CATS

1. CATS COMPREHENSIVE ASSESSMENT TRACKING SYSTEM Pete Turner Residential Education Faculty Co-Chair, Student Academic Achievement Committee Estrella Mountain Community College

3. What’s Going to Happen With CATS

4. Five UNDERLYING PRINCIPLES1. Faculty Influence 1. Faculty are more likely to change their teaching practices and strategies through the influence of their peers than through administrative dictum or externally imposed professional development (Huber, 2012; Reeves, 2008; Turner, 2013).

5. Five UNDERLYING PRINCIPLES2. Continual Improvement 2. Faculty (and administrators) who care about student learning have a persistent discomfort with the status quo (DuFour & DuFour, 2006; O’Banion, 2007; Wilson, 2010). .

6. Five UNDERLYING PRINCIPLES3. Assessment 3. Frequent formative assessment is one of the most viable, research-backed techniques to optimize student learning (Angelo & Cross, 1993;Black & William, 2008; Marzano, 2006).

7. Why Assessment? Marzano, R.M. (2006)

8. Five UNDERLYING PRINCIPLES4. Action Research 4. The Action Research Cycle, employed both formally and informally, is the most efficacious vehicle for implementing, assessing, and reforming instructional techniques to maximize student learning (Mertler, 2009; Mills, 2007; Reeves, 2008; Stringer, 2007; Turner, 2003).

9. Five UNDERLYING PRINCIPLES5. Innovation • 5. Innovative faculty are a major vehicle for positive change on a community college campus when the innovative practice(s) can be shared(Shugart, 2011; Turner, 2013, Wilson, 2002).

11. So . . . What is CATS? • Communication Web Page • Utilizes open-source software (Drupal) • When Faculty innovate. . . • Where Facebook meets Assessment! • A product of our Student Academic Achievement Committee (SAAC) • “The virtual water cooler!” (Erik Huntsinger, Co-Chair of SAAC and progenitor of CATS)

12. Features • Easily Located http://cats.estrellamountain.edu/

13. Features • Easily Located

14. Features • Home Page

15. Features • CATS of the Month

16. Features • CATS of the Month

17. Features • CATS of the Month Criterion

18. Features • Assessments by Division

19. Features • Completed Cycles

20. Features • Monthly Archive

21. Features • Top Rated Assessments

22. Features • SAAC Dashboard

23. Features • Wordles

24. Features • Wordles

25. Features • Other Features • Summary (Abstract) box is count limited to 1200 characters • Encourages brevity • Encourages others to peruse/scan

26. Features • Other Features • Comments allow for follow up, input

27. Features • Other Features • Ratings allow assessment by peers

28. Features • Search

29. The Results “CATS is a user-friendly system that increases my awareness of classroom assessment, encourages me to engage in the Action Research cycle to improve teaching and learning, and spurs innovative instructional pedagogies due to the sharing between faculty.  CATS of the Month is an excellent way to showcase faculty assessment endeavors and give worthy recognition to those who "close the loop!"

30. The Results “As a new Residential Faculty member at EMCC, CATS has proven to be a tremendously valuable resource.  I can collaborate with colleagues in the sharing of ideas and best practices while also posting my own ideas in order to seek feedback.”

31. The Results “The CATS system is a wonderful tool that has me rethinking my teaching practices. The best part: it's so easy to complete!”

32. The Results “CATS has been an easy way for me to discover what other faculty have done to create a successful experience in the classroom. The ability to search in multiple ways (by class format, assignment, general education outcome) has helped me to find strategies for my classes that I may not have found otherwise.”

33. If you have questions . . . • Regarding CATS in general: • peter.turner@estrellamountain.edu or • erik.huntsinger@estrellamountain.edu • Technical issues: • rich.marmon@estrellamountain.edu

34. CATS Scan • Now let’s go online and play with CATS! cats.estrellamountain.edu/

35. References Angelo, T.A., and Cross, P.K. (1993). Classroom assessment techniques: A handbook for college teachers (2nd Ed.). Black, P., and William, D. (1998). Assessment and classroom learning. Assessment in Education, 5(1), 7-75. DuFour, R. & DuFour, R. (2006). Learning by doing: A handbook for professional learning communities at work. Bloomington, IN: Solution Tree. Huber, M.T. (2008). The promise of faculty inquiry for teaching and learning basic skills. A Report from the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching: Strengthening Pre-Collegiate Education in Community Colleges. Retrieved from: http://eric.ed.gov/PDFS/ED503130.pdf. Marzano, R.M. (2006) Classroom assessment and grading that work. Alexandria, VA: Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development. Marzano, R.J., Yanoski, D.C., Hoegh, J. K., Simms, J. A. (2013). Using Common Core Standards to enhance instruction and assessment. Bloomington, IN: Marzano Research Laboratories. Mertler, C. (2009). Action research: Teachers as researchers in the classroom (2nd ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage. Mills, G.E. (2007). Action research: A guide for the teacher researcher (3rd ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson.

36. References O'Banion, T. (2007). Leadership for learning. Community College Journal, 78(2), 45-47. Retrieved from Research Library. (Document ID: 1383351301). Reeves, D. B. (2008). Reframing teacher leadership to improve your school. Alexandria, VA: Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development. Shugart, S. (July 18, 2012). From a telephone interview with the president of Valencia College (a Vanguard College) conducted by Peter Turner, Doctoral Candidate, Northcentral University. Stringer, E.T. (2007). Action research (3rd ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage. Turner, P. (2013). Informal faculty leadership that transforms: Evidences and practices for the Learning College. Dissertation, Northcentral University. UMI # 3571494 Turner, R. (2003). A pragmatic approach to educating: Connecting problem-based learning to Service Learning. Dissertation, Capella University. UMI # 3068397 Wilson, C.D. (2002). Leadership for learning. Learning Abstracts 5(7) Wilson, C. (2010). From a telephone interview conducted by Peter Turner, Doctoral candidate, Northcentral University; and Learning College Project Director at the League for Innovation in the Community College on August 23.