Overview
The Bloomfield Public Schools provides a rich
variety of academic experiences to all students in grades
Pre-Kindergarten through 12. The daily work of our teachers is to create
learning conditions to master national and state standards, resulting in
high academic achievement.
ACADEMIC STRUCTURE FOR LEARNING: Vision
The
Bloomfield Public Schools bases all academic decisions on the vision
created by our stakeholders, a group of 40 Bloomfield residents.
The vision statement is
ACADEMIC STRUCTURE FOR LEARNING: Standards
In
April 2012, teachers began the in-depth work of redesigning the English
Language Arts and Mathematics curriculum for Kindergarten through grade
12.
- The purpose of the redesign of our
current curriculum is to ensure all units of study and lessons align
with the rigor of the Common Core State Standards.
- The process
of the redesign includes comparing the present standards to the new
standards, identifying broad themes of what students need to know and do
by grade level, and connecting how students are assessed to deep levels
of understanding and skill.
- The pay-off of the redesign is to ensure our students are fully prepared for the rigors of college and career.
ACADEMIC STRUCTURE FOR LEARNING: Curriculum
Curriculum
is now viewed as an all-encompassing term to include units of study,
instruction, assessment, re-teaching materials and resources, and lesson
plans. The Bloomfield Public Schools is updating its current curriculum
to align with the Common Core State Standards. The focus of the
curriculum will be based in Units of Study and Themes.
ACADEMIC STRUCTURE FOR LEARNING: Instruction
Instruction
is the term educators use to describe how they create learning
conditions and experiences to ensure all students maximize the
acquisition of knowledge, skill, and application in the most efficient
and effective way. Instruction includes pedagogy (the process of
teaching, i.e. lecture, debates), strategies, grouping patterns, pacing,
re-teaching, and monitoring for understanding.
ACADEMIC STRUCTURE FOR LEARNING: Assessment
Assessment,
or evaluation, is now viewed as a way to monitor student understanding,
skills, and application through a variety of methods. These methods
include daily questions of increasing difficulty, exit tickets or
reflections on a topic, common formative assessments, quarterly
benchmark assessments in English Language Arts and Mathematics, Connecticut Academic
Performance Test (CAPT). All levels of
assessments are regarded as important to see if our students are
learning. All educators across the district use this data to drive
decisions about instruction.
ACADEMIC STRUCTURE FOR LEARNING: Professional Learning
The
Bloomfield Public Schools promotes the continuous learning of all
employees on behalf of our students. In accordance with the National
Standards for Professional Development, teachers and administrators have
formed a Professional Learning Community (PLC) to assess adult learning
needs, to design relevant learning opportunities, and to evaluate its
effectiveness in raising achievement for our students. Professional
learning opportunities include full-day workshops, half-day seminars,
and job-embedded workshops and training sessions.
To learn more about professional learning, visit http://www.learningforward.org/standards/index.cfm