Achievement Standards Network (ASN): Connecting Things Not Strings

» Atomize» Describe» Relate

Diny Golder, JES & Co.Stuart A. Sutton, University of Washington

EdReNe 2012—The Hague

Achievement Standards Network (ASN):Connecting Things Not Strings


Outline• ASN groundwork for “mapping” and data analysis• Enriching competency descriptions

– Linking competencies to “related” resources (e.g. people, places, events...and other concepts)

• Mapping competencies-to-competencies– Creating crosswalks (relating competencies in different frameworks)

• AASL to CCSS – Visualizing crosswalks

• Michigan to CCSS

• Semantic mapping (further work on more fine-grained predicates)• Cross-jurisdictional data analysis

– Supporting data-driven decision making


ASN-US as Repository of US Competencies

• Resource Description Framework (RDF)-based open repository– 1,147 competency frameworks descriptions from

the 50 U.S. states and territories (equivalent to 1,147 national curricula)• Competency framework descriptions are made up of:

– 395,530 individual competency descriptions» Competency descriptions are made up of:

• 4,914,666 RDF triples


ASN as Competency Description Framework

• ASN is about a simple linked data infrastructure for competency description– Describing competencies– Describing the frameworks in which those

competencies are found– Describing relationships between competencies• Relationships within a single competency set• Relationships across 1-n competency sets



• Infrastructure is not sexy!• Metadata infrastructure is particularly not sexy!• Infrastructure of any kind is hard to “sell”!• Infrastructure serves the needs of others, so it

is hard to justify (in the beginning)!• Infrastructure has no funding “end”!• Infrastructure done badly, or neglected, is a

disaster!



ASN FRAMEWORK IN A ‘NUTSHELL’✔Atomize ✔Describe ✔Relate


Moving air and water can be used to run machines

Some sources of energy cost less than others and some cause less pollution than others

Some source of “energy” is needed for all organisms to stay alive and grow.

Make and interpret scale drawings

Find and describe locations on maps with rectangular and polar coordinates.

Make sketches to aid in explaining procedures and ideas.Many materials can be recycled and used again,

sometimes in different forms.

Planets change their positions against the background of stars.

Atomize: Extract Competency Semantic Units


Describe: Create Metadata for Each Semantic Unit

http://asn.jesandco.org/resources/S100729D

Original

Yes

3, 4, 5

Science

4A (3-5) #3

4A (3-5) #3 Planets change their positions against the background of stars.

http://purl.org/ASN/resources/S100729D

http://purl.org/ASN/resources/D1000152

Planets change their positions against the background of stars.

http://asn.jesandco.org/resources/S100729D

http://purl.org/ASN/scheme/ASNAuthorityStatus/Original

http://purl.org/ASN/scheme/ASNIndexingStatus/Yes

http://purl.org/ASN/scheme/ASNEducationLevel/3



http://purl.org/ASN/scheme/ASNTopic/science

http://purl.org/ASN/resources/S100729D

http://purl.org/ASN/resources/D1000152


Relate: Creating “Context”


Competency Assertionsi.e., «atoms»

Learning Planes{ Selection, Sequence, Content }i.e., «molecules»


Learning Planes

Plane B

Plane A

Competencies


Cross-Jurisdictional Learning Plane


ENRICHING COMPETENCY DESCRIPTIONSPeople, places, events, concepts...and other “things”







MAPPING AASL COMPETENCY STATEMENTS TO U.S. COMMON CORE STATE STANDARDS (MATH AND ELA)

ASN-US Jurisdictional Crosswalk


Mapping (Crosswalk) Problem• American Association of School Librarians (AASL)

wants librarians to create lesson plans…• Descriptive metadata for the lesson plans is created

by the librarians– The librarians will only correlate the lesson plans to the

AASL Standards for the 21st-Learner– The lesson plans need to be crosswalked to the Common

Core State Standards in ELA and Math– AASL created the ELA crosswalk, but…


“X” Marks the Spot?• ELA crosswalk was text-to-text in a spreadsheet


From Spreadsheet-to-SKOS• Convert strings-to-things and import ELA crosswalk

into database


What about CCSS Math?

• We needed a tool that can – Create and manage machine readable crosswalks

• ASN data was already there


No More Spreadsheets


How it was done...

• Various AASL Librarians worked on the cross walking tool, mapping sections of AASL to Common Core Math

• Librarians found it easier to use and to manage vs. a spreadsheet

• Exported the crosswalk and imported into the database


End Result


User Selects AASL Standards Only


Behind the Scenes

• When user saves a lesson plan:– If the lesson plan has subject of Math or ELA• The systems looks up the appropriate crosswalk AND• Assigns the corresponding mapping(s) based on the

grade level of the lesson plan


Printable View

ELA Lesson Plan for Grade 7

User correlated AASL Standards


ELA Crosswalk, Grade 7 Competencies

Printable View Continued


Lessons Learned

• More robust alignment properties are needed• Once we had machine readable mappings, it

was easy to incorporate the mappings into the AASL website (Drupal)


Evolving Mapping Predicates

Align To

Align From

Broad Alignment

Exact Alignment

Major Alignment

Minor Alignment

Broad Super-Properties

Equivalency Properties


Discussion Predicates






Sequencing Super-Properties


Practicing Mapping (Crosswalks)


Existing ASN:U.S. Crosswalks


Michigan Mapping to Common Core


Michigan Mapping to Common Core

Distinguish between scientific explanations that are regarded as current scientific consensus and the emerging questions that active researchers investigate.

Align To

9. Compare and contrast findings presented in a text to those from other sources (including their own experiments), noting when the findings support or contradict previous explanations or accounts.


ASN-US GRAPH ANALYSISLooking at U.S. Competencies Across Jurisdictional Borders


Complex Questions, Easy Answers

• By using the structured, faceted nature of the ASN framework, we can ask and solve problems that span jurisdictions. For example

• When does the U.S. start to teach its students the Pythagorean Theorem?– Which grade level(s)?– Who assesses it earliest?


Searching the ASN:US Graph

• First, search for Pythagorean Theorem across entire ASN:U.S. dataset– Display the “Education Level” facet results


Faceted Search Screen


Faceted Result—”Pythagorean Theorem”


“Education Level” Facet


Results:• Pythagorean Theorem is mentioned or

assessed in grades 5-12 with the majority of results in grades 8-12.

Next Question:• Which state(s) start to assess Pythagorean

Theorem in 5th Grade?


Searching the ASN:U.S. Graph

• Now filter results by 5th Grade– Display the “Jurisdiction” facet results


Filter: 5th—Display: “Jurisdiction”


NAEP, Nebraska, Louisiana & Montana


Results:– Louisiana– Nebraska– Montana and – National Assessment of Education Progress (NAEP)

Recommend or begin to assess the Pythagorean Theorem in 5th Grade.


Further Research

• Are these three state standards modeled or derived from the NAEP Math Framework?

• How does the local teaching of various math concepts at earlier/later grades relate to that state’s overall rank in student math performance nationally?


Framework Analysis• We can also limit the scope of graph analysis

to a single framework e.g. the Common Core State Standards for Mathematics.

• Find out:– When does the Common Core start to mention the

Pythagorean Theorem?– When does the Common Core start to cover the

topic of division?


“Pythagorean Theorem” Distribution


“Division” Distribution


What’s the take away?

• Structured, semantically rich competency data enables insightful and interesting data analysis and data-driven decision making


https://www.assembla.com/spaces/asn-developer-forum/wiki


Diny Golder, JES & Co., [email protected] A. Sutton, University of Washington, [email protected]

QUESTIONS?

http://anyashy.com/2012/09/combination-badges-what-are-they-and-why-are-they-important/

mailto:[email protected]

Achievement Standards Network (ASN): Connecting Things Not Strings

Documents

competency assertionsi

metadata infrastructure

n competency sets

relateasn framework

background of stars

conceptsmapping competencies

semantic unit http

ccsssemantic mapping