Bell Ringer

1. Bell Ringer • Please write on your index cards the answers to the following questions: • What do I know about SLOs? • What do I need to know?

2. Introduction to Student Learning ObjectivesAshley Frame, Karen Soule These materials have been adapted in part with permission from the Center on Great Teachers and Leaders, the Center for Assessment, and NEA-NH

3. Student Learning Objectives Introductory Session Goal 1: Provide a broad view of the purposes and process of writing and implementing Student Learning Objectives Goal 2: Help begin the work/writing process by providing tools and answering questions Goal 3: Help administration to determine next steps in the process for Berlin (including visits from teachers actively implementing SLOs)

4. Belief statement The Berlin Public Schools are committed to the belief that all students must begiven appropriate opportunities to achieve clearly defined, meaningful, andrigorous standards which include those outlined in the New Hampshire GradeLevel Expectations and Grade Span Expectations.  We further believe that the learner is the focus of all of our efforts and that the evolution of our programs will  be guided by data that reflect what each learner knows and is able to do. This belief statement is connected to the SLO process!

5. Standards of Professional Practice Learner & Learning Content Knowledge STUDENT LEARNING Learner Facilitation Practice Professional Responsibility

6. SLOs: What are they? An SLO is a measurable, long-term, academic goal informed by available data that a teacher or teacher team sets at the beginning of the year for all students or for subgroups of students.

7. What are SLOs?

8. Why are SLOs Important? • SLOs: • put student learning first. • Student proficiency of content and skills is the primary focus. • prioritize key standards/enduring understandings. • Teachers ask themselves, “What do my students need to know to be successful?” • improve the quality of student data use. • The SLO process will provide explicit guidance for teachers in selecting and gather student data. • make teacher impact on student achievement visible. • Based on data, instruction can be adjusted and differentiated in real time for maximum student achievement. • Connect student learning to professional learning.

9. SLO Process

10. SLO Written Components (Your Template)

11. Student Goal Development Goal Development generally includes the following steps: Identify core content and standards Gather and analyze student data Determine the focus of the SLO Select or develop an assessment Develop a growth target/ proficiency target and rationale Source: Lachlan-Haché, L., Cushing, E., & Bivona, L. (2012). Student learning objectives as measures of educator effectiveness: The basics. Washington, DC: American Institutes for Research. Retrieved from http://educatortalent.org/inc/docs/SLOs_Measures_of_Educator_Effectiveness.pdf

12. So what does that mean? Look at the data! Based on the data, what needs doing? What problems exist? What do your students need?

13. Writing the Learning Goal S is for Specific M is for Measurable A is for Appropriate R is for Realistic T is for Time Limited When writing your Learning Goal think SMART approach: 13

14. Specific • If the learning goal is too broad, then it’s difficult to measure. • If the learning goal is too narrow, then it may not be measuring anything beyond a single standard or even a part of a standard.

15. Measurable • Some form of assessment or tool is being used to measure the learning goal. • The tool to measure student’s learning is appropriate and of high quality.

16. Appropriate • Within the teacher’s control to effect change. • Worthwhile for the student’s academic year.

17. Realistic • The learning goal is feasible for the teacher to teach. • Ambitious but also achievable.

18. Time Limited • The learning goal is contained within a single year.

21. Setting Targets • Video on Targets

22. Targets • Targets identify the expected outcome by the end of the instructional period. • There are two key components of the targets associated with SLO: • Starting Level: If we expect all students to all achieve the same end goal, then we can skip this step, but more likely there will be some differentiation of goals. • End Goal: What performance demonstrates that students met the learning goal using your assessments?

23. Assessments and Scoring • Assessmentsshould be high- quality and designed to best measure the knowledge and skills found in the learning goal of this SLO. The assessments should be accompanied by a Scoring tool such as clear criteria or rubrics to describe what students have learned. Assessments and Scoring should be: • designed to best measure the knowledge and skills found in the learning goal • accompanied by clear criteria or rubrics to determine student learning from the assessment • high quality measures used to evaluate the degree to which students achieved the developed learning goal. • Assessments should be used to support and measure the learning goal. Not vice versa.

24. Distinguishing Assessments • Formative Assessment: A process that teachers and students use to gather information during, as opposed to after, the learning process and to make adjustments accordingly. • Interim Assessments: Assessments administered during instruction that are designed to evaluate students’ knowledge and skills relative to a specific set of goals to inform decisions in the classroom and beyond. Can include diagnostic assessments. • Summative Assessments: Formal assessments that are given at the end of a unit, term, course, or academic year.

25. High Quality Assessments

26. SLO Process

27. Choosing Professional Goals…questions to start What training do you/your team need? What does your Master Plan suggest? With whom do you need to work/consult? What curricular changes do you need to make? What instructional changes to do you need to make?

28. Timeline for activities

29. Reflecting throughout Improvement cycle… What’s working/What’s not? Informal/Formal reflection? Recording changes/progress made?

30. SLO Approval The National Center for the Improvement of Educational Assessment, Inc. (page 5 in handout)

31. How is an SLO “scored”? With a portfolio of evidence, an SLO is moved to the next level, assessed, scored, evaluated, etc. with a scoring rubric. Center for Assessment's SLO rubric

32. The SLO Evaluation Cycle Source: Lachlan-Haché, L., Cushing, E., & Bivona, L. (2012). Student learning objectives as measures of educator effectiveness: The basics. Washington, DC: American Institutes for Research. Retrieved from http://educatortalent.org/inc/docs/SLOs_Measures_of_Educator_Effectiveness.pdf

33. III. Midcourse Check-In

34. So, now you have an SLO... Select assessments, interventions, and keep track of it all!

35. IV. Final Review of SLO Scoring and Attainment

36. Reflecting on the SLO Process

37. How Do You Prepare for SLO Implementation? • Assess the culture change • Provide a structure and process for scoring SLOs. • Monitor and evaluate SLO process and implementation

38. What Lies in the Future for SLOs? • SLOs can be considered an investment in our profession. They highlight best practices, create opportunities for collaboration, and provide a valuable link between instruction, curricula, and assessment. • If implemented sustainably and well, SLOs can drive professional learning, nurture assessment literacy, and build educator capacity for data-driven instruction.

39. Index Cards • Take a look at your “Need To Know” answer…did we get to it? • Take a look at your “Know”…has it changed?

40. Things to Check out • NH SLO Video Module • New Hampshire Networks • Center for Assessment • Center for Assessment Link page http://www.nciea.org/slo-toolkit/ Instructional Guide http://www.nciea.org/wp-content/uploads/3_Instructional-Guide-for-Developing-Student-Learning-Objectives.pdf • Dept. of Education Phase I and Phase II Task Force reports

41. References • Lachlan-Haché, L., Cushing, E., & Bivona, L. (2012). Student learning objectives as measures of educator effectiveness: The basics.Washington, DC: American Institutes for Research. Retrieved from http://educatortalent.org/inc/docs/SLOs_Measures_of_Educator_Effectiveness.pdf • Lachlan-Haché, L., Cushing, E., & Bivona, L. (2012). Student learning objectives: Benefits, challenges, and solutions. Washington, DC: American Institutes for Research. Retrieved from http://educatortalent.org/inc/docs/SLOs_Benefits_Challenges_Solutions.pdf • What Works Clearinghouse. (2009). Using student achievement data to support instructional decision making. Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Education, Institute of EducationSciences, National Center for Education Evaluation and Regional Assistance. • Center for Assessment • American Institutes for Research link • This presentation was adapted from the American Institutes of Research and the Center for assessment, using their materials.