Department of Curriculum and Instruction

Welcome to the New Milford Public Schools Department of Curriculum and Instruction.

The mission of the New Milford Public Schools, a collaborative partnership of

students, educators, family, and community, is to prepare every

student to compete and excel in an ever-changing world, embrace challenges with vigor, respect, and appreciation of the worth of every human being, and contribute to society by providing effective instruction and dynamic curriculum, offering a wide range of valuable experiences, and inspiring students to pursue their dreams and aspirations.

 

To support our students' success after graduation, whether it be college or work beyond school, New Milford Public Schools are committed to providing students with rich opportunities from which students can apply skills and concepts in a real-world context. By doing so, we will be promoting our students' ability to:

 

  • Communicate clearly 

  • Think critically

  • Creativity express their ideas

  • Approach problems thoroughly and thoughtfully to find the answers and questions to deepen their thinking.  

     

Creating a positive and safe environment is the foundation for this work. This occurs by helping students build positive relationships with adults and peers and learn strategies to make decisions, prioritize tasks, understand themselves as learners and approach new situations through a growth mindset - making mistakes and learning from them. 

Directory

This guide is designed to help educators, parents, students, the public, and members of the media understand and explain the results of the Smarter Balanced summative assessments.

 

Smarter Balanced Supports for Students and Families

 

Lexile & Quantiles

The Lexile® is a measure of both reading ability and text complexity. This measure can be used at http://fab.lexile.com to find books and materials that match a student's reading ability and interests. The Quantile® measure can be used at http://quantiles.com to find math activities that match a student's ability and goals. Parents and teachers can use these websites to find books, resources, and activities that can improve students' understanding of the content. (Source, State of Connecticut Department of Education)

Smarter Balanced (Spanish)

Smarter Balanced English

A Parent's Guide to Understanding the Individual Student Report


Curriculum Guides

Connecticut Core Standards

Parent Guides regarding Connecticut Core Standards

Next Generation Science Standards

Next Generation Accountability Report

According to information provided by the CT State Department of Education (CSDE), “Connecticut’s Next Generation Accountability System is a broad set of 12 indicators that help tell the story of how well a school is preparing its students for success in college, careers and life. The system moves beyond test scores and graduation rates and instead provides a more holistic, multifactor perspective of district and school performance and incorporates student growth over time. It was developed through extensive consultation with district and school leaders, Connecticut educators, state and national experts, CSDE staff, and many others. The system was conceived and developed under ESEA Flexibility and approved by the U.S. Department of Education (USDE) on August 6, 2015. It was later included as part of Connecticut’s state plan under the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA).”

This model, initially implemented in March 2016, has two main differences from previous models per the CSDE, “First, in addition to measuring academic achievement, this system also focuses on student growth over time. Measuring growth provides a more accurate picture than just looking at a snapshot in time of student performance. The second big change is that this accountability system includes additional key indicators, such as chronic absenteeism, physical fitness and arts access. Research tells us that students who attend school on a daily basis and maintain a healthy lifestyle are more likely to graduate and succeed in college. Access to an engaging arts curriculum creates a more well-rounded educational experience.”

The twelve indicators measured are: (1.) Academic achievement status measured by state assessments (2.) Academic growth (3.) Assessment participation rate (4.) Chronic absenteeism (5.) Preparation for post secondary and career readiness – coursework (6.) Preparation for post secondary and career readiness – exams (7.) Graduation – on track in ninth grade (8.) Graduation – four-year adjusted cohort graduation rate – all students (9.) Graduation – six-year adjusted cohort graduation rate – high needs (10.) Post secondary entrance rate – all students, college enrollment (11.) Physical fitness and (12.) Arts access.

To see New Milford’s district and school results in depth, go to

 

https://portal.ct.gov/SDE/Performance/Performance-and-Accountability/Next-Generation-Accountability-System/Related-Resources 

Following the Superintendent’s recommendation, in the spring of 2021, the Board of Education endorsed the district's participation in a Strategic Coherence

Planning experience. Strategic Coherence Planning uses data-based, backwards design to focus the process on those highest leverage improvement strategies that have demonstrated over time to have the largest influence on student learning and impactful preparation for life, learning and work success in a digital age.

The concept of Strategic Coherence planning was created and pioneered by the selected consultant, Jonathan Costa, from EdAdvance in Litchfield, Connecticut.

This work was started in September 2021 and in February 2022, the Board of Education was presented with a document articulating the essential skills and dispositions we hope all New Milford Public School graduates will develop by the time they leave 12th grade.