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Curriculum committee reports mixed assessment results, proposes grade-5 schedule changes and textbook purchase
Summary
The board’s curriculum committee reported improved elementary math and reading results, a middle-school reading dip, proposed longer math and ELA minutes for grade 5, a recommended UConn dual-credit textbook purchase, and ongoing Benchmark Advance implementation.
The Newington Board of Education’s curriculum committee reported student-achievement trends and recommended instructional adjustments at its March 12 meeting.
Committee members said elementary-level student achievement improved in both mathematics and reading compared with prior measures, but the committee noted the performance gap between white, Black and Hispanic students did not narrow despite overall gains. At the middle-school level (grades 5–8), committee staff said math achievement improved across all student groups, while the percentage of students at benchmark for reading decreased by 1 percent; the reading decrease was most pronounced among Black students.
The committee recommended a schedule change for grade 5 that increases daily math minutes from 53 to 70 and expands ELA (reading/writing) minutes from 53 to 115 to align fifth grade more closely with elementary instructional practice. Staff explained the extra minutes for math and ELA are being taken primarily from science and social studies instruction time; they said Benchmark Advance’s informational texts will continue to deliver content aligned to social studies and science standards within the expanded ELA block.
On accelerated math, the committee discussed early acceleration pathways and noted that students who were accelerated earlier do not uniformly enroll in advanced high-school math: roughly 26 percent of students took four credits of math at Newington High School, 15 percent took AP Calculus, and 25 percent enrolled in at least one AP or ECE course (figures cited by staff). Committee members said the district aims to keep multiple pathways for students to advance in math without “predetermining their fate.”
The committee recommended purchase of required copies of a UConn dual-credit textbook for the ECE Health 2 course (An Integrative Approach to Personal Health, by Linda B. White) at a total cost cited in the committee discussion as $1,523.75; the committee said funding would come from the ARPA dual-credit expansion grant.
Beverly Lawrence gave an update on Benchmark Advance implementation, reporting growing teacher familiarity and collaboration; staff characterized the rollout as a work in progress but receiving generally positive feedback from teachers.
The committee scheduled a follow-up meeting for April 1 at 6:30 p.m. in the same room. Several board members praised data-driven discussion and the instructional time shift to support reading and math.
