CMS Student Council @ Culver's

The Carroll Middle School Student Council will participate in a fundraiser at Culver’s on Monday, April 18th, from 5:00-8:00.


Culver’s will donate a portion of their proceeds to the CMS Student Council. Students will be responsible for opening doors for the customers, delivering food to the customers, and taking samples of
food to the customers.

We hope to see you there on Monday the 18th.  

Parent Letter on Math Acceleration

April 2016

Guardian/Parent(s) of 5th, 6th, & 7th Graders:

Our team of 6-8 math teachers has been participating in math professional development since February 2015.  The teachers have been working as a team to learn more about the Iowa Core Mathematics, to review best math practices, and to evaluate math textbooks.  As part of the professional development, the team also reviewed the acceleration process at Carroll Middle School.  

Throughout our conversations it was evident we believe it is important to accelerate and provide differentiation opportunities for those students whose data qualify them for acceleration.  

We have identified several components that are important as we make decisions on whether or not students accelerate in the area of math:  

1. Make it data-driven.
2. Work as a team when looking at the data so more conversations can take place when making these decisions.
3. Add another layer of testing criteria that is more aligned to the Iowa Core (adding a benchmark test).

We have agreed upon the following assessments along with the criteria that students will need to demonstrate to accelerate in the area of math.

*Students must meet all 3 indicators to determine acceleration

Grade	Iowa Assessments (begin April 11th)	NWEA (use spring score); take in a few weeks	Benchmark Test (take in May)
5th	95% or higher	93% or higher	85% or higher
6th	95% or higher	93% or higher	85% or higher
7th	95% or higher	93% or higher	85% or higher

• All 5th graders take 6th grade Benchmark Test in May.
• All 6th graders take 7th grade Benchmark Test in May.
• 7th graders not taking Algebra this year would take 8th grade Benchmark Test in May to determine it they should take Algebra next year.
• All 7th graders taking Algebra this current school year take Geometry Placement test (determine if they take Geometry at the high school).  
• Students who have been identified with a math goal through the Special Education program would not take the Math Benchmark Test unless parent wishes their child to do so--please contact us if you would like your child to take the Math Benchmark Test.

If students do not demonstrate the above criteria to accelerate for the start of the next school year, they have the opportunity to accelerate at some later point during the year if a teacher thinks s/he shows signs of possibly accelerating by performing well in NWEA Fall and Winter testing windows.  

We believe our Math Professional Development has allowed us to take steps to improve the acceleration process at Carroll Middle School.  We believe our work will benefit our students by identifying students who meet the criteria to accelerate using a more detailed, thorough process.

If you have any questions, concerns or comments, feel free to contact me by email at cheiman@carrolltigers.org or by phone at 712-792-8020.

Thank you.

Cory J. Heiman

CMS Dean of Students