central Cambria School District and the students K through 12. We know that one test score does not mean everything and that is why students are tested frequently throughout the year to measure students growth and adapt teaching to meet the students needs. Look at a stone cutter hammering away at his rock, perhaps a hundred times without as much as a crack showing in it. Yet at the hundred-and-first blow it will split in two, and I know it was not the last blow that did it, but all that had gone before. This quote explains our team effort here at Central Cambria. We have great educators and staff that help all students. We want every student to be and feel successful in the classrooms and out of the classrooms. We want to prepare them for the present and the future. As we look at the three-year trend for Cambria Elementary School, and this is regarding the PSSA, which stands for Pennsylvania System of School Assessment, we have seen improvements in all areas. The yellow is highlighted to follow the same group in 2017 and in 2018 and in 2019. The green highlights will also follow the same pattern, so we divided up the same group and also different groups across 2017, 2018, and 2019. For example, if you look at Math 3, that would be third grade, and how the third graders did in math at Cambria Elementary School in 2017, they were 58 proficient or advanced on the Pennsylvania state assessment. In 2018 it's a different group, but they scored 57% and in 2019 the score was 79% for those different cohorts. But if you look at the yellow highlights that would be the same group in math, 3rd grade, that score was 58% in 2017 and in 2018 that same group scored 41.8% and in 2019 when they were 5th grade students they scored 48%. Some of the cohort progression declines. This is common in school districts throughout Pennsylvania but overall the scores in different cohorts improves. If we looked at ELA 3, the score for different cohort is 76.5%, 77%, and then 81%. For science it increased from 78.8% to 86% last year. Again, the principals, teachers and staff are working very hard to help all students achieve their cohort and individual goals. If we look at the Jackson Elementary scores in the 3-year trend, we see again the same cohort is in the yellow highlight and the other cohort is in the green highlight and the other is the blue highlight. If you look at the 2017 score for Math 3, it is at 71% for 2017, 61.9% in 2018, and 55% for 2019. Overall for the Jackson Elementary scores we do see a decline in the sum of the cohort scores and also for different cohort progression. We definitely want to improve on this once again the teachers and the principals are working diligently to improve the scores and again, overall student achievement. The science score in 2017 was 82.5%, in 2018 87.1%, and for 2019 it was 91%. Looking at the Central Cambria Middle School scores for the three-year trend we see the 6th grade and 7th grade scores are broken up so it is listed sixth grade ELA and sixth grade Math and 7th grade ELA and 7th grade Math. So we have the 2017 scores, 2018 scores, and 2019 scores. You can see for 6th grade ELA how the students improved from 57.9% to 67.5%, sixth grade Math it was 42.5% in 2018 and a 37% in 2019. For 7th grade ELA the trend is 64.3% 2017, 69.2% 2018, and 54% 2019. In 7th grade math the students scored 52.1%, then 51.9%, and in 2019 44%. For Central Cambria Middle School scores for 3-year trend, this is 8th grade, again ELA and Math in years are listed. Students take the PSSA science in 4th and in 8th grade, so there was no score for 3rd, 5th, 6th, and 7th. 8th grade students scored 67.3% in 2017 and on the ELA section 60% in 2018 and 63% in 2019. For math, the students scored 40.6% in 2017, 37.9% in 2018, and 48% in 2019. In science the students scored 55.4% in 2017, 48.3% in 2018 and as you can see there is an increase for 2019 as 67%. We are moving on into the Keystone exams. Keystone exams are given to the middle school and also the high school students. We broke up like we've done in the previous slides. The Keystone exams were given for literature, biology and algebra. At the high school level, Algebra is lower but that is because we also give the Keystone algebra exam to our middle school students as soon as they are finished taking the algebra course. When we combine both of those scores together it is an average of 70%. For the Keystone algebra ESL, that would be English as a second language, our students scored 100% proficiency rate. We also compared our PSSA scores to the state average. The state average score is based off of the 2018 data on the Pennsylvania Department of Education website. The state average for 2019 has not been publicized, that is why we're basing or comparing our data to the state average scores of 2018. If you go down underneath the PSSA scores there is math and then the state average score in red and then you can see the ELA State average score for 2018. So what we've done is divided up third, fourth and fifth grades for Jackson Elementary School and Cambria Elementary School and 6th, 7th and 8th for the Middle School in future slides. For 3rd grade as you can see again math for the past year is 55%, the state average is 54% for third grade. The students scored 86.5% on the ELA portion and the state average is 64%. For fourth grade the students scored 41% and the state average was 44%. In ELA the students scored 75% and the state average was 60%. In 5th grade the students scored 31% at Jackson Elementary School compared to 45% the state average and in ELA our students scored 66% and the state average was 60%. 4th grade science scores were 91% and the state average was 75%. Our students at Jackson Elementary School for the most part were higher than the state average scores. The areas of needs improvement are being addressed. We did the same thing for the Cambria Elementary School data. We listed how the students did at Cambria Elementary School compared to the state average scores for 2018. Again, the 2019 state average data is not publicized at this point. That will be updated as soon as we get the information. Usually the school districts in Pennsylvania get that information early fall. For 3rd grade math at Cambria Elementary, the students scored 79% and the state average score was 54%. The third grade ELA score was 81% compared to 64%. For 4th grade the students scored 48% compared to the 45% state average. In ELA students scored 69% compared to 60%. 5th grade students scored 48% compared to 45% and for ELA 5th grade, the students scored 70% compared to 60%. For 4th grade science they scored 86% compared to the state average of 75%. Cambria Elementary School has higher scores in all areas compared to the state average scores. For the Central Cambria Middle School we did the same thing again with the scores compared to the 2018 state average scores. In 6th grade math the students scored 37.2% compared to 40% and the 6th grade students scored 67.8% on ELA compared to 63%. The seventh grade students reached 44% compared to 39% state average and 54% on the ELA portion compared to 62%. The 8th grade students scored 48% on math compared to the state average of 31% and on the 8th grade ELA, students scored 63% compared to 62%. The eighth grade science scores students scored 67% compared to the state average of 54%. Our students did better on most subjects compared to the state average. Again, I know the teachers, staff and Mr. Strittmatter are working on the new Middle School schedule implementing options for ninth period for enrichment and reading remediation assistance. That would definitely help our students in ELA, math and/or any area that students might need some extra enrichment or remediation, etc. We are moving on to the Keystone exams. The Keystone exams are given at the middle school and the high school levels. At the middle school level it is for algebra and at the high school level it is also for algebra, biology and literature. So if the student does not pass a keystone section he or she must take it again. Extra assistance is provided in an area that a student is struggling. The Central Cambria Middle School Keystone algebra students scored 94.6%. The average is 65%. If students do not take algebra, they are not eligible to take the Keystone algebra section until high school. The high school students that took the Keystone algebra section scored 13% compared to 65%, but if we compare all students who took the algebra section it comes out to 70%, which is higher than the state average of 65%. Students that took the Keystone biology exam this past year for 2019 scored overall 76% compared to 64% which is the state average. For the students taking the Keystone literature section they scored 74% compared to the 73% state average. So if you look at all the overall scores with Keystone algebra, biology and literature, again we have passed the state average scores for most of the middle school and high school Keystone exams. We also want to share some PSAT data with you. PSAT stands for Preliminary Scholastic Aptitude Test. This is for students in 8th grade, 9th grade, 10th grade and 11th grade. Students are eligible to take the PSAT. Research has proven the more you take a test like the PSAT and SAT, the more it will improve your scores. This is not for everyone, it's just a guideline. If you look at the PSAT information from grade 11 and compared it to the state average and national average, these students scored higher than both scores in Reading, Writing and Math. The Reading Writing score was 533 compared to the Pennsylvania score of 503 and the Nationals score 512. Students scored 513 in math compared to the Pennsylvania score 497 and the National score of 501. For the SAT data, again we based it off of 11th grade, SAT stands for Scholastic Aptitude Test. This was the first year that Central Cambria High School held their very own SAT school day where students could take the SAT at the central Cambria High School location. This was something that we looked at and thought would be very beneficial to our students. Students scored 528 in Reading Writing compared to the Pennsylvania average of 488 and the Nationals score of 489. In math our students scored 507 compared to the state average of 478 and then National score of 479. Now we are going to talk about our advanced placement participation. This is something that Mr. Santini, Mr. Paronish and the high school team worked very hard on as well. In past years our advanced placement participation or AP participation has NOT been very high and this year we are very excited to share that we had 28 students participate in the advanced placement exams. They took AP US History, AP Literature and Composition and AP Biology. So on this slide we wanted to share the data. A total of 14 out of 17 students received a score of 3 or higher on the AP US History exam and AP Literature and Composition exam. A score of 3 or higher is very good. We need to continue to work on AP biology scores. They are below the state and national averages. Some teachers attended the AP training this summer. This training is paid through the school district. We know that when teachers are excited to teach, students are excited to learn so we definitely encourage teachers, students and staff to be lifelong learners. We want all teachers to take advantage of all opportunities that are going to help the students in their classrooms and out of their classrooms. We also wanted to include information regarding the future readiness index. This is something new and was launched in November 2018. The goal is for all schools to be in the blue and show Improvement by 2030. I've included a link where you can click and put in your child's school to see more details. This is an example of the dashboard you would see if you go to the site. The future readiness index uses different measures to obtain a score for a school. Instead of basing information on one score, the state uses State assessment measures along with on track measures, which includes attendance and college and career measures which includes career standards benchmarks. Cambria Elementary School scores are proficient in math areas and is in need of improvement for English language arts literature and the students scored green in the attendance section and green in the College and Career measures. These scores are based off of evidence that teachers, the school counselor and administrators collected. Mrs. McGill, our PIMS, Pennsylvania Information Management System coordinator then reports this information to the state. Remember these scores need to reach proficiency level by 2030. This is an example of the dashboard that you would see if you go to the site. Jackson Elementary School scores and scores in the three measures are proficient. This is an example of the dashboard that you would see if go to the site Central Cambria middle school scores are proficient in the areas of academic growth expectations in English language literatures and academic growth expectations in Mathematics, Algebra 1. Some areas to grow are percent proficient  advanced in ELA literature and percent proficient advanced in Mathematics Algebra 1. Areas of proficiency include the on-track measures and the College and Career measures. Again areas of improvement are being addressed. This is an example of the dashboard that you would see if you go to the site Central Cambria High School's scores are proficient in all areas except for the academic growth expectations in Mathematics Algebra 1 and the percent regular attendance. Again these are the areas being planned these areas are being planned for so scores can keep increasing and all goals are met in a timely fashion. For this slide we want to talk about the resources that are incorporated in our classrooms, if you go to the Central Cambria website www.cencam.org click your child's school and then click or type curriculum, this will provide you with a more detailed list of your child's curriculum and resources. These are examples of resources. This is not a complete list. Teachers are always implementing best practices and supplementing their curriculum whenever possible to help their students. At the elementary level, Wonders is the reading curriculum and Go Math is the math curriculum. Assessments are used throughout the year to assess student learning. Running records, STAR, CDTS are three examples of assessments. Running records are used at the elementary level and the STAR is used for the elementary and middle levels and high school ELA classes. The CDTs are used at the middle and high school levels. CDTs are more condensed this year and should and should NOT take as much time as they did in the past. These assessments help guide instruction. Since we held an SAT day at the Central Cambria High School, we can now use that data to help our high school students. Some other resources used at the elementary level are Flocabulary and iXL is used at the middle school. We know if learning is meaningful it'll last longer than just wrote memorization. iXL is used in the middle school just as a supplementation to help students practice their skills in math, reading and science. This is not a curriculum. This is just used to enhance the curriculum. If you go to any one of these resources or curriculum you can click the link for more information. We are going to keep moving with some new initiatives. We are trying to implement and continue with improving AP participation and increasing High School course offerings. Mr. Sanitni, Mr. Paronish,  Ms. Asashon, Mr. Wilson, Mrs. Dixon, and Mrs. Gironda, the High School guidance counselors and the high school team have been working extremely hard on making the course offerings rigorous. For the PSSA scores we want to keep increasing those and also the Keystone scores. We received positive feedback from students and families regarding the more rigorous High School curriculum for every student, whether a student attends Admiral Peary Vo-Tech or wants to take AP courses. We want every student to be successful. Ms. Asashon is now our assistant principal for grades K-12, which will be such a great asset to our school district. She is still going to be working on our math curriculum K to 12 and continuing some of those initiatives that she started last year with implementing more technology into the classrooms, etc. She will also be helping with our MTSS, multi-level system of support, meetings and our PLC, Professional Learning Community, meetings. We are planning a unified in-service day with local school districts to provide our teachers a chance to work with other teachers that teach the same subjects and grade levels they teach. We want to continue having the best programs ever including music, art, physical education, and library technology. We want the best athletics programs and the best academic teams like the Scholastic quiz team and the LEGO League. All of these programs support our academic curriculum because students have to be in good standing behaviorally and academically to participate. Mrs. Shaffer, our special education director, and the teachers are doing a great job with our co-teaching initiative as well. Hopefully this will happen in all of our school buildings. Oh the places we will go. Another opportunity that I am thrilled to mention is our Central Cambria bookmobile. Mrs. Mesoras, Ms. Asashon, Mr. Domonkos and I went to different communities including Colver, Revloc, Jackson Township and Ebensburg. We passed out books and participated in different summer activities to get students excited about reading all summer long. We are going to plan this for next year as well. All are welcome. We have plans for the future. We are very excited that our school district hired a social worker. Mrs. Mikovich will be working with students K through 12. She will be assisting in helping students and families with school issues and home issues, etc. Mrs. Yeckley and Mrs. Rhodes are new hires. Mrs. Yeckley will be teaching first grade at Jackson Elementary School and Mrs. Rhodes will be our K-5 gifted support teacher at Jackson Elementary School and Cambria Elementary School and also our K to 12 ESL, English as a second language, instructor. Mr. Farabaugh is the new 7th grade math teacher for Central Cambria Middle School. Another initiative this year is hiring a career advisor through a grant. Her name is Miss Zilch. She's going to work with students K through 12. She will be helping elementary students with career awareness lessons, but focusing more on middle and high school. She is going to be assisting college-ready and career-ready students with field trips, job shadowing and apprentice opportunities. As mentioned before the Central Cambria Middle School is going to the extend the INE period for all students. Mr. Strittmatter, Ms. Ribarich and Ms. Asashon and the administrative team and middle school team have worked on a schedule to help students that need some extra opportunities but also based off of student choice. In elementary schools a different specials encore schedule will be implemented. Mr. Domonkos, our new Jackson Elementary School principal, and Mrs. Mesoras, our Cambria Elementary School principal, and the administrative team worked on creating a new specials schedule so we can include our Inventionland steam course and also implementing more Library technology. The schedule will be running on a red week and a black week because our school colors are red and black and of course we want to showcase our school pride. The principals and teachers will be providing more information. Just a reminder, meet the teacher night for the elementary schools will be August 27th and for the Middle School it will be August 29th and for the high school it'll be on August 28th. For more information about specific information about programs, schedules or any other questions that you may have please contact any of us. You may contact Mr. Jason Moore, our Superintendent, at 814-472-8870, Mrs. Melissa Shaffer, special education director, 814-472-4492, Dr. Kirsten Stiffler, school psychologist, 814-472-4492, Mrs. Jennifer Mesoras, Cambria Elementary principal, 814-472-8432, Mr. Dane Domonkos, Jackson Elementary School principal, 814-749-8421, Mr. Joe Strittmatter, Central Cambria Middle School principal, 814-472-6505. Mr. Chris Santini, Central Cambria High School principal, 814-472-8860, Mr. Andy Paronish, Central Cambria assistant high school principal, 814-472-8860, Ms. Lisa Asashon, Central Cambria K to 12 assistant principal, 814-472-8432, myself, Dr. Tricia Murin, assistant superintendent, 814-472-8870, Mrs. Tracy Heeney, coordinator of student information and cyber program programming, 814-472-8870. Thank you! Let's make the 2019-2020 school year the best ever. Hope to see everyone at meet the teacher nights. Go Devils!

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