Teaching Performance Assessment ConsortiuM (TPAC)

1. Teaching Performance Assessment ConsortiuM(TPAC) Andrea Whittaker. Ph.D. Stanford University September 2011 Stanford Center for Assessment, Learning and Equity

2. Academic Language • Defining TPAC constructs • Examples in Practice • Rubric Descriptors • Other resources Stanford Center for Assessment, Learning and Equity 2011

3. Multiple Measures Assessment System TPAC Capstone Assessment Embedded Signature Assessments • Integration of: • Planning • Instruction • Assessment • Analysis of Teaching • with attention to Academic Language Child Case Studies Analyses of Student Learning Curriculum/Teaching Analyses Observation/Supervisory Evaluation & Feedback Stanford Center for Assessment, Learning and Equity 2011

4. TPAC Artifacts of Practice Stanford Center for Assessment, Learning and Equity 2011

5. WHY include Academic Language? • Academic language is different from everyday language. Some students are not exposed to this language outside of school. • Much of academic language is discipline-specific and deepens subject matter THINKING. • Unless we make academic language explicit for learning, some students will be excluded from classroom discourse and future opportunities that depend on having acquired this language. Stanford Center for Assessment, Learning and Equity

6. Academic Language • Academic language is the oral and written language used in school necessary for learning content. • This includes the “language of the discipline” (vocabulary and forms/functions of language associated with learning outcomes) and the “instructional language” used to engage students’ in learning content. Stanford Center for Assessment, Learning and Equity

7. Vocabulary • Technical vocabulary: triangle, metaphor, metabolize • Words whose technical meaning is different than everyday language: “balance” in chemistry, “plane” in mathematics, “ruler” in history/social science, “force” in science • Connector words: and, but, because, therefore, however Stanford Center for Assessment, Learning and Equity

8. Vocabulary • Brainstorm discipline specific vocabulary • Technical • Multiple meaning • Connector… Stanford Center for Assessment, Learning and Equity

9. Three F Words The FUNCTIONSof Academic Language areto clearly and explicitly define, classify, analyze, explain, argue, interpret and evaluate ideas for distant audiences. Every language function has FORMS or structures that are common and often discipline specific (text, sentence or graphic/symbolic) Developing students’ FLUENCY in academic language forms and functions provides access to the “language of school” and academic success Stanford Center for Assessment, Learning and Equity

10. “F” Words Brainstorm discipline specific FUNCTIONS – THINK VERBS! Brainstorm discipline specific FORMS or structures -- oral, written/text, graphic or symbolic Stanford Center for Assessment, Learning and Equity

11. Academic Language • Brainstorm Instructional Language • Language teachers use to direct student engagement in learning (task directions, routines, questions,…) and language that students need to participate with each other in a learning activity (questions, …) Stanford Center for Assessment, Learning and Equity

12. Academic LanguageCompetencies Measured • Understanding students’ language development and identifying language demands • Supporting language demands (vocabulary, form and function) to deepen content learning • Identifying evidence that students understand and use targeted academic language in ways that support content learning and language development. Stanford Center for Assessment, Learning and Equity 2011

13. Activity • Analyze video for academic language: • Vocabulary • Function/Form • Instructional Language http://www.learner.org/resources/series33.html

14. Rubric Dimensions Stanford Center for Assessment, Learning and Equity

15. Additional Resources • Jeff Zwiers • Building Academic Language: Essential Practices for Content Classrooms, Grades 5-12 • SIOP • Academic Language webinars archived on the TPAC Ning • Melanie Hundley - Tennessee • Ann Lippincott and Laura Hill Bonet Stanford Center for Assessment, Learning and Equity 2011

16. Academic Language Takeaways • Unless we make academic language explicit for learning, some students will be excluded from classroom discourse and future opportunities that depend on having acquired this language. • Language of the Discipline • Three “F” Words • Vocabulary • Instructional Language Stanford Center for Assessment, Learning and Equity