Science: Sharing What Works

1. Science: Sharing What Works Breckinridge County High School Presented by Melody Mingus, Barbara Ezzo, and Nick Carter

2. Our History • Breckinridge County High School is located in Harned, Kentucky. • We are a true community school, but things have changed over the years. • More transient students • Transitioned from an experienced staff to a relatively new staff • Average years of experience- 11 years

3. Where we used to be • From 2006 until 2010, our school’s accountability scores fluctuated between a 72 and 75. • In 2010, we bottomed out and barely missed becoming a PLA school. • This development forced us to take a hard look in the mirror before moving forward.

4. Our School’s Response • In spring 2011, we began laying the groundwork to work in PLCs starting in August 2011. • Common Planning • Weekly Team Meetings • Pacing • Common Formative Assessments • Daily Guided Study Period • Intensive Interventions

5. Quality Professional Growth • We have sent three teams to PLC at Work Conferences • July 2011 • October 2011 • June 2012 • Sent three teams to John Antonneti Student Engagement trainings over the last three years. • Sent two teams to John Antonneti Higher Level Task Development trainings over the last two years. • Sent multiple staff members to ACT Inc. Quality Core trainings over the last two years. • School Leadership has attended multiple quality trainings as well.

6. Preparing for the ACT

7. Preparing for the ACT • Representative from the Science department/team attended an ACT workshop. • Examined ACT questions for the first time • Discovered only science skills are important – no knowledge of science content is required

8. Preparing for the ACT • We now teach ACT science skills to freshmen, sophomores and juniors. • Freshmen science classes introduce graphing and data tables and use some PLAN practice questions toward the end of the year.

9. Preparing for the ACT • Sophomore classes build on the freshmen foundation by: • Teaching more complex graphing and data tables • Teaching experimental design • Independent and dependent variables • Inference and observation • Deductive reasoning • Drawing conclusions

10. LAB REPORT RUBRIC • Title The Effect of ____________________ on __________________ • (5) Independent variable Dependent variable • IntroductionWhat in real life would cause one to have questions that this experiment could answer? (15) What do you specifically want to find out from this experiment? • What is your hypothesis? • ProcedureList the steps in numerical order that you will follow to complete the experiment. (20) • Check your list carefully for accuracy, completeness, and precision. • ResultsComplete a data table and an appropriate graph for the data. • Data Make a table containing columns for the independent variable • Table and dependent variable. (5) • (15) Order the values of the independent variable from smallest to largest. (5) • Record values of the dependent variable. (5) • Graph Draw and label all necessary parts of the graph including: • (15) Independent variable on x-axis (with units) (2) • Dependent variable on y-axis (with units) (2) • Title (The effect of IV on DV) (1) • Subdivide axis and number (5) • Plot points and draw a best-fit line or curve (5) • Conclusion (30) IN YOUR OWN WORDS and in a paragraph, Describe the purpose, major findings, an explanation for the findings, and • recommendations for further study. • Use these six questions to guide your writing of the conclusion • What was the purpose of the experiment? (5) • What were the major findings? (5) • Was the hypothesis supported by the data? (5) • How did your findings compare with other researchers or with information in the textbook? (5) • What possible explanation can you offer for the findings? (5) • What recommendations do you have for further study and for improving the experiment? (5)

11. Preparing for the ACT • Sophomore classes use PLAN practice questions weekly until the fall PLAN test • Dissect some questions to see where in the text to find the answers • Compare different types of PLAN questions and their difficulty • Use a timer for practice questions so students get a feel for how long they have on the test.

12. Preparing for the ACT • Junior science classes currently use Kaplan Foundation to introduce/review elementary graphing and data table work. • Kaplan Advantage is then used to introduce ACT questions and a method for solving them. • Released ACT questions are used as quizzes throughout the year.

13. Preparing for the ACT • Junior science classes dissect released ACT questions to understand methods for solving problems • Junior science classes are given timed practice science ACT tests to introduce them to the style of testing and allows them to practice methods for solving the problems • All juniors are given a practice ACT that is the full length of the actual ACT

14. Preparing for the ACT • All junior science classes emphasize the importance of the ACT beginning the first day of class • Junior science teachers express how the ACT can impact their lives in the near future and possibly later in their lives • Juniors are given support by administration, teachers and other staff preparing for the ACT

15. Preparing for Biology End Of Course Assessment

16. Preparing for Biology End Of Course Assessment • Step 1 • Set Goals for End of Course Assessment and determine what needs to be done to best meet those goals. • We originally set a goal for 80% of our students to make a 60% or better on the end of course assessment. • That would mean that 80% of students would get a B+ or better according to state recommendations.

17. Preparing for Biology End Of Course Assessment • Step 2 • Mapping the EOC objectives back to our curriculum. • Limiting what is taught: there is not enough time to teach all content to mastery. • Decide collaboratively what is most important and teach that content to mastery.

18. Preparing for Biology End Of Course Assessment • Step 3 • Creating Common Assessments that match curriculum and the EOC objectives • Use EOC test bank questions from the ACT website to set the standard. • Use some lower level questions that are below standard, but require some evidence of learning. • Use some higher level questions to show which students have not only mastered the standard, but have surpassed it.

19. Preparing for Biology End Of Course Assessment • Step 4 • Finding and Creating Activities that really teach the objectives. • Using common planning time to plan the curriculum activities

20. Preparing for Biology End Of Course Assessment • Step 5 • Reteach • During in-school intervention time, reteach students who did not demonstrate mastery on particular common assessment objectives. • Retest students after reteaching to provide evidence of mastery of objectives.

21. Preparing for Biology End Of Course Assessment • Step 6 • Reflect, reflect, reflect • What worked best? What needs revision? Why does it need revision? How do we fix it? • These questions must be addressed to continue to improve. • We use common planning time to reflect and revise.

22. Administrative Support • Administrative support is crucial to ensuring success. • Student Reward Plan • Reward students for good effort and positive attitude. • Treats, hat days, shorts days, field days, etc… • Attendance rewards on testing day. • School-Wide Apathy Plan • Operation Zero- students who have zeros are given a deadline and assigned detention if the deadline isn’t met • Student-Response teams- teachers send names of students failing classes and the teams meet to determine how to intervene • Protect instructional time • Fire Drills, class meetings, club meetings, pep rallies, and other events occur during the twenty-five minute guided study period. • EOC Power Review Weeks • Occur after spring break and students receive intense reviews

23. Final Exemption Plan • Students are able to earn a final exam exemption to be used the following school year for each benchmark met on the ACT, PLAN, or EXPLORE test. • Example- 11th grade student meets two benchmarks- two exemptions to be used the following school year

24. Communication • Effective communication from the school is essential. • The school must set and communicate a goal, expectations, and a rewards plan in order to be successful. • Example- We met with our tenth grade class on September 19th to go over PLAN test goals, expectations, and the rewards plan.

25. Brag all the time… • Nothing beats positive energy in a school. • Don’t be afraid to brag about the school and students at all times. • We have to make sure our students know we believe in them first and foremost.

26. Questions