Essentials and Learning Goals

1. Essentials and Learning Goals Essential Learning Goals and Scales

2. Activities for Today • Overview the concept of Essential Learning (learning goals) • Overview the concept of Scales for learning goals • Begin the discussions of essentials

3. The Art and Science of Teaching Learning Goals and Feedback Interacting with New Knowledge Practicing and Deepening Generating and Testing Hypotheses (application) Student Engagement Establishing Rules and Procedures Adherence to Rules and Procedures Teacher-Student Relationships High Expectations Page 7, The Art & Science of Teaching

4. The Art and Science of Teaching Pg. 5 ENACTED ON THE SPOT Student Engagement INVOLVES ROUTINES Learning Goals and Feedback Rules and Procedures ADDRESSES CONTENT IN SPECIFIC WAYS Teacher/Student Relationships Adherence to Rules and Procedures Interacting With New Knowledge Generating/ Testing Hypotheses Practicing and Deepening High Expectations

5. The Art and Science of Teaching INVOLVES ROUTINES Learning Goals and Feedback Rules and Procedures

6. Design Question One: What will I do to establish and communicate learning goals, track student progress and celebrate success?

7. “You’ve got to think about ‘big things’ while you’re doing small things, so that all the small things go in the right direction.”Alvin Toffler

8. Essential Adapted from McTighe & Wiggins Nice to Know Supplemental

9. Literature Framework Wiggins, G., & McTighe, J. (2005). Understanding by design. Alexandria, VA. Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development. Wiggins, G., & McTighe, J. (2007). Schooling by design. Alexandria, VA. Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development.

10. Transfer • Apply learning to new situations not only in school, but also beyond it. • The point of school is to learn in school how to make sense of learnings in order to lead better lives out of school. • Learn now to apply lessons to later challenges.

11. Enduring Understandings • An important inference, drawn from the experience of experts, stated as a specific and useful generalization. • Refers to transferable, big ideas having enduring understanding beyond a specific topic. • Involves abstract counterintuitive and easily misunderstood ideas.

12. Enduring Understandings • Is best acquired by “uncovering” (i.e., it must be developed inductively, co-constructed by learners) and “doing” the subject (i.e., using the ideas in realistic settings and with real-world problems). • Summarizes important strategic principles in skill areas.

13. The facts A body of coherent facts Verifiable claims Right or wrong I know something to be true I respond on cue with what I know The meaning of the facts The “theory” that provides coherence Fallible, in-process theories A matter of degree I understand why it is true I judge when to use what I know Knowledge vs Understanding

14. What are learning goals or essential learnings? A learning goal (essential learning) is a statement of what students will understand and/or be able to do. For example: • Students will understand direct and indirect democracies. • Students will be able to do three-column addition.

15. So new teachers (or teachers new to a grade level) know what to teach. So we have clear understanding for all teachers of what is essential at each grade level / course. So we don’t rely on programs and supplemental materials to tell us what to teach. Why do we need Essential Standards?

16. Why do we need Essential Standards? • So students have the opportunity to gain deeper, connected understandings of Essential Standards. • So we stop talking “about” teachers at other grade levels and begin talking, planning, and teaching WITH them! • So teachers don’t simply pick what they like, and students end up with gaps in learning.

17. Students end up with major, and often unique gaps when we aren’t clear about what students learn, and to what degree they learn it.

18. “English Problems” The Sketch Show which aired on Fox in 2005. Used with permission

19. What are the criteria for essential? • Endurance (Will this provide knowledge and skills that will be of value beyond a single test date?) • Leverage (Will this provide knowledge and skills that will be of value in multiple disciplines?) • Inquiry, critical thinking, inferences, problem solving • Readiness for next level of learning (Will this provide students will the “tools” they need for success at the next level or grade.) Reeves, D. Cited in Ainsworth, L. (2003). “Unwrapping” the Standards. Englewood, CO. Advanced Learning Press.

20. Example: • Larry Ainsworth describes a powerful illustration in “Unwrapping” the Standards, 2003 • Two students leaving college history class • Comparing results from essay exam about the Asian Revolution • One student=recalled nothing • Other student =recalled the common attributes noted in all revolutions he’d learned in high school (Essential Learnings) cutting-edge research concrete strategies sustainable success

21. Processing • Think of no more than 5 big things you want your students to know or be able to do this semester. • Remember the criteria: • Endurance • Leverage • Readiness • Be ready to share at your table

22. What’s next? Creating or Refining Proficiency Scales

23. Creating a proficiency scale

24. “I have over 25 students in my class.” Problem: How can I write a goal for all my students that is both challenging and attainable?

25. Solution: Construct goals at multiple levels of difficulty. “I have over 25 students in my class.”

26. Proficiency Scales

27. Scale

29. NE State Accountability Efforts Great work!

30. Please place in order of complexity • Students will be able to discuss the body’s most important dietary needs. • Students will be able to recognize healthy vs. unhealthy foods given a list • Students will be able to discuss what would happen to the body if one of its needs was not met (eg. What would happen if the body received no calcium for an extended period of time?)

31. Please place in order of complexity • Students will be able to design word problems based on given mathematical equations and find any errors. • Students will be able to translate between simple word problems and mathematical equations. • Students will be able to recognize accurate statements about the mathematical processes embedded in word problems.

32. Please place in order of complexity • Students will be able to write a variety of complete sentences with fluidity. • Students will be able to write compound-complex sentences in isolation. • Students will be able to write a simple sentence with a subject and a predicate.

33. Please place in order of complexity • Students will be able to discuss the key aspects of Roosevelt’s foreign policy during WWII. • Students will be able to create a generalization about the most or least effective thing a president can do during times of conflict. • Students will be able to compare the successes and failures of different presidents’ foreign policies during times of conflict.

34. Organize learning goals into a scale • Advanced= 4.0 More complex learning goal • Proficient= 3.0 target learning goal • Progressing= 2.0 simple learning goal • Beginning= 1.0 with help, a partial understanding of score 2.0 and partial knowledge of score 3.0 content • 0= even with help, no understanding or skill demonstrated.

35. Proficient= 3.0 target learning goal Heflebower, adapted from Nebraska Department of Education

36. Advanced= 4.0 More complex learning goal Heflebower, adapted from Nebraska Department of Education

37. The complete scale allows forhalf-point scores(3.5, 2.5, 1.5, .5). cutting-edge research concrete strategies sustainable success

38. Scale