PARCC ACCESSIBILITY FEATURES AND ACCOMMODATIONS MANUAL

The PARCC ACCESSIBILITY FEATURES AND ACCOMMODATIONS MANUAL can be accessed using the link below. On page 27 of the manual, teachers will find the Presentation Accommodations for Students with Disabilities. Table 2 provides the accommodation and the administration guidelines for teachers to follow.

PARCC Accessibility Features and Accommodations Manual

PD Day Coco Beans Prize Winner

Congratulations to the Coco Beans prize winner Katie Buckley! Katie's name was drawn after completing the Next Generation Assessments Exploration during the October 16th Professional Development Day. Thank you to all that participated in the educational and productive Professional Development Day!

GRADUATION UPDATE:

The State Board approved two essential elements of the new requirements: the graduation points system and a list of tests students can take in lieu of Ohio’s tests. Click the link below for a summary of the State Board’s major decisions.

Graduation Update

GRADUATION REQUIREMENTS: Frequently Asked Questions

In June 2014, the Ohio General Assembly created new graduation requirements for students entering the ninth grade for the first time in the 2014-2015 school year. The General Assembly also charged the State Board of Education and Ohio Department of Education staff with creating the many rules and policy decisions needed to guide local implementation. Since then, staff members and the board’s Graduation Requirements Committee have worked urgently to craft and adopt these many rules and policies.

On Sept. 16, 2014, the State Board finalized many of the implementation details including two essential elements of the new requirements: the graduation points system and a list of tests student can take in lieu of Ohio’s tests. Click the link below to view the Graduation Requirements Frequently Asked Questions.

Graduation Requirements FAQ

WHAT’S CHANGING IN OHIO EDUCATION: Ohio’s Elementary and High School State Tests

This school year Ohio launches a new generation of computer-based state tests in English language arts, mathematics, science and social studies. The state tests measure student progress toward Ohio’s New Learning Standards. The results show whether students have the knowledge and skills necessary to move successfully to their next steps in education or a career. Click the link below to view what's changing.

WHAT’S CHANGING IN OHIO EDUCATION

Ohio’s Elementary and High School State Tests

Next Generation Assessment Test Specifications

The Ohio Department of Education and PARCC has released a set of draft test specification documents, including description of the assessment components and item types, assessment blueprints, evidence statements tables and item specifications, to help educators and the general public better understand the design of the Next Generation assessments that will begin this school year.

Language Arts and Math - PARCC link

Science and Social Studies - AIR link

Google Announces Unlimited Google Drive Storage

Yesterday Google announced that it will be offering FREE unlimited storage to all Google Apps for Education school districts. This will ensure that teachers and students can work in Google Drive without any storage limits.

Data security is also a priority at Google. According to Google, every file uploaded to Google Drive is encrypted, not only from your device to Google and in transit between Google data centers, but also at rest on Google servers. As always, the data that schools and students put into our systems is theirs.

Check out the Blog post below for more information.

Announcing Drive for Education: The 21st century backpack for students