1. Implementing and Sustaining Differentiation in the Upper Grades
Perry Finch
Co-Principal
Blackhawk Middle School

2. Agenda Pre-assessment Introduction Knowledge of DI Implementing DI
Sustaining DI
Your draft ideas

3. Outcomes Increase knowledge of DI
Receive examples for DI implementation
Spark ideas of how to roll-out DI
Explore one method of sustaining DI

4. IL Performance Standards for School Leaders
II. Leading and managing system change The principal creates and implements systems to ensure a safer, orderly, and productive environment for student and adult learning toward the achievement of school and district improvement priorities. a. Develops, implements, and monitors the outcomes of the school improvement plan and school-wide student achievement data results to improve student achievement

5. IL Performance Standards for School Leaders
III. Improving Teaching and Learning The principal works with the school staff and community to develop a research-based framework for effective teaching and learning that is refined continuously to improve instructions for all students. g. Develops systems and structures for staff professional development and sharing of effective practices including providing and protecting time allotted for development.

6. All about me

7. Knowledge of DI

8. Knowledge of DI Welcoming Environment High Expectations Routines
Learning Targets

9. Welcoming Environment
Knowledge of DI
Welcoming Environment
video clip

10. Knowledge of DI
High Expectations

11. Knowledge of DI
Routines

12. Knowledge of DI
Learning Targets

13. The Research
“…it is the teachers using particular teaching methods , teachers with high expectations for all students, and teachers who have created positive student-teacher relationships that are more likely to have the above average effects on student achievement.”
(Hattie, 2009)

14. The Research Teacher Clarity: Effect size is .75 Percentile gain is 27
Organization, explanation, examples and guided practice, and assessment of student learning
Effect size is .75
Percentile gain is 27
(Hattie, 2009)

15. Your School’s Brand
video clip

16. Implementation PD opportunities from informed staff Rotations
Start slow
Student interest survey
Various forms of data
Pick a class
Test the waters
Create success, build on it, learn from it
Teacher testimonials

17. Sustainability
The work must be Relevant to teachers. How does it make them better? How can it help them work smarter, not harder? The work must be Revisited throughout the year. Regularly revisited at staff meetings Has to be echoed by voices beyond administration The work must be supported by Research. Who else believes this is important? What previous results align with your goal?

19. Sustainability

20. “A central norm of this network, to which
the instructional rounds team at Harvard and I belong, is that we view our own work on instructional rounds as a continuous learning process, rather than
a process of teaching people how to
implement a fixed design.”
Richard Elmore
(Roberts, 2012)

21. Sustainability Instructional Core Theory of Action Problem of Practice
Learning from Rounds—the five principles

22. Sustainability Principle number 1:
Learn to do the work by doing the work, reflecting
on the work, and critiquing the work.
Principal number 2:
Separate the person from the practice.
Principle number 3:
Learning is an individual and collective activity.

23. Sustainability Principal 4:
Trust enhances individual and collective learning.
Principal number 5:
Learning enhances individual and collective efficacy.
(City, Elmore, Fiarman, & Teitel, 2011)

24. Sustainability Prior to rounds, implementation observation
Instructional Rounds at Blackhawk Middle School
Prior to rounds, implementation observation
Past two years
Two Rounds a year with District
One building level event
IR Team members for two years
IR Team plans staff meeting events and PD

25. Carousel Walk

26. Sustainability
Pre rounds video clip

27. Sustainability
Problem of Practice An instructional focus for our staff last year was moving from an emphasis on whole group instruction to more use of flexible grouping configurations. We made progress in this area last year. However, we noticed that we are struggling to connect the use of assessment information to the effective grouping of students in ways that maximize their learning outcomes. As a result, our problem of practice is the following: We are not designing or using assessment information to group students that engages them in cognitively engaging tasks based on their readiness, interests, and/or learning styles.

28. Sustainability
Focus Questions (Drill down the problem of practice to get at collecting evidence based on patterns of practice)
What evidence do you see of student groupings? Describe the groupings and the resources students use in the groups. Are students doing different tasks in different groups? Does the grouping engage students in cognitively demanding tasks?

29. Sustainability
What evidence do you see of success criteria for working in flexible groups? How is it communicated and by whom? What type of success criteria do you witness (tangible or visual/verbal)? What is the purpose of the success criteria?
Procedural Success Criteria: what students are to do, chunking of learning target
Evaluative Success Criteria: allows students to judge their or others’ work, monitor value of work

30. Sustainability
Post rounds video clip

31. Evidence of Student Groupings
Level
9/17
11/18
4/29
Solid Evidence 6%
28% 4%
Partial Evidence
33%
17%
37%
No Evidence
61%
55%
59%
11/18 Solid—Students picked partners then partners decided how to demo knowledge
4/29 Solid—data grouped, differentiated tasks, higher level questions, students know why grouped
11/18 Partial—grouped by ability, all doing one same task
4/29 Partial— grouped by performance, same task, same method
11/18 None—proximity partners, all doing same task
4/29 None—silent reading, independent work

32. Small Group Success Criteria
Level
9/17
11/18
4/29
Solid Evidence
27%
38%
48%
Partial Evidence 6%
28%
26%
No Evidence
67%
34%
11/18 Solid—open-ended Qs, roles within groups, individual accountability; time for processing, inferring
4/29 Solid—valuable to learning task, may be referred to, effective exemplar or rubric, tangible or visual/verbal, procedural or evaluative
11/18 Partial—none provided
4/29 Partial— visible or tangible but not referred to, utilized, or recognized
11/18 None—no student interaction; teacher directed, students working independently all on same task.
4/29 None—not seen/heard in play at all

33. The value of data
“The challenge is not reducing measurement error to absolute zero, but rather minimizing it as fast as practicable and doing one’s best to estimate whatever amount of error remains, so that one may act cautiously and wisely in a world where all knowledge is approximate and not even death and taxes are any longer certain.”
(Patton, 2008)

34. Data limitations

35. A possible POP for you Focuses on the instructional core
Is directly observable
Is actionable (within school or district’s control)
Connects to a broader strategy of improvement (school or district)
Is high-leverage (will make a significant difference for student learning)
(City, Elmore, Fiarman, & Teitel, 2011)

36. Implementation of DI for you
What do you have in place that you can exploit to increase DI in your classroom/building/district?
What do you need in order to increase DI in your classroom/building/district?
What has to happen to get what you need to increase DI in your classroom/building/district?
Who are your allies in this effort?
What strategies might you employ (begin with end in mind? first steps? PD? communication?)

37. Questions

38. Raffle

39. References
City, E. A., Elmore, R. F., Fiarman, S. E., & Teitel, L. (2011). Cambridge, MA: Harvard Education Press.
Hattie, J. (2009). Visible learning: A synthesis of over 800 meta-analyses relating to achievement. New York, NY: Routledge.
Patton, M. Q. (2008). Utilization-focused evaluation. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications.
Roberts, J. E., (2012). Instructional rounds in action. Cambridge, MA: Harvard Education Press.
Tomlinson, C. A., Brimijoin, K. & Narvaez, L. (2008). The Differentiated School. Alexandria, VA: ASCD.
Tomlinson, C. A., & Imbeau, M. B. (2010). Leading and managing and differentiated classroom. Alexandria, VA: ASCD.