Table Groups for ELO Session – 12:45 pm

Table Groups for ELO Session – 12:45 pm

Unpacking ELOs Curriculum and Instruction – Determining Essential Outcomes Administrator’s Meeting Tuesday, October 19, 2010 Good Spirit School Division #204

Session Objectives • Understand why we need to determine essential learning outcomes. • Understand why this is an essential step in the process of school improvement. • Understand a process which will allow you to differentiate essential outcomes from those that are nice to know.

The Difference Between Teaching and Learning • Teachers are the single biggest factor in determining the success or failure of a child. • Focusing on teaching does not by itself guarantee an increase in student achievement.

A Case for ELOs • How well is the provincial curriculum being implemented in your school and how do you know? • To what extent is the curriculum actually taught suitably aligned with assessments?

A Case for ELOs K-12 vs K-22 Common Assessment For/Of Learning RTI Essential Learning Outcomes Differentiated Learning Equity in Education Best Instructional Practices Student Self Assessment

Overcoming the Problem • Given the problems presented by our extensive provincial curriculum, how can schools level the playing field so that all teachers understand the essential outcomes their students need to know? • How can we ensure that our curriculum is aligned in our school?

Focus on Learning • Prioritization, not elimination. • Not all outcomes are created equally. Some are essential, and some are just nice to know. • Teams of teachers must collaborate to determine essential learning outcomes

Focus on Learning • The essential learning outcomes must be clear to every teacher for every grade and subject. • These ELOs form the basis of a safety net curriculum that your school will guarantee that all students will know. • Because you have prioritized, your curriculum becomes more viable.

Focus on Learning • Teachers need to understand curriculum above and below the level they are teaching. • Collaborative year plans can be created to ensure curriculum alignment. • Essential learning outcomes are used to create common assessments

Making Sense of Curriculum Teachers of the same course or grade level should have absolute common agreement on what they expect all their students to know and be able to do. Doug Reeves (2002) p.3

Determining Essential Learning Outcomes

Definitions • Essential Learning Outcomes • Those outcomes and skills that are critical for student success. • Once mastered they give a student the ability to use reasoning and thinking skills to learn and understand other curriculum objectives.

Definitions • Essential Learning Outcomes • ELOs are a commonly agreed upon interpretation of the complete list of essential outcomes and indicators within each grade level and content area that students need for success.

What is Essential? • To be considered Essential a standard must meet on of the criteria: • Endurance • Leverage • Readiness for the next level

What is Essential? • Endurance • Will this ELO provide students with knowledge and skills that will be of value beyond a single assessment date? • Eg. Proficiency in Reading.

What is Essential? • Leverage • Will this ELO provide knowledge and skills that will be of value in multiple disciplines? • Eg. Proficiency in creating graphs, tables and charts and the ability to draw inferences from them.

What is Essential? • Readiness for the next level of learning • Will this ELO provide students with essential knowledge and skills that are necessary for success in the next grade or level of instruction? • Eg. Third grade math facts.

Guiding Questions What essential understandings and skills do our students need? Which curriculum outcomes and/or indicators can be clustered or incorporated into others?

Beginning the Process Step 1: Select the content area you would like to begin with. Step 2: Select a particular section of the content area. Step 3: Select one grade within your groups grade span.

Beginning the Process Using the identification criteria (Endurance, Leverage and Readiness) and guiding questions, take the next 5 minutes to individually identify your understanding of the curriculum outcome (CR 4.1, CR 7.1, CR 9.1) and indicators.

Criteria and Guiding Questions • Criteria • Endurance • Leverage • Readiness for the next level • Guiding Questions • What essential understandings and skills do our students need? • Which outcomes and/or indicators can be clustered or incorporated into others?

ELA Focus Grade 1 Focus: Making Connections among Oral Discourse, Written Communication, and Other Forms of Representing Grade 2 Focus: Exploring the Connections among Oral Discourse, Written Communication, and Other Forms of Representing Grade 3 Focus: Gaining Control Over Oral, Written, and Other Communication Forms Grade 4 Focus: Systematically Using Oral, Written, and Other Communication Forms for Different Purposes

ELA Focus Grade 5 Focus: Communicating with Precision Grade 6 Focus: Communicating Ideas and Experiences with Clarity Grade 7 Focus: Communicating Ideas and Experiences with Clarity and Correctness Grade 8Focus: Communicating Ideas and Experiences with Clarity, Correctness, and Variety Grade 9 Focus: Communicating Ideas and Experiences with Clarity, Correctness, and Effect (Emphasis)

Table Talk – At Your Group Table • Talk to your colleagues in your group and compare your understanding • Compare similarities and differences • The goal is to come to initial consensus on what the ELO should be for this curricular outcome

Table Talk – Grade-A-Like • 2 tables of Grade 4 • 2 tables of Grade 7 • 1 table of Grade 9 • Talk to your colleagues in your group and compare your understanding • Compare similarities and differences • The goal is to come to initial consensus on what the ELO should be for this curricular outcome

Consideration At Your School: Chart Your Selections • On a piece of chart paper record: • The grade level and subject • The identifying numbers and letters of the outcomes you have selected. • Rather than write the whole outcome write a synopsis that summarizes the content of the selected outcome.

Future Considerations • Consult common assessments such as AFL, Fountas and Pinnell, and Math Benchmarking to determine: • Whether your ELOs match what is being assessed • See which ELOs are emphasized the most • Revise your list if necessary

Columbia School Example This is a summary of ELOs to be further explained on the PLC Goal Setting Worksheet

Columbia School Example

For Consideration At Your School • How can you use the information presented to increase student learning in our school? • What will you do?

Roadblocks To PLCs

For Consideration At Your School • Blaming Others • We learn in childhood to blame others and actually fasten responsibility onto external factors. • We give up control and abdicate responsibility for our circumstance. • In reality, your growth as a professional and your schools current reality are a consequence of the adult behaviour exhibited in the building. Change is a question of whether or not the adults take responsibility for a different outcome.

Roadblocks to PLCs • The Tendency to Blame Oneself • Instead of wrestling with the reason behind a failure and struggling to resolve it we blame ourselves. • Excessive self-blame opens the door to guilt feelings. “If only I did _____ differently more of my kids would have passed.” • Self blame closes the door to self-development. • Born out of teacher isolation. • Leads to blaming others. • In a PLC, failure is a guilt free opportunity to learn.

Roadblocks to PLCs • Having No Goals • Without goals schools can become ships without a compass, forever heading in a new direction but never getting to their destination. • Without goals teachers have permission to stray from the school’s core purpose. • Without goals there is no urgency to change behaviour.

Roadblocks to PLCs • Choosing The Wrong Goals • Goals that are not focused on the core purpose will not lead to a change in results. Eg. Writing late policy • Goals that are too large are harmful to the positive momentum and motivation of the staff. • Goals that are not shared will never be attained.

Roadblocks to PLCs • Taking Short Cuts • “Why don’t you just show me your ELOs?” “Lets hire a consultant to tell us what to do.” • There is not short cut to creating a PLC. Collaborative teams must engage in the work in order for each team member to gain a deeper understanding of how to change practice. • Only through engagement, self-reliance and perseverance will teachers be able to “think differently”.

Roadblocks to PLCs • Taking The Long Road • Paralysis by analysis. “I need to learn more about a PLC before I start.” • “What a great idea, we will start next year, we already have our PD plan for this year.” • The best way to become a Professional Learning Community is to Learn by Doing. • There is no wrong time to abandon practices that don’t achieve a positive result.

Roadblocks to PLCs • Neglecting little things (Norms Based) • Celebrate success no matter how small. • Value dissenting opinion. • Learn to appreciate each others strengths. • Support each others weaknesses.

Roadblocks to PLCs • Quitting Too Soon • “The trouble with most of us,” it has been said, “is that we stop trying in trying times.” • Don’t be discouraged by initial confusion or failure. • Re-evaluate your teams decisions and try again. • “Failure will never overtake me if my determination to succeed is strong enough.”

Roadblocks to PLCs • The Burden of the Past • Past failure has no baring on future success nor does past success guaranteed continued success. • The only sure thing is if you continue to do what you have always done, you will get what you have always got. • A PLC must be willing to abandon the comforts of the past if they don’t meet the requirements of the future.

Roadblocks to PLCs • The Illusion of Success • A positive change in student learning does not mean you have arrived. • A PLC continuously strives for improvement and becomes comfortable living in a world of continuous change.

Handout Role of the Principal in a PLC: Living with Paradox

Table Groups for ELO Session – 12:45 pm