Science Leadership Support Network

Science Leadership Support Network

January 18, 2008Enjoy some refreshments and networking.

We will begin at 9:01

The SLSN is supported by KDE and PIMSER

Goals of SLSNGoals of SLSN

Participants will:• Articulate the “big ideas” in science, together with

teacher and student understandings (content, process, relevance) that underlie them.

• Develop a broader understanding of assessment and how to use a variety of assessment strategies in support of student learning.

• Develop and act on a personal vision of leadership for sustainable improvement in their school or district.

Group Norms

• Start and end on time

• Put cell phones on silent

• Be respectful of all comments

• Everyone participates

• Exercise the rule of “two feet”

• Come prepared for the meeting

Review

• Distinguished between describe and explain• Discussed how to help students with this• Extended ideas to explanation framework and applied

to ideas from Writing in Science• Discussed highlights and implications of Ch. 1 and 2

in Writing in Science• Identified standards that might be assessed using

performance assessment• Determined the quality of available PA• Characterized effective PD

Roadmap for the Day

Loose Ends

Performance Assessment

Effective Instruction

Instructional Model

Writing in Science

Loose Ends

Verb Frequency Chart

• Work in elementary, middle, and high school groups.

• Examine the verb frequency in the CCA for science for your grade level.

• Note some implications for student success.

• Is there a need to help students write good descriptions and good explanations?

• Is it enough to tell students the definitions of describe and explain?

• How might a rubric be beneficial?

Describe vs. Explain

• School committee to complete rubric for descriptions and explanations.

• Development of explanation framework?• Next step considerations:

– 1 class take the lead or everyone do?– What are possible follow-up experiences?– What kind of feedback will students need to improve?– Models?– Student critiques using a rubric?– Peer analysis?– Self analysis?– Graphic organizers?

Deconstructed Standards for STM

• Update

• Considerations

• Performance assessment implications

• Clear goals establish an initial target. Feedback provides students with information regarding their progress toward the target. Goal setting and feedback used in tandem are probably more powerful than either one in isolation. In fact, without clear goals it might be difficult to provide effective feedback.– Marzano, The Art and Science of Teaching, pg. 12

Performance Assessment

• I can identify standards that might best be assessed using performance assessments.

• I can determine the quality of a performance assessment.

• I can determine and develop an appropriate rubric to use with a performance assessment.

Performance Assessment• There are two parts to a performance assessment:

– The Task• Simple target – simple task• Complex target – complex task

– The Performance Criteria

• We use performance assessments when the learning targets require doing (e.g., design, produce, make, create, write, draw, represent, display, model, construct).

• Performance assessments are ways to allow students to demonstrate how well they can do science – not the drills, but the game!

Performance Assessment

• The task is any activity that we use as a context to observe a skill or a product – a naturally occurring event or a separate event, at the end of instruction or during instruction. The only requirement is that the task elicits the desired skill or product so that it is capable of being judged. Pg. 194 CASL

• …performance criteria [is] the basis for judging the quality of the performance on the task. Pg. 194 CASL

Part 1. The Task

Task Rubric Summary pg. 220

• Content– Elicits the right performance; it fits

the targets and the performance criteria

– Simple target – simple task; complex target – complex task

– Worth the time; students will learn from it

– Scaffolding supports the task without compromising it

– Engaging and interesting to students

• Clarity– Instructions are clear– Students are reminded of

performance criteria

• Feasibility– Students have enough time– Proper materials and equipment are

available– Rating can be done in the time

allowed

• Fairness and Accuracy– Task will elicit an accurate picture

of student achievement– All students have a chance to shine

• Sampling– Task adequately covers all

dimensions of learning target OR is a part of a larger plan to do so

Part 2. Performance Criteria

Benefits of Performance Criteria

• To help educators clarify the nature of complex learning targets so that they feel comfortable teaching to them

• To assess student progress and status in ways that are consistent across students, assignments, and time

• To improve student achievement by letting students in on the secret of the nature of quality

• Through all these things, to integrate assessment and instruction and grasp the essence of standards-based instruction

– Scoring Rubrics in the Classroom by Arter and McTighe, pg. 16

Benefits of Performance Criteria

For Teachers:

1. Consistency in Scoring

2. Improved Instruction

For Students:

1. Clear Target(s)

2. Quality Performance

3. Self Assess and Adjust

Rubrics

• A rubric is a particular format for criteria – it is the written down version of the criteria, with all the score points described and defined. The best rubrics are worded in a way that covers the essence of what we, as teachers, look for when we’re judging quality, and they reflect the best thinking in the field as to what constitutes good performance. Rubrics are frequently accompanied by examples (anchors) of products or performances to illustrate the various score points on the scale.

– Scoring Rubrics in the Classroom by Arter and McTighe pg. 8

What Kind of Rubric?

• Working with a partner, write your definition for each type of rubric listed and give an example of what type of assignment would be appropriate for each.

• Jot down some disadvantages for each type.• Sketch an example for each.• Share with your tablemates and revise your

ideas as needed.

What Kind of Rubric?

• Identify the type of rubric that would best serve your needs and your student’s needs.– Holistic– Analytic– Generic (General)– Task-specific

• Does it need to be unique to your task or is it one that could be used across similar performances (and thus best developed as a department or school team)?

Metarubric Summary pg. 203

• Content– What counts? – What the users see is what

you’ll get.• Doesn’t leave out important

things• Leaves out unimportant things

• Clarity– Does everyone understand

what is meant?• Terms defined?• Levels of quality defined?

– Are there samples of work to illustrate levels of quality?

• Practicality– Is it easy to use by teachers and

students?• Student-friendly version?• Use for self-assessment and

personal goal setting?• Useful for planning?• Manageable?

• Technical Quality/Fairness– Reliable and valid?

• Different raters give same score?

• Ratings represent what students can do?

• Fair for all?

Common Problems with Instructional Rubrics

• Counting – when quality is more important than quantity

• Important details left out• Irrelevant details in the rubric• Student-developed rubrics where anything

goes• Skimpy scoring guides• Converting performance standards to grades

Developing Rubrics

• Establish a knowledge base• Gather samples of student performance• Sort student work by level of quality• Cluster the reasons into traits• Identify sample performances that illustrate

each level• Make it better

– Pg 211 CASL

Developing Rubrics

• Working in grade band groups, your goal is to develop an appropriate rubric for the sample task.

• Examine the sample task. Identify the standard(s) assessed by the task. Is it a worthy task for assessing the identified standards?

• Using the procedure outlined on pg. 211 in CASL and detailed on pgs. 211-217, draft a rubric for the task.

• Use the Metarubric Summary on pg. 203 in CASL to critique your rubric.

Three Minute Conference

• Group A - identify a focus for feedback from another group

• Group B - use the complete metarubric to provide feedback to group A based on their request

• Use the language of the metarubric to provide feedback

• 3 minutes – then switch roles

Developing Rubrics

• Create an analogy for the following:

• A rubric is like ___, because ___.

7 Strategies for Using Rubrics as Instructional Tools pg. 231-242

How do you get students to understand and internalize your standards of quality?

• Where am I going?– Strategies 1 and 2

• Where am I now?– Strategies 3 and 4

• How do I close the gap?– Strategies 5, 6, and 7

Going to the Movies• Illustrate the strategy your group has

been assigned.– Put the number of the strategy on your poster

• Rules: no words, only pictures and numbers are allowed.

• Post your illustration in numerical order in our “movie screen” area.

– Presenters will sit in numerical order on the front row of our theater

• When the movie starts rolling, be prepared to present your illustration, stressing key points about the strategy.

– Be prepared for a fast pace!

Vocabulary Strategy

Cinquain Poetry• Line 1 : one word (noun) – MATTER• Line 2: two words (adjectives that describe line 1)• Line 3: three words (action verbs that relate to line 1)• Line 4: four words (feelings or a complete sentence

that relates to line 1)• Line 5: one word (synonym of line 1 or a word that

sums it up)

Effective Instruction

• I can determine key criteria for defining effective instruction.

• I can identify rigor in the classroom.

What is effective instruction?

• If good instruction is the key to student achievement, what is good instruction?

• How do you provide teachers feedback on their instruction, if there is no consensus in your school for what “good” instruction is?

A “Theory of Change”• Students’ will not meet the performance standards for success

in college and work unless and until teaching improves. More academic content standards, more testing, smaller schools, etc. do not, by themselves, improve teaching or students’ skills.

• Teachers working alone, with little or no feedback on their instruction, will not be able to improve significantly—no matter how much professional development they receive.

• The challenge of change leadership is to create a “system” for continuous improvement of instruction and supervision—rooted in a common vision of effective teaching, which is rigorous, relevant, and based on respectful, trusting relationships (the new 3 R’s)

THE NEW WORK: 7 DISCIPLINES FOR

STRENGTHENING INSTRUCTION 1. The district or school creates understanding and urgency around improving

ALL students’ learning for teachers and community, and they regularly

report on progress.

– Data is disaggregated and transparent to everyone.

– Qualitative (focus groups & interviews) as well as quantitative data is used to

understand students’ and recent graduates’ experience of school.

2. There is a widely shared vision of what is good teaching which is focused

on rigor, the quality of student engagement (relevance), and respectful,

caring relationships for all students.

– Either developed by the district or by the school

3. All adult meetings are about instruction and are models of good teaching.

7 DISCIPLINES FOR STRENGTHENING INSTRUCTION Cont.

4. There are well-defined performance standards and assessments for student work at all grade levels. Both teachers and students understand what quality work looks like, and there is consistency in standards of assessment .

5. Supervision is frequent, rigorous, and entirely focused on the improvement of instruction. It is done by people who know what good teaching looks like.

6. Professional Development is primarily on-site, intensive, collaborative, and job-embedded and is designed and led by educators who model best teaching and learning practices.

7. Data is used diagnostically at frequent intervals by teams of teachers to assess each student’s learning and to identify the most effective teaching practices, and teams have time built into their schedules for this shared work.

Teaching Video Discussion 1

1. Was this an effective lesson? (Before

discussion, place the grade (A—F) you’d

give this lesson on a 3x5 card to be

collected)

2. Discuss at your tables or with your

neighbor your criteria for determining the

effectiveness of the lesson

http://www.gse.harvard.edu/clg/news1a.html#video

“Reinventing” What & How We Teach:The New 3 “R’s” for the 21st Century

RIGOR ???

RELEVANCE Helping students to understand why something is

important to learn Fostering curiosity & life-long learning by providing

students opportunities to explore learning that is personally relevant to them

RELATIONSHIPS/RESPECT Students won’t learn or work hard for teachers who

do not respect them You can’t motivate a student you don’t know

Defining “Rigor”: Some Essential Questions

• What is rigor?• What are teachers doing in a more rigorous

classroom?• What are students doing?• What kinds of student work would be evidence of

rigor?• How might the definition of rigor be changing in

an “information glut” world—what will be expected of our students?

Excellent Instruction: A Point of View

• Excellent instruction is less about what a teacher does

(inputs) and more about what students can do and know

as a result of the lesson (results).

• In assessing the quality of a lesson, performance

standards are much more important than content

standards.

• Performance standards for students must be

benchmarked to what will be expected of HS graduates

Benchmarking Rigor: Work/College SkillsPublic Agenda Foundation “Reality Check” 2002

http://publicagenda.org/specials/rcheck2002/reality5.htm

73% 69% 72%63%

53% 49%37%

51%65%

58%

74%75%

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

writing workhabits

motivation basic mathskills

curiosity respect

Employers Professors

Percent of Employers & Professors giving high school grads “poor” or “fair” ratings on:

Benchmarking Rigor:

Employers View of What is Needed

What skills are most important for job success when hiring

a High School graduate? (2006 Partnership for 21St Century Skillshttp://www.21stcenturyskills.org/documents/FINAL_REPORT_PDF9-29-06.pdf)

Work Ethic 80%

Collaboration 75%

Good Communication (oral & written) 70%

Social Responsibility 63%

Critical Thinking & Problem Solving 58%

Benchmarking Rigor:

Employers View of What is Needed

Of the High School Students that you recently hired, what were their deficiencies?

Written Communication 81%

Leadership 73%

Work Ethic 70%

Critical Thinking & Problem Solving 70%

Self-Direction 58%

Benchmarking Rigor:

Employers View of What is Needed

What skills and content areas will be growing in importance in the next five years?

Critical Thinking 78%

I.T. 77%

Health & Wellness 76%

Collaboration 74%

Innovation 74%

Personal Financial Responsibility 72%

Benchmarking Rigor: College View of What is Needed

College professors’ views of the skills students lack:

70% say students do not comprehend complex reading materials

66% say students cannot think analytically

65% say students lack appropriate work and study habits

62% say students write poorly

59% say students don’t know how to do research

55% say students can’t apply what they’ve learned to solve

problems2005 Achieve Inc. http://www.achieve.org/files/pollreport.pdf

More Important Than Academic Content:

The Competencies That Matter Most for College

From research conducted by David Conley on “College Knowledge”:

• Writing• Reasoning• Analytic Thinking• Problem-solvinghttp://ceprnet.uoregon.edu

***The Collegiate Learning Assessment—an online performance assessment of these core competencies:

http://www.cae.org/content/pro_collegiate.htm#

Recent Grads Summary of What They Need

• Writing skills

• Study skills and time management

• Research skills

• Study group experience

What would your graduates say?

Rigor in The Classroom: 5 “Habits of Mind” Learning to Ask The Right Questions

• Weighing Evidence – How do we know what’s true and false? What is the evidence, and is it

credible?

• Awareness of Varying Viewpoints– What viewpoint are we hearing? Who is the author, and what are his or her

intentions? How might it look to someone with a different history?

• Seeing Connections/Cause & Effect– Is there a pattern? How are things connected? Where have we seen this

before?

• Speculating on Possibilities/Conjecture– What if? Supposing that? Can we imagine alternatives?

• Assessing Value—Both Socially and Personally– What difference does it make? Who cares? So what?

From www.missionhillschool.org

Teaching Video Discussion 2Calibrating Rigor

1.How would you assess the level

of rigor in this lesson (low,

medium, high)?

2.What is your evidence for this

assessment?

Examining Student Work• With a partner, compare the student work from the 2

lessons for the 5 “Habits of Mind.”– Strengths and weaknesses

• What made the difference in the quality of the student work?

• With your partner, examine the deconstructed standards for STM for your grade level. Identify learning targets that require or could require one or more of the “habits of mind.”

Examining Student Work

• With your table group, discuss the following questions in light of the two lessons:

• What are the implications for planning instruction?– What is effective classroom instruction?

– What is rigor in the classroom?

• What are the implications for developing an instructional model?

What is effective instruction?

• If good instruction is the key to student achievement, what is good instruction?

• How do you provide teachers feedback on their instruction, if there is no consensus in your school for what “good” instruction is?

• We are on the verge of the greatest age in education, if we would just do the things we already know work.– Mike Schmoker

Changing Classroom Practice• Why are even modest changes to

classroom practices so difficult to achieve?

• Skim the Dylan Wiliam article, “Changing Classroom Practice” on pgs. 36-41 in Educational Leadership.

• Consider these questions to focus your skimming:– What changes are needed?– Why are modest changes so difficult?– Why does traditional PD fail to change

classroom practices?– What is a potential model of PD that might

affect practice?

Changing Classroom Practice

• Note key points related to the focus questions.

• Summarize what you skimmed by using the starter – the thing is…

• Share your key points and your summary with a partner.

• Knowing that is different from knowing how…you can change teachers’ thinking about something without changing what those teachers do in classrooms.– Dylan Wiliam, pg. 38

Instructional Model

• I can identify factors in an instructional sequence that promote learning.

• I can distinguish between declarative and procedural knowledge and determine instructional implications for successfully teaching each.

What will I do to help students effectively interact with new knowledge?

• Examine your assigned Marzano ‘Action Step’ on pages 40 to 57 in The Art and Science of Teaching.

• Discuss with your group how that ‘Action Step’ might or might not facilitate learning, based on what is known about how the brain works.

• Identify at least two macrostrategies that are compatible with the learning process and explain how they would facilitate learning.

What will I do to help students effectively interact with new knowledge?

• Compare the two classrooms from the videos for how well each incorporated the ‘action steps’ from chapter 2.

• Were the instructional sequences more alike or different in how they incorporated the ‘action steps’?

• What impact might some of these differences had on student performance?

• What generalizations can you make about the action steps suggested by Marzano and how those factors affect student performance/learning?

What will I do to help students practice and deepen their understanding of new

knowledge?• Individually, complete the matrix comparing procedural

and declarative knowledge, using information from chapter 3 in The Art and Science of Teaching.

• Give one – Get one– Stand up and connect with someone at a different table.– Give that person one of your ideas about procedural vs. declarative

knowledge from your matrix. Get a NEW idea from them.– Connect with a different person from a different table and swap

ideas. Then, return to your original seat.

• Reflection: What do you consider the most important thing to remember about teaching declarative knowledge as opposed to procedural knowledge?

Writing in Science• I can compare the basic

elements/philosophies of Marzano’s ‘Academic Notebooks’ and Fulwiler’s ‘Science Notebooks.’

• I can describe the relevance of using science notebooks to meet KY’s standards, ACT standards, and 21st Century Learning standards.

• I can describe an implementation plan to other teachers.

Science Notebooks• Number off at your table; 1, 2, 3, 4, 1, 2, 3…• One’s will work on SCIENCE NOTEBOOKS

– Move to the tables on the right side of the room.– Refer to Ch. 2 in Writing in Science pgs. 12-27.

• Two’s will work on ACADEMIC NOTEBOOKS– Move to the tables on the left side of the room– Refer to Ch. 2 in The Art and Science of Teaching, specifically

pgs. 29-32, pgs. 33-56 (just scan the ‘action steps’ in order to build your big picture); pgs. 56-57 for specifics.

• Prepare a 2 minute response to your group’s guiding question for sharing in your jigsaw group.

Science Notebooks

SCIENCE NOTEBOOKS1. WHAT is a “Science

Notebook”? (How would you DESCRIBE a science notebook to another teacher, administrator or parent—including the PURPOSE for doing it?)

2. HOW do you ‘teach’ or implement the practice of keeping a “Science Notebook”? (How would you provide DIRECTIONS or EXPLAIN HOW a teacher would do this?)

ACADEMIC NOTEBOOKS3. WHAT is an “Academic

Notebook”? (How would you DESCRIBE an academic notebook to another teacher, administrator or parent—including the PURPOSE for doing it?)

4. HOW do you ‘teach’ or implement the practice of keeping an “Academic Notebook”? (How would you provide DIRECTIONS or EXPLAIN HOW a teacher would do this?)

4 Person Jigsaw “expert groups” on:

Science Notebooks

• Return to your original group.

• 1s, 2s, 3s, 4s share 2 minute responses.• Group members may ask clarifying questions.

• Is there a NOTABLE or SIGNIFICANT difference between Fulwiler’s Science Notebook and Marzano’s Academic Notebook?  Explain

• Commit and Toss

Writing in ScienceWorking in grade band groups:• Review PoS, ACT College Readiness Standards, and 21st

Century Skills around “literacy/content area literacy.”– Highlight those skills that demand attention to literacy skill

development.

• Based on the review of the research and standards, would you advocate FOR using notebooks in the science classroom?– If so, what approach to using a notebook would you advocate

for to meet standards and involve students in the authentic experiences that promote transferability? Why (provide reasoning or evidence)?

• Writing is the most disciplined form of thinking.– Donald Murray

Wrap-up and Review• Assessing student understanding

through his/her performance or product is crucial for determining understanding against the standards.

• The effectiveness of instruction is determined by what a student knows and can do as a result of it.

• Developing an instructional model helps us to design effective instructional experiences and to provide clear, descriptive feedback about a lesson.

• Science notebooks can be designed to serve our instructional purposes.

Preview• Next meeting: February 15th

• Reading choices in Ed Leadership:– Pg 8– Pg 14– Pg 28– Pg 43– Pg 54– Pg 60– Pg 64

• Focus for reading– Why you chose this article– Important points, questions, reactions to

reading– Why someone else should or should not

read it