Autumn K-8 Cohort Meeting October 27, 2004

1. Autumn K-8 Cohort MeetingOctober 27, 2004 As we continue to deepen our own understanding of rigor and equity, how do we ensure rigorous learning experiences for each child?

2. Find two other people and introduce your student to them. In your triad, talk about the gifts and talents that your child brings to their learning world—along with his/her learning struggles.

3. Our collective learning… Our journey together…

4. Our focus has always been powerful teaching and learning

5. Components of Powerful Teaching and Learning • Performance assessment: • Clear expectations guide learning. • Students present and apply their learning to authentic audiences. • Teachers and students together set learning goals. • The focus is understanding and application, not just recall. • In-depth learning: • The focus is competence, not coverage. • Students struggle with complex problems, • develop deep understanding, and • apply knowledge in real-world contexts. • Active inquiry:Students are engaged in active participation, exploration, and research. • Students make important decisions about their learning. Students are at the center of the activity… • Personalization: • Teachers know their students well, and allow themselves to be known well by their students. Learning experiences are built upon that knowledge. • Community is vital to the learning process.

6. Performance assessment Powerful Teaching and Learning • Active inquiry • In-depth learning • Personalization

7. Last year, we emphasized other language to frame our commitment to powerful instruction… We spoke about powerful instruction in terms of…

8. Relevance Rigor Relationship

9. Rigor is not about quantity or severity; Instead, rigor is about instructional material that is Complex, Ambiguous, Provocative, and Emotionally or personally challenging. Rigor

10. “Relevant” Instruction… • Is Inherently Meaningful… • Engages students • (in multiple domains), and • Stimulates intellectual curiosity and • Offers value beyond the classroom… Relevance

11. Research demonstrates that relationships in the learning environment— knowing students well, and being known by them- lead to significant improved learning outcomes for students. Relationship

12. Our language has changed in other ways, as well…

13. We have talked about the achievement gap… • We know that some of our kids, • For example… • Our students of color • Our students whose ethnicity is not reflected in the dominant culture • Our students who live in poverty • Our students with different learning styles Have not been promised the same learning success as middle class kids of dominant culture…

14. We have focused our efforts on: • powerful classroom instruction, • leadership, • adult-learning, • school structures, • Connections to family • and • Community engagement. Our Goal… To eliminate the achievement gap

15. In our efforts to eliminate the achievement gap… We have learned together about equity in our instructional practices… and that learning has been reflected in our language. We have grounded our work in the belief that “All students can learn…”

16. Our Language Changed… From “All students can learn…” “Every student can learn…” “Every student will learn…” “Each student will learn…”

17. Learning Community What does this mean for our work together this year? Community Engagement Goal Perhaps the goal feels less daunting when—within us— “eachchild” moves from a thought to an embrace… That each child will experience rigor, relevance, and relationship? How do we achieve our goal Instruction “Structures” Leadership Each child Connection to Families

18. Return to your school teams for the next conversation… (pretty please…)

19. First, reflect individually about the efforts of your staff to improve instruction at your school. How have those efforts impacted the student you have brought today? Share your thoughts/stories with your school team… After sharing, choose one story to report out.

20. For the next learning activity, please return to your triads. (Two triads at a table, please…) (How many triads does it take to screw in a light bulb?)

21. Rigor From Teaching What Matters Most…. We have studied rigor in terms of content/curriculum… Complex, Ambiguous, Provocative, and Emotionally or personally challenging.

22. Today we will consider rigor in terms of… Content Instruction Assessment

23. Return to your school teams… Share with your team members key ideas from your discussion on rigorous teaching and learning.

24. Who gets rigor? Who doesn’t? And Why? Ask yourself about the child you brought today…Does he/she experience rigorous learning opportunities at school?

25. Is there another way to think about “the achievement gap?”

26. Find someone in the room with whom you have not had a chance to learn…

27. Return to your school teams for the next conversation… What? So What? Now What?

28. Learning Community Community Engagement “Structures” Instruction Leadership Each child Connection to Families