Tag: 2017 04 April 6 meeting

Three school leaders and a parent from the Sanborn Regional School Districts spoke about their participation in New Hampshire's Performance Assessment for Competency Education (PACE) initiative...

There is a positive change happening in our classrooms; we’re seeing students engaged in meaningful learning, giving all students a greater opportunity to reach their potential. I believe that PACE, along with competency based education, will help our students gain 21st century skills, that will guide them on their path to life after high school.

Nashua High School South student Ben Telerski advocated for the standards. “As a student, the Next Generation Science Standards seem to be exactly what’s needed,” he said, noting the state Board of Education voted not to review science standards until 2022. “So I don’t know why this discussion is even happening.”

Sanborn Regional is one of the original PACE school districts. Three school leaders and a parent attended the April 6, 2017 state board meeting to talk briefly during public comments about the impact of PACE on their students. There's a short video of their presentation.

At the April 6th meeting of the New Hampshire State Board of Education, The department of education proposed that the board agree to review six major academic standards over the next year. The State Board of Education rejected the proposal, telling the department to return with a full plan, including timeline and budget, to review English and math standards.

At its April 6, 2017 meeting, the State Board of Education directed the department not to undertake a review of the New Hampshire College and Career Ready Science Standards. Here are the board discussions and the final resolution, passed unanimously by the board.

The New Hampshire Department of Education has issued an RFP for a statewide assessment. The State Board of Education wanted to know why this happened so quickly with no notice or input from the field, especially when the ELA and math standards could be reviewed at the same time.

At the April 6, 2017 State Board of Education meeting, commissioner Edelblut said that schools did not receive Smarter Balanced data until the following school year and that Smarter Balanced did not have longitudinal data. We discuss these concerns in greater detail here.

UNH doctoral candidate Carla Evans looks at whether competency education improves academic achievement for special education students. She finds dramatic results: PACE students with IEPs do about as well in 8th grade math as those without IEPs.

Assistant superintendent Donna Palley tells the New Hampshire State Board of Education about Concord's experience with PACE, "You only have to look at the student work to get it. Watch a group of very satisfied teachers sitting around a table looking at one after the other of their students' work. Listen to students talk about their learning and you’ll hear some impressive student voices."