Prepared for the Professional Learning Communities of the Shaping the Future Conference by Dan Mulligan, April 2008 Mining for Diamonds in the Rough Research Strategies that Produce Positive Results

Premise of the Workshop We need to stop asking “how?’ We now have all the knowledge, the skills, the methods, the tools, the capacity, and the freedom to do whatever is required to serve all students well. All that is needed is the will and the courage to choose and to move on. Peter Block, 1998

Give One … Get One …   On the back of your handout, write one way being a teacher/administrator in Montana is like an astronaut on a walk in space. Think and be creative.   When signaled, circulate the room to meet a colleague. Give him/her your answer and get their answer.   You need a total of 2 answers. You may not get more than one idea from an individual. When you have completed your task, return to your seat.   Enjoy!

Category Ave. Effect Size (ES) Percentile Gain Identify similarities & differences Summarizing & note taking Reinforcing effort & providing recognition.8029 Homework & practice.7728 Nonlinguistic representations.7527 Cooperative learning.7327 *Setting objectives & providing feedback*.6123 Generating & testing hypotheses.6123 Questions, cues, & advance organizers.5922

6 Identifying Similarities and Differences

What processes can students engage in to identify similarities and differences? Comparing The process of identifying and articulating similarities and differences among items. Classifying The process of grouping things into definable categories on the basis of their attributes. Creating Metaphors The process of identifying and articulating the underlying theme or general pattern in information. Creating Analogies The process of identifying relationships between pairs of concepts (e.g., relationships between relationships).

Similarities and Differences Similarities and Differences Analogies putter putter is to a set of golf clubs as 2 is to the set of primes 2, 3, 5, 7, 11, 13, … What is the common relationship?

Hey… This looks familiar… Which of the high yield instructional strategies do you see in this structure? Hey… This looks familiar… Which of the high yield instructional strategies do you see in this structure?

Three types of curricula exist in any classroom: The Intended Curriculum: content/skill specified by the state, division, or school at a particular grade level. The Implemented Curriculum: content/skill actually delivered by the teacher. The Attained Curriculum: content/skill actually learned by the students. Intended Curriculum Implemented Curriculum Attained Curriculum Effective Instruction #2: focuses Effective Instruction #2: focuses on essential knowledge and essential skills Montana Content Standards and PerformanceDescriptors

Content-Related Evidence of Validity (Attained Curriculum) Essential Skills & Processes Essential Knowledge Essential Vocabulary LEARNING TARGET (attained curriculum)

Demonstrate an understanding of and an ability to use data analysis, probability, and statistics Knowledge VocabularySkills When is a relation called a function? What does interact mean? Which event will most likely occur? How do you know?

a. The number of cavities the sixth graders have? b. The number of people in the sixth graders’ families? c. The ages of the sixth graders’ mothers? d. The heights of the sixth graders in inches?

First-grade children from higher SES groups know about twice as many words as lower SES children High school seniors near the top of their class knew about four times as many words as their lower performing classmates High-knowledge third graders have vocabularies about equal to lowest-performing 12 th graders Individual differences in vocabulary have a powerful impact on reading comprehension beginning about third grade

Category Ave. Effect Size (ES) Percentile Gain Identify similarities & differences Summarizing & note taking Reinforcing effort & providing recognition.8029 Homework & practice.7728 Nonlinguistic representations.7527 Cooperative learning.7327 *Setting objectives & providing feedback*.6123 Generating & testing hypotheses.6123 Questions, cues, & advance organizers.5922

Types of pictures: Draw the actual thing. Marine biologist

Types of pictures: Draw the actual thing. Abraham Lincoln

Mutualism When one thing helps another. Types of pictures: Draw the concept.

Change Types of pictures: Draw the concept.

Explorer Types of pictures: Draw an example.

revolve Types of pictures: Draw the concept.

Research on Imagery as Elaboration 6 37 percentile pts. higher than… …students who kept repeating definitions percentile pts. higher than… …students who were using the terms in a sentence. Students who used imagery to learn vocabulary, on average, performed # of studies

50 POINTS50 POINTS50 POINTS 100 POINTS 200 POINTS Cindy McCain Organizing Theme: Things someone would say… Bill ClintonGeorge Bush Barak Obama! Sarah PalinJoe the Plumber SPECIAL ELECTION 2008 EDITION

50 POINTS50 POINTS50 POINTS 100 POINTS 200 POINTS FINE ARTS ILLUSIONARCHITECTURE VISUAL COMPOSER MELODY RHYTHM

50 POINTS50 POINTS50 POINTS 100 POINTS 200 POINTS CIVIC DUTYLAWS GLOBAL ECONOMYPRIVATE PROPERTY CONSUMER RIGHTS PATRIOTISM US History

50 POINTS50 POINTS50 POINTS 100 POINTS 200 POINTS Science Experiment Hypothesis Energy Electron DissolveAtmosphere

50 POINTS50 POINTS50 POINTS 100 POINTS 200 POINTS

Instructional Strategies that Facilitate Successful Inclusion Must … Supply students with STRUCTURE and ORGANIZATION Encourage student COMMUNICATION and COLLABORATION Provide students with VISUAL and HANDS-ON learning experiences

Category Ave. Effect Size (ES) Percentile Gain Identify similarities & differences Summarizing & note taking Reinforcing effort & providing recognition.8029 Homework & practice.7728 Nonlinguistic representations.7527 Cooperative learning.7327 *Setting objectives & providing feedback*.6123 Generating & testing hypotheses.6123 Questions, cues, & advance organizers.5922

“A pupil from whom nothing is ever demanded which he cannot do, never does all he can.” John Stuart Mill “No one Rises to Low Expectations.” Carl Boyd

Self-Assessment Tool

Percentile Gain 27 Research-based Strategy: Cooperative learning Percentile Gain 27 The GARDEN Plot

Kinds of Evidence – Continuum of Evidence Informal Check for Understanding

Self-Assessment Tool

Moving BEYOND “the correct answer” My only skill is taking tests. TO ALL STUDENTS THINKING …

The value of teacher teams analyzing student achievement data to improve TEACHING and LEARNING is dependent on the VALIDITY and RELIABILITY of the assessment used to generate the achievement data. Mulligan, 2006 The value of teacher teams analyzing student achievement data to improve TEACHING and LEARNING is dependent on the VALIDITY and RELIABILITY of the assessment used to generate the achievement data. Mulligan, 2006

SHAPE Rectangle Triangle Square Circle ATTRIBUTE Side Corner Square Corner Round

? ? ? ? How can you use the Where do I belong? structure to support your role as teacher/administrator?

CategoryAve. Effect Size (ES) Percentile Gain Identify similarities & differences Summarizing & note taking Reinforcing effort & providing recognition.8029 Homework & practice.7728 Nonlinguistic representations.7527 Cooperative learning.7327 Setting objectives & providing feedback.6123 Generating & testing hypotheses.6123 Questions, cues, & advance organizers.5922

SAMPLE Pre-assessment that includes differentiation SAMPLE Pre-assessment that includes differentiation

WHO AM I? Clues: I am a three-digit number. Each digit is an odd number. My hundreds place is the number of sides in a triangle. My ones place is four more than my hundreds place. The sum of my digits is 15. Who am I… 357

KEY QUESTION: Why are common assessments so important? “You can enhance or destroy students’ desire to succeed in school more quickly and permanently through your use of assessment than with any other tools you have at your disposal.” Rick Stiggins, Assessment Trainers Institute WHY do we ASSESS: 1. INFORM INSTRUCTIONAL DECISIONS 2. ENCOURAGE STUDENTS TO TRY

Talk to Me… Directions – –Form a team of EIGHT (8) people… – –Determine the person with the most sisters and then send them to pick-up your team ziplock bag… PLEASE DO NOT OPEN!!! – –Determine the person with the least sisters and send them to pick-up a grid sheet for each person. – –Distribute a grid sheet to each team member.

Follow-up Debriefing Each pair should share with your other team members the method you used to graph the figure. Discuss with your team: –Which method appeals to you? –Is there another method that you would prefer? Prepare for a “pairs choice of method” with a new graph.

Key Question Did your performance on the second attempt to complete the grid exercise improve after having an opportunity to self-assess your initial strategy?

Formative Assessment Formative assessment is the process used by teachers and students during instruction that provides feedback to adjust teaching and learning for the purpose of improving student learning. Council of Chief State School Officers, October 2006 Notes: Process rather than a particular test…. It is not the nature of the test itself that makes it formative or summative…it is the use to which those results will be put.

Knowing the Learner Directions: Rank the symbols (1-4) in order from most (1) like you as a learner to least (4) like you as a learner.

Knowing the Learner StrengthsNeeds Experimentation Risk taking Adventurous Intuitive/Insightful Creative Spontaneous Guidelines Boundaries Expectations Standards Parameters Help in Focusing AttitudesPreferences Don’t like step-by-step directions React to internal and external rewards Want to improve things for society Stimulus-rich environment Options and alternatives Interesting and exciting learning Learning Style of Beach Balls

Knowing the Learner StrengthsNeeds See the big picture Home in on main points Learn from lecture and reading Think in abstract terms and language Analyze theories and information Thorough logical learners Can delay gratification Help in working with others Help in organizing time and bringing closure AttitudesPreferences Don’t like to waste time “pooling ignorance” Don’t like inquiry Vicarious learning Simulations Analytical thinking Expert information Feedback that will improve grades Learning Style of Microscopes

Knowing the Learner StrengthsNeeds Precision and accuracy Striving for perfection Practicality Compliance with teacher Sensory responsive Externally motivated Delay gratification Real experiences Concrete examples, not theory Structure Procedures, routines Directions AttitudesPreferences No news is good news Serious about their work Require feedback Precise, useful feedback Recommendations Appreciate privacy Learning Style of Clipboards

Knowing the Learner StrengthsNeeds Empathic Intuitive Subjective, abstract, affective Read between the lines See the gestalt Opportunities to work with others Time for self-reflection To connect with teacher and peers Rationale for learning AttitudesPreferences Internal motivation Self-monitoring toward personal criteria Require rationale for learning Can block out stimuli Subjective versus abstract Personal incentives, encouragement Choice of learning environments Learning Style of Puppies

“If an educator keeps using the same strategies over and over and the student keeps failing, who really is the slow learner?”

Musical/Rhythmic Sing it Create a beat Rap it Make a cheer Create a jingle Hum it Identify sounds React to sounds Listen to sounds Connect to music Write a poem Verbal/Linguistic Read it Spell it Write it Listen to it Tell it Recall it Use “you” words Apply it Chunk information Say it Use mnemonics Logical/Mathematical Make a pattern Chart it Sequence it Create a mnemonic Analyze it Think abstractly Think critically Use numbers Prove it Interpret the data Use the statistics Visual/Spatial Mind maps Graphic organizers Video Color code Highlight Shape a word Interpret a graphic Read a chart Study illustrations Visualize it Make a chart Create a poster Body/Kinesthetic Role play Walkabout Dance Lip sync Skits/charades/mimes Construction Math manipulatives Sign language Sports Activity centers Body language Intrapersonal Metacognition Use self-talk Work independently Solve in your own way Understand self Journal it Rehearse it Use prior knowledge Connect it Have ownership Interpersonal Think-Pair-Share Jigsaw Cooperative grouping Drama Debates Class meetings Role play Meeting of minds Peer counseling Tutors/buddies Giving feedback Shared Journals Naturalist Label it Categorize it Identify it Form a hypothesis Do an experiment Adapt it Construct it Classify it Investigate it Discern patterns

Choice Board Verbal/LinguisticBody/ KinestheticVisual/Spatial Musical/Rhythmical Wild Card Your choice after getting the approval of the teacher. Naturalist IntrapersonalInterpersonalLogical/Mathematical

4 second partner 1.Select a new partner. 2.Identify content to be taught to your students. 3.Outline a Dinner Menu of evidence of student understandings. 4.Enjoy! 4 second partner 1.Select a new partner. 2.Identify content to be taught to your students. 3.Outline a Dinner Menu of evidence of student understandings. 4.Enjoy!

Thank you for all you do, for all the children! ~Dan