KAMICO Connection

Common Core State Standards

noreply@blogger.com (KAMICO® Instructional Media, Inc.) — Wed, 16 Nov 2011 14:39:00 +0000

As of today, 44 states and provinces (including the District of Columbia) have volitionally adopted the Common Core Standards and the remaining states are continuing to evaluate them. Why is the Common Core State Standards Initiative succeeding when other attempts have died out? The key reason is state and local involvement from the ground up. However, this latest push to adopt the standards gained some extra momentum when the Obama Administration set participation in the development of and adoption of the Common Core Standards as one of the criteria for states to receive money from the stimulus funds.

Coordinated by the National Governors Association Center for Best Practices (NGA Center) and the Council of Chief State School Officers (CCSSO), the standards were developed through a collaborative effort of concerned teachers, administrators, education experts, and parents. The purpose, according to the Initiative's website is "to provide a clear and consistent framework to prepare our children for college and the workforce."

To partner with educators throughout the country, KAMICO® Instructional Media provides excellent supplemental materials through our STANDARDS CONNECTION® series of Assessment and Developmental books, GAME GALLERY® games, and DATA CONNECTION® testing and data analysis software. As with all of KAMICO's materials, they are scientifically research-based and designed to challenge every student so that they can master their state's standards.

We are confident that we can help you too. Please contact us if you have any questions or need further information.

Visit our website, choose your state from the drop-down menu to learn more, read testimonials from actual educators who have successfully used KAMICO materials, and view samples of STANDARDS CONNECTION.

STANDARDS CONNECTION®
Assessment Series™

Diagnostic assessments for Grades 1-12

Content Areas: math, reading, writing, social studies, and science

15-20 assessments per grade level and subject area
Languages: English and Spanish
Maximizes student achievement
Covers a mixture of state standards on each assessment
Validated by scientifically based research
Filled with rich, rigorous content
Facilitates comprehension and increased retention
Allows quick identification of standards for which students are in need of remediation
Identifies mastery levels

STANDARDS CONNECTION®
Developmental Series™

Assessments, games, activities, and investigations to develop, reinforce, and enrich skills for individual students, partners, small groups, teams, and entire classes.

Grades 1-12

Content Areas: math, reading, writing, social studies, and science

25-70 assessments and activities per grade level and subject area
Each assessment covers a specific state standard
Each game, activity, or investigation reinforces or enriches a specific state standard
600-1500 pages per grade level and subject area
Languages: English and Spanish
Validated by scientifically based research
Created with rich, meaningful content
Develops and extends knowledge of state standards
Contains engaging, customized instruction
Adjusts to meet various levels of cognitive demand
Filled with enrichment activities to extend skill mastery and expand critical-thinking skills
Facilitates peer interaction and communication
Decreases student behavior problems
Supports differentiated instruction

GAME CALLERY®
part of the Connection® series

Games, activities, and investigations to develop, reinforce, and extend student knowledge of state standards—created for individual students, partners, small groups, teams, and entire classes

Grades 1-12

Content Areas: math, reading, writing, stocial studies, and science

Languages: English and Spanish
Over 300 titles
Includes clear, concise directions
Comes ready to play with all parts included—tokens, dice, calculators, rulers, etc.
Contains colorful, engaging graphics
Filled with enrichment activities incorporating critical thinking to extend and enhance reasoning
Involves focused skill practice
Promotes student collaboration and interaction
Validated by scientifically based research

Data Connection®
part of the Connection® series

Grades K-12

Data Analysis, Tracking, and Reporting System
Sate-of-the-art technological system that disaggregates student data by individual student, class, grade, school, district, and demographic group (at risk, Title I, SES, etc.)

Curriculum standards for each of the fifty states included in database
Ability to align any assessment to any fo the fifty (50) states' curriculum standards

KAMICO® Instructional Media is Now Meeting Friends and Acquaintances All Around the Worldwide Web.

Come Visit and Make Us Your Friend.

KAMICO Representatives will be appearing at the following Conferences and Vendor Events in November.

Come by our Exhibitor booth, we would love to meet you.

Conference for the Advancement of Science Teaching
@Dallas Convention Center
650 S. Griffin St., Dallas, TX
November 17-19, 2011

Texas Association for the Gifted and Talented
Professional Development Conference
Austin Convention Center
500 East Cesar Chavez Blvd.
November 30-December 2, 2011

Linking Teacher Evaluation to Student Test Scores: Wrong 25% of the Time

Nowhere is the disconnect between billionaires and public school teachers more stark than when it comes to merit pay proposals. So why are self-anointed "reformers" pushing this agenda?

Read the whole story here.

Senate Panel Advances ‘No Child’ Law Rewrite

Anger over the Obama administration’s No Child Left Behind waiver plan prodded lawmakers to approve a bill that would greatly reduce Washington’s role in overseeing public schools.

Read the whole story here.

Schools struggle to meet standards

While adequate yearly progress from No Child Left Behind climbs to unreachable heights, many schools have shifted their attention to Measure of Academic Progress tests and common core standards.

Read the whole story here.

Norfolk meeting looks at educational 'core curriculum'

Who says Virginians aren't interested in the common core curriculum? The math and literacy standards have been adopted by well over 40 states; Virginia is one of the few not on board.

Read the whole story here.

STAAR CONNECTION® Helps Texas Students Make the Grade

noreply@blogger.com (KAMICO® Instructional Media, Inc.) — Tue, 25 Oct 2011 13:07:00 +0000

SPRING 2012 is just around the corner...

and marks the beginning of new era in Texas Education. The State of Texas Assessments of Academic Readiness (STAAR™) will replace the Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills (TAKS). The biggest change that will be noticed by both teachers and students is the testing is significantly more rigorous and more deeply measures performance to better align to college and career readiness.

Students entering high school will no longer face grade-specific assessments. The STAAR program replaces those with 12 "end-of-course" (EOC) assessments. Those EOC assessments are: Algebra I, geometry, Algebra II, biology, chemistry, physics, English I, English II, English III, world geography, world history, and U.S. history. KAMICO® Instructional Media introduces STAAR CONNECTION™ — our research-based Diagnostic Series™ (part of the CONNECTION® series) to ensure Texas students master the new standards and achieve success.

15-20 assessments per grade level and subject area
Languages: English and Spanish
Maximizes student achievement
Covers a mixture of TEKS assessed on STAAR on each assessment
Validated by scientifically based research
Filled with rich, rigorous content, such as challenging reading selections, media literacy pieces, real world science problems, and stimulating writing prompts
Facilitates comprehension and increased retention
Allows quick identification of TEKS for which students are in need of remediation
Identifies mastery levels

GAME GALLERY®
ALL GAMES ALIGNED TO TEKS ASSESSED BY STAAR!

TEKS-based games, activities, and investigations
Grades 1-12

Content Areas: math, reading, writing, social studies, and science

Develops, reinforces, and extends student knowledge
Created for individual students, partners, small groups, teams, and entire classes
Languages: English and Spanish
Over 300 titles
Includes clear, concise directions
Comes ready to play with all parts included—tokens, number cubes, calculators, rulers, etc.
Contains colorful, engaging graphics
Filled with enrichment activities incorporating critical thinking to extend and enhance reasoning
Involves focused TEKS practice
Promotes student collaboration and interaction
Validated by scientifically based research

DATA CONNECTION®
STATE OF THE ART TECHNOLOGY

Data Anaylsis, Tracking, and Reporting System
State-of-the-art system that disaggregates student data by individual student, class, grade, school, district, and demographic group (at risk, Title 1, SES, etc.)

Grades K-12
Network, Stand-Alone, or Web-Browser Based

• Puts data-driven decision-making at your fingertips
• Provides RTI implementation support
• Includes in the database TEKS for every subject area and grade level
• Allows for alignment of questions on any assessment to the TEKS
• Contains clear, easy-to-read graphics, charts, and tables
• Generates teacher-friendly and parent-friendly reports
• Captures and analyzes longitudinal data
• Generates information needed to plan effective instruction
• Provides information needed to close achievement gaps

Click here if you would like more information directly from the Texas Education Agency FAQ page.

Click here to order STAAR CONNECTION™ books or games for your school district, school, or classroom.

Stay Tuned. Our next blog entry will focus on National Common Core State Standards.

KAMICO® Instructional Media is Now Meeting Friends and Acquaintances All Around the Worldwide Web.

Come Visit and Make Us Your Friend.

KAMICO Representatives will be appearing at the following Conferences and Vendor Events in October and November.

Come by our Exhibitor booth, we would love to meet you.

Vendor Fair for Purchasing Co-Op
HARRIS COUNTY DEPARTMENT of EDUCATION

@ HCDE Conference Center

6300 Irvington Boulevard, Houston, TX

October 28, 2011

TEPSA 2011 Fall Summit
@The Woodlands Waterway Marriott Hotel
1601 Lake Robbins Drive, The Woodlands, TX
November 3-4, 2011

Conference for the Advancement of Science Teaching
@Dallas Convention Center
650 S. Griffin St., Dallas, TX
November 17-19, 2011

Texas Association for the Gifted and Talented
Professional Development Conference
Austin Convention Center
500 East Cesar Chavez Blvd.
November 30-December 2, 2011

Memo to Capt. Kirk: A STAAR date is born

With apologies to Captain Kirk …

For Texas educators, students, and parents, new state-mandated test days may be referred to as “STAAR Dates.”

Read the whole story here.

Could you pass the world history STAAR test?

The following questions were adapted from questions released by the Texas Education Agency for the world history end-of-course STAAR exam.

Read the whole story here.

Senate No Child Left Behind Proposal: More Big Government for Schools

Last Tuesday, Senator Tom Harkin (D–IA) introduced a much-anticipated proposal to rewrite No Child Left Behind (NCLB) and has announced that committee markup on the legislation will begin this Wednesday.

Read the whole story here.

South Dakota Leaves No Child Left Behind

Leadership you can count on. KELO-LAND TV and KELOLAND.com deliver news, weather and sports for South Dakota, Minnesota, Iowa, Nebraska and North Dakota.

Read the whole story here.