BY KELLI GILE
Walnut – Walnut Valley Unified School District will host three parent meetings in late February to discuss the new Common Core State Standards and the Smarter Balanced Assessment. Kindergarten through 12th Grade families and community members are invited to attend.
“We want to really get the word out to our parents and community about the shifts taking place and how we’re preparing our students, and answer any questions they may have,” said Superintendent Dr. Robert Taylor.
The District-wide meetings will be held at Walnut and Diamond Bar High Schools and the District Office. The same presentation will be offered at each meeting.
• Tuesday, Feb. 25: Walnut High School Performing Arts Center – Presentations in Mandarin, Korean, Spanish, and English.
• Wednesday, Feb. 26: Diamond Bar High School Theater – Presentation in English.
• Thursday, Feb. 27: WVUSD District Office Board Room – Presentation in English.
In addition, all WVUSD schools will continue to provide information on these new standards and assessments. Schools across the nation have been transitioning to new standards in language arts and math. The Common Core standards focus on teaching students not only foundational skills, but how to think critically to be better prepared to succeed in college and the workplace.
To better align with 21st Century skills, nearly all future state testing, beginning this spring, will be computer based. These new tests are called the Smarter Balanced Assessments (SBAC). The pilot SBACs will be administered this spring in Walnut Valley Schools. All public schools in California will have the opportunity to pilot the computer-based assessments before the official SBAC assessments begin in 2014-2015.
For further information, please visit the website at http://www.wvusd.k12.ca.us.
