6.11.07 (email)

 

TO:        Elementary Principals

FROM:  Carolyn Schmidbauer

               Shari Beier

 

Dear Principals,

 

As discussed at the Spring Principals’ meeting on April 27, we will be entering into a contract with Scantron to begin transitioning our elementary students to the Performance Series online testing program for the 2007-08 school year.  CYSS is currently working out the details of cost and developing a timeline for training for school personnel for school year. 

 

1)  In the meantime we will need "student, staff and class" information from you in order to upload to the Scantron site this summer, for fall training and testing in October.  Attached you will find two spreadsheets: (please email to Shari Beier by August 10th)

- for student information and classroom teacher(s)

- for teacher information

 

Note that each spreadsheet has a "instruction" worksheet(s) and a "data" worksheet.  PLEASE read the "instruction" worksheets  before entering your schools data. 

 

2)  We will also attach the specific needs of your technology in order to support the Performance Seriess online testing program.

 

3)  TARGET DATES FOR NEXT SCHOOL YEAR: 

 

TRAINING FOR CORE TEAM PRIOR TO TEST ADMINISTRATION:

Who:  Principal, tech person and one teacher (should be a teacher who would be excited to be a part of this effort) When & Where:  Half day during the Week of Sept. 10-14.  Locations and times will be coming to you in August

Purpose:  To finalize details for test administration

 

ARTICLE IN SEPTEMBER CATHOLIC CHRONICLE & INFORMATION PIECES TO USE WITH PARENTS:

Purpose:  There will be an article in the September Catholic Chronicle with information about the new testing program and our purpose.  Schools will also receive information to use and share with their school families about the change from TerraNova, why and purpose of the Scantron test.

 

TESTING FOR MATH AND READING PERFORMANCE TEST FOR STUDENTS IN GRADES 3-8:

When: Oct. 1-Nov. 2, 2007

How:  Online;  Students should be allotted between 45-90 minutes for each content area test.  Test can be stopped and started again anytime within a two week window without losing data.

 

TRAINING FOR TEACHERS ON USING TEST DATA:

Who:  Principal and two teachers who are familiar with technology and would be able to train other teachers When & Where:  Half day sessions during the week of Nov. 12-16, 200. Locations to be announced.

Purpose:  To familiarize teachers with how to navigate through the website and look at the data and begin to use the data to guide instruction.

 

PLANNING TEAM TO MEET TO DEVELOP NEXT STEPS OF THE TESTING TIMELINE:

When:  January, 2008

Purpose:  Establish a planning team composed of CYSS Staff, some principals, and some teachers to determine the next steps in developing the direction, implementation and timeline of Performance Series and adding the Achievement Series

 

SECOND TESTING FOR READING MATH PERFORMANCE TEST FRO STUDENTS IN GRADES 2-8:

When:  April 28-May 23, 2007

How:  Online;  Students should be allotted approximately 45 minutes for each content area test.  Testing time should be shorter due to students performance level already having been identified in the fall.  

 

Let us know if you have any questions.

 

Thank you for all that you do and have a great summer!

 

Carolyn M. Schmidbauer  ~   Shari Beier

Catholic Youth and School Services - Diocese of Toledo - cyss.org

1933 Spielbusch Avenue, Toledo, OH 43697 419.244.6711; 800.926.8277