Challenging Curriculum and Organizational Structures Oct. 23, 2013 Jesse White

PA Core Standards Districts are realigning curriculum ▫Many new teachers will be teaching a course while they are writing the curriculum ▫Teachers won’t teach the same curriculum for 20 years, constantly changing Core Standards – Changes to the curriculum

Literacy in the Core Standards New requirements for types of reading ▫50% of materials read at the middle school level should be non-fiction or informational text ▫70% at the high school level

Science and Social Studies in the Core Standards Both subject areas have reading and writing core standards that must be taught ▫Many teachers feel they lack the content knowledge to be able to instruct reading and writing

Math in the Core Standards Increased Rigor ▫Real life problems ▫Application of skills Many materials shifted down to a grade lower than they were previously taught

Real World Application of Standards A goal in the all subject areas is to focus instruction on college and career readiness ▫Apply the material being learned ▫HW  Not 40 skill review problems  5 higher level application problems

Response to Instruction and Intervention (RTII) RTII is a multi-step school improvement approach to provide early academic and behavioral supports to struggling students rather than waiting for a child to fail before offering help. (PDE.com)

RTII Data analysis ▫All students will be expected to make curricular decisions based on data from assessment results  Standardized tests, benchmark assessments, common assessments

RTII Benchmark assessments for all students ▫Gathers data to compare all students Flexible Groupings ▫Students are placed in different intervention groups depending on scores on benchmark assessments Special intervention time in the schedule ▫Each teacher will have a group of students during the intervention period to teach a skill at their level of instruction ▫Teachers may have students that are not in any of their classes RTII instruction ▫Data driven instruction

Curriculum Cycle Constant Refinement ▫Curriculum is no longer developed and used for many years  Aspects of the curriculum are constantly refined  Common Assessment, Pacing, Unit Plans ▫Curriculum adjusted for strengths of students in the class ▫Curriculum adjusted for results of common assessments

Textbooks are tools The curriculum is written based on standards ▫Textbook is used to instruct on standards included ▫Supplemental materials need to be used for standards not included in the textbook

Teamwork Teaming ▫Grade level teams  Cross curricular projects  Problem solving student concerns ▫Subject area teams  Curriculum revisions  Comparing assessment data ▫Meetings  Active participant

Whole Child Character Education Clubs

Building a Positive Environment Getting to know each student ▫Interests ▫Attending events (music, band, etc.) Contact with parents ▫Make positive phone calls ▫Send parents information about assignments ▫Positive relationships with parents are essential

New Teacher Evaluation System 4 categories ▫Observation ▫School Data ▫Teacher Data ▫Elective Data

New Teacher Evaluation System Teacher and school data ▫Based on PSSA and PVAAS results  PSSA  The level the student scores is factored into the rating  PVAAS  Projected level of achievement for a student  Students scoring at the projected level count as a positive  Students scoring below the projected level count as a negative ▫Teachers must differentiate

Differentiation Meeting the learning needs of every student ▫Teachers need to use assessment data to decide what students need ▫To improve the teacher and school rating all students must score at least what the state projects