B-ELL Leadership Professional Development Oregon Reading First October 2 nd, 2008 University of Oregon © 2008 by the Oregon Reading First Center Center on Teaching and Learning

Overview  Celebrations  Critical features of effective instruction  Principal Walk Throughs  Focus Groups  Templates/Lesson Maps  BELL Report  Fall Leadership Webinar

Critical Features of Effective Instruction 1. Instructor models instructional tasks when appropriate. 2. Lead 3. Test 4. Instructor provides explicit instruction. 5. Instructor engages students in meaningful interactions with language.

Continued 6. Instructor provides multiple opportunities for students to practice. 7. Instructor provides corrective feedback after initial student responses. 8. Instructor encourages student effort. 9. Students are engaged in the lesson during teacher-led instruction.

Continued 10. Students are engaged in the lesson during independent work. 11. Students are successful completing activities at a high criterion level of performance. 12. Unison responses 13. Behavior Management Support

Walk Throughs During Reading Instruction  Have a purpose/goal for conducting observations  Have an established format/routine  Walk throughs are more effective conducted as a team  Walk throughs are more effective when teachers are given immediate verbal feedback  What is the next best thing?

Continued  Take Spanish literacy coach with you when observing Spanish reading instruction  Remember that critical features of effective instruction also pertain to Spanish Reading Instruction  Focus on student responses  Opportunities to respond  Correct student responses  Error corrections  Re-teaching concepts

Walk Through Feedback  How is this done?  What is the most effective way?  How do you keep track of polishers?  What follow up/support is given to teachers?  Are polishers tied to data?  How often should walk throughs be conducted?

Planning Differentiated Instructional Focus Groups

Instructional Focus #1 Description: Students who significantly exceed grade level Benchmarks based on DIBELS and pass all sections of the Unit/Theme Skills Assessments. Instructional Focus: Reading material at student’s instructional level, mastery of critical skills at student’s instructional level, strategies from student’s instructional level, advanced vocabulary when appropriate.

High benchmark students will benefit from systematic grade level Core instruction (particularly explicit vocabulary and comprehension instruction) in addition to coordinated and well-planned enrichment reading activities. Do not remove your students from the grade- level core program!!

Recommended Criteria for Identification of “High” Benchmark Students The High Benchmark Student has achieved the following data goals:  met the end-of-year DIBELS benchmark goal for their grade level.  passed grade-level sections of a Phonics Screener.  passed all previous Unit/Theme Skills Assessments.  consistent high performance throughout their years in school. You may also want to consider:  parent input supporting a “high” benchmark status.  appropriate classroom behavior skills.

Instructional Focus #2 Description: Students who have been classified with a Benchmark Instructional Recommendation based on DIBELS and pass all sections of the Unit/Theme Skills Assessments. Instructional Focus: Mastery of grade-level core program.

Theme Skills Assessments

Instructional Focus #3 Description: Students who have been classified with a Benchmark Instructional Recommendation based on DIBELS and fail one or more sections of the Unit/Theme Skills Assessments. Instructional Focus: Additional explicitness and practice (pre-teaching and re-teaching) to achieve mastery of grade level Core program.

Instructional Focus #4 Description: Students who have been classified with a Strategic Instructional Recommendation based on DIBELS and pass all sections of the Phonics/Decoding Screening Assessment. Instructional Focus: Mastery of grade level Core program with explicit small group fluency, vocabulary and comprehension instruction and practice opportunities.

Using Data to Develop Instructional Plans: Phonics Screeners  Phonics screening tools are used to identify students’ phonics gaps to better target instruction.  Example: Houghton Mifflin Phonics Decoding Screener

Instructional Focus #5 Description: Students who have been classified with a Strategic Instructional Recommendation based on DIBELS and fail one or more sections of the Phonics/Decoding Screening Assessment. Instructional Focus: Additional explicitness and practice (pre-teaching and re-teaching) to achieve mastery of grade level Core program and explicit small group instruction to re-teach critical deficient decoding skills. Include extra practice to become fluent with the skills once they have been mastered.

Instructional Focus #6 Description: Students who have been classified with an Intensive Instructional Recommendation based on DIBELS Instructional Focus: Explicit small group instruction to master basic phonemic blending and segmenting, letter/sound associations, basic blending and decoding skills. They will also need vocabulary and comprehension instruction. Include extra practice to become fluent with the skills once they have been mastered.

Templates Overview/Critical Features  Big Ideas When Teaching Templates (1-11)  Model, Lead, Test (MLT)  One of the best ways to ensure student success is for teachers to instruct using the MLT format. Why is this important? The MLT format helps students to receive appropriate scaffolding support, before attempting to provide a response to a given stimulus. Students are given an opportunity to hear, practice, and understand new concepts/skills before ultimately providing individual responses.

Continued  Clear and Consistent Signal  Always remember to use a clear and consistent signal when instructing. Why is this important? Providing a clear and consistent signal elicits timely responses from students. When signals are inconsistent or altered, students have a difficult time discriminating between when to respond or when to attend to the teacher’s instruction/directions. A clear and consistent signal allows students to focus on concepts and not on irrelevant features.

Continued  Error Corrections  Everyone needs feedback! It is so much easier to correct errors as soon as they occur than waiting for prolong periods of time before correcting errors. The more we wait, the longer it will take to correct. Errors should be corrected immediately, swiftly, and with limited teacher talk. Why is this important? This is important because students should always practice academic skills correctly, teachers should always keep in mind to maintain a good pace while teaching (students are more likely to stay on task), and limiting teacher talk ensures more time devoted to teaching and student learning.

Continued  Big Ideas When Teaching Templates (12- 17)  Teaching fluency “big ideas”  Teaching vocabulary “big ideas”  Teaching comprehension “big ideas”

B-ELL Report