Children First Intensive

ELA Best Practices:Aligning Assessment and Instruction

A Collaboration of ESA CFN 6 & ESO Network 19Eastwood Manor, Bx October 22, 2009

Deena Abu-Lughod, SATIF; Frederica Capshaw, Instructional Specialist; Karen Ames, Achievement Coach; Jo Ann Benoit, Deputy Network Leader for Instruction

Agenda8:21 Welcome and Introductions

8:30 Outcomes, Norms, and 3-2-1 – Frederica Capshaw

8:50-10:25 Identifying priority skills, the Unpacking Protocol, and Standards 1 and 3 from Grades 3-8 2009 ELA – Deena Abu-Lughod

10:45 Roundtables

11:45 ELA Resources: Lois Sharzer Associates, Inc.

12:15 Lunch

1:15-2:30 Curriculum Mapping – Karen Ames2:30 Closing and Evaluation

Outcomes for the day

1. Connect the NYS ELA exams with related resources and benchmarks to identify priority skills and understand the spiral of rigor

2. Examine an assessment through the eyes of students to derive instructional implications

3. Build a community of learners through the sharing of best practices

4. Connect the standards and performance indicators to curriculum maps

Norms

1.Equity of voice

2.Silence electronic devices

3.Listen to understand

4.Contribute to the success of the group

5.Safety to share perspectives

6.Seek innovation

Connecting Activity: 3 – 2 – 1

Introduce yourselves at your table.

Share 3 resources you consider essential for impacting students’ ELA outcomes.

Share 2 favorite ELA test sophistication strategies.

Share 1 way to teach students how to separate important from unimportant details when reading.

At your table, agree on 1 essential resource, 1 favorite strategy, and 1 way.

Report out; novel ideas only.

Powerful Words

"The main problem is not the absence of innovation in schools, but rather the presence of too many disconnected, episodic, fragmented, superficially adorned projects…. The biggest problem facing schools is fragmentation and overload." (Michael Fullan, The New Meaning of Educational Change, pg. 21.)

Quality Review Statement 1.1

The school has a coherent strategy to support student learning that aligns curriculum, instruction and organizational decisions.

1.1 Design and deliver rigorous and coherent curricula, including the

Arts, aligned to key State standards.  a) School leaders and faculty make purposeful decisions to emphasize key

standards, given the needs of students at the school, and align curricula to these standards across grades and subject areas.

b) School leaders and faculty make purposeful decisions about curricula that emphasize rigorous habits and higher order skills and embed these habits and

skills in a coherent way across grades and subject areas.

c) School leaders and faculty ensure that curricula challenges and engages individuals and groups of students, including the lowest and highest achieving

students, and special education students and English language learners.

The idiosyncratic reality: lack of coherence

State Standards

Teacher A

Teacher C

Teacher B

A coherent curriculum: priority skills, matched to instruction and assessment

State Standards

Teacher A

Teacher C

Teacher B Priority Skills

Identifying the Power Standards

At your table, examine the Item Map for Grades 3-8 from the 2009 NYS ELA exam.

Notice how many questions appear for each indicator. Circle the indicators with the most questions.

Take your table’s Index card. Follow the assigned 3rd Grade indicator through the different grades and note the number of questions related to that indicator in each grade, and how that indicator changes as the grades go up.

Complete the BLUE sheet. Selected tables report out.

The Unpacking Protocol

Select a facilitator, recorder, and reporter.

Examine the passage for your assigned grade from the Sample Passage packet and the protocol.

Select a facilitator and a recorder.

Conduct the four rounds in go-round fashion. Please follow the protocol.

Report out.

Distinguishing questions

“Diff” refers to the difference in the Percent of Level 4 students who answered correctly statewide to the Percent of Level 3 students who answered correctly, or the % of Level 3 students who answered correctly and the % of Level 2 students who did. Very large differences indicate a Distinguishing question.

The Rigorous Spiral

1. Take out your 2009 Question Packet. Separate the questions from Standard 1 from Standard 3 from your assigned grade.

2. Examine what the questions are asking students to do, and the item analysis (the percent of students in the network who answered correctly).

3. Look at the distractors. If there was a clear distractor, what skill might those students have applied that differed from what was required?

4. Examine the State Benchmarks document. Were there any questions that distinguished 4s from 3s, or 3s from 2s?

5. What are the implications of your analysis?

Round Tables

Find your assigned table, or choose “Technology Tools”

Your assigned table for round 1 (25 minutes) is the FIRST number on your folder; the table for round 2 is the SECOND number. If you are a team (no more than 3), select just team member’s assignment.

Assign a time keeper and ensure 5 minutes to each presenting school.

Technology TableTechnology Tools to Enhance Writing - Jo Ann Benoit (Round 1)

Web 2.0 Literacy Applications – Arlene Francis Scarder (Round 2)

Resources

“Teaching Basic and Advanced Vocabulary: A Framework for Direct Instruction” by Dr. Robert Marzano (Heinle)

Technology TableTechnology Tools to Enhance Writing - Jo Ann Benoit

Web 2.0 Literacy Applications – Arlene Francis Scarder

Thank you, Lois!

Lois Sharzer Associates, Inc.

Instructional Materials to Support English Language

Arts

Curriculum Mapping: Linking curriculum, assessment, best practices and student outcomes

•The Common Priorities

• Coherent Instructional Improvement• Priority Learning Goals• Common Assessments• Exemplary Lessons• Analyze Data

Common Priorities Design Cycle

Common Priorities Self Assessment

1. Complete the Common Priorities Self Assessment.

2. Discuss your findings in a conversation with your people at your table.

3. Share.

Framing curriculum mapping

• Why use curriculum mapping?• How does mapping relate to our school

improvement plan and initiatives?• What is mapping?• What about daily lesson plans?• What is the research on curriculum mapping and

student performance?

Curriculum Maps: The Elements

• Content

• Skills

• Assessments

Curriculum Maps: The Process

• What• When• Activities• Assesssments• Links to Standards• Resources• Links to Lesson Plans

Curriculum Maps: Six Phases

1. Collecting the Data

2. Horizontal Review

3. Vertical Review

4. Approval Review

5. Continued Investigation

6. Examining Data

Curriculum Maps: Quality Criteria

Activity

Sample Maps

Consider the Elements of Good Maps

Chart and Share the Findings

Next Steps

Evaluation

Thank you for attending the session. Your feedback is important to us. Please complete the evaluation form and leave it, face down, on the table.

Check out these excellent, web-based, curriculum mapping programs:

http://www.rubicon.com/AtlasCurriculumMapping.html

http://www.curriculummapper.com/curriculummapper/index.asp