I never expected that it would take a Pandemic to make a change! The shift to remote learning this school year resulted in us not being able to administer the placement exam in May. We discussed placement in our PLC meeting with our principals. French decided to keep the status quo in regard to placement. In Spanish, we decided the following:
- Keep New Entrant Spanish in 7th and 8th grades.
- Do not have 2 separate courses for Spanish 8 and Spanish 2 MS for the 2020-21 school year. This will be a pilot, and we will evaluate the situation throughout the school year.
- Spanish in 8th grade needs to be more compelling and MUST provide more opportunities by differentiating instruction and assessment. We can use a hybrid of materials from Spanish 2 MS and Spanish 8. This will be the majority of our work this summer.
- In order to be mindful of course selection for the High School, we can use a Mid-term exam in January (an Integrated Performance Assessment) as well as the data we collect throughout the school year. These data will help to inform us in our course recommendations for 9th grade - which is currently Spanish 2 or Spanish 3.