Elementary Teaching & Learning Moving Forward with Literacy 10.23.12 Plymouth Church

Agenda Update on our Progress Balancing our Priorities: Data Teams and the Journeys Materials Removal of Houghton Mifflin Reading (©2008) Materials Survey Monkey

Elementary District PLCs: Supporting our Shared Responsibility

What We Learned Through our First PLC While we wanted teachers to have an opportunity to collaboratively prepare Common Formative Assessments with other grade level teams, we learned that: We have such varying levels of understanding of the Common Core Standards that creating an assessment from scratch was very difficult. We are still developing our understanding of the Journeys materials, and until this foundation is built, we need to focus on our implementation of these materials.

What We Learned Through our First PLC Therefore, we will not be CREATING Common Formative Assessments during this time. Instead, we will: Support the different components of the Journeys materials and discuss grade level specific implementation. Provide teachers with an opportunity to share Common Formative Assessments that they are using.

The Purpose of the District PLCs ** Please Share This With Your Staff ** To discuss the implementation of our common district initiative. (2012-2013: Journeys Implementation) To provide teachers with an opportunity to share ideas and collaborate with colleagues from around the district about commonalities.

The Role of the PLC Facilitator ** Please Share This With Your Staff ** To communicate a common message about lessons learned and expectations. To provide an example of implementation specific to each grade level. To facilitate group discussions and maintain an appropriate time schedule. The facilitators are not responsible for responding to building specific questions or concerns. These should go directly to Carlyn Cox and building leadership.

What we need from building leaders… Say Something… If you see someone at a PLC acting inappropriately or steering the conversation towards negativity, please redirect the conversation or remind them of the norms (even if they are from another school). Empower your teachers with this same message. Ensure teachers know the purpose of these meetings and the role of the facilitator before the next session. Contact me if there are any questions or concerns about the message teachers are returning with.

Common Questions from the K-2 PLCs & Building Visits

Grade 1: Basic Reading Inventory Why are we administering an end of the year assessment at the beginning of the year? The Purpose of the Grade 1 Fall BRI: To provide a Pre/Post measure that we can report on to our external stakeholders. To provide us with an opportunity to show growth achieved through Grade 1. To allow us to look at trend data around the number of students leaving kindergarten and arriving at Grade 1 ready to read a Lexile Level 190 passage.

Grade 1: Basic Reading Inventory We must also consider the text complexity required by the Common Core (Lexile 190-530) and recommended by Fountas and Pinnell (Oct – E/F/G) for Grade 1. Spotty Swims is a Lexile Level 190. Guided Reading Level Lexile Level D 220-500 E F G * Please reference the following link for more information: http://www.heinemann.com/fountasandpinnell/supportingMaterials/bas/10MonthProgressByInstructionalLevel.pdf

Scholastic Reading Inventory What we’re hearing… Teachers are liking the convenience and objectivity of the assessment. Scores are lower than we may have expected. Building would like to give it more frequently.

Scholastic Reading Inventory What we’re learning… There is a direct connection between the results of the SRI and proficiency on the Iowa Assessment. 38% of 4-5 student were NOT proficient on the Iowa Assessment 33% of 4-5 students were identified as Below Basic When analyzing some of the Iowa Assessment passages for a Lexile level, we found that most fell into what would be considered “Basic” on the SRI. GOAL = Reduce the number of students in the Below Basic category.

Scholastic Reading Inventory Take a moment to look at your building SRI and Iowa Assessment data. What trends are you noticing? What might be your next step to support your work?

Next Steps with the SRI… We are preparing a set of testing recommendations that will be used in Journeys. Please provide any feedback you have regarding environment suggestions that have worked for you. These may include: Providing breaks. Identifying students who need a teacher or associate “buddy” to keep them on track during testing. Articulating what students should do when they’re finished with the assessment (not computer games).

Next Steps with the SRI… We are also considering the number of times teachers are “allowed” to administer the SRI and whether this might be an appropriate assessment for Grade 2 students.

Cross-School Collaboration Work Together to Identify: 1 common celebration regarding what is working. 1 common question relevant to Elementary Literacy.

Balancing our Priorities Journeys and Data Teams

Assessing the Balance: Stage 1 Starting Implementation of the Journeys Materials Minimal Understanding of the Common Core Standards Action Plan: Focus on the use of Journeys. Implement the Weekly Skill Assessments as progress monitoring and focus on the reteaching lessons after analysis of this data. Planning for instruction includes additional engagement techniques that could be used with the Journeys materials.

Assessing the Balance: Stage 2 Strong Implementation of the Journeys Materials (Look Fors) Progressing Understanding of the Common Core Standards Action Plan: Continued focus on the use of Journeys. Building professional development and PLC time dedicated to: understanding what student proficiency looks like for each CC Standard through the initial creation of CFAs for mastery standards. designing instruction based on student data using the Journeys materials.

Assessing the Balance: Stage 3 Strong Understanding of what Journeys has to Offer & How we Can Improve its Effectiveness Well Developed Understanding of the Common Core Standards (What instruction looks like. What student proficiency looks like.) Action Plan: Continued focus on the use of Journeys in conjunction with additional resources that support student obtainment of the CC Standards. Building professional development and PLC time is dedicated to the creation, revision and analysis of CFAs.

What We’re Hearing… According to our last survey monkey, 61% of buildings feel they are in Stage 1. Teachers and leaders are overwhelmed trying to manage the implementation of Journeys with the creation of Common Formative Assessments. We are struggling to implement the Data Teams model as we have previously known it to be.

Become familiar with what works for kids in the Journeys Materials Implement the Data Teams process using district assessment and design instruction without core materials Become familiar with what works for kids in the Journeys Materials Use assessments from the Journeys Materials and implement a modified Data Teams Cycle Work to create CFAs aligned to the CC Standards to build a deeper understanding of these standards Goal: Implement the CC Standards with teacher created assessment to use during the Data Teams process. Deepen our Data Teams process by using student data around the standards to plan for instruction using Journeys as a starting point.

What Does Whole Group & Small Group Instruction Look Like? Handout

How do we fit it all in???

The Role of this Document To provide a possible framework for teachers and leaders working through the pacing and scheduling of the Journeys components. To scaffold the collaborative conversation for the implementation of Journeys and provide a “starting point”. To deepen our understanding of all of provide components and how they fit together.

Collaborative Group Work Using this document, go into the Journeys manual and locate the components present. What pieces have you seen teachers using? What concerns have you heard from teachers that you can problem solve using this document?

What Could Data Teams Look Like in Stage 1?

What Assessment Could We Use? Options: Weekly Skill Assessment** Add a WTL prompt Day 3 Deepening Comprehension Practice Book Page** Weekly graphic organizer with a passage from the Benchmark/Unit Assessments

How Might Data Teams Look Different? 2011-2012 Chart and Collect Analyze Strengths and Needs SMART Goal Designing Instruction 2012-2013 Pretesting may not be appropriate for CFAs that are given weekly While our assessments will be smaller, we can still have conversations about the student data and what it tells us about their strengths and needs. Consider setting a goal for increasing the percentage of students scoring proficient each week based upon your current proficient. Use the SRI as your 8 week SMART goal (if given 5 times a year) and use Weekly Skill assessments as checkpoint towards progress. Because we are planning instruction using the Journeys Materials, we can focus our conversations around how to get more kids engaged in our teaching.

How Might Data Teams Look Different? Pretesting may not be appropriate for CFAs that are given weekly, therefore, setting a SMART goal will look different. Consider setting a goal for increasing the percentage of students scoring proficient each week based upon your current proficient. Use the SRI as your 8 week SMART goal (if given 5 times a year) and use Weekly Skill assessments as checkpoint towards progress.

How Might Data Teams Look Different? Having conversations around what instruction will look like at the teacher and student level. Engagement techniques Opportunities for collaborative practice Opportunities for authentic practice and an inquiry based approach

The Purpose of Data Teams Remains the Same Having conversations about the student data and what it means for our instructional practices.

Cause Data Collection

Common Cause Data Collection Tool For our 1st collection of Cause Data around the Implementation of the Journeys Materials, we will stick to the Critical Success Factors. However, please keep record of the additional components you observe in classrooms and their impact on student learning.

Collaborative Group Work With your team, discuss how and when you will collect this cause data. Please bring this data back to November 27th Teaching and Learning Meeting, where we will analyze this and look for common implications.

Houghton Mifflin 2008 Materials Josh Khan

Survey Monkey https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/W6VFB6K