DCBAS- March 3 and 4

The DCBAS Test C, another benchmark for the DCCAS 2009, will be administered on the 3rd and the 4th of March. There have been a lot of preparations in our school.
On February 26, Thursday, we had a collaborative planning meeting of the Math Department. Our Math teachers and I revisited our school data. We showed that every Math teacher knows how to compute for the safe harbor target and the number of our students that we need to move up to proficiency in every Math class. Although, we are aware of the Jefferson Middle School Mission which is every student in the building will be advanced or proficient in Reading and Math, it is still good to know our school safe harbor target. We also revisited our students' growth in DCBAS test 2 and test 3, as well as their strands grouping.
I created a brief constructed response (BCR) samples display on the 2nd floor for our teachers and students to see. This is a part of our BCR initiative for DCCAS preparation, aside from having a daily BCR lesson with the 8E class. In addition, on Thursday next week, during our Math Collaborative Planning Meeting, our Math teachers will collaborate on BCR grading. All 6th grade teachers will answer the 6th grade DCBAS C-BCR items and will decide on the requirements for a grade of 3, 2, 1, or 0, basing on our district scoring guide. Our 7th and 8th grade Math teachers will do the same collaboration. With all the BCR activities in all subject areas everyday, we are expecting a great improvement in the test results.

For Parents: DCBAS Preparation

Dear Parents,

On March 03, 2009, Jefferson's staff of excellence will administer the DC BAS (DC Benchmark Assessment System). Your child is scheduled to participate in the District wide assessment. Please assist jefferson's staff of excellence by ensuring that your child is here on time (8:30am).

• Get a good night sleep.
• Eat a good nutritious breakfast.
• Be on task.
• Be motivated.
• Have a positive attitude.

If you have any additional questions regarding the DC BAS (DC Benchmark Assessment System) or your child's results, please feel free to contact Jefferson Middle School's main office at (202) 729 - 3270. If you need detailed information, regarding your child's results, you can also contact 6th and 7th grade counselor, Ms. Nedra Jones as well as 7th and 8th grade counselor Mr. Benjamin Scott.

Cordially,

Stephanie Patton

Jefferson Middle School Principal

DCPS Initiatives

As we prepare for the DCCAS, the DCPS System has launched two initiatives for middle school which are Brief Contructed Response Practice everyday and Calculator Activities. I would like to talk about these two iniatives which I find very important to focus on.

The BCR Initiative states that all teachers in all areas should give a BCR item to their students in their subject area. For example, a Music teacher should give a BCR practice on Music. All teachers should also follow the district wide scoring guide.

The Calculator Activities initiative prepares the students for the use of a calculator during the DCCAS and to prepare them also for high school and college.

Letter to Parents Re: Parents' Math Workshop

Dear Jefferson Parents/Guardians

Greetings!

The Jefferson Middle School Math Department conducted a diagnostic test recently. This test, the Star Math Assessment, is a computer-adaptive, norm reference, Mathematics assessment program. It gives the Math levels of your students for grades 1-12 in about 15 minutes. In Star Math Assessment, the student works through a short, assisted response (multiple choice) test. If a student misses a question, the difficulty level of the next question is reduced. This is an excellent system which lessens frustration and gives more accurate scores for both high-and low-performing students.

Our school focuses on interventions, and as a result of this recent diagnostic test we are offering Math workshops to parents/guardians. This workshop aims to help you to recall and update your Mathematics contents and skills knowledge so that you could assist your child when they need your assistance at home.

As part of our Jefferson family, we strongly encourage you to be involved in this endeavor. We are sending you, through your child, the result of the test. Please, have a heart- to- heart talk with your child and set up some guidelines in the house to help him/her reach, at least, his/her grade placement.

Please fill out the survey below. We can accommodate only 20 parent-and-child partners in each session.

We are hoping for your positive response. Rest assured that, we always value your child’s education.

For further questions, please call telephone number (202)729-3270.

Educationally yours,


The Math Department
Jefferson Middle School