RAD ASSESSMENT TRAINING GRADES 4 & 5 September 17 & 18, 2012

Agenda  Why are we collecting data?  What is RAD?  How do we administer RAD?  What do we do with the RAD results?  How does RAD enhance the ELA curriculum, instruction & assessment?

Data  What is data?  Why do we need data?  How is data connected to assessment?  How is data connected to instruction?

North East School Division Perspective  The purpose of collecting data from the division perspective is to provide a “snapshot” of how children are doing in order to focus on what we do as a system to improve learner outcomes. The data is used for the following:  Plan for professional development  Guides division learning communities  Purchase resources  Allows a common framework as a starting point for discussions  Shares responsibility for learning outcomes

NESD: RAD Overall Performance Longitudinal Data (Fully Meets to Exceeds) Gr. 1 Gr. 2 Gr. 3

School Perspective  PLC/LC planning – common assessment  Inform school goals and learning improvement plans  Helps inform development of individual and classroom programming needs for students (i.e. team meetings/ DI & Diversity)  Formalized transition from grade to grade  School profile

School Level Data

Classroom Teacher Perspective  To address students individual needs  Focus instruction  Provides a structured and specific information about each student  Monitor growth  Parent teacher interviews  Provides an enriched understanding and process for: ◦ Miscue analysis ◦ Strategy approach ◦ Higher levels of thinking

Classroom Teacher Data

When do we collect data?  RAD data collected on or before the second Friday in October and the second Friday in May of each school year.  OCTOBER 12, 2012  MAY 10, 2013

RAD  Entering Data on StudentsAchieve

Reading Assessment District (RAD)  Classroom-based assessment for learning, of learning, as learning  Helps students learn more about themselves as readers Assessment questions correspond with the areas of reading requiring students to:  Set a purpose for reading by making predictions and anticipate content using text features  retrieve information and recognize meaning by locating main ideas and details explicitly stated in text and then reformulating these in their own words  interpret text by making inferences or drawing logical conclusions based on their understanding of the information in the text  analyze text by making connections between new information and prior knowledge  assesses students’ metacognitive awareness of their comprehension strategies and word-solving strategies.

Components  Each complete grade-level assessment kit includes: Initial reading passage on full-colour, laminated 4- page card (35 copies)  Final reading passage on full-colour, laminated 4- page card (35 copies)  Teacher Instructions, Rubrics, Line Masters, Answer Keys, and a Running Record (for grades 1-3)  Storage Box for portability and storage

Sticky Note Brainstorm  Find a partner who has the same colored dot on their folder as you.  In pairs, review the rubric and write down your observations, comments or questions  Put one idea or question on a sticky note.

Sharing  Join with another pair with same color dot  Share your sticky notes with each other.  Sort sticky notes into general categories of commentary/ questions.

Here’s what/ so what/ now what  Use the following prompts to reflect: 1) Here’s what we notice… 2) So what does this mean for us... 3) Now what are the implications for students?  Be prepared to share

ADMINISTERING RAD

Administering RAD  Individually read pages 1-3 of your Teacher Instructions.  With your partner administer and complete the Initial Assessment.  As you work through the assessment, write down questions or comments you may have about the assessment?

Think about  What you need to do before…  What you need to do during…  What you need to do after…

Entering the Data Students Achieve  Input School Wide Results  Initial Due: October 12, 2012  Final Due: May 10, 2013

Entering Data

Analyzing the Data

RAD DATA DAY GRADE 4: November 1 GRADE 5: November 2 Interpreting the data Implementing change

CRITICAL AND POWERFUL LEARNING STRATEGIES

Who is taller?

Challenge:  Why is ELA reported as Comprehend and Respond and Compose and Create? Why isn’t ELA reported in strands...(reading, viewing, listening, speaking, representing, and writing)?  Record your opinion on your organizer

 Discuss with your group.

Simulation:  Look at the magazine. Describe what is happening in your brain when you engage in text?  Record your thoughts under “My Thinking” in your organizer.

 Discuss with your group.

Understanding:  Record your understanding under “My Aha” in your organizer.

Big idea  Why are learning strategies so important?

Essential questions  How are learning strategies part of every subject area?  How do I recognize learning strategies when I see them?  Are there certain strategies that hold more importance than others?  Do we have any data that tells us how we are doing on learning strategies?  How will this be reflected in UbD plans?

What is a learning strategy?  Learning strategies are the thoughts and actions we engage in, consciously or not, to learn new information.  The goal of explicitly teaching learning strategies is to help students consciously and metacognitively focus on how they learn so they apply strategies before, during, and after engaging with texts across all subject areas. Students, over time, will develop skill in using multiple strategies which they can then independently apply to new and different situations.

Strategy proficiency People who are “good” at comprehension and creation:  Consider the text  Question the author (or director or actor or…) and the information  Solve problems while engaging in the text  Enjoy humour  Savour interesting language (visual, written, spoken)  Marvel over fascinating facts  Wonder what may happen next

Strategy challenges The elements learners bring to a text are:  Word recognition knowledge  Vocabulary knowledge  Background knowledge  Linguistic and textual knowledge  Ability to infer meanings  Ability to use strategies when comprehension or composition is challenged  Motivation and interest in engaging in text This makes the teaching of learning strategies so important!!

Brain research  Research shows that students can only make sense of texts, either through composition or comprehension, by attaching new information and ideas onto old schema.  Students do not often come equipped to do this on their own. Engaging in a learning event or linking one learning event to the next is not easy and must be taught explicitly.

A caveat Teaching learning strategies must be explicit but… if we don’t go to the next step to discuss how using the strategy helps us understand text more deeply, then we are teaching a strategy for the sake of teaching a strategy.

If students are to be successful at ELA, they need to learn and use thinking and learning skills and strategies on their own. In order to help students gain control over a repertoire of key skills and strategies, the skills and strategies need to be explicitly taught and practiced using a model such as the following: Introduce and explain the purpose of the skill or strategy. Demonstrate and model its use. Provide guided practice for students to apply the skill or strategy with feedback. Allow students to apply the skill or strategy independently and in teams. Reflect regularly on the appropriate uses of the skills or strategies and their effectiveness. Assess the students’ ability to transfer the repertoire of skills or strategies with less and less teacher prompting over time. (Wiggins & McTighe, 2007, quoted in Saskatchewan Ministry of Education ELA document, 2010)

Critical and Powerful Cognitive and Communicative Strategies...“Learning Strategies”  Before - B  During - D  After - A

Strategies STRESSED in RAD BEFORE Prediction Text Features DURING Comprehension (Retrieving Information and Recognizing Meaning)  Accuracy and completeness  Main Ideas  Details AFTER Comprehension (Interpreting Text)  Inferences Analysis (Analyzing Text)  Connections  Opinions/Evaluations Comprehension Strategies  Comprehension Strategies  Word Skills Strategies STRESSED in ELA Curriculum BEFORE  Activate and build upon prior knowledge & experience  Preview text  Set a purpose  Anticipate the author’s intention DURING  Making connections to personal knowledge and experience  Using the cueing systems to construct meaning from the text  Making, confirming, and adjusting predictions and inferences  Constructing mental images  Interpreting visuals (e.g., illustrations, graphs, tables)  Identifying key ideas and supporting details  Drawing conclusions  Adjusting rate or strategy to purpose or difficulty of text AFTER  Recalling, paraphrasing, and synthesizing  Interpreting (identifying new knowledge and insights)  Evaluating author’s message  Evaluating author’s craft and technique  Responding personally, giving support from text  View, listen, read again, and speak, write, and use other forms of representing to deepen understanding and pleasure.

Important Cognitive Strategies for Comprehending and Responding Goal BeforeDuringAfter Activating and building upon prior knowledge and experiences Previewing text Setting a purpose Anticipating the author’s or creator’s intention Making connections to personal knowledge and experience Using the cueing systems to construct meaning from the text Making, confirming, and adjusting predictions and inferences Constructing mental images Interpreting visuals (e.g., illustrations, graphics, tables) Identifying key ideas and supporting ideas Self-questioning, self-monitoring and self-correcting Drawing conclusions Adjusting rate or strategy to purpose or difficulty of text Recalling, paraphrasing, summarizing, and synthesizing Interpreting (identifying new knowledge and insights) Evaluating author’s or creator’s message(s) Evaluating author’s or creator’s craft and technique Responding personally, giving support from text View, listen, read again, speak, write, and use other forms of representing to deepen understanding an d pleasure

Important Cognitive Strategies for Composing and Creating Goal BeforeDuringAfter Considering the task or prompt or finding a topic Activating prior knowledge and considering experiences Considering purpose and audience Considering and generating specific ideas and information that might be included Collecting and focusing ideas and information Planning and organizing ideas for drafting Creating draft(s) and experimenting with possible product(s) Using language and its conventions to construct message Experimenting with communication features and techniques Conferring with others Reflecting, clarifying, self- monitoring, self-correcting, and using “fix-up” strategies Revising for content and meaning (adding, deleting, substituting, and rethinking) Revising for organization (reordering) Revising for sentence structure and flow Revising for word choice, spelling, and usage Proofreading for mechanics and appearance (including punctuation and capitalization) Conferring with peers, teacher, and others Polishing, practising, and deciding how work will be shared Sharing, reflecting, and considering feedback

Before – Comprehending and Responding

During - Comprehending and Responding

After - Comprehending and Responding

Before – Composing and Creating

During – Composing and Creating

After – Composing and Creating

So how is a learning strategy different from an instructional strategy? Learning strategyInstructional strategy Activating prior knowledgeK-W-L Anticipating author’s messageThink-pair-share Pausing, thinking and making notesT-chart Consider illustrationsPicture walk

Think about and discuss...  How are learning strategies being lived out in your classes on a day to day basis?  What are the stages of teaching learning strategies?

Critical Components  I do, you watch  I do, you help  You do, I help  You do, I watch Wilhelm, Baker & Dube Hackett, 2001

Introducing a new strategy Name the strategy to be learned. State the purpose of the strategy Explain when to use the strategy Link prior knowledge to the new strategy Demonstrate the use of the strategy Talk about errors to avoid when using the strategy Check the use of the strategy Adapted from Differentiated Professional Development by Linda Bowgren and Kathryn Sever, 2010.

IDEALLY, WE WANT STUDENTS TO INDEPENDENTLY DECIDE ON THE LEARNING STRATEGY THAT THEY WILL USE TO COMPREHEND AND RESPOND TO TEXT

Curriculum Corner Supports

RAD & Learning Strategies  How will data drive your instruction?

Reflection Today I have developed an understanding of.... Now I need to.... I wish....