1. Text Dependent Analysis: Building teacher capacity to instruct for a new item type
Susan Lyons, Ph.D.
CCSSO 2016 National Conference on Student Assessment Philadelphia, PA
June 2016

2. Text-Dependent Analysis
Exploration: If teachers understand the instructional strategies necessary to teach the elements underlying a TDA (e.g., close reading strategies, scaffolded essay writing, instruction of scoring guidelines, teaching students to ask questions, etc.), student achievement will improve.

3. Text-Dependent Analysis
Multi-Group Study (grades 4, 6, 8): Group 1 – multiple-year group of teachers receiving PD Group 2 – first year group of teachers receiving PD Group 3 – first year group of teachers receiving no PD

4. Data Collection Efforts
Three TDA prompts completed independently by students throughout the year
Scored by teacher
Back-scored by expert
Classroom observations with observer protocol
Focus group meeting with each group of teachers
State assessment scores on TDA item

5. Independent TDA prompts
Key questions to answer:
Does student performance on TDA items vary by research group?
Does student performance improve throughout the year? Does achievement improve differentially for teachers in the different research groups?
Does teacher scoring agree with expert scoring? Does teacher use of the rubric improve with additional professional development?
Do patterns in student performance on the TDA prompts for the research study hold when analyzing the PSSA data?

6. Classroom Observations
Strong
Clear focus and intended outcome
Purposeful lesson plan that provides pathway to achieving goal
Teacher has deep understanding of text and prompt
Nuanced feedback and response to student interactions
Students are highly engaged
Moderate
Elements of strength with execution lacking in some way
Fast-paced questioning
Underestimation of student ability –surface-level questions or low-level text
Teacher-centered
Weak
Activity-driven rather than objective-driven
Flow or logic of lesson structure difficult to follow
Weak connection to TDA prompt
Questioning is unrelated to moving students forward in their thinking
Classroom management is disruptive to student learning

7. Focus Groups Groups 1 & 2 Group 3 What worked well and what didn’t?
How had their instruction changed?
How have they shared this knowledge?
Groups 1 & 2
What do they know about TDAs?
What PD experiences have they had if any?
What types of resources would be helpful?
Group 3

8. Standardized Test Criterion
Do the patterns in the classroom-administered TDAs hold for the state standardized assessment?
How has student achievement on the PSSA TDA item changed since last year for the students of the teachers in the study?
What factors can explain differences in student achievement?
Does the PD have an impact on student assessment scores?

9. Resource Modules Grade-level specific learning progressions
Annotated and scored student work samples
Exemplar lesson plans

10.
Page • Thompson • CCSSO-TDA • 2016
Page 10 •