Why Scripted Lessons

1. Why Scripted Lessons • “Teachers don't need creativity,” says Diane Ravitch, an education official under President George Bush. “Teachers need to use methods that have proved successful.”

2. The First Patrons of American Education "I look to the diffusion of light and education as the resource to be relied on for ameliorating the condition, promoting the virtue, and advancing the happiness of man.” “The only thing more expensive than education is ignorance.”

3. Transformation through Immigration and Urbanization From the 1880s-1910 the U.S. experienced a huge influx of immigrants from Europe, Canada, and Central America (2.5 million from 1889-1890 to 9 million from 1900-1910) Simultaneously, urban society was also changing because of the increasing amount of people from the countryside seeking work. Before then, high schools were rare, only grammar schools School was not nationally mandated Families were too poor to afford their children to attend school because they needed them also to earn a wage

4. Important Historical Background There have been many factors in the development of educational practices, but none have so profoundly influenced its growth and structure than the last hundred years.

5. What is a Scripted Lesson? • Direct instruction, or scripted lesson plans, is one of the many reforms districts nationwide have begun to use to give more structure and uniformity in the classroom. • First we will look at a typical scripted lesson plan • Then we will watch a short youtube clip of the implementation of Scripted Lesson plans in the classroom • Finally we will look at the basic format of an SFA lesson plan

6. Scripted Lesson: 2nd Grade Writing Lesson 5 Day 1 • (Objective: The student will be introduced to writing rubric and writing prompt. The student will independently complete prewriting page / graphic organizer based on writing prompt. ) • (Resources: Narrative writing rubric) • (Pencils) • Activities: • This week our writing is going to be a little different from what we’ve been doing. This week you will be writing to a prompt. A prompt is an topic idea for writing. When you get the prompt, you will write to that specific topic. This is your prompt for this writing exercise. • Friends can teach us many different things. Think about a time you learned something from a friend. Now write about a time you learned something from a friend. • I’m going to pass out your prewriting pages now, and I want you to begin thinking about ideas you have for your writing.

7. 2nd Grade Writing cont’d (Pass out prewriting pages to students.) At the top of your prewriting page you will see the same prompt that just read to you. Remember this is the focus for your writing this week. Take a moment now and write a list of ideas you have about the topic on the list lines on your page. (Allow five minutes for students to list ideas.) Before we continue further, I want to show the rubric I will be using to grade your writing this week. A rubric is a guide that teachers use to help us see how your writing is progressing. I’m going to pass out the rubric to you now. Please do not make any marks on the page. (Pass out copies of the narrative writing rubric to the students.)

8. Youtube doesn’t Lie • http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jVXOXPtZAVE

9. SFA Philosophy • What You’ll See in a Success for All School: • 90-minute reading groups: These fast-paced, reading groups are held school-wide at the same time every morning without interruption. Each lesson plan is structured around the same basic framework in which the teacher explains new material, allows children to work in small groups, tests them informally or formally, and recognizes students for academic improvement and teamwork. SFA packs the 90 minutes, using drills and chants to keep children engaged. • Grouping by ability: Children who are the same age are grouped by ability for their 90-minute reading block. They are assessed regularly, and advanced as they improve. • Cooperative learning: Children work in pairs or in very small groups to insure participation in learning by all students. They talked to each other about their reading, and subject matter, sharing questions and seeking answers. • Continuous Testing and Assessment: Teachers constantly monitor student’s progress, formally and informally. All children are assessed in reading every eight or nine weeks.

10. Are scripted lessons for everyone? • High poverty schools are more likely to implement scripted lesson plans and, according to the data, test scores have gone up in these schools • Scripted lessons bring structure to potentially chaotic learning environments. • “Harold Washington Elementary is the picture of a frayed inner-city school. 85% of the students live below the poverty level. And a security guard keeps students inside--and intruders out--once the morning bell rings. But enter El-Roy Estes' fourth-grade classroom and you'll see a model of order. As students wearing crisp blue-and-white uniforms file in, Estes studies a three-ring binder to find out what's on tap for this morning, Day 111 of the school year”

11. Success For All, Texas • From 2003-2010, SFA schools had a 4.5 % point increase in the number of students in 3rd- 5th graders who meet state standards • From 2009-2010, 100% of SFA schools made AYP • Other schools in Texas gained only .8% point increase • From 2009-2010 , 85% of Texas schools made AYP

12. Success for All, Florida • From 2006 to 2011, SFA elementary schools had a 4.3 percentage-point increase in the number of students of 3rd–5th graders who met or scored above Achievement Level • From 2006 to 2009, SFA middle schools had a 5.4 percentage-point increase in the number of 6th–8th graders who scored at or above Achievement Level 3 • Other Florida schools gained 1.4 percentage points. • Other Florida middle schools gained 1.0 percentage point

13. Success for All, California • From 2002 to 2011, SFA elementary schools in California had a 28.8 percentage-point increase in the number of 2nd-6th graders scored proficient or above the Achievement Level • California elementary schools gained 22.8 percentage points

14. Scripted lesson in schools • Nationwide, 1,551 elementary schools in 48 states use Success for All, another scripted reading program • In 2001, one in every eight schools in California used Open Court, a scripted reading program

15. Stats don’t lie • Studies show that students who use Scripted lessons scored in the 43rd percentile for their decoding skills, and 45th percentile in passage comprehension • While students who use the district's standard curriculum scored in the 27th percentile for their decoding skills and 33rd percentile for passage comprehension

16. Cutting back on time • In fall of 2003, principals reported that their schools currently spent 37 percent less time teaching civics and 35 percent less time teaching geography than they had previously • Other principals surveyed for this study reported that their schools spent 29 percent less time teaching languages and 36 percent less time teaching the arts than they had in the past

17. Winning • In Memphis, Tennessee, eight SFA schools were matched with students in statistically similar non-SFA schools. After two years of instruction, the students in the SFA schools performed significantly better than their comparison groups on measurements of reading, language, science, and social studies

18. Direct Instruction from the Student Perspective NEGATIVE ASPECT Positive aspect However, can be beneficial for students since lessons are designed to encourage participation for better learning and to cut down on misbehaving, less bias towards slow learners, each lesson reviews past lessons, has been shown to boost test scores • This system often clashes with different learning styles, and while there is some review if someone is very far behind due to being a slower learner or sickness or other outside reasons then it is difficult to catch them up

19. From the Teachers Perspective Negative aspect Positive aspect That being said, Direct Instruction can be very helpful for less experienced teachers since it gives them a guideline to work with, while some more experienced teachers still make use of it as a tool to help engage the whole class Some room for customization • There isn’t extensive room for customization, so it can clash with teaching styles and be seen as insulting to more experienced teachers especially when first introduced; it also suffers from an inability to go back to previous subjects

20. From the Administrations Perspective Negative aspect Positive aspect The method has been shown to improve test scores for students (including for scores on the SAT and ACT which are important for entering college), and accepting Direct Instruction often means earning aid money from the federal government • For the local administrations, there is no obvious downside aside from teachers being upset about their lack of control

21. Local Celebrity Dr. Olenick & His Family

22. High School Physics Program “Comprehensive Conceptual Curriculum for Physics” Sponsored by the National Science Foundation with a $2.5 million grant in 1993 Initiated because of the lack of teaching standard and only 1/3 of teachers were qualified to teach high school physics Disseminated through professional workshops, not through a for-profit publisher Intended to have a universal application for all high schools, to be usable by all teachers, to be effective with all students

23. What is it? • C3P is a comprehensive curriculum for 9th grade physics that uses proven teaching strategies and conforms to national Science Content Standards • It provides “learning objectives, daily lesson plans, learning cycle activities for explorations, concept development, applications, and an assessment component” • Implementation can be flexible