Curriculum, The New Mode of Accountability for a School District Andy Jay ArbeitmanDr. Stacie StryhalDr. Trish Burkeen De Soto 73De Soto 73De Soto 73 SuperintendentDirector of Assistant Educational SupportSuperintendent Services

Would you find it acceptable if a teacher assessed student progress and provided feedback to students twice a year?

Data Reflection Comparison of 2002 and 2010 Comparison of Review initiatives over these time periods. How can we continue to improve?

De Soto % of Students Scoring Proficient and Advanced in CA and MA- Total Students

De Soto % of Students Scoring Proficient and Advanced in CA and MA- IEP

De Soto % of Students Scoring Proficient and Advanced in CA and MA- Free and Reduced Lunch

De Soto % Proficient and Advanced- Communication Arts

De Soto % Proficient and Advanced- Mathematics

PLC Centered Student Achievement PD Initiatives What do we want students to know?  Curriculum Process Manual  Curriculum Writing Teams  Curriculum Selection and Alignment of Materials How do we know if they learned?  Assessment Writing  Assessment Expectation Timelines  Assessment for Learning ( Standards referenced) What do we do when they have not learned? What do we do when they have learned?  Differentiated Instruction and assessment

More PD Initiatives What do we do when they don’t learn or already know it? PLC Model –SMART Goals, instructional practices on classroom instruction that works, co-teaching, differentiated instruction, assessment designs, technology usage, etc.

What Changed? Principals with Staff Training Curriculum and Instructional Implementation Monitoring Staff Resistors Staff Modeling of Practices True classroom reform needed more… to reach the next level of students New Initiatives—reflection on goals, alignment of goals at all levels, renewed emphasis on curriculum, instruction, and assessment.

-We must create and communicate a shared vision -We must build structures that support open communication, interaction, collaboration, and shared decision-making among all stakeholders -We must establish “user friendly” feedback loops and processes for utilizing the data we generate -We must integrate a plan for modification and feedback into a SYSTEM that has a flexible cycle of continuous improvement! Is it not your responsibility and your district’s responsibility to know who is controlling and what is happening with your curriculum and your instructional leadership daily?

How do you view any previous change efforts within your school district? 1.Positive impact on overall student achievement. 2.Positive, but limited impact on overall student achievement. 3.No impact on overall student achievement, but positive impact on district culture. 4.Insignificant effect on district culture or overall student achievement. 5.No impact on overall student achievement, but negative impact on district culture. 6.Negative impact on overall student achievement.

How do you rate the need for change in your school district? 1.Present condition is unacceptable and immediate change is required. 2.Present condition is troublesome, but not enough to require immediate change. 3.Things could be better, but I am not completely dissatisfied with things as they are. 4.Change is needed. 5.I am not aware of any change that needs to be made. 6.No change is necessary.

How do you rate your willingness to support change in your district? 1.I am reluctant to doing anything significantly different. 2.I am willing to support change if the change does not require a significant inconvenience to the group. 3.I am willing to support incremental change implemented at a moderate pace. 4.I am willing to make difficult choices (personal and group) to bring about change. 5.I am willing to accept that change will be difficult, possibly with a long period of discomfort.

How much faith do you have in the current leadership to effectively bring about change in your school district? 1.I do not believe that the current district leadership can implement significant change. 2.Although possible, it will be difficult for the current district leadership to implement significant change. 3.I do not have enough experience or knowledge of the current district leadership to have a strong opinion. 4.The current district leadership has the strength and ability to implement significant change.

Does the district as a group (teachers, administrators, staff, superintendent, and board of education) possess the skills necessary to implement change? 1.I have serious doubts that the district as a group has the knowledge and/or skills necessary to successfully implement significant change. 2.I believe the district as a group has some of the knowledge and/or skills to successfully implement change and those who do not will be able to acquire the skills or knowledge. 3.I believe the district as a group has the knowledge and/or skills to implement significant change.

What is a System? “A system is a set of things; people, cells, molecules that are interconnected in such a way that they produce their own pattern of behavior over time. The system’s response is a characteristic of itself! D.H. Meadows, Thinking in Systems, 2008 A box is still a box whether it is metal, concrete, plastic, paper, cardboard, etc. We have to stop changing the box and change how we lead by getting outside of the box!

We often wonder what teachers are actually doing with the curriculum! How do we know?

How do you work on everything at once? Whatever you place your focus on must have the ability to change or to have effects on everything you do with your curriculum!

Teacher Accountability Student Accountability

On any given day, there are at minimum- 6 different periods where teachers will teach a lesson.

If you visit a teacher’s classroom for 1 full lesson during the course of 1 teaching day, you will have observed 16% of the actual teaching taking place for that school day.

In any given week, there are at minimum 30 different periods where a teacher will teach a lesson.

If you visit a teacher’s classroom for 1 full session during the course of one school week (5 days), you will have observed 3% of the actual teaching that occurred in that classroom during that week.

In a given month, there are typically 120 different periods where a teacher will teach a lesson.

In a typical ‘quarter’, there are approximately 42 days- which translates to the possibility of a teacher teaching a total of 258 lessons to students.

That translates into approximately 516 separate lessons in a semester.

If you visit a teacher’s classroom for 2 different lessons in the course of a semester, (approximately 86 days), you will have observed 0.3% three tenths of one percent of the teaching during that semester.

This translates into approximately 1,032 separate lessons over the course of an entire school year

If you visit a teacher’s classroom on 3 different occasions over the duration of an entire school year and you see 1 lesson each time, you will have observed 0.2% only two tenths of one percent of the teaching during the year.

If you visit a teacher’s classroom for 4 different lessons over the duration of an entire school year, ( days), you will have observed 0.3% still three tenths of one percent of the teaching during the year.

Walk-Through Evaluations District-wide!

Whole System Reform -All students can learn -A small number of key priorities (hands-on assistance, walk-through evaluations, differentiated instruction, superintendent/district goals for instruction) -Locked arms leadership; stay together, stay focused, stay on the message! Students First! -Collective capacity that sustains over time -Strategies with precise goals! -Accountability! -All means All!

Temperature Readings for Norfolk, VA in June 85, 87, 88, 84, 0 (forgot to take the reading) In conclusion, the average temperature in Norfolk in June is 68.8 degrees! …but I added ‘em all up and divided by the number of readings?!?!?! This data is inaccurate for what actually occurred, and therefore, unusable.

A points B points C points D points F points 59 points A points 59 points B points C points D points F points

A points 59 points B points C points D points F points What if we reversed the proportional influences of the grades? That ‘A’ would have a huge, yet undue, inflationary effect on the overall grade. Just as we wouldn’t want an ‘A’ to have an inaccurate effect, we don’t want an ‘F’ grade to have such an undue, deflationary, and inaccurate effect. Keeping zeroes on a 100 point scale is just as absurd as the scale seen here.

A ‘0’ on a 100 point scale is a ‘-6’ on a 4 point scale. If a student does no work, he should get nothing, not something worse than nothing. How instructive is it to tell a student that he earned six times less than absolute failure? Choose to be instructive, not punitive. Research shows that being instructive motivates students whereas being punitive does not.

C MA = Missing Assignment D C B MA = Missing Assignment B A

A standard defines what a student should know and be able to do in each subject area at each grade level. All academic subjects have standards. Standards help shape the curriculum from one grade to the next because teachers know what instruction has already occurred.

Activities to help your teachers associate CCS with their known state standards Note card activity

Single grades often combine many factors, making it difficult to understand how grades were determined. Standards-based grading & reporting provides a clearer picture of all the factors contributing to grades. Families will get more information about: what students are expected to learn and what they have learned, and how their work habits contribute to their learning

LETTER4 POINT SCALE MEANING A Objective/standard mastered and surpassed A B Objective/standard met B B C Progress is being made towards meeting the objective/standard C C D Beginning to understand the objective/standard D D F0 -.9Even with help, no progress is made towards meeting the objective or standard/insufficient evidence of understanding objective/standard

Audience and Purpose  Form and point of view appropriate to purpose and audience  Anticipates audiences knowledge level of topic and concerns 4 Ideas and Content  Strong controlling idea  Relevant specific details  Complex ideas  Freshness of thought 3 Organization and Structure  Effective beginning, middle, and end  Logical order  Effective paragraphing  Cohesive devices  Varied sentence structure  Clarity of expression  Active voice 3 Word Choice  Precise and vivid language  Formal and objective tone 1.5 Conventions  Capitalization  Punctuation  Standard usage 3 Persuasive Features  Valid reasoning  Sufficient evidence  Acknowledges counterclaim fairly  Provides concluding statement 1 Persuasive Essay Rubric 4 = Objective mastered and surpassed 3 = Objective met 2 = Progress is being made to meet the objective 1 = Beginning to understand objective 0 = Even with help, no progress made to understand or meet objective Total: 2.58, C+

Report Card Math- B English- C+ Science- A Social Studies- D Math-B (3.1) Comparing and ordering rational numbers- 2.9 Using fractions, decimals, and percents to solve problems- 3.2 Using symbolic algebra to solve problems involving linear relationships- 3 Analyzing properties of right triangles- 3.1 These objectives covered average out to a 3.1, B. SBG Report Card

Standards Based Instruction Standards Based Assessment Standards Based Evaluation Standards Based Grading Differentiated Instruction

Benefits to Students: All students are held to the same standards. Students can see what they need to do to reach the standards (clear targets). Increased motivation due to goal setting, formative assessment, and descriptive feedback. Benefits to Teachers: Focus on standards. Increases communication at and across grade levels. Allows and enhances differentiated instruction for all students. Benefits to Parents: Gives specific skill areas for parents to reinforce at home. Consistency across the grade levels. Clear communication.

“Without continual growth and progress, such words as improvement, achievement, and success have no meaning”

Andy Jay Arbeitman Dr. Stacie Stryhal Dr. Trish Burkeen