Common Assessments “A vital component to ensure student achievement”

1. Common Assessments“A vital component to ensure student achievement” Presenters Dr. Josha L. Talison, Principal Ms. Joie Blaszczak, Teacher Ms. Angela Maura, Teacher Ms. Dawn Rankin, Teacher Mr. Jarrett Rice, Teacher Thompson Middle School Southfield Public Schools District

2. Overview • Discuss the use of common assessments as they relates to student achievement. • Discuss how common assessments relate to curriculum alignment and mastery teaching at the middle school level.

3. Background • Thompson Middle School is a 6-8 grade institution • Title I school with 42% of the students qualifying for Free/Reduce Lunch • Located in suburban Detroit, but has characteristics of urban schools • Racial composition of the students population: 90% African-American, 9% ESL, <1% Caucasian

4. Thompson Middle School is a Professional Learning Community • The foremost promoter of the Professional Learning Community concept is Dr. Richard DuFour (along with Robert Eaker, and Rebecca DuFour) • Introduced the PLC concept to Lincolnshire High School in suburban Chicago in the late 80’s • Concept of PLC consistently raised students’ achievement and made Lincolnshire the benchmark for quality public school education DuFour, R. and Eaker, R. (1998). Professional learning communities at work. National Education Service, Bloomington, IN.

5. Professional Learning Community Core Concepts • What do we want students to learn? • How do we know if they learned it? • What do we do if they didn’t learn? • What do we do if they already know it? • Common assessments align with the second PLC question.

6. How will we know if they learned it? • Common assessments and analysis of data are key components of the PLC philosophy • Content and grade level teachers collaboratively create common assessments • Teachers then do item analysis activities when reviewing the common assessments • Every subject level team creates common assessments

7. Characteristics of Common Assessments • Teacher generated, not textbook company generated • All students take the same assessment content wise regardless of who their teacher may be • Assessments should not be more than 20-25 questions • Item analysis occurs at the end of every assessment • Narrative summary of data is submitted

8. How are they created?

9. Curriculum • Curriculum alignment is essential in the creation of common assessments • In 2005, TMS began using Power Standards to align the state mandated curriculum (benchmarks/GLCEs) into concise units of instruction

10. Power Standards • Focusing each content area’s core curriculum into five to six core concepts • Goal of the Power Standard is to increase depth of curriculum knowledge • Teacher expertise in the creation of the standards is key • Collaboration is essential

11. Time • TMS has created PLC Mondays (30 minutes )to allow subject and grade level planning to ensure curricular cohesion. • TMS teachers have a daily common planning time (25 minutes) built into their schedules • One staff meeting monthly is dedicated for planning as well

12. Short Cycle Assessments • Same subject level teachers conduct short cycle assessments throughout each unit of study • The data from these assessments help to build the common assessment, which occur on a quarterly basis

13. Item Analysis • After each assessment is completed, teacher conduct item analysis reports to analyze student proficiency • Any question that does not have 70% student mastery must be re-taught and assessed

14. Narrative Analysis • Teachers also complete narrative summaries of their item analysis questions • The goal of the narrative analysis is to promote teacher reflection. Also, teachers must detail their corrective instructional strategies for their students.

15. Does it work?

16. Challenges • Time constraints • Challenge the “Yeah, but…” • Standing on your principles • Scheduling…..Nightmare!!!

17. Questions??? • Contact: Talisonjl@southfield.k12.mi.us (248)746-7400