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Can a New Georgia Charter School Succeed in the Same Building Where One Just Failed?–AccuTeach

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Macon Charter Academy operated for one year, before it was ordered to shutter its operations at the end of summer of 2016 by Bibb County Superintendent, Curtis Jones. The school was located at 151 Madison St in Macon, Georgia. According to the Macon Telegraph, the Macon Charter Academy was ordered to close its doors citing:

Problems with academic performance, finances, management and maintenance. In addition, students tested below the Bibb County average in 20 of 24 content areas of the Georgia Milestones Assessment.

In its stead, Dream Academy will operate in the same location beginning August 2018 for the new school year. Prospective students have until March 2, 2018 to apply for a position at the school. Prospective students may apply in person by visiting the Otis Redding Foundation office. This office is located at 339 Cotton Ave. in Macon, Georgia. Students will be selected on March 7 by a random lottery.
Bolstered by an $850,000 grant from the Georgia Department of Education for the first two years of its operation, Dream Academy will be a state charter school. As a result, the school will be open to all students in Georgia to apply. The school will begin with a k-6 curriculum and plans to add a new grade each year until they reach the 12th grade.
Read more by visiting the Telegraph and the Dream Academy Website.

 

Georgia Milestones Practice Tests and Resources 2015-2016

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This is the second installment of the Georgia Milestones Assessment System. As you may have heard and experienced, last year’s scores were not impressive. Here are some practice tests and resources to get into academic shape for the Georgia Milestones Assessments at the end of this school year. It is important to note that recent versions of the CRCTs and the Georgia Milestones were administered by McGraw Hill. However, they sold their custom testing arm, CTB, to Data Recognition Corporation (DRC).

Here is a walk through of the new software that children will be using. You may access DRC’s practice site mentioned in the video by clicking here.

First Time Taking the Tests?
Do not worry if this is your first time taking the tests. It is a big deal, but with practice, taking the tests should be just another day. As with any test, you want to make sure that you know what you are preparing for. Therefore, the first place to start is to take a look at the information that the state provides. After you have done that, you want to take a look at the assessment guides that the state provides.

Content Weights (3-8)

This document outlines the weight of the various domains across all content areas.

Test Blueprints (3-8)

These test blueprints are the framework of the Georgia Milestones. The blueprints outline: (a) the types of items students will encounter on each grade and content area/course test (b) the number of items  (c) number of points possible for tests with  constructed-response items (d) outline the domains (categories and content standards (e) the  percentage of points allocated to each domain.

Georgia Milestones Study Guides (3-8)

These documents have information on all the content areas. They are very detailed documents. They provide sample test items and their respective depth of knowledge. This is a great resource for teachers, parents and students–everyone.

Georgia Milestones Assessment Guides (3-8)

These documents provide details for teachers. They give examples of test items, how they are scored and the depth of knowledge of the various questions included.

High School Georgia Milestones Study Guides (9-12)

High School Test Blueprints

Use the current test blueprints as a way to prepare your students for what they will face—especially since this is the first time they will be taking such a high stakes test at this level.

Georgia Milestones End of Grade Item and Scoring Samplers

The pages linked below are Item and Scoring Samplers. These help by providing examples of the type of constructed response items that appear on the End of Grade (EOG) Georgia Milestones English Language Arts and Mathematics assessments.

What are Other States Using to Prepare for the Common Core?

What Major Assessment Publishers Offer

What information are the major testing companies/publishers providing?
Pearson: PARCC (k-12): There are sample questions for grades 3-12. Just select the content, ELA/math, then your grade level and you are on your way.

CTB/McGraw Hill (3-12): This is a great resource to practice for the Georgia Milestones. McGraw Hill sold CTB to a company called Data Recognition Corporation earlier this year. You can access their practice site here. The link is still active never the less, so I have left it here.

Data Recognition Corporation (3-12): This is the new company that will be administering the Georgia Milestones. McGraw Hill wanted out of the state testing business.

Smarter Balanced Consortium (k-12): This is a great resource. This is not really a publisher per se, but a consortium of states and territories that are working together to create assessments that they all share. The site is free to use, no log in required–great practice for students. This is very similar to the Florida Training Tests and the PARCC.

Did I miss an awesome resource that you think should be added?  This post may be updated to include additional resources to prepare for the Georgia Milestones Assessment for classroom teachers and for parents who are homeschooling.

Updated: 3/22/2016

Georgia Milestones Content Weights 2014-2015

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The Georgia Department of Education has published the content weights for the 2014-2014 end of year tests for Georgia’s new Milestones Assessment that have replaced the CRCT’s. These tests have been promised to be much more challenging than previous tests. You may also retrieve the PDf version for the table below as well from the state by clicking here.

Georgia Milestones Content Weights 2014-2014
Subjects Domains 3rd Grade 4th Grade 5th Grade 6th Grade 7th Grade 8th Grade
Georgia Milestones Content Weights 2014-215. GADOE
ENGLISH LANGUAGE ARTS
Reading and Vocabulary 53% 53% 53% 53% 53% 53%
Writing and Language 47% 47% 47% 47% 47% 47%
MATHEMATICS
Operations and Algebraic Thinking 25% 20% 10%
Number and Operations 35%
Number and Operations in Base 10 20% 25%
Number and Operations – Fractions 30% 30%
Measurement and Data 30% 20% 20%
Geometry 10% 10% 15% 18% 23% 28%
The Number System 30% 21%
Ratios and Proportional Relationships 12% 19%
Statistics and Probability 17% 20% 12%
Numbers, Expressions & Equations 20%
Expressions and Equations 23% 17%
Algebra & Functions 40%
SCIENCE
Earth Science 34% 40% 30%
Life Science 33% 30% 40%
Physical Science 33% 30% 30%
Geology 40%
Hydrology and Meteorology 40%
Astronomy 20%
Cells and Genetics 35%
Interdependence of Life 50%
Evolution 15%
Structure of Matter 30%
Force and Motion 30%
Energy and Its Transformation 40%
Social Studies
History 30% 50% 50% 29% 20% 47%
Geography 20% 15% 15% 31% 35% 12%
Government/Civics 30% 20% 20% 15% 20% 25%
Economics 20% 15% 15% 25% 25% 16%

Students Less Likely to Use Books When Carrying Out Research

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According to a survey conducted by the Pew Research of 2500 middle and high school teachers between March 7 and April 23 of 2012, only 12% stated that their students were “very likely” to use printed books, other than textbooks, when carrying out research assignments. This figure pails significantly behind online tools such as Google, Wikipedia and YouTube where 94%, 75% and 52% respectively claimed that their students were “very likely” to use those tools when conducting research assignments.

students less likely to use Books when conducting research assignments

Answering Questions in Reading

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answering questions

Below I have outlined 2 steps in teaching elementary aged students how to answer questions they have during reading. These strategies are very helpful when it comes to answering comprehension questions on tests. I spend a good amount of time practicing how to search for answers in the text. I spend even more time practicing how to make inferences from what we have read. This is a very difficult concept. I have also displayed the common core standards that are covered in these lessons.

ELACC2RL1: Ask and answer such questions as who, what, where, when, why, and how to demonstrate understanding of key details in a text.

ELACC2RL10: By the end of the year, read and comprehend literature, including stories and poetry, in the grades 2-3 text complexity band proficiently, with scaffolding as needed at the high end of the range.

ELACC2RF4: Read with sufficient accuracy and fluency to support comprehension.

Finding Answers in Text:

Refer back to the questioning posters you made in previous lessons. Model for students how to search for the answers to your questions in the text. Answer, together, all the questions that can be found right in the text making sure to point out the exact parts in the text that answer the questions. Jot the answers to the questions in notebooks. Allow for guided practice, buddy practice, and independent practice.

Inferring Answers:

Explain that sometimes the author does not directly answer our questions in the text, but we can infer the answers using what the author did say and what we already know. You can write the equation:

what we read + what we know = inference

Look for the questions on the chart that could not be answered in the text. Have students create an H-Chart with headings: What we read, What we know, Inference. In this chart students can jot down the clues from the story relating to the question. Model and help students find these clues in the text. Next jot what we already know about this topic that may help us answer the question. Then make an inference to answer the question. Practice with students, and allow for partner and independent practice. Reiterate that students should always make sure that their inference makes sense.

**Tip: When teaching students how to answer questions from their reading, make sure you guide them into finding their answers. Try hard not to point things out. One way I make sure I do this is by helping students find a word or two from the question that they can look for in the text to help them find a good spot to start looking for their answer. Once we find the spot in the book, we remind ourselves of which question word is in the question and what type of answer we’ll need. Then we search for the answer together. Once we find what we think is a good answer, we read the question again and ask ourselves if our answer makes sense. I don’t tell them if they are right or wrong, they need to decide if their answer actually answers the question and makes sense.

Asking Questions While Reading

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question man

In this post I have outlined 4 steps to teaching students how to ask questions during reading. This would be geared toward an elementary level student. I have included the common core standards that are covered as well.

ELACC2RL1: Ask and answer such questions as who, what, where, when, why, and how to demonstrate understanding of key details in a text.

ELACC2RF4: Read with sufficient accuracy and fluency to support comprehension.

ELACC2RL10: By the end of the year, read and comprehend literature, including stories and poetry, in the grades 2-3 text complexity band proficiently, with scaffolding as needed at the high end of the range.

1. Questions Poster:

The first thing I always do when I teach questioning in reading is make a poster explaining what each question means. Many of my students get confused as to what the question is actually asking for. I draw a big question mark on chart paper and put Who, What, When, Where, Why, How around the question mark. Then we discuss what each question word means and the type of answer we need to give. Who: name a person (character), What: explain what happened, When: time, date, year, day, Where: name a place, Why: explain why (reason) something happened, How: explain how something was done. Give examples of each, especially question words that need to be explained like what, why, and how. You can read a book and have students practice answering each question for that book. Students can also read with a buddy: one practices asking questions about the text, and the other can answer the questions.

question words

2. Asking Questions Before, During, and After Reading:

Create a chart with 3 columns: Before, During, and After. Choose a short story to share with students. Look at the title and pictures and allow students to start forming some “before” reading questions. Jot them down in the chart. Start reading the text and stop throughout to record some questions students have “during” reading. When the book is finished have students jot some questions they have “after” reading. Review the chart together focusing on the types of questions they asked referring to the Questions Chart above.

3. Use What You Know and Create a Picture:

Explain that your prior knowledge of something can help you ask questions. Choose a short book to share with students with a setting or place that students may have prior knowledge about. Example: If you choose a book about the ocean, students may be able to ask questions such as, “Will there be dolphins in this book? Will we be exploring the Atlantic Ocean?” Thinking about what you already know about a topic can help you create mental pictures, which may lead to some questions about the text. You can model asking questions based on what you already know about the subject you are reading about and share how your mental images helped you create some questions. Then have students practice with a buddy and independently.

4. Thoughtful Questions:

Choose a book you have previously read and have the chart of before, during, and after questions. Discuss the difference between a thoughtful question and a question that doesn’t help you better understand the story. Example: A thoughtful question will help you understand what is happening in the story: Why are the cows writing a letter to the farmer? Not thoughtful: What is the farmer’s name? The farmer’s name is not important, because it will not help you understand what is happening and why. Go through the chart of questions the students previously created and pick out the thoughtful and purposeful questions to focus on. Have students continue practicing writing thoughtful questions with a partner.