The Press-Dispatch

Front Wednesday, April 19, 2023 The Press-Dispatch A-2 I-LEARN Continued from page 1 Local road projects receive state funding boost pike County and peters- burg are set to receive over $1.1 million to complete much-needed road projects, according to state reps. Cindy ledbetter (r-new- burgh) and shane lindauer (r-Jasper). Funding is available through the state's Communi- ty Crossings Matching Grant program, which can be used for road and bridge preser- vation, road reconstruction, intersection improvements and other items. in total, 224 towns, cities and counties will receive over $133.4 million in state matching grants. "investing in our infra- structure is vital to the eco- nomic success of our com- munity and state," ledbetter said. "With these grant funds, local governments will be able to stretch dollars further and complete their projects much sooner." pike County will receive $989,986 and petersburg was awarded $181,883. "This program provides lo- cal communities the addition- al funding they need to help complete road and bridge projects," lindauer said. "sustainable infrastructure helps drive economic growth while also making travel more efficient for Hoosiers." To qualify for the compet- itive grant, smaller munici- palities provide a 25 percent match in local funds, while large communities provide a 50 percent match. state law requires 50 percent of the available matching funds be awarded annually to commu- nities within counties with a population of 50,000 or few- er. since 2016, Community Crossings has awarded more than $1.27 billion to improve local roads and bridges. a list of all communities receiving matching funds in the latest round is available here. Visit in.gov/indot/com- munitycrossings to learn more about the Community Crossings Matching Grant program and the next call for projects opening in July. Biology in high school. each online i-learn assessment consists of a computer-adap- tive test segment and a per- formance task, each of which is untimed. deffendoll also stated that as "indiana's accountability assessment, i-learn results are used by the state to de- termine the current levels of student achievement across the state and within specific schools, as well as the level of growth achieved from year to year. While these scores are used to calculate each school and district-level 'grade', pCsC finds greater value in analyzing student perfor- mance on the individual stan- dards that are included with- in the tests. For instance, we can drill down into the data to identify strengths and weak- nesses, allowing us to adapt instruction, ensure we meet the needs of all learners, and continue growing in a posi- tive direction." One example of a sched- ule for an el a (english language arts) and Math grade could be, according to deffendoll, day 1: el a CaT part 1 (estimated time of 90 minutes); day 2: el a CaT part 2 (estimated time of 90 minutes); day 3: el a p T (es- timated time of 90 -120 min- utes); day 4: Math CaT (es- timated time of 60 minutes); day 5: Math CaT (estimated time of 60 minutes); and day 6: Math p T (estimated time of 45 -60 minutes). students have a practice Test the week before the ac- tual testing which helps al- leviate some of the anxiety. The practice test is short, but allows the students to see and experience the format of the test and the questions. even with the practice test, both elementary principals noted that the students and teach- ers found the testing stress- ful. With that said, "the test is directly related to state standards so we are always working on aspects of the test," added Wes principal aaron Myer. "it is always a stressful time for teachers," said prin- cipal Myer. "They are con- stantly assessing and analyz- ing student data and growth to see a year get boiled down to a series of one or two day tests is always a challenge. We use the information from the i-learn Tests but rely more on our iready testing. We take this test three times a year and it gives us a more useful data set for teachers to support student growth." pes principal richard King said that during the testing period the younger students have been respect- ful with their noise level as the older students work on their i-learn testing. The schools help with accom- modations for students that require it during the test, as each student is different. at Wes they are spread- ing the testing out to five days. "This is purposeful to pace it out for the students. The state has done a lot to improve the set up of the test and the online capabilities make it easier to administer. Our technology department works hard to make sure our network is up to speed to have all the students on at once." "There are a variety of response types that assess the students on everything from their ability to write to multi-step math problems," said principal Myer. "The tests are challenging for all students but i have found students ready and willing to meet the challenge." princi- pal Myer added, "we run our two hour delay schedule nor- mally reserved for inclement weather. This allows all stu- dents to have their related arts and special services. Our Kindergarten through second grade students work on special projects during this time and adopt an upper level classroom to cheer them on and deliver special cards and small gifts." deffendoll said, "state man- dated testing carries a lot of negative perceptions, due to the time it takes to train, set up equipment, prepare the environment, etc., the high stakes associated with bas- ing student achievement and school scores on students' performance on a single day, and the expense of annual testing to the state." deffen- doll added, "however, we try to maintain a positive per- spective by focusing on the data we will receive, which can be used alongside our own formative assessments given three times each year, to inform instruction and pro- vide insights into the needs of our students. Testing also provides an opportunity for students to showcase their growth over the past year and all that they've learned." "They have a new state reporting website that vi- sualizes the data on our schools and school system," said principal Myer. "While they haven't given school letter grades in five years we continue to focus on student growth and improving stu- dent achievement." This new state reporting site can be found at https://indianagps. doe.in.gov/summary/ school/4383 "i-learn is a more ar- chaic approach to assessing students akin to what stores used to do," said principal Myer. "stores would stop and sometimes even close to do inventory before reopen- ing. now they daily update and track their inventory. We are moving towards that in education iready, plus Growth Checks, plus Class- room assessments which are much closer to the new mod- el then the more traditional stop some aspects of school for a week and assess." He encourages parents to learn more about iready and com- pare it to i-learn for a more complete picture. parents wanting to advocate for the adoption of iready or nWea testing can contact their state legislators, which can be found here at https://iga. in.gov/legislative/find-legis- lators/. For parents or students wanting to find out more about i-learn, information can be found here at https:// www.in.gov/doe/students/ assessment/ilearn/ addi- tional information and links can also be found within this idOe's website. • note: Technology, be- sides students chromebook, are not allowed during prac- tice Test, nor testing. There- fore, this photo was not taken during those times. Sixth graders were getting ready for their I-LEARN testing on Tuesday, April 18. They had fun completing the "Donut stress, just do your best" team building activi- ty the day before. Division of Forestry Competitive Grants Available The Urban and Community Forestry inflation reduction act notice of Funding Op- portunity (nOFO) has been announced. The U.s. Forest service is making up to $1 billion available in Urban and Community Forestry competitive grants for invest- ments that: increase equitable access to urban tree canopy and associated human health, environmental, and econom- ic benefits in disadvantaged communities, Broaden community en- gagement in local urban forest planning, improve community and urban forest resilience to climate change, pests, and storm events through best management and maintenance practices. Notes: • proposal deadline is June 1, 2023 at 11:59 p.m. eT •$100,000 minimum and $50 million maximum fund- ing request • 5 -year grant agreement •all federal grant funds are to be matched at least equally (dollar for dollar) with non-federal match. Match waivers are available for pro- posals that deliver 100% of the funding/program benefits to disadvantaged communities. •Organizations must have an active registration and Unique entity identifi- er (Uei) from saM.gov to apply. Creating a first-time registration may take several weeks or more to complete, so apply for saM registra- tion early. QUESTIONS: For questions relat- ed to the NOFO pro- posal requirements or information contained within the NOFO, such as dates, page numbers, and clari- fication of discrepan- cies, email SM.FS. UCF_IR A@usda.gov. NOTE: Questions re- lated to eligibility or the merits of a specif- ic proposal will not be addressed. More resources: https://www.grants. gov/web/grants/ search-grants.html https://www. fs.usda.gov/manag- ing-land/urban-forests Winslow holds Spring Concert Winslow Elementary held their annual Spring Concert with the kindergarten, second and fourth grade class- rooms. The students were led by music teacher Brandon Hagen. They sang a "practice" performance for the WES students during the school day and performed for their parents in the evening. The kindergarten students have a grand finale to their performance Fourth grader Madison McCandless sings a solo during the Spring Concert performance for the students Chandler Porter sang a solo during the kindergarten performance. Olive Woolsey does her speaking part during the 2nd graders' part of the Spring Concert.

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