Why was Pluto Demoted? This presentation and related materials can be found at

1. Why was Pluto Demoted?This presentation and related materials can be found at http://aaslclusters.weebly.com/

2. Why was Pluto Demoted? http://www.wombania.com/pluto.htm Libraries and Stronger Student Test Scores through Better Questioning Skills by Marc Aronson & Dorcas Hand

3. Big Picture:

4. Bad 31.1% of grade 3-8 students across New York State met or exceeded the ELA proficiency standard; 31% met or exceeded the math proficiency standard -- IN OTHER WORDS, 69% DID NOT The ELA proficiency results for race/ethnicity groups across grades 3-8 reveal the persistence of the achievement gap: only 16.1% of African-American students and 17.7% of Hispanic students met or exceeded the proficiency standard IN OTHER WORDS 80+% DID NOT

5. Worse 3.2% of English Language Learners (ELLs) in grades 3-8 met or exceeded the ELA proficiency standard; 9.8% of ELLs met or exceeded the math proficiency standard 90+% DID NOT 5% of students with disabilities met or exceeded the ELA proficiency standard; 7% of students with disabilities met or exceeded the math proficiency standard 90+% DID NOT

6. Scary: 5 Largest Cities 80 to 90+% Failure

7. Splintering “In 2012, there was a 12-point black/white achievement gap between average third grade English Language Arts scores, and a 14-point gap in eighth grade ELA scores.  This year, the respective gaps grew to 19 and 25 points.  In 2012, there was an 8-point gap between black/white third-grade math scores and a 13-point gap between eighth-grade math scores.  The respective gaps are now 14 and 18 points.” Carol Burris, Op-Ed in WPost, 8/26/13

8. $ Makes a Difference

9. CC Shows What We All Know Family Wealth Family Resources Family Education Family Culture

10. What can we do to improve achievement and minimize the disparities?

11. ELA/Literacy: 3 shifts Building knowledge through content-rich nonfiction. Reading, writing, and speaking grounded in evidence from text, both literary and informational. Regular practice with complex text and its academic language.

12. Why? The CC Challenge For Students Is The Same as it is For Us http://www.independenceeventscenter.com/community-ice/Youth-Hockey

13. Changing on the Fly They/We need to evaluate information, form judgments, and come to conclusions when The answer(s) are not known and The answer(s) are in contention.

14. Juxtapose and Think Margaret Bourke-White, http://tinyurl.com/n4d8k4s

15. How Does “Information” Apply to the 3 CC Shifts? 1)Knowledge – Content Rich Connections from text to text – Citation as Treasure Hunt 2) Evidence from text Details, evidence, argument – Compare and Contrast 3) Complex Text; Academic Language Ladder of resources – No Ledge

16. Are You Starting to See Yourself in the CC Challenge? You should. http://tinyurl.com/mg2x6f7

17. You Know (Or Can Know) How Materials Connect How to Select Materials that Allow Comparison How to offer students a Complex ladder of resources

18. First a Little Test

19. Name One author, text, or passage that you think requires, and rewards, rereading for the age/ grade you serve?

20. And then there is Shakespeare http://tinyurl.com/348tbcs http://tinyurl.com/5rnxu6

21. Now Name one NF author, text, or passage - not from a primary source - that you know requires, and rewards, rereading for the age/ grade you serve?

22. http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Question_mark_alternate.svghttp://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Question_mark_alternate.svg

24. Hitherto

25. http://www.flickr.com/photos/lesterpubliclibrary/5100412049/

26. In Other Words We compensate for fear that NF is difficult or dull by stressing that it is quick, fast, fun. Thus, we steer away from NF that is Difficult, rich, complex, has layers of meaning, rewards thought.

27. How??? How can we prepare students for close reading and rereading when our entire focus is on proving that NF does not require that effort? What guidance can we give teachers when we never seek out NF that requires and rewards rereading?

28. We Need To Train Our Eyes To break down NF Learn to find NF that rewards rereading Learn how to juxtapose NF sources Learn to find NF passages that inspire questions and lead to deep understanding. We need to provide teachers and students opportunities for the kinds of reading CC requires.

29. What Worked in NYC?

30. Lab Middle – An Example New York City Deputy Mayor Wolfson Visits Lab Middle; Congratulates Students, Teachers and Administration Lab is one of 22 NYC schools ranked in the top 25 statewide, as measured by the new more rigorous common core exams Lab teachers spent two years developing CC Curriculum – full knowledge and ownership Lab Principal let teachers lead Lab librarians offered CC truly across all reading, all classes For students…

31. Astonishing 40% of Lab Middle Students who scored 3 on last assessments moved to 4 on CC Test captured the way they already read

32. Key Term: “Argumentative Text” Across all classes, students compare, contrast, evaluate, juxtapose. Actively make meaning Not passively identify and define

33. Knowledge In Formation That is what Information MUST mean Exercise Mental Muscle Making shape: taking possession of the information, understanding it, rephrasing it This must characterize the whole school – and you are the key to creating that atmosphere

34. Are You Promoting Argumentative Text? Text connections: fiction to NF; math to history; ELA to science? Is the library filled with displays featuring contention and debate? Are you updating the school on great NF that supports CC?

35. Second Example: IS 52 Inwood – 60% ELL (97% Dominican) 15% Special Needs Test scores down BUT Dr. Sal Fernandez: 2013 Elizabeth Rohatyn Prize from Teaching Matters for supporting teachers and learning Focused on improvement in different cohorts, largest growth in weakest students

36. Biggest Impact Most significant vector in your school score may be the performance of your weakest students You can have greatest impact by helping those struggling students Help them read for: Main point; subsidiary point; evidence, argument, POV Pick two accounts of last night’s big game, one from city (state) that won, one from parallel that lost. Compare – same event, just happened, what details does each use? How is game described?

37. CCC for CC Communicate often Collaborate widely Consistent message Everyone in building learning together

38. Grant to Build Library at Inwood (IS52) Dynamic librarian seeded the idea A team weeded library of old/weak/damaged books leaving many empty shelves Principal sees key need – find librarian to fill shelves (and workstations) with materials that will help students He understands the librarian is the next key member of his team

39. Two Schools, Two Stories In one, scores up – lessons In one, scores down – lessons Don’t mourn, organize And Make Friends

40. Considering Clusters - Then • Traditional Library display content • Straightforward • Unbiased • Just the facts

41. Thanks to Sue Bartle, from a Workshop with Marc Aronson in 2013.

42. Why was Pluto Demoted? Returning to our session title, wouldn’t this be a fun cluster?

43. Beginning to change Here we have an open question – How did brothers manage? By juxtaposing these materials, viewers see questions rather than answers.

44. Clusters that look ahead with more complicated questions.

45. Questions rather than answers • Possible Assignment: Consider the Civil War from the perspective of a person or group who were there, but whose voice you have not heard often (blacks, women, immigrant, …) • How can students & teachers contribute to this cluster, to inspire further questions? • Can a stand-alone library display be a catalyst for the move to questions from answers?

46. What questions come to mind just from this small array of books? • Is there any “right” answer, or even only one question?

47. Life in the Civil War- How might your life be affected if it happened now, here, to you? Real people, real wars. Bosnia 1991-1993 Lebanon c. 1991

48. Two perspectives on the same events Split personality???

49. Perspectives on Lincoln – in print and online “Lincoln, Hollywood, and an Opportunity for Historians” by James Grossman. The Journal of the American History Association (November 2012) Lincoln's American Dream: Clashing Political Perspectives, edited by Kenneth L. Deutsch and Joseph R. Fornieri (Vol.28, Iss.2, Summer 2007)

50. Insights from assassinations PBS American Experience