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2022-2023 Kentucky Summative Assessment (KSA) Results for

Elementary:

Proficient Reading: 24%

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Distinguished Reading: 11%

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Proficient Math: 28%

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Distinguished Math: 7%

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Middle:

Proficient Reading: 27%

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Distinguished Reading: 20%

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Proficient Math: 24%

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Distinguished Math: 18%

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High:

Proficient Reading: 30%

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Distinguished Reading: 15%

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Proficient Math: 23%

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Distinguished Math: 10%

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Danville Independent Schools

Educators meet in the Hogsett Flex Room for training from Smithsonian and Carolina Biological on July 31.
Educators meet in Hogsett's Flex Room for training from Smithsonian and Carolina Biological.

Elementary-level teachers received training from Smithsonian and Carolina Biological on July 31.

 

Through a grant funded by the Kentucky Department of Education, the Danville Independent School District is receiving support with intensive coaching of science standards at all grade levels, as well as the model curriculum framework.

“The science grant is an asset for our district because it has supported us to have district-wide conversations about what we want for our students as scientists, how we can align our instruction across all schools, the support we need to provide our teachers to make that happen, and resources to help,” said Chief Academic Officer Suzanne Farmer.

“This year we are entering into a really valuable aspect of the grant — school-level coaching,” she said. “Our coach will be available to help with coaching the implementation of science instruction both onsite and virtually about 20 times throughout the year at each school.”

Before the start of the school year, elementary-level teachers received training from Smithsonian and Carolina Biological, an organization the elementary schools in the Danville Schools chose as their high-quality instructional resource, and they received science kits to support instruction.

“This training was helping the teachers to understand how the resource can be used to support hands-on instruction of the science standards,” Farmer said.

Some teachers commented on what their grade levels will be doing with the materials they received and how they will help them provide their students with engaging science instruction.

“Every kid, every grade level is going to get their hands on science, and we’re going to be doing it every day,” said 5th Grade Teacher Jaymie Ross. “It’s going to put a spark in a lot of kids. That’s what makes me excited about it.”

Painted lady caterpillars and a weighing scale

Painted lady caterpillars, feeding medium and weighing scales.

Painted lady caterpillars and their feeding medium

 

 

Fifth grade science instruction focuses heavily on the flow of energy, and how energy is shared and obtained by living organisms, she explained. This includes learning about food chains and cycles.

Through the grant, 5th graders will be able to work with painted lady caterpillars, which are native to Kentucky. They will also study videos of pandas and how they develop from birth to several years old. Classes will have their own sets of the caterpillars, which will feed on a provided medium. Then, classes will weigh the caterpillars over the course of several days to see how the energy they consume transfers to their development.

Classes will be comparing caterpillars to pandas so the students can visualize that the way organisms get their energy is a global phenomenon, shared by creatures all over the world.

“That’s what I really love about it because I’ve always loved science, and I love teaching it, and I want the kids to see there’s more than what’s just right outside the front door, and that we are global citizens,” Ross said.

Kindergarten classes will also be learning with painted lady caterpillars as part of their life science unit. They will learn about how organisms need food to survive, and how the caterpillars’ food source changes as they metamorphose into butterflies, a process they will also get to watch.

Kindergarten has also received plants to grow, toys and other materials that they will use when they learn about pushing and pulling, and more resources.

“Especially with kindergarten, that makes it really stick, when you have that hands-on learning,” said Kindergarten Teacher Brittney Groves.

Groves said she appreciates the resources because previously, the district has had established science standards, but sometimes it was difficult to pull together resources for lessons.

Robyn Howard, a 2nd grade teacher, also spoke about the importance of hands-on learning. She explained that 2nd grade received resources to make bee sticks. Students will be able to put dried honey bees at the end of sticks and dip them into a flower to see the pollen stick to the bee’s body. If students have allergies to certain flowers, fake flowers can be used, with mustard powder or cocoa powder to represent the pollen.

A teacher holds up a bee stick.

Bee sticks will help 2nd graders understand pollination.

 

“We have taught pollination in second grade, but the kids have never actually had a chance to use that as an example, to see it for themselves,” Howard said.

The bee sticks will provide a helpful visual aid, and students will also be able to create their own “hand pollinators” out of three different materials, such as cotton balls, pipe cleaners, cotton swabs and feathers, and see if the materials they chose will stick to the pollen.

Like 5th grade and kindergarten, 4th grade will also be working with live organisms. They’ll be studying small crabs to identify the difference between male and female crabs, and how male and female crabs communicate with one another, said 4th Grade Teacher Kyle Hamlin. Students will build a habitat for the crabs and watch how they live together in a space.

“I think this is better than watching a video about this,” Hamlin said. “We can actually have this in our classroom for a week or two and be able to see maybe differences in each day based on how the crabs are feeling, and we can apply that to reading about other animals.”

4th grade shows the crabs their classes will work with.

4th grade will be studying crabs.

 

  • Danville Independent Schools
  • disd
  • hands-on resources
  • kentucky department of education
  • science grant
  • science instruction