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Math Articles Grade level Expectations (GLE's)
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New England Common Assessment (NECAP) Results and NECAP information
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Math Coaches Mariann Hayward Kim Mather Marty Waterson
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1. Be positive. If you let your child know tone can be successful in math, your child will believe it too. Your children reflect your attitudes and aspirations.

2. Play Family Games that use math and are lots of fun. Card games like “Go Fish” or “War” teach children to count, sort, and use strategy. Many games use “play money” and teach how to make change. Games played in the car that estimate distance or identify specific shapes along the road help build mathematical thinking.

3. Avoid stereotypes that set limits on what any child can be. Women can be engineers, and minorities can excel in advanced math. Early success in mathematics makes anything possible for groups that were counted out in the past without any justification.

4. Choose gifts for birthdays or holidays that are fun and develop problem solving skills. Puzzles are great for young children, and games like Monopoly that require choices among options or use strategy are fun for upper elementary children.

5. Expand your child’s horizons in terms of possible career choices. Kindergarteners many want to be doctors, nurses, or firefighters, but they can also be exposed to other exciting jobs like water forecasters, astronomers, airline pilots or forest managers. These jobs are not limited by race or sex, but all require a sound base in mathematics. Ask the school to host presentations so children can understand the range of options they will have with a solid foundation in math.

7. Connect math to the real world. As you and your child go to the store, bank, restaurant, etc., point out ways people use math on bills, deposits slips, menus, or tipping.

8. Visit museums, libraries and other community centers often to see what materials and resources they can make available. Notice what interest your child has.

10. Encourage children to solve problems. Ask helpful questions but let them find out how to do it. Learning how is to find the answers is a life-time skill.

State testing in Rhode Island has changed dramatically in response to the federal No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB). The New Hampshire Department of Education, Rhode Island Department of Education, and Vermont Department of Education have developed a common set of Grade-Level Expectations, known as the New England Common Assessment Program Grade-Level Expectations (NECAP GLE’s), and test specifications in Mathematics, Reading, and Writing. These expectations were developed in response to the requirements of the federally mandated No Child Left Behind Act, 2001 to test all students, beginning in the 2005-2006 academic year, in each of grades 3-8 in mathematics and reading/language arts.

One of the most important goals of this partnership was to make these assessments instructionally relevant by providing information to school administrators, teachers, and parents to help them make informed decisions about student instructional needs. Students are ranked by their performance on the NECAP tests in the areas of reading, mathematics and writing. Student can be scored as:

Student's problem solving demonstrates logical reasoning with strong explanations that include both words and proper mathematical notation. Student's work exhibits a high level of accuracy, effective use of a variety of strategies, and an understanding of mathematical concepts within and across grade level expectations. Student demonstrates the ability to move from concrete to abstract representations.

Student's problem solving demonstrates logical reasoning with appropriate explanations that include both words and proper mathematical notation. Student uses a variety of strategies that are often systematic. Computational errors do not interfere with communicating understanding. Student demonstrates conceptual understanding of most aspects of the grade level expectations.

Student's problem solving demonstrates logical reasoning and conceptual understanding in some, but not all, aspects of the grade level expectations. Many problems are started correctly, but computational errors may get in the way of completing some aspects of the problem. Student uses some effective strategies. Student's work demonstrates that he or she is generally stronger with concrete than abstract situations.

Student's problem solving is often incomplete, lacks logical reasoning and accuracy, and shows little conceptual understanding in most aspects of the grade level expectations. Student is able to start some problems but computational errors and lack of conceptual understanding interfere with solving problems successfully.

The Grade Level Expectations for grades kindergarten to eight and the Grade Span Expectations for high school define what students should know and be able to do for curriculum, instruction, and assessment purposes. In addition, GLEs/GSEs guide local programming and curriculum development.

High expectations for student learning provide rigor so students may successfully transition from grade to grade and onto post secondary experiences. These expectations are defined by instructional continuums, state-level standards (GLEs/GSEs), and applied learning competencies. High expectations for all Rhode Island students must be clearly articulated and supported by all partners.

The continuums provide an overall picture of developmental learning from kindergarten through grade twelve. Due to the nature of the content, the format and level of detail within each of the instructional continuums will vary.

As part of the ongoing process of school improvement, Rhode Island Department of Education issues annual report cards on all public schools, on all school districts, and on the state itself. These report cards are produced and published so that all community members have easy access to complete and comprehensible information on our public schools and on school expenditures. These report cards are published to meet the many requirements regarding public reporting that are established in state and federal law. At present, RIDE issues three sets of report cards:

NECAP Reports: School, district, and state reports prepared by Measured Progress, the testing company for the New England Common Assessment Program. These reports present the results of the annual state tests in mathematics, reading, and writing. (Sciences will be added in 2008.)

Information Works! An annual set of reports, produced in parternship with the National Center on Public Education and Social Policy, at the University of Rhode Island. These reports contain data on test results, school classifications, school finances, teacher quality, school safety, suspensions, and survey data on parental engagement, instructional practices, school climate, and student health. The reports are updated throughout the school year, and the state report is published in booklet form in the spring. http://www.infoworks.ride.uri.edu/2008/default.asp

Math assessments occur in a variety of contexts. Assessments show students' current knowledge and abilities. They also measure students’ progress toward Grade Level Expectations (GLE’S)/Standards. South Kingstown’s Elementary report cards have been revised and are now based on the end of the year GLE’s/Standards. Teachers will be using a variety of tools for their assessments. These tools will include:

Ongoing Assessment involves gathering information from students’ everyday work. These assessments can take place at the same time as regular classroom instruction. They could be oral, slate, or written responses. Ongoing assessment is an integral part of the assessment process.

A child either shows mastery of a skill/concept, or not. Therefore, most of the work you see coming home will not have numeric or letter “grades”. Student work will show whether a student demonstrates mastery of skills and concepts that are part of each GLE/Standard. To find out more about the GLE’s/standards visit:

Teachers Use These Sources for Assessment
	Ongoing Assessment	Periodic Assessment	External Assessment
Observation	Informing Instruction Notes Recognizing Student Achievement Mental Math and Reflexes Kid Watching	Progress Check Open Response Problems Oral and Slate assessments Problem Solving Tasks	Classroom observations by resource teachers and other outside experts
Product	Recognizing Student Achievement notes for o Journal pages o Exit Slips o Game record sheets o Math Boxes Writing/Reasoning Prompts Portfolio opportunities Weekly Problem Solving Tasks	Mid Year and End-of-Year written assessments Progress Check Written Assessment Student Self Assessments Open Response problems Benchmark Problem Solving Tasks	Standardized Tests NECAP