FAQ

Graduation requirements are approved by the Alburnett school board and can be found in Board Policy 505.5.

Students in 8th grade meet with the guidance counselor to go over their 4-year plan for high school. In this plan, all students are given the requirements to graduate from high school for each core area. As a high school student, they meet with the guidance counselor as a class to register for the classes that meet graduation requirements. If the student has more class scheduling questions, then the guidance counselor meets individually with the students to complete course registration.

A content standard is an academic learning goal that outlines what a student should know and be able to do. Each standard describes the knowledge or skill(s) that students are expected to learn. Each grade level has their own standards or group of standards. Ex:  4th grade Reading, 7th-grade math, 9-12 Social Studies. Click here to view the Iowa Core standards or search standards by subject/grade level.

For a very long time, very little about the structure of education changed. For the most part, everyone had the same general school experience. Because of this, we all share (or shared) the same mental model of what happened in school. Then research in the social sciences began emerging and picking up speed, and research around the impact of instructional practices increased - and then increased exponentially. The result - schools began to change based on research. But those not directly involved with school operations or educationally research logically and rightfully were left with lots of questions.

As most of us remember, before standards, textbooks were the key driver of how teachers decided what to teach and in what order. There is nothing wrong with textbooks, and many textbooks are still used as an instructional resource today. But as more and more content across more and more areas continued to be added to the curriculum, it became more evident that schools were being forced to teach “a mile wide and an inch deep.” In a very simplified answer, this is how and why standards were born. Educators and researchers came to understand that it was necessary to identify what was essential for students to know and that they must commit to a deeper understanding of those standards for all students. There is still good-to-know and nice-to-know content being taught in schools, but the goal is no longer to cover the “mile wide and inch deep” curriculum.

We teach them all, but not prioritize all the same. The research behind the Common Core states that it would take 23 years to teach all the standards to the same level. The fact is that we only have Kindergarten through 12th grade to teach standards. The school has hired highly qualified teachers to break down what each grade level needs to be taught to be successful through the years of school.

Standards are the same for all public schools in Iowa. Full implementation was expected in high schools by 2012-2013 and in K-8 by 2014-2015. What can vary between districts are which standards are considered a priority or essential.

When a student is new to the district, there are steps teachers take to determine which standards have not yet been met by the student. From there, a plan is developed to support student learning.

See section two of this document. Also included is more information on Iowa Core and standards.

Using kindergarten as an example, we use a combination of observations, conversations, and performance-based assessments. In this example, rarely do we do anything with paper and pencil because of the age of the children. With more informal (or formative) assessments, we use the information we gather to guide daily/weekly decision-making to help form where we go next with instruction. We ask ourselves, do we move on to a new concept? Do we stop to deepen understanding? Do we need to teach the information in a new way? With our more summative assessments at the end of the unit, we use the information to guide whether additional instruction is needed in a small group or individual setting to help intervene with a small group of children or even individual children to help fill gaps in understanding as we move on to a new unit. A vast majority of our assessing is done on a 1:1 basis. It takes longer but gives us more worthwhile information.  - Kara Paulsen (Kindergarten)

Using 6th grade as another example, we will know if a student is learning a standard by using formative assessments and considering how they influence the summative assessment. If the student's summative assessment matches the standard's proficiency criteria, then we will know that they are learning the standard.  - Bryce Cox (6th Science/Social Studies)

Homework is viewed as practice. Practice assignments are an opportunity for students to grow their knowledge and skills. Due to students’ grades being a representation of what they know and are able to do, assessing students on their first independent attempts at new content would not give a fair representation of what they know and are able to do at the end of a unit. 

Some teachers require all the homework from the unit to be done correctly to take the test, if they don't require it to take the test some will require you to have the homework correct to retake the test.  - Brooklyn Nafts (11th Grade)

The formative assignments leading up to the summative final are designed to practice each of the requirements individually and together as a whole as they might appear on the final summative. These formatives are also important in helping us to know how ready the students are for the summative and where students need more practice.  - Kim Maakestad (9-12 Spanish)

A “retake” or reassessments allows the students another opportunity to demonstrate mastery of a standard. This can look like the same assessment, or a different assessment that still measures the same standard. Retakes can be a paper/pencil assessment, a conversation with the student and the teacher, or a project that demonstrates mastery.

The district allows students to reassess because staff want to collect data on what students know and are able to do. Student skill levels are not always at their highest on a specific test day, so staff members understand the need for students to continue the learning process after a summative assessment. Students then reassess to show what they know and are able to do to prove that they have mastered the standard. The ability to retake an assessment (test) also aligns with real-world examples such as driving permit/license tests, SAT, ACT, and bar exams.

We are focused on ensuring students have the knowledge and skills to be successful in their lives outside of the classroom. Reassessment is used to make certain that students have mastered the essential skills and standards determined in each grade level. The ability to retake an assessment (test) also aligns with real-world examples such as driving permit/license tests, SAT, ACT, and bar exams. Allowing students an opportunity to reassess promotes non-academic behaviors such as learning how to prepare for an assessment, how to ask for help, and that failure is not an option.

A reassessment covers the same standard(s) as the original assessment, but it will consist of different questions. A reassessment could potentially be in a different format (originally paper/pencil, reassessment in project form).

Formative assessments are checks for understanding the teacher uses to guide the progression of the lessons. You could compare it to tasting your chili as you have it cooking in the crock pot to decide if it needs more seasoning before you serve it to your family. Summative assessments are the assessments given at the end of a set of lessons or a unit. Teachers use summative assessment data to determine if it is time to move on to a new unit, or if reteaching is needed. Using the chili comparison, it would be when you serve the chili to your family and find out if they like it so you know if you should serve it again as is or if adjustments will need to be made for them to enjoy it next time.

A rubric is a way for teachers to communicate expectations to students on a given assignment based on standards. The requirements of the assignment are made visible and clear so students know exactly what is needed in order to master the standard. The rubric is used to provide students feedback on their work.

We have created rubrics for each standard that specifically lays out the 4, 3, 2, and 1 criteria, but in summary, a 4 in kindergarten means a deep, consistent, and independent understanding of a concept that can be applied in all settings.  A 3 is a skill that a child has grasped well, but occasional teacher support is needed.  A 2 is where the understanding is present, but teacher support is needed more consistently, and a 1 is where teacher support/guidance is needed constantly.  Many of our standards in kindergarten start with the language "With teacher guidance and support....", so that concept is the backbone of our rubrics.  - Kara Paulsen (Kindergarten)

Rubric below from 1st grade:

Students will review the learning associated with the standard. The review will happen with the teacher in a variety of settings - during class, during advisory, in small groups at the table in the classroom, before school, after school. The goal is to ensure students master the standard. Once teachers have collected enough evidence that the student is ready for the reassessment they will issue the retake opportunity. This can look like the same assessment, or a different assessment that still measures the same standard. Retakes can be a paper/pencil assessment, a conversation with the student and the teacher, or a project that demonstrates mastery.

Teachers use their data to determine next steps when a student is meeting a standard. If most of the class has met the standard, then they will move on to the next. If a few students have already met a standard, they may choose to deepen the complexity of the standard for those particular students.

A full description of Advisory is available in the Advisory Information Summary

Financial Literacy or Personal Finance is learning about life outside of high school. The amount of information that we have available to us when we graduate high school can sometimes be overwhelming. We know that there is not a lot of training on this information for students so we try to give that to them here in school before they graduate. We cover everything from checking accounts, savings accounts, budgeting to investing or paying for college (if that is their path). We also talk about insurance or buying a home or looking at a financial career. There is an opportunity for the students to learn about different aspects of being an adult that many of us did not have the opportunity to do. We use the curriculum built by Next Gen Personal Finance that lays out a semester course for us. We are looking at using Junior Achievement to come in and provide some lessons as well.  -Micheal Lafler (Business)

Students in grades K-5 are taught financial literacy through a partnership with Junior Achievement. JA volunteers provide lessons and activities that students do to learn financial literacy skills.

In FCS, financial literacy is more heavily integrated:

• 7th Grade-JA (6 lessons)
• 8th Grade FCS-Career exploration paired with all students going to the Financial Literacy Fair where they go through a budget and meet with a financial advisor
• Child Development-Budgets for the costs of a child in their first year
• World of Work-Careers, how we get paid, benefits (401k, pension, etc.) - LaRae Arment (FCS)

Financial Literacy and Personal Finance classes are also provided in high school. The state of Iowa requires this course in order for students to graduate high school.  281--Iowa Administrative Code 12.5(17)(d) 

In the fall and spring, the secondary principal will send a spreadsheet with all teachers names that are linked to a Sign Up Genius.  Parents are welcome to meet with all their students' teachers or individual teachers. The way parents will know this information is to use JMC. JMC is the area in which you can check your students' grades and other school information.

You can expect teachers to communicate through email and phone calls. They may also communicate with you through different educational apps such as SeeSaw or Google Classroom. They may use a private Facebook page as well to deliver important happenings or announcements.  The type of communication varies from teacher to teacher or by grade level based on what delivery method works best for that particular group of students or parents.

Iowa BIG is a high school program designed to help you lead your own learning journey and discover your gifts, talents, and interests. BIG is a place where you get to learn through working on authentic projects in our community with community leaders. At BIG, you learn not only the content and standards in courses, but how to get along in the world and build the skills to make you “present-and-future-ready.”

BIG is a program open to all students. Does your student enjoy hands-on learning? Are they hoping to earn a scholarship for college? Are they bored or unsure of what to do after high school? If you answered yes to any of those questions, BIG is the right fit for your student!

BIG is about real-world application. You get to see and experience your classroom learning as it lives in actual practice through real business and community projects. BIG teaches the course standards as well as assess essential 21st century skills. Learners drive the learning and are not limited by the curriculum. Students own and control their learning.

Parent Information Letter