The following courses begin next fall

by Catie Shipp

Loveland High School Roar, Staff Writer

The 2015-2016 school year presents an addition of a variety of new AP courses available to all upcoming juniors and seniors. The following courses begin next fall and will create more opportunities to guide students toward higher academic possibilities.

Art History

One of the first new classes added to the school’s course selections is AP Art History. This course is offered and designed for juniors and seniors who are interested in topics such as the nature of art, creation of art, and responses to art. According to the course selection guide, this course will be one semester in length and will introduce students to the art world as they experience, research, discuss, read, and write about various pieces of arts and artists.

“You don’t have to be an artist to take this course. We will mostly be looking at slides and lectures on the different ways that cultures handle the art elements and connecting that information to art’s history,” Mrs. Grant (art) said.

Calculus

For any seniors interested in taking calculus and earning college credit, there are now two new AP courses to choose from. AP Calculus AB will be a forty-five minute year-long class equivalent to Calculus 1 at the college level. If a student passes the calculus AB test, they may receive up to five hours of college credit, depending on the school that they choose. According to the course selection guide, topics discussed in this course include The Fundamental Theorem of Calculus; position, velocity, and acceleration; area and volume applications; differential equations; use of geometry to find integrals; intermediate value theorem; and the mean value theorem. AP Calculus BC will be a ninety minute year-long class equivalent to Calculus 1 and 2 at the college level. Thus, if a student passes the BC exam they may receive 10-credit hours of mathematics. This would be equivalent to the first two college calculus courses. Topics discussed in this course, as described in the course selection guide, include those learned in AP Calculus AB as well as polar functions with calculus, vectors and derivatives of vector functions, arc length of curves including parametrics convergence tests, taylor polynomials, Eurel’s Method L’Hopital’s Rule, and improper integrals.

“If a student took regular Pre-calculus their junior year, I would say they are a candidate for either honors Calculus or AP Calculus AB. If a student took honors pre-calculus, I would say they would be a strong candidate for BC Calculus,” Mrs. Powers (math) said.

Physics

Also, starting next year there will be two different options offered to students interested in AP physics. AP Physics I is a college-level course designed for juniors and seniors interested in an introduction to the main principles of physics with an emphasis on the development of problem solving. A student must have taken up to Integrated Math III to take this algebra-based physics course. The other option, AP Physics C, is only for seniors who have taken or are in the process of taking calculus. This class is a college-level course designed as a foundation for students planning to major in physical science or engineering. According to the course selection guide, the subject matter includes topics of mechanics, electricity, and magnetism.

“The big difference is that AP physics I is algebra-based, while AP Physics C is calculus based. Both classes will cover the same material, but the math involved will be different,” Mr. Ward (science) said.

Psychology

AP Psychology, transitioning from an online to a classroom course, will now be offered to incoming juniors and seniors. According to the course selection guide, this course will be one semester in length and will introduce students to the systematic and scientific aspects of human behavior and mental processes. Students will explore and apply psychological theories, key concepts, and phenomena associated with topics such as behavior, sensation and perception, learning and cognition, motivation, developmental, and social psychology.

“I would recommend anyone that has any interest in the field of psychology or those who would like to earn some college credit to take the course,” Mr. Reed (psychology) said.

To find more information on the courses offered in the upcoming school year, one can locate the course selection guide at www.lovelandschools.org, or contact a counselor for details.

This article is printed with permission and was previously published in The Roar, the student newspaper of Loveland High School. You can follow The Roar on Twitter.

From the Loveland City School District:

The district is near the end of the first round of testing for students in grades 3-8 and is getting ready to begin testing for high school freshman. The district had more than 90 percent of our students take the Next Generation Assessments (provided by PARCC/AIR). Any family who decided not to have their child participate in the state assessments will still have their child excluded from the second round of state assessments that will begin in April. If any parent is going to make a different decision for their child to take these assessments, we ask that they make that change prior to the beginning of next testing session.The Ohio Department of Education has shared additional information updating parents and districts on how the assessments will affect the 2015 reports. The information could continue to change as decisions are made by the Ohio legislature or the Ohio Department of Education. This is what was recently shared from the Ohio Department of Education:“Find information about how data from all the state tests will affect the state and local report cards and educator evaluations here. Here is clarification about how untested students are included or not included in calculations.”

Individuals with questions are invited to email statetests@education.ohio.gov.

Impact of Untested Students

Are untested students included in the Indicators Met calculation?

No, the Ohio Department of Education determines if each indicator is “met” or “not met” using only the scores of the students who actually participate in each assessment and have a numerical scaled score. The department does not assign an artificial score of zero to nonparticipants, but rather the students simply have no score reported. Untested students are not included in the Indicators calculation and do not affect the letter grade for this measure.

Are untested students included in the Performance Index Score calculation?

Yes, all students are included in the Performance Index (PI) Score. Points are earned based the percentage of tests that fall into each of the five ranges of scores from Advanced to Limited, plus those earning the bonus weight of Advanced Plus. The calculation is designed to reward schools for moving students from one proficiency level to a higher proficiency level, and the number of points awarded increases as the scores increase. ODE does not assign an artificial score of zero to non-participants, but no points are earned for tests not taken, so having a large number of untested students will reduce a school’s or district’s PI score. The A-F letter grades are assigned based on how many points are earned out of a possible 120 points, so having untested students might result in a letter grade reduction.

Are untested students included in the AMO Proficiency calculation?

No, a “preliminary” AMO letter grade is assigned based on the percentage of total points earned for reading, math and graduation. The percentage of points earned for reading and math is calculated based on: 1) how many students in each of 10 student groups pass their tests, and 2) the calculation uses only the scores of the students who actually participate in each assessment and have a numerical scaled score. ODE does not assign an artificial score of zero to non-participants, but rather the students simply have no score reported. Untested students are not included and do not affect the “preliminary” letter grade for this measure. It is important to note, however, that the AMO calculation also includes a participation requirement and untested students are used in this calculation (see the FAQ immediately below).

Are untested students included in the AMO Participation calculation?

Yes, the federal No Child Left Behind Law requires all states to calculate a participation rate for reading and math for 10 different groups of students. The federal law also requires states to ensure that at least 95 percent of the students in each student group participate. If a subgroup’s participation rate drops below 95 percent, the school’s or district’s “preliminary” AMO letter grade is reduced by one level (e.g. if a school would have earned an “A” based on the students’ test scores and the percentage of students who graduated, that grade would drop to a “B”).

Are untested students included in the school and district Value-Added calculations?

The Value-Added grades are assigned based on whether a group of students has made progress or shown growth from one year to the next. If one or more students have no current-year scores, then there is no way to include the growth of those students in the calculation. The students do not have a score of zero assigned to them and they do not cause the current year’s average gain to be reduced artificially. They simply have no current year score to contribute to the calculation and their growth is not included. Because we don’t know how much progress the untested students made, there is no way to determine the effect that they have on a school’s or district’s Value-Added grade.

Are untested students included in a teacher’s Value-Added calculation?

A teacher’s Value-Added rating is assigned based on whether the class of students has made progress or shown growth from one year to the next. If one or more students have no current-year scores, then there is no way to include those students’ growth in the calculation. The students do not have a score of zero assigned to them and they do not cause the teacher’s current year’s average gain to be reduced artificially. They simply have no score to contribute to the calculation and their growth is not included. Because we don’t know how much progress the untested students made, there is no way to determine the effect that they have on a teacher’s grade. A teacher must have at least six full year equivalent students in order to be able to get a report. If a large number of students were untested, it could result in no report being generated.

Are untested students included in the K-3 Literacy Improvement calculation?

In some cases untested students are included in the calculation; in other cases they are not. The K-3 Literacy Improvement calculation reports the percentage of students identified as being “not on track” with their reading skills in one school year who improve to being “on track” in reading by the next year. Only those students who are identified as being not on track in the first year are included in the calculation. If a student is reported as being not on track in the first year and there is no score in the second year, the student continues to be considered not on track when the improvement percentage is calculated. If a student is on track in the first year and there is no score in the second year, then the student is not included in the calculation.

From the Ohio Department of Education:

As Ohio transitions to new assessments, many have asked how the next generation of state tests will be integrated into District/School Report Cards and educator evaluation systems. In general, these tests will be integrated into Report Cards with very little change to the overall structure. The number of indicators will increase and the tests feeding into the measures will change, but the calculations used to generate the measures and Report Cards will still be very similar. 

Report Cards

When will the 2015 Report Card be released? The 2015 Report Card (based on 2014-15 data) will be released on a different time schedule than usual. Data from the new assessments will not be available until fall 2015, which is a few months later than before. Accordingly, the timeline for the report card will be pushed back a few months. The exact date has not yet been determined until we establish the final timeline for test data to be returned to the districts. The timeline for report cards allows processing time for the calculations and ensures that districts will have time to submit and review their data for accuracy. The department is very aware of the importance of timely data and will work to ensure that 2015 report cards are released as soon as possible while still ensuring a quality process. This is a one-year timing issue during the transition. The department anticipates that the 2015-16 report card will be released on a normal time schedule – late summer 2016.

What tests will be included in the Performance Index?

Read on…

Loveland Middle School teachers and administrators took a pie in the face to raise hundreds for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society

This March the Loveland Middle School (LMS) Student Council is raising money for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society, and teachers and building administrators agreed to one sweet fundraiser to help.

Pie… in thePrincipal’s face!

LMS Principal Chris Burke shows his Tiger spirit to help a good cause!

Students were able to purchase raffle tickets for a chance to put a plate full of shaving cream in a seventh or eighth grade teacher’s face. LMS Principal Chris Burke discovered he was the most popular target – he was pied twice!

The super-fun afternoon raised more than $400 to support the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society.