Week of January 1, 2018

Which Students Have a Growth Mindset and Which Don’t?

            In this Brookings research paper, Susana Claro and Susanna Loeb report on a study assessing growth mindsets in 125,000 California students in grades 4-7 in five school districts. The researchers measured students’ mindset based on their responses to these statements:

-    My intelligence is something that I can’t change very much.

-    Challenging myself won’t make me any smarter.

-    There are some things I’m not capable of learning.

-    If I am not naturally smart in a subject, I will never do well in it.

For each question, students answered Not at All True, A Little True, Somewhat True, Mostly True, or Completely True. The researchers came to three major conclusions:

            • Students in all subgroups who had a growth mindset scored higher on standardized tests of reading and math and had bigger learning gains each year than otherwise similar students who didn’t have a growth mindset. Claro and Loeb estimate that the difference made by having a growth mindset (versus a neutral mindset) was the equivalent of 19 days of learning – almost a calendar month of school.

            • Girls had more of a growth mindset than boys up to seventh grade, at which point the mindset gap began to close.

            “While this study is just a first step in assessing the effects of mindset on a large population of students and the role of schools in building mindset,” conclude Claro and Loeb, “the findings provide initial evidence that it may be beneficial to monitor the levels of growth mindset in the population and convey to students that the brain is malleable.”

“New Evidence That Students’ Beliefs About Their Brains Drive Learning” by Susana Claro and Susanna Loeb in Brookings Research, November 9, 2017.

As a reminder to parents the MAP (Measures of Academic Progress) testing that is administered three times a year measures how children's mindset grows over the course of the year.
 

 

Registration facts for the 2018-2019 School Year 

December 1, 2017 :

Admissions open for NEW families

January 19, 2018:

Registrations for NEW and RETURNING families open

Re-Qualification for Financial Assistance opens for RETURNING families

Tuition & Fee rate sheets  will be available on January 12, 2018.

February 1, 2018:

Deadline for NEW families to submit complete Admissions & Financial Assistance applications, including all required documentation, in order to receive a decision regarding Financial Assistance by March 15.

March 15, 2018:

Families who have submitted complete Admissions & Financial Assistance applications (including all required documentation) and who have been accepted by the school of interest by February 1, will receive email notices informing them of the results of their Financial Assistance applications by this date.

 

Parents and MAP Growth – 7 Things to Know

First, what is MAP Growth? Unlike the paper-and-pencil tests of days gone by, where all students were asked the same questions and spent a fixed amount of time taking the test, MAP Growth is a computer adaptive test—which means every student gets a unique set of test questions based on their responses to previous questions. The purpose of MAP Growth is to determine what the student knows and is ready to learn next.

MAP Growth tracks student growth over time – wherever they are starting from and regardless of the grade they are in. For instance, if a third grader is actually reading like a fifth grader, MAP Growth will be able to identify that. Or, if a fifth grader is doing math like a third grader, MAP Growth will identify that, too. Both things are incredibly important for teachers to know so that they can plan instruction efficiently.

Did you know?

1. Archdiocesesan schools administer MAP Growth three times per year – in fall, winter, and spring. 
2. The winter testing window opens January 9th and closes January 26th for students in K - 8.
3. As the student answers correctly, questions get harder. If the student answers incorrectly, the questions get easier. By the end of the test, students will have answered enough questions to inform a teacher about what they know and what they’re ready to learn.
4. MAP Growth is grade independent, which means teachers and parents can see where a child is performing relative to grade level – not merely if they are at grade level or not.
5. MAP Growth assesses math, reading, language usage, and science.
6. MAP Growth takes less than an hour to complete – but is not timed. Students can take as much time as needed.
7. The score your child receives is called a RIT score. You’ll be able to see your child’s RIT score progress from test to test, and year to year.
8. The RIT score can be connected to online resources, such as Khan Academy for math exercises and com to determine what books might be at the appropriate reading level. You can even plug their RIT score into our College Explorer tool to see what colleges your child is on track to attend.

Parents who have  further questions should click the links in the paragraphs above for more information and feel free to speak to your child's teacher or see Mr. Woods on Sundays from 2:00 PM - 5:00 PM.

 

 

 

Wednesday January 3, 2018

School Reopens  

January Calendars will be sent home.

Thursday January 4, 2018 - Feast of St. Elizabeth Ann Seton

Mass at 9:00 AM led by students of the 8th grade.

Parents Welcome

Friday January 5, 2017

Tuition Due to Smart Tuition 

Progress Reports sent home today with all students.

Math Coach will work with students in Grades 5-8

Sunday January 7th 

Living Environment Class 9:00 AM

Mass for students in sacramental program 1:00 PM