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Contact No one is currently available to respond to questions Demographics Summary Palermo Union School District has established four performance levels tied to all district assessments. The highest level is considered year-end, grade- level proficiency. Special education students are expected to reach the proficient level on content standards appropriate to their instructional grade level. Many districts start with developing standards-based assessments and progress toward establishing standards-based report cards. Palermo started with designing standards-referenced report cards to spark changes in teaching and assessing standards. The district began a series of professional development sessions for teachers in 2001-2002 on data analysis for instructional decision-making. Full Description Establishing Performance Standards Palermo Union School District established four performance levels with the highest level being year-end, grade-level proficiency. This is in contrast to many districts that set the top level to "exceeding grade-level expectations." The other three levels identify performance below grade level. Trimester assessments measure student progress toward the year-end performance standard. With this approach, teachers continuously monitor students' progress toward year-end goals. If adequate progress is not being made, students are placed into interventions. Performance levels have been established for writing assessments at each grade level. In 2001-2002, writing assessment scores (performance levels) will be part of the multiple measures for language arts. Special Education Standards Special education students are expected to reach the proficient level on content standards appropriate to their instructional grade level. For example, a third-grade special education student, whose Individual Education Plan (IEP) identifies first-grade reading standards as the appropriate instructional level, is expected to reach a proficient performance level on the first-grade assessment of reading standards. This brings all students into a system of standards-based accountability. Starting with Report Cards In 1998-99, the district started a standards-based initiative by adopting state content standards. Highest priority standards were identified as the focus of instruction and assessment, and appear on report cards. The intent was to build teacher consistency in teaching and assessing early in the process and then expand to other standards as capacity evolved. Some districts concentrate on establishing single standards-based assessments, then design a method for combining multiple measures, and culminate with developing a standards-based report card. But in Palermo, establishing a standards-referenced report card was the starting point for initiating standards-based instruction and accountability. After identifying the critical standards that would appear on the report card, staff worked to align curriculum, instruction, and assessments to those standards. |