© TNTP 2013 ACE Observer Training Volta For observers new to TNTP and the ACE Instructional Framework

/ 2 Objectives By the end of this session, you will: Accurately match observation evidence to performance areas Practice rating in all ACE Framework performance areas Evaluate your own alignment to the master ratings and flag areas for self- development 1 2 3

/ 3 Submit Poll Rating For…. Student Engagement Essential Content Academic Ownership Demonstration of Learning

/ 4 Student Engagement Proficient - 4  We see minimal off-task behavior that is quickly corrected – e.g., student standing at his desk, students not tracking the speaker, etc.  When the teacher asks a question to the class, typically 70% or more of hands are raised. Choral answers also garner wide participation.  Nearly all students track the text when prompted, either by the teacher or the student sharing evidence.  The pace of the lesson is reasonably fast with no idle time.*  We see no true transitions, but routines for sharing love, reading aloud, providing wait time to find the place in the text, showing agreement, etc. are well-established. Students own these routines and need minimal direction from the teacher.

/ 5 Submit Poll Rating For…. Student Engagement Essential Content Academic Ownership Demonstration of Learning

/ 6 Essential Content Proficient - 4  The lesson involved reviewing a text that students had already read a few times before through close reading. First they discussed the point of view of the text (first or third person) and what changes would need to be made for it to be first person. They discussed how the plot would change if the item had not been a gold coin. Through coding and categorizing the text they identified whether the main character’s changes were internal or external. Finally they discussed the core question: “Why does Juan give back the gold coin?”  Occasionally students would stop the discussion to define a word or identify a device (companion, ransack, identify similes).  Each activity of the lesson was grounded in the text – The Gold Coin. The text is Lexile level 550L, which is appropriately rigorous for this grade level.  Students were referring to the text each time they answered a question, so the discussion was highly evidence-based.  Activities are generally aligned, but students consistently cite evidence to answer questions about the text.

/ 7 Submit Poll Rating For…. Student Engagement Essential Content Academic Ownership Demonstration of Learning

/ 8 Academic Ownership Developing - 3  Students signal if they want to build on an answer (“tag team”) with a t shape with their hands. They signal agreement by rolling their arms.  Students refer to each other’s answers in their own answers on several occasions.  Students answer with complete sentences, typically following a clear structure (text evidence first then rationale) - occasionally teacher has to prompt students for this structure.  The teacher asks all of the questions; there are no instances of students asking questions of each other.  One student (Ruth) disagrees with a peer; the others generally agree or attempt to build off answers.  When building off each other, students are often just repeating the same ideas (e.g., Danteya, Raven, Amari exchange about why he gave back gold coin) – teacher prompts for students to find different evidence and they do.  The teacher frequently rounds up student responses and does the synthesis for them, removing the most challenging work of the lesson from students.

/ 9 Submit Poll Rating For…. Student Engagement Essential Content Academic Ownership Demonstration of Learning

/ 10 Demonstration of Learning Developing - 3  Students have clear opportunities to express their learning through class discussion (although not all volunteer or are called on) and written work, where they answer the culminating question and support it with text evidence.  The questions the teacher asks allow her to assess whether students who volunteer (~50%) can cite evidence and say how this shows that Juan changed, and the written work fully assesses the skill of writing an opinion piece and citing text evidence to support it.  In answering the focus question (Why did Juan give back the gold coin?), students had a few different answers (because he was helping people, because he felt bad, because he was nervous).  In the student work, 3 out of 4 students cite the text in providing their rationale. Two students cite other classmates’ ideas.  Student responses and work indicate that students have not mastered the full extent of the objective. They can cite textual evidence that is appropriate but are not able to make a claim about how the character has changed using that evidence or respond to the discussion question with a claim and associated evidence.

/ 11 Master Ratings Student Engagement Essential Content Academic Ownership Demonstration of Learning 4/