QUALITY LEARNING ENVIRONMENTS: AISI 5 MAY 2012 PLANNING

Goals:  Understand provincial AISI requirements  Collaborate  Determine measures  Complete school plan

Getting to know your group:  Introduce yourselves:  Your name  Your school  Your role in the school – grade level; subject areas  Why you are excited to be part of the Learning Support Team

NUTS AND BOLTS: THE DETAILS FROM THE PROVINCE AISI 5

Priorities for Cycle 5 1. RESEARCH CAPACITY/LEADERSHIP  Site-based research taken to the next level  Examine current theories of teaching and learning  Read and evaluate published findings

Priorities for Cycle 5  Analyze findings  Incorporate findings into practice  10% minimum expenditure {district}  Annual Progress report vs APAR RESEARCH CAPACITY/LEADERSHIP

Priorities for Cycle 5 2. COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT  All projects will be required to demonstrate active and meaningful engagement of key stakeholders:  Administrators  Teachers  Students  Parents  Elected officials  Businesses, organizations and institutions Community Engagement Rubric – on AISI 5 wiki

Priorities for Cycle 5 3. Collaborative Cross-School Authority Projects  Additional funding available for 2 or more school authorities to submit one collaborative project  Zone 4 collaboration ~ Adolescent Literacy (grades 7, 8, 9)

WHAT IS IMPORTANT FOR CESD?

AISI 5  AISI 5 Projects will focus on all or some of the following:  Student engagement  Student learning  Student performance

Clarity - Special Education Moving from Moving to Student Services takes on responsibility of Special Education Student Services aligns with other CO services to support EVERY student – focus on Mission/Vision/QLE Special Education Liaisons – coordinate specialized services, support work of IPPs, work with individual students, Level B assessments Learning Support teacher– assist teachers with IEPTs, paperwork, coordination of services and when needed, Level B assessments Learning Support Team – provide and facilitate instructional coaching, co-teaching and/or co- planning Coordinate/facilitate professional development as part of a team Focus on students identified with a special education code – common practice to pull out and provide separate specialized programs Support for ALL students in classrooms – main focus on supporting/working in the classroom environment with targeted and/or specialized support when needed

Clarity around AISI Moving FromMoving To AISI as a separate Learning Services initiative QLE drives district and school focus AISI leaders coordinate/facilitate professional development Learning Support Teams: Provide and facilitate instructional coaching, co-teaching and/or co-planning Coordinate/facilitate professional development as part of a team AISI leaders engage in research around areas of focus Teams engage and apply research in classrooms Focus on students Deliberate focus on ALL students AISI individual school improvement CESD community improvement

Learning Support Team:

CESD overarching question: To what extent and in what ways will our CESD Quality Learning Environment framework improve student learning?

QLE: Where have we been?  We have facilitated over 37 discussions… so far…. to build the QLE.

QLE: Early October  Clarified and re-wrote background  The Core:  Relationships: added the connection to parents; included a focus on genuine interest in students;  Student Engagement: made language less prescriptive in terms of describing instructional practice  The Cultural Elements: expanded explanation around literacy/numeracy

QLE: End October  4 Key Components  refined personalization section (Personalized teaching)  The Cultural Elements  refined culture of inclusion  refined culture of using research and data to inform our work

QLE: December  4 Key Components Revised Essential Questions in 4 Key Elements  Re-ordered Outcomes section (so it would flow better J)  Re-worked Assessment & Instruction Sections to reduce overlap/repetition  Refined Personalization section  Cultural Conditions  Re-did the inclusion section with the help of student services  Re-did the section on research and data to broaden the scope  Examined research on Numeracy (thanks to Darlene Kusick).

QLE: December  Updated Core based on feedback and research done at Spruce View School.  relationships are now divided into relationships for academics; social needs and parental support  Engagement section is now divided into Intellectual, Social and Academic engagement

QLE: January

Alongside the QLE:  A K-12 literacy(reading) framework is being developed for CESD based on the increasing need in this area

Literacy especially Reading

Importance of Literacy  High percentage of dropouts have literacy problems.  Early literacy programs can be effective; however many adolescents continue to struggle with reading.  These adolescents struggle reading to learn.  Recent estimates indicate 42% of Canadian adults lack functional literacy.  22% have serious reading problems.

Importance of Literacy  Most programs are either prepared or implemented poorly.  Most 4-12 teachers are poorly prepared to assess and treat reading difficulties.  More than two-thirds of new jobs are expected to required some post-secondary education.  Long term pd is the answer.

Importance of Literacy  What do we expect of students?  Acquire, manipulate, remember and use large amounts of information from texts and lectures.  Organize information, time and materials  Books become longer and discussions are based on a presumed understanding, rather than to form understanding.  Understand and use specialized vocabulary  Identify validity of information found in media, on internet and sources of text

Importance of Literacy  All while…  Being required to cover material independently.  With little time for academic interaction.

CESD Data  In a PAT analysis of a school within CESD:  we looked at the students that had not reach the acceptable standard in the math and science tests  Of those students, all but one of them had also failed the reading section of the English Language Arts PAT.

Is English a Dreadful Language?

Myths  Literacy is the job of English/Language Arts teachers.  It is fruitless to spend time and money on older students because they have passed the point at which instruction can make a real difference.  Little can be done for students who are not motivated to engage in literacy activities.  Students with low IQs will never get it…so why bother.

Reading Readiness  Simple View of Reading  Background Knowledge

Word Recognition

decoding  44 sounds

“Know” more Explosions

Sign

Fluency Word Automaticity + Phrasing/Stress/Intonation Fluency

fluency

Comprehension

Background Knowledge  Baseball Story  Heart and Soul of Reading Levels  Tiers of Vocabulary  Morphology  # of words students learn  Conceptual Knowledge

Text structure  Narrative  Expository

Narrative

Expository  Compare/Contrast  Procedural  Description  Sequential  Cause/Effect  Most expository texts mix these structures.  Mostly new information.  Higher conceptual density – increased cognitive load  Each structure has “signal words” that allow students to determine the purpose of what they are reading.

Text structure  Providing students with framework (e.g. pillar) increase memory by 13%  Note-taking increased memory by 45%  Instruction of text- structure with framework increased memory by 77%.

Text structure  Lastly…there is still a place for grammar. Knowing nouns and verbs (etc) still helps readers unpack a complex sentence.

metacognition  Establish a Purpose  Monitoring and Repairing  Evaluating  Connecting

Mary went to the bank.

Mary went to the bank. She

Mary went to the bank. She spoke to the teller.

Mary went to the bank. She put down her picnic basket.

THE INCLUSIVE EDUCATION PLANNING TOOL (IEPT): ONE POSSIBLE TOOL TO SUPPORT AISI CYCLE 5 Making a Difference for ALL Students

 A digital resource  Offers new ways to: Collect Organize, and Think about information to enhance day-to- day instructional planning  Focus on building teacher capacity and enhancing teacher practice. WHAT IS THE INCLUSIVE EDUCATION PLANNING TOOL (IEPT)?

Inclusive Education Library COMPONENTS WITHIN THE INCLUSIVE EDUCATION PLANNING TOOL (IEPT)

What outcomes might be targeted through the implementation of a comprehensive examination of the IEPT strategies? Focuses on all six literacy strands in LA curriculum Focuses on the language arts curriculum as those outcomes can be applied in all subject areas Assists all teachers on developing a better understanding of literacy (reading, writing, speaking, listening, viewing, representing, and working with others) and its relationship to learning in their own subject’s outcomes Supports teachers in having a clear understanding of their subject’s outcomes thus being able to determine if a student is having difficulties with their subject matter or in an area of literacy Supports teachers in differentiating based on student needs CLEARLY IDENTIFIED KEY OUTCOMES Language Arts

BALANCED ASSESSMENT PRACTICES What assessment practices might be targeted/ focused upon through the comprehensive examination of the IEPT? Focuses on collecting language arts proficiency data in the areas of reading, writing, speaking, listening, viewing, representing, and working with others. Assists staff in developing assessments aligned with the program outcomes Supports use a balance of differentiated assessments for regular feedback Can be used to help staff understanding the outcomes of specialized assessments (level B, psych ed., medical, etc.) and how that has an effect on learning

PURPOSEFUL INSTRUCTIONAL STRATEGIES What instructional strategies might be targeted through the comprehensive examination of the IEPT? Ensures teachers understand the continuum of supports when discussing students’ literacy skills, social participation strengths and needs, and medical conditions/ diagnosis impact on learning Creates a learning profile to use as a starting point in identifying possible supports and strategies Supports the utilization of a learning support team to assist teachers with implementing strategies

How might personalization be targeted through the implementation of a comprehensive examination of the IEPT? Assists in the creation of a student learner profile (i.e., inventories and surveys to collect data on interests, learning preferences, etc.) Informs instructional and assessment practices Informs parents and students PERSONALIZATION OF LEARNING

Elevator Speech… 3 questions: 1.What is your strategy? (e.g. literacy, numeracy, etc.) 1.What do you hope to accomplish? 2.What will learning look like for your staff?

Meet and Greet: Large Group 3 Questions  Instructions will be on the screen  When lights are turned off:  Thank your partner  Find a new partner  Read NEW question on PowerPoint

Question 1:  Find someone who was not at your table  Introduce yourself  What school are you from?  What you are you going to be teaching?  What is your strategy? What do you hope to accomplish?

Question 2:New Partner  Introduce yourself  What school are you from?  What you are you going to be teaching?  What will learning look like for your staff?

Question 3: New Partner  Introduce yourself  What school are you from?  What you are you going to be teaching?  What are you excited about in relation to the Learning Support Team?  What questions do you have about the this role?

BREAK Return to your table in 15 min.

Measures

Measures:  Meaningful to your school  Appropriate to the strategy  Focused on student learning and progress  Part of your 3 year plan…not an add-on

Measures:  It is important to ensure that students are regularly assessed in a manner that can point out the cause of reading difficulties.  This should be ongoing in classrooms to inform teaching.  Separate from that…  We would like a SIMPLE measure of literacy at the division level.  This could include:  Fluency – Quick to Measure and Good Predictor  Comprehension

School Measure #1 15 minutes:  Discuss– what are you considering?  Record each type of measure on an individual post it note

School Measure #1  How will you regularly measure student progress based on the strategy you have chosen? Examples: running records; reading comprehension assessment; student focus groups; observation checklist; classroom feedback loop; etc.

Post your thoughts:  Stick your thoughts on the appropriate poster on the wall.

Measure #2  How will you know the quality of the learning environment has improved for students?  Examples:  teacher focus groups - student growth and their own learning needs;  Tell Them from Me Survey with a follow-up student focus group;  classroom feedback loop;  other

Measure #2: On the Sheet provided…Brainstorm What would you ask to answer this question? Who would you ask?How should the data be collected?

YOUR PLANNING  Template  Provide as much detail as possible  Talk with other schools  Project plan reviewed by one of us  Follow up visit in June to review status of your plan  Plans submitted to Lorraine Ewashen by June 15 th.

Quality Learning Environment - AISI 5 Wiki