District Fall Vertical Team Meeting SCIENCE & HISTORY

1. District Fall Vertical Team MeetingSCIENCE & HISTORY August 13, 2012

2. Good News for Alabama

3. Some Good News to Share… • Moving Up….Alabama is now 25th in education system. • Alabama ranks 4th in nation in improving graduate rate. • Alabama has highest recorded graduation rate ever. • Alabama is 1st in nation in gain in 4th reading 2003-2012 . “Every child a graduate, every graduate prepared.” Dr. Bice / Vision 2010

4. Advanced Placement Gains

5. BIG Changes in Testing Plan, Explore, ACT End-of-Course Testing – ACT QualityCore ARMT+

6. Alabama College- and Career-Ready Assessment System Grade Assessment(s) 12 WorkKeys 11 ACT w/Writing 10 PLAN 9 Transition 8 EXPLORE 7 ARMT+ 6 ARMT+ 5 ARMT+ 4 ARMT+ 3 ARMT+ 2 Developmentally Appropriate Assessments(s) 1 Developmentally Appropriate Assessments(s) K Kindergarten Screener(s) for all entering Kindergarten students All assessments will be offered in online or paper-and-pencil format with a standards-based reporting format that will be immediate. All assessments will be formatted for “through course” or single-setting use. End-of-Course English 9, 10, 11, 12 Alg. I, Geometry, Alg. II w/Trig, Pre-Cal Biology, Chemistry, Physics U.S. History ARMT+ (Reading/ELA, Math, Science and Writing/Social Studies Based) aligned to College and Career Readiness Benchmarks Formative, Benchmark and/or Interim Assessment Repository with Resources Grades 3-12 A pool of aligned items to each standard at each grade level within each assessment content area will be available for teacher, school or system use for formative, benchmark and/or interim assessments to be used to inform instructional practice. Included will also be links to instructional resources aligned to the standards for use by teachers, schools or school systems. Project-Based Assessments Grades 6-12 These assessments are designed to foster research inquiry skills, persistence, independence and intercommunications in ways that are not accomplished with more traditional summative and end-of-course assessments. Project-based assessments are scored based on templates or rubrics that produce rich, multileveled evaluations of student work. Career Interest/Career Aptitude Assessments Grades 6-12 These assessments are designed to inform student, parent, teacher, counselor and principal decisions about appropriate coursework and co-curricular opportunities for students culminating in a comprehensive and annually updated four-year high school plan of study.

7. Alabama College- and Career-Ready Assessment System Timeline for Implementation • NOTE: State-provided formative/interim/benchmark assessments aligned to college- and career-ready standards will be available August 2012 for Grades K-12.

8. Other Testing Info • A few weeks ago, we were told (unofficially) that this is the last year for ARMT+. • No word yet on what will take its place. • End-of-Course Test: ACT QualityCore • Standards and Suggested Syllabi have been posted on Curriculum Website. • http://www.ecboe.org (Departments/Curriculum) • ECBOE will begin correlating them with the new courses of study asap.

9. Continuous Improvement District-Wide Goals (CIP)

10. District-Wide Reading Goals • Goal 1 - Improve Reading and Writing Proficiency • Strategic teaching • Intensive reading/ writing strategies • Reading and writing across the Curriculum • Read and write multiple genres • Address student needs • Increase honors/AP enrollment and success (middle and high school)

11. What is strategic teaching? • Core teachers will open each lesson with a student friendly objective. All teachers will begin each class by establishing a purpose for the lesson (make the lesson relatable to the student, build background knowledge, generate questions to investigate, or discuss essential vocabulary) • At the end of the lesson, teachers will reflect on the content of the lesson in a manner that formatively assesses comprehension of all students (questions, group share-out, retell, summarize, journal writing, etc.) • All teachers will engage their students in higher-level questioning in an effort to strengthen understanding of the content.

12. What is strategic teaching? (cont.) • During the lesson, all teachers will use various strategies to explore or explain the lesson (technology, integrate new information, explore predictions, student response groups, teacher-student conferencing, writing labs, portfolio assessments, after-school tutoring, graphic organizers, etc...) • Teachers will correlate their lesson plans with the ALCOS, AHSGE, and ARMT+. Teachers (grades 7-12) will submit a syllabus (or course outline) for the entire course before school begins. ALCOS, AHSGE, and ARMT correlations will be noted. These syllabi will be posted on each teacher’s website and be placed in the school evidence box for future reference. School administrators will ensure reflective planning is taking place by walkthroughs and submission (or viewing) of lesson plans.

13. Display 7-12 Student Work in Classroom and/or Website Have student work displayed in halls and classroom - that's much better (and authentic)  than a crowded CIP evidence box.

14. New Courses of Study/ Common Core/CCRS

15. A Little Clarification about Common Core Acronyms To be clear, they are one of the same. • CC: Common Core • CCSS: Common Core State Standards • CCRS: College and Career Readiness Standards • ALCOS: Alabama Course of Study • The 2010 ALCOS standards equal the CCSS plus a few added standards.

16. New Courses of Study – All addressing Common Core Standards • Math begins this year – full implementation • English – begin implementing this year, full implementation next year (2013-2014) • Literacy standards for Science, History, and technical studies also begin. • Science coming soon…

17. PASS OUT Science/History Literacy Standards Literacy in History/Social Studies, Science, and Technical Subjects 6-12 The literacy standards in the appendices of the 2010 ELA and Math courses of study (and that will be in the new science COS) are not just for ELA teachers. Nor are they just for math instruction. They are for social studies, science, math, and other technical teachers and students in courses such as those offered in career tech.

18. What are Vertical Teams?

19. Vertical Teams… • are middle schools and high school teachers in the same academic area. They may include administrators, department chairs, and/or curriculum specialists. • design curricular change, decide on instructional strategies, and create support structures that make high achievement by all students a reality. • Empower teachers. Totally teacher driven.

20. Vertical Team Goals • Focus on learning and results • Increase achievement for all students • Improve communication between grade levels and schools • Foster inclusion

21. Typical VT Activities • Discuss state standards, benchmarks, and curricular frameworks • Share teacher expectations at each grade level • Share best practices • Identify student misconceptions • Plan for all learners – the struggles, the successful, and all those in-between

22. Today’s Lead Vertical Team Teachers • English Language Arts- Marcia Farabee(HBHS) and Nan Campbell (Gaston) • Math – Tammy Williams (SSHS) and Jennifer Johnson(Sardis) • History – Jill Boatwright (HBHS) and Genia Fry (SSHS) • Science – Leslie Freeman (SSHS) and Mark Snead (WEHS)

23. Break into 7-12 Vertical TeamsChoose a discussion leader per team. • RMS & SSHS • GMS & GHS • HBMS & HBMS • WEHS • Sardis • Gaston & Highland

24. Warm Up • Imagine that it is the last day of your class. • What are your greatest academic concerns about the students you are sending on?

25. Vertical Team Discussions • VT Questions/Discussions • Share favorite lesson • Biggest challenges • Academic/curricular concerns for previous year's students (to share with teachers/schools receiving those students) • Concerns with the upcoming change from the Grad Exam to end of the course exam?  • SCIENCE: Do you know what the science track is for students from 9th to 12th grade? • Other?