NYC Social Studies PD

New York ISSNSocial Studies Workshop

October 18, 2011

Goals for today:• Network• Share and collaborate around what makes sound SS instruction• Identify obstacles and ways to overcome them• Leave with new ideas to help you in your classroom

Rules of the Road• Monitor your needs• Give and Take from the day• Agenda – it’s more like a guideline…

Welcome!

On Post-It Notes:

• Why did you become a social studies teacher? What do you hope to accomplish?

• What motivated you or made you fall in love with the subject? (Person? Experience?)

• What are some challenges that prevent you from fostering that same “love” of social studies in your students?

Why we do what we do…

…teach a curriculum that only gets longer each passing day, not shorter……teach about concepts, cultures, beliefs and events that can be seen as very disconnected from students’ everyday lives……prepare students to pass several high stakes assessments that determine whether they graduate high school or not…one of which covers TWO YEARS of material……expose students to text that for many is too difficult to read and comprehend…

As if the job wasn’t tough enough, you need to…

We will not solve all of these problems today…

…However…

Our goal is to share and talk about strategies that are working to help prepare

our students for these challenges and develop a love of learning social studies…

Graduate ProfileUpon graduation, ISSN students are: •Ready for college and career•Globally competent, with the knowledge and skills required for success in the global era

Graduation Performance System (GPS) A performance-based assessment system implemented in ISSN schools that drives the continuous improvement

of teacher instruction and student performance towards college readiness and global competence.

International Studies Schools Network (ISSN) DesignA school design that fosters learning for global competence and college readiness across school culture, governance, partnerships, professional development, and curriculum, assessment, and instruction in over 25 schools across the country.

A System to Produce College Ready, Globally Competent Graduates

A process or approach to planning and instruction that leads to the production of student work through a performance-based assessment system.

This student work can be assessed in relation to a set of performance outcomes and rubrics that demonstrate college readiness and global competence.

The performance outcomes are designed for:• 6 core subject areas• Interdisciplinary coursework• Alignment to Common Core/State Standards

What is the Graduation Performance System?

Why the Graduation Performance System (GPS)?

No assessment system currently exists to measure global competence…

ANDtraditional assessment methods are inadequate to capture

the mix of knowledge, skills, and behaviors that are embedded in global competence.

Goal: GPS will drive the continuous improvement of teacher instruction and student

performance towards college readiness and global competence.

How do the Performance Outcomes Help?

The performance outcomes define the enduring understandings, skills and dispositions that globally competent, college-ready students will be able to

demonstrate at the commencement level.

The development of the POs has been an ongoing, iterative process…

…however…It’s important to have consistency and reliability once

they are in use.

What has changed in the Performance Outcomes?

Still focusing on seven areas: Arts, ELA, Math, Science, Social Studies, World Languages & Global Leadership

Aligned to the Common Core Standards

Consistent Organization – All have been aligned to the four Domains of the Global Leadership POs

Attempt to Simplify and Remove Redundancy – This is especially true in Science – went from two sets of POs to one

A “remix” not a “rewrite – Attempted to reorganize the outcomes to give them a stronger global focus, while

maintaining rigor and content relevance

Standards/GPS

Performance Outcomes &

Rubrics

How the Graduation Performance System Works

Portfolio of Student

Work

College Ready and Globally Competent Graduate

This is a continuous cycle that: •repeats across the curriculum•happens in the classroom and in out-of-school time•drives improvement among teachers and students

Please Count Off by 4 . . .

•Group 1: Investigate the World•Group 2: Recognize Perspectives•Group 3: Communicate Ideas•Group 4: Take Action

Performance Outcomes in Action

Create a 3-Column Chart

For each performance outcome in your assigned domain, please describe what it looks like and sounds like in the classroom and give specific examples of learning activities that address that outcome.

Looks like . . . Sounds like . . . Examples

Performance Outcomes in Action