Enhanced professional development and curriculum development, based on state academic content standards, are under way to accelerate Cincinnati Public Schools' recent rise in student academic achievement.
The new standards, developed by the Ohio Department of Education with input from national education experts, set out clearly what students should know at each grade level. State officials use these standards to create the state tests that Ohio students are required to take, and, as high-school students, required to pass to receive a diploma. CPS teachers and students now know that what is taught in the classroom is what students see on the tests.
The main standards cover the four core subjects - Language Arts and Mathematics, introduced in the 2002-03 school year; and Social Studies and Science, introduced in 2004-05. Additionally, standards have been developed recently to cover Fine Arts, Foreign Language, Library and Technology.
In 2005-06, CPS is focusing on strengthening professional development and curriculum to assure that the standards are being taught. Then, to assure that students are learning the standards, CPS is administering benchmark assessments. These nongraded tests quickly show teachers where students need more work before the time arrives to take a proficiency test. Students who need extra help receive targeted intervention.
Teachers now are working together and with coaches to fully implement the standards materials. School teams for each of the four core subjects are communicating with staff to continue sharing, supporting and implementing the standards-based curriculum.
The academic standards drive many of the education decisions at CPS, from purchasing textbooks that align to the standards to the launch in 2004-05 of the Instructional Management System (IMS), a technology tool that helps teachers create standards-based lesson plans and track students' progress on learning the standards.