Science Leadership Support Network

1. Science Leadership Support Network January 18, 2008 Enjoy some refreshments and networking. We will begin at 9:01 The SLSN is supported by KDE and PIMSER

2. Goals of SLSN Participants will: • Articulate the “big ideas” in science, together with teacher and student understandings (content, process, relevance) that underlie them. • Develop a broader understanding of assessment and how to use a variety of assessment strategies in support of student learning. • Develop and act on a personal vision of leadership for sustainable improvement in their school or district.

3. Group Norms • Start and end on time • Put cell phones on silent • Be respectful of all comments • Everyone participates • Exercise the rule of “two feet” • Come prepared for the meeting

4. Review • Distinguished between describe and explain • Discussed how to help students with this • Extended ideas to explanation framework and applied to ideas from Writing in Science • Discussed highlights and implications of Ch. 1 and 2 in Writing in Science • Identified standards that might be assessed using performance assessment • Determined the quality of available PA • Characterized effective PD

5. Roadmap for the Day Effective Instruction Writing in Science Loose Ends Performance Assessment Instructional Model

6. Loose Ends

7. Work in elementary, middle, and high school groups. Examine the verb frequency in the CCA for science for your grade level. Note some implications for student success. Is there a need to help students write good descriptions and good explanations? Is it enough to tell students the definitions of describe and explain? How might a rubric be beneficial? Verb Frequency Chart

8. Describe vs. Explain • School committee to complete rubric for descriptions and explanations. • Development of explanation framework? • Next step considerations: • 1 class take the lead or everyone do? • What are possible follow-up experiences? • What kind of feedback will students need to improve? • Models? • Student critiques using a rubric? • Peer analysis? • Self analysis? • Graphic organizers?

9. Deconstructed Standards for STM • Update • Considerations • Performance assessment implications

10. Clear goals establish an initial target. Feedback provides students with information regarding their progress toward the target. Goal setting and feedback used in tandem are probably more powerful than either one in isolation. In fact, without clear goals it might be difficult to provide effective feedback. • Marzano, The Art and Science of Teaching, pg. 12

11. Performance Assessment • I can identify standards that might best be assessed using performance assessments. • I can determine the quality of a performance assessment. • I can determine and develop an appropriate rubric to use with a performance assessment.

12. Performance Assessment • There are two parts to a performance assessment: • The Task • Simple target – simple task • Complex target – complex task • The Performance Criteria • We use performance assessments when the learning targets require doing (e.g., design, produce, make, create, write, draw, represent, display, model, construct). • Performance assessments are ways to allow students to demonstrate how well they can do science – not the drills, but the game!

13. Performance Assessment • The task is any activity that we use as a context to observe a skill or a product – a naturally occurring event or a separate event, at the end of instruction or during instruction. The only requirement is that the task elicits the desired skill or product so that it is capable of being judged. Pg. 194 CASL • …performance criteria [is] the basis for judging the quality of the performance on the task. Pg. 194 CASL

14. Part 1. The Task

15. Content Elicits the right performance; it fits the targets and the performance criteria Simple target – simple task; complex target – complex task Worth the time; students will learn from it Scaffolding supports the task without compromising it Engaging and interesting to students Clarity Instructions are clear Students are reminded of performance criteria Feasibility Students have enough time Proper materials and equipment are available Rating can be done in the time allowed Fairness and Accuracy Task will elicit an accurate picture of student achievement All students have a chance to shine Sampling Task adequately covers all dimensions of learning target OR is a part of a larger plan to do so Task Rubric Summary pg. 220

16. Part 2. Performance Criteria

17. Benefits of Performance Criteria • To help educators clarify the nature of complex learning targets so that they feel comfortable teaching to them • To assess student progress and status in ways that are consistent across students, assignments, and time • To improve student achievement by letting students in on the secret of the nature of quality • Through all these things, to integrate assessment and instruction and grasp the essence of standards-based instruction • Scoring Rubrics in the Classroom by Arter and McTighe, pg. 16

18. For Teachers: Consistency in Scoring Improved Instruction For Students: Clear Target(s) Quality Performance Self Assess and Adjust Benefits of Performance Criteria

19. Rubrics • A rubric is a particular format for criteria – it is the written down version of the criteria, with all the score points described and defined. The best rubrics are worded in a way that covers the essence of what we, as teachers, look for when we’re judging quality, and they reflect the best thinking in the field as to what constitutes good performance. Rubrics are frequently accompanied by examples (anchors) of products or performances to illustrate the various score points on the scale. • Scoring Rubrics in the Classroom by Arter and McTighe pg. 8

20. What Kind of Rubric? • Working with a partner, write your definition for each type of rubric listed and give an example of what type of assignment would be appropriate for each. • Jot down some disadvantages for each type. • Sketch an example for each. • Share with your tablemates and revise your ideas as needed.

21. What Kind of Rubric? • Identify the type of rubric that would best serve your needs and your student’s needs. • Holistic • Analytic • Generic (General) • Task-specific • Does it need to be unique to your task or is it one that could be used across similar performances (and thus best developed as a department or school team)?

23. Content What counts? What the users see is what you’ll get. Doesn’t leave out important things Leaves out unimportant things Clarity Does everyone understand what is meant? Terms defined? Levels of quality defined? Are there samples of work to illustrate levels of quality? Practicality Is it easy to use by teachers and students? Student-friendly version? Use for self-assessment and personal goal setting? Useful for planning? Manageable? Technical Quality/Fairness Reliable and valid? Different raters give same score? Ratings represent what students can do? Fair for all? Metarubric Summary pg. 203

24. Common Problems with Instructional Rubrics • Counting – when quality is more important than quantity • Important details left out • Irrelevant details in the rubric • Student-developed rubrics where anything goes • Skimpy scoring guides • Converting performance standards to grades

25. Developing Rubrics • Establish a knowledge base • Gather samples of student performance • Sort student work by level of quality • Cluster the reasons into traits • Identify sample performances that illustrate each level • Make it better • Pg 211 CASL

26. Developing Rubrics • Working in grade band groups, your goal is to develop an appropriate rubric for the sample task. • Examine the sample task. Identify the standard(s) assessed by the task. Is it a worthy task for assessing the identified standards? • Using the procedure outlined on pg. 211 in CASL and detailed on pgs. 211-217, draft a rubric for the task. • Use the Metarubric Summary on pg. 203 in CASL to critique your rubric.

27. Three Minute Conference • Group A - identify a focus for feedback from another group • Group B - use the complete metarubric to provide feedback to group A based on their request • Use the language of the metarubric to provide feedback • 3 minutes – then switch roles

28. Developing Rubrics • Create an analogy for the following: • A rubric is like ___, because ___.

29. 7 Strategies for Using Rubrics as Instructional Tools pg. 231-242 How do you get students to understand and internalize your standards of quality? • Where am I going? • Strategies 1 and 2 • Where am I now? • Strategies 3 and 4 • How do I close the gap? • Strategies 5, 6, and 7

30. Going to the Movies • Illustrate the strategy your group has been assigned. • Put the number of the strategy on your poster • Rules: no words, only pictures and numbers are allowed. • Post your illustration in numerical order in our “movie screen” area. • Presenters will sit in numerical order on the front row of our theater • When the movie starts rolling, be prepared to present your illustration, stressing key points about the strategy. • Be prepared for a fast pace!

31. Vocabulary Strategy Cinquain Poetry • Line 1 : one word (noun) – MATTER • Line 2: two words (adjectives that describe line 1) • Line 3: three words (action verbs that relate to line 1) • Line 4: four words (feelings or a complete sentence that relates to line 1) • Line 5: one word (synonym of line 1 or a word that sums it up)

32. Effective Instruction • I can determine key criteria for defining effective instruction. • I can identify rigor in the classroom.

33. What is effective instruction? • If good instruction is the key to student achievement, what is good instruction? • How do you provide teachers feedback on their instruction, if there is no consensus in your school for what “good” instruction is?

34. A “Theory of Change” • Students’ will not meet the performance standards for success in college and work unless and until teaching improves. More academic contentstandards, more testing, smaller schools, etc. do not, by themselves, improve teaching or students’ skills. • Teachers working alone, with little or no feedback on their instruction, will not be able to improve significantly—no matter how much professional development they receive. • The challenge of change leadership is to create a “system” for continuous improvement of instruction and supervision—rooted in a common vision of effective teaching, which is rigorous, relevant, and based on respectful, trusting relationships (the new 3 R’s)

35. THE NEW WORK: 7 DISCIPLINES FOR STRENGTHENING INSTRUCTION 1. The district or school creates understanding and urgency around improving ALL students’ learning for teachers and community, and they regularly report on progress. • Data is disaggregated and transparent to everyone. • Qualitative (focus groups & interviews) as well as quantitative data is used to understand students’ and recent graduates’ experience of school. 2. There is a widely shared vision of what is good teaching which is focused on rigor, the quality of student engagement (relevance), and respectful, caring relationships for all students. • Either developed by the district or by the school 3. All adult meetings are about instruction and are models of good teaching.

36. 7 DISCIPLINES FOR STRENGTHENING INSTRUCTION Cont. 4. There are well-defined performance standards and assessments for student work at all grade levels. Both teachers and students understand what quality work looks like, and there is consistency in standards of assessment . 5. Supervision is frequent, rigorous, and entirely focused on the improvement of instruction. It is done by people who know what good teaching looks like. 6. Professional Development is primarily on-site, intensive, collaborative, and job-embedded and is designed and led by educators who model best teaching and learning practices. 7. Data is used diagnostically at frequent intervalsbyteams of teachers to assess each student’s learning and to identify the most effective teaching practices, and teams have time built into their schedules for this shared work.

37. Teaching Video Discussion 1 http://www.gse.harvard.edu/clg/news1a.html#video • Was this an effective lesson? (Before discussion, place the grade (A—F) you’d give this lesson on a 3x5 card to be collected) • Discuss at your tables or with your neighbor your criteria for determining the effectiveness of the lesson

38. “Reinventing” What & How We Teach:The New 3 “R’s” for the 21st Century RIGOR • ??? RELEVANCE • Helping students to understand why something is important to learn • Fostering curiosity & life-long learning by providing students opportunities to explore learning that is personally relevant to them RELATIONSHIPS/RESPECT • Students won’t learn or work hard for teachers who do not respect them • You can’t motivate a student you don’t know

39. Defining “Rigor”: Some Essential Questions • What is rigor? • What are teachers doing in a more rigorous classroom? • What are students doing? • What kinds of student work would be evidence of rigor? • How might the definition of rigor be changing in an “information glut” world—what will be expected of our students?

40. Excellent Instruction: A Point of View • Excellent instruction is less about what a teacher does (inputs) and more about what students can do and know as a result of the lesson (results). • In assessing the quality of a lesson, performance standards are much more important than content standards. • Performance standards for students must be benchmarked to what will be expected of HS graduates

41. Benchmarking Rigor: Work/College SkillsPublic Agenda Foundation “Reality Check” 2002 http://publicagenda.org/specials/rcheck2002/reality5.htm Percent of Employers & Professors giving high school grads “poor” or “fair” ratings on:

42. Benchmarking Rigor: Employers View of What is Needed What skills are most important for job success when hiring a High School graduate?(2006 Partnership for 21St Century Skills http://www.21stcenturyskills.org/documents/FINAL_REPORT_PDF9-29-06.pdf)

43. Benchmarking Rigor: Employers View of What is Needed Of the High School Students that you recently hired, what were their deficiencies?

44. Benchmarking Rigor: Employers View of What is Needed What skills and content areas will be growing in importance in the next five years?

45. Benchmarking Rigor: College View of What is Needed College professors’ views of the skills students lack: 70% say students do not comprehend complex reading materials 66% say students cannot think analytically 65% say students lack appropriate work and study habits 62% say students write poorly 59% say students don’t know how to do research 55% say students can’t apply what they’ve learned to solve problems 2005 Achieve Inc. http://www.achieve.org/files/pollreport.pdf

46. More Important Than Academic Content: The Competencies That Matter Most for College From research conducted by David Conley on “College Knowledge”: • Writing • Reasoning • Analytic Thinking • Problem-solving http://ceprnet.uoregon.edu *** The Collegiate Learning Assessment—an online performance assessment of these core competencies: http://www.cae.org/content/pro_collegiate.htm#

47. Recent Grads Summary of What They Need • Writing skills • Study skills and time management • Research skills • Study group experience What would your graduates say?

48. Rigor in The Classroom: 5 “Habits of Mind” Learning to Ask The Right Questions • Weighing Evidence • How do we know what’s true and false? What is the evidence, and is it credible? • Awareness of Varying Viewpoints • What viewpoint are we hearing? Who is the author, and what are his or her intentions? How might it look to someone with a different history? • Seeing Connections/Cause & Effect • Is there a pattern? How are things connected? Where have we seen this before? • Speculating on Possibilities/Conjecture • What if? Supposing that? Can we imagine alternatives? • Assessing Value—Both Socially and Personally • What difference does it make? Who cares? So what? From www.missionhillschool.org

49. Teaching Video Discussion 2Calibrating Rigor • How would you assess the level of rigor in this lesson (low, medium, high)? • What is your evidence for this assessment?

50. Examining Student Work • With a partner, compare the student work from the 2 lessons for the 5 “Habits of Mind.” • Strengths and weaknesses • What made the difference in the quality of the student work? • With your partner, examine the deconstructed standards for STM for your grade level. Identify learning targets that require or could require one or more of the “habits of mind.”