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Schooling by Design

NJHSRC

October 2009

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Questions:

What would schooling look like if we designed it ‘backward’ from Mission?Where do Mission & long-term learning goals get lost in day-to-day school-keeping, why, and what can be done about it?“What’s my job?” I.e. What are we hired to accomplish?Given Mission: where must faculty agree to agree? Where is not only ok but perhaps even desirable to agree to disagree?

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big ideas - summarybig ideas - summaryDesign school ‘backward’ from Mission:

school is only coherent and effective if it is so designed and governed

Depersonalize all analysis: Reform is piecemeal, timid, and haphazard without a formal and regular depersonalized look at all results against Mission-focused goals

A vision/reality/gap analysis is the engine of change: This must happen regularly and explicitly as part of everyone’s job

Apply ‘backward design’ thinking to reform & working with staff: these are long-term understanding and transfer issues.

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CURRICULUM and ASSESSMENT SYSTEM

INSTRUCTIONAL PROGRAMS & PRACTICES

PERSONNEL - HIRING, APPRAISAL, DEVELOPMENT

MISSION

LEARNING PRINCIPLES

POLICIES, STRUCTURES,

GOVERNANCE, RESOURCE

ALLOCATION

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Key problem: Mission is Key problem: Mission is lostlost in current design workin current design work

All programs can only be justified by Mission: each program goal statement should reflect Mission-related language

Yet: Mission is typically lost in curricular planning and (especially) assessment, where coverage of topics becomes the de facto goal

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Same logic applies to Same logic applies to programsprograms

What is the ‘mission’ of the math, language arts, science, arts, history, phys ed. programs? What would we see IF…

our plans, instruction, and assessments reflected program goals and Mission?

long-term mission affected short-term planning and instruction?

syllabi, units, and lessons were designed to reflect (and not lose sight of) program goals?

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Valid Assessment Task(s) & Rubrics, reflecting Mission, NJ Standards & Program Goals

Overarching EssentialQuestion(s)

OverarchingUnderstanding(s)

Program Goals

unit 1unit 2

unit 3unit 4

unit 5

unit 1unit 2

unit 3unit 4

unit 5

unit 1unit 2

unit 3unit 4

unit 5

unit 1unit 2

unit 3unit 4

unit 5

Course 1 Course 3 Course 4Course 2

unit 5

Mission-related Goals

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Consider...VISIONConsider...VISION

We have to ‘see’ what does not (yet) exist in order to truly see where we are now and how to get where we want to go We need a blueprint and model of what

Mission Accomplished looks likeConsider all professional design (architecture, graphics

and product design, etc.)Almost every school reform project lacks a performance

goal, envisioned: the ultimate changes are not blueprinted first; we only have a sketchy idea on a napkin, not a blueprint

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on Missionon Mission

“The first job of the leaders in a non-profit institution is to turn the organization’s mission statement into specifics.”

Peter Drucker

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The dynamics of changeThe dynamics of change

1. Mission/ Vision

2. The Reality3. Action to

close the (never-ending) gap

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i.e. Backward Design of Reform

STAGE 1: The Desired Results Long-term (Mission & Program Goals)

STAGE 2: Evidence of Goals, Indicators of Achievement (Vision & Reality)

STAGE 3: Actions needed to close the gap

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Your MissionYour Mission

Your Mission should describe what your school is in business to accomplish with learners, not what you will provide merely.

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Vision, then? Given Mission...Vision, then? Given Mission...

1. What would curriculum, assessment, instruction look like?

2. What would we see in grading and reporting?

3. What would we see in how textbooks are used?

4. What would team, departmental, and school staff meetings be discussing?

5. What would we see in classrooms?

6. What would we see in student work, talk, conduct?

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What’s Your Reality?

Do you have evidence of how you are doing against the vision?

If so: Which students are [ Mission-goal phrase]?

Which students aren’t and why?If not:

Where should we look and what should we look for?

What assessments need to be invented?

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ActionAction

Analysis of evidence undertakenProblem statements developed and evaluated

Action plan developed and implemented, based on IF/THEN problem statements

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The problem in a nutshell: daily The problem in a nutshell: daily practices do not typically derive from practices do not typically derive from

or align with long-term goalsor align with long-term goals

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From From Good to Great, Good to Great, by Jim by Jim CollinsCollins

“All good-to-great organizations began the process of finding a path to greatness by confronting the brutal facts of their current reality.”

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A few “brutal facts” schools A few “brutal facts” schools don’t typically facedon’t typically face

The text is the syllabus - Most teachers just march through a book. They thus

misunderstand their Mission-related job.Local grades are invalid.

There is typically no consistency in grades, and no mechanism for ensuring valid grading.

Many teachers do not use ‘best practice’ for the most engaging and effective results

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necessarynecessary de-personalization de-personalization

A disinterested look at the logic of Mission/Vision/Reality: “Nothing personal, but…” What follows from our goals -

irrespective of habit & tradition?What is the gap between Mission

and reality? What, then, follows for action?

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CURRICULUM and ASSESSMENT SYSTEM

MISSION & Vision

INSTRUCTIONAL PROGRAMS and PRACTICES

PERSONNEL - HIRING, APPRAISAL, DEVELOPMENT

POLICIES, STRUCTURES,

GOVERNANCE, RESOURCE ALLOCATION

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Mission

Mission: A general statement of what you are

in business to accomplish the long-term goals that, if met,

signify success the purpose of your institution

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Don’t confuse ‘means’ with Don’t confuse ‘means’ with ‘mission’‘mission’

Mission: what are we in business to accomplish?Means: what will we provide as a means for achieving Mission?

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Common phrases - ‘means’Common phrases - ‘means’

“...a community of supportive educators, parents and citizens“providing a diverse and challenging educational program.”

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Separate Mission from Vision Separate Mission from Vision and Beliefsand Beliefs

Mission: What we are in business to accomplish with students

Vision: Specifics about what we should or would see if “Mission Accomplished”

Beliefs: what do we value or think important about teaching, learning, community?

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1. Is your Mission Statement Adequate?

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Vision is criticalVision is critical

Vision = the equivalent of the architect’s blueprints and 3-D models: what we would actually see if it were accomplished

Otherwise, vague phrases with no clear and agreed-upon meaning

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Vision: What would we see Vision: What would we see IF…?IF…?

Make the abstractions of Mission imagined & actionable

Not ‘idealistic’ in the sense of hopelessly impossible but ‘idealistic’ in the sense of ‘this is what we are aiming for that does not yet exist’

Example: If all students were successful or responsible, we would see...

Start with a simple T-chart of examples and non-examples

Develop rubrics with clear descriptors and indicators

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2. Do you have a Vision? Or just some vague nice

phrases?

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If those are the long-term If those are the long-term goals...goals...What follows? What specifically would we see?

What are the indicators/non-indicators? E.g. what distinguishes critical thinking from uncritical thinking? What distinguishes exemplary citizen from unconcerned, unhelpful, or passive citizen? Etc.

What are valid assessments that will tell us where we stand?

How should the goals and assessments be woven into curriculum? What does critical thinking look like in coursework in History? Math? Etc.

What follows for instruction? What kinds of practice, feedback and opportunities to use it do students need regularly, in order to meet these goals?

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Looking forward, not Looking forward, not backwardbackward

The point of school is not to get good at school

The goal is not to reinvent what we learned or needed

Technology changes everythingStandardization ≠ High Standards

The current view of graduation requirements is over 100 years old and out of date

A free modern and diverse people need something other than a 1-size-fits-all education

Many highly-important subjects and jobs didn’t exist 50 years ago

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3. Are you really built for the likely future? Or do your systems reflect

a long-ago past?

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Example: Local AssessmentExample: Local Assessment

Mission-related goal: ensure that assessments reflect Mission and targeted goal areas

Goal-related actions: training in performance assessment & Bloom’s Taxonomy

Problem?: any real change occurring? Doesn’t look like it...32

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Research into Local Research into Local Assessment Practices*Assessment Practices*

Year 1 - Collected all assessments given during a seven week period from December - January, (640 total assessments).

A random sample (20% or 142) of these were analyzed.

Donegal School District, PA

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Analysis ProcessAnalysis Process

% of assessment formats ( selected-response, essay, performance tasks, etc.)

% of assessment at cognitive levels (Bloom’s Taxonomy)

number and quality of assessments requiring writing and/or problem solving

number and quality of rubrics

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Findings...Findings...

1. Testing the lower-levels of cognition (knowledge and comprehension levels on Bloom's Taxonomy) predominated at all levels. (75.5%)

2. Traditional selected-response formats of multiple choice, true and false, matching, dominated all other types. (80%)

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Findings continued...Findings continued...

Essay formats were very rarely used (5%) and when used were rarely scored with a rubric. (2%)

Rubrics that were available were often just checklists (33%) being represented as rubrics.

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Findings continued...Findings continued...

Mathematics assessments at all levels involved only comprehension types of problem solving (i.e., algorithmic “plug-in”), rather than authentic, real-world applications.

Students were rarely called upon to write to justify or explain their process or the appropriateness of the answer to the problem posed. (4%)

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Findings continued...Findings continued...

Performance assessments, where they existed, consisted mostly of products to be graded by a score sheet. Rubrics rarely existed for such assessments. (4%)

Essay writing at the elementary level was non-existent in the samples. (0%)

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Impact of this ResearchImpact of this Research

Year 2 - After results were shared and discussed: District offered focused and

differentiated staff development on improving classroom assessment practice.

Data showed significant improvement in variety and quality of assessments during the next few years.

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Results in NJResults in NJ

2 ‘J’ districts replicated the study - and found the same poor resultsIn one marking period almost all the HS

tests involved low-level questionsFew extended writings requiredLittle difference between high-level and

low-level courses on the test

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4. Are your local assessments valid? Do

they reflect Mission/standards?

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The Mission of Programs & The Mission of Programs & Depts.Depts.

Vital to have K-12 Mission statements for ProgramsThe state standards are the building ‘code’ - meeting code is necessary but not sufficient - in home construction and in schooling!

What’s the purpose of your program and courses, in terms of transfer, meaning, value?

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Lawrenceville Science Dept.

Lawrenceville School Science Department MissionThe Science Department will cultivate in students

the understanding that scientific knowledge is characterized by empirical criteria, logical argument, and skeptical review. It will prepare all students to use an understanding of scientific concepts and processes for personal decision making and effective participation in civic affairs.

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Lawrenceville (2)In order to accomplish the above students will develop an understanding of:Important concepts in science: Fundamental theories and

unifying concepts in the physical, life, and earth sciences that provide an explanation and view of the natural world around us.

The nature of evidence in science: Criteria for what constitutes accurate, sufficient, and relevant evidence in science.

Inquiry methods in science: Procedures, techniques, and methods scientists use to pose questions, plan investigations, gather data, develop conclusions, and communicate results.

Quantitative reasoning in science: Mathematical and statistical methods used to analyze, interpret, and evaluate data and draw conclusions.

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Scarsdale HS English DeptScarsdale HS English Dept

Program Philosophy & Goals As teachers of language, we wish to enable students to become skilled

communicators, critical readers, thoughtful viewers, and close listeners. We encourage students to express themselves through a variety of written

modes, requiring them to work with increasingly complex structures and materials in order to enlarge their powers of synthesis and organization.

We expect students to attend closely to texts from different cultures and ages and to become increasing aware not only of what these texts say, but also of how they are put together.

We wish students to develop an eye for key details, an ear for telling phrases, and the wit to see how these specifics form patterns of meaning. At the same time, we wish students to understand that no interpretation is final and that ambiguity is inevitable.

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Scarsdale English (2)Scarsdale English (2)

Our approach, which is student-centered, becomes more student-directed over the four years. We aim for students to become increasingly responsible for their own education, to become independent learners conscious of what they need to know and knowledgeable about how to learn it.

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The ‘successful’ Question is The ‘successful’ Question is the the TransferTransfer Question: Question:

What should the student be able to do effectively and autonomously do in the future with ‘content’?

That’s what we must design ‘backward’ from - just like in athletics, arts, professional training

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Use the Standards!Use the Standards!Students will read, write, listen, and speak for critical analysis and evaluation.As listeners and readers, students will analyze

experiences, ideas, information, and issues presented by others using a variety of established criteria.

As speakers and writers, they will present, in oral and written language and from a variety of perspectives, their opinions and judgments on experiences, ideas, information and issues.

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NJ MathNJ Math

STANDARD 3 (Revised 2005) Students will understand the concepts of and become proficient with the skills of mathematics; communicate and reason mathematically; become problem solvers by using appropriate tools and strategies; through the integrated study of number sense and operations, algebra, geometry, measurement, and statistics and probability.

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2009 Revised Standards 2009 Revised Standards make it even clearer: Sciencemake it even clearer: Science

The revised standards and course descriptions emphasize the importance of students independently creating scientific arguments and explanations for observations made during investigations. Science education thereby becomes a sense-making enterprise for students in which they are systematically provided with ongoing opportunities to:

Interact directly with the natural and designed world using tools, data-collection techniques, models, and theories of science.

Actively participate in scientific investigations and use cognitive and manipulative skills associated with the formulation of scientific explanations.

Use evidence, apply logic, and construct arguments for their proposed explanations.

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2009 Revised Standards 2009 Revised Standards make it even clearer: make it even clearer:

LanguagesLanguagesThe world languages standard is benchmarked by proficiency levels, rather than grade levels. The study of world languages is spiraling and recursive ... that ultimately enable the attainment of proficiency at the Novice-High level or above, which is a requirement for high school graduation.Novice-High Level: Students communicate using words,

lists, and simple sentences to ask and answer questions, to handle simple transactions related to everyday life, and to talk about subject matter studied in other classes.

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2009 Revised Standards 2009 Revised Standards make it even clearer: Historymake it even clearer: History

Intent and Spirit of the Social Studies StandardsThe study of social studies focuses on deep

understanding of concepts that enable students to think critically and systematically about local, regional, national, and global issues. Authentic learning experiences that enable students to apply content knowledge, develop citizenship skills, and collaborate with students from around the world prepare New Jersey students for the 21st-century workplace.

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2009 Revised Standards 2009 Revised Standards make it even clearer: Historymake it even clearer: HistoryEssential Questions

Key essential questions are recurring throughout the study of history. They provoke inquiry and lead to deeper understanding of the big ideas that enable students to better comprehend how the past connects to the present. The essential questions created for this project were used to frame content goals and informed the development of the standards and accompanying cumulative progress indicators

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2009 Revised Standards 2009 Revised Standards make it even clearer: Historymake it even clearer: History

Essential Questions And Strands A. Civics, Government and Human Rights

How do citizens, civic ideals, and government institutions interact to balance the needs of individuals and the common good?

How have economic, political, and cultural decisions promoted or prevented the growth of personal freedom, individual responsibility, equality, and respect for human dignity?

B. Geography, People and the Environment How do physical geography, human geography, and the human environment

interact to influence or determine the development of cultures, societies, and nations?

C. Economics, Innovation and Technology How can individuals, groups, and societies apply economic reasoning to make

difficult choices about scarce resources? What are the possible consequences of these decisions on individuals, groups, and societies?

How have scientific and technological developments over the course of history changed the way people live and economies and governments function?

D. History, Culture and Perspectives How do our interpretations of past events inform our understanding of cause and

effect, and continuity and change, and how do they influence our beliefs and decisions about current public policy issues?

How can the study of multiple perspectives, beliefs systems, and cultures provide a context for understanding and challenging public actions and decisions in a diverse and interdependent world?

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NJ Standards as exampleNJ Standards as exampleIntent and Spirit of the Comprehensive Health and Physical Education Standards All students participate in a comprehensive, sequential, health and

physical education program that emphasizes the natural interdisciplinary connection between wellness and health and physical education. The standards provide a blueprint for curriculum development, instruction, and assessment that reflects the latest research-based platform for effective health and physical education programs. The primary focus of the standards is on the development of knowledge and skills that influence healthy behaviors within the context of self, family, school, and the local and global community. The 2009 revised standards incorporate the current thinking and best practices found in health and physical education documents published by national content-specific organizations as well as public health and other education organizations and agencies.

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Backward Design:Backward Design:

What follows for -Long-term assessment?Curriculum design?Instruction?

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NJ Standards Clarification NJ Standards Clarification ProjectProject

All Standards PrioritizedProgram Mission Statement

Essential QuestionsKey Understandings

http://www.nj.gov/education/aps/njscp/

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5. Do your teachers really understand and validly act

on state standards?

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BUT: Standards ≠ BUT: Standards ≠ Curriculum Curriculum

FrameFrameThe Standards are only the ‘code’, not the ‘blueprint’

Meeting building code is not the architect’s or contractor’s purpose

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The big ideas of UbD:

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Achievement is NOT the sum of the drills and tests of

knowledge!The performance goal and what it demands changes the way you teach and assess the skills and knowledge

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Acquireimportant

knowledge and skills

Make Meanin

gof & with

“big ideas”Transfer Learning to

new situations

See “Put Understanding First” in Educational LeadershipMay 2008, Volume 65, #8 Pages 36-41

AMT – Our 3 Goals

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example:getting your driver’s

license

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AMT in drivingT: navigate varied real-world driving conditions, using all your skills, ideas, facts

M: Correctly and efficiently interpret the meaning of impending or current conditions, especially mindful of ‘drive defensively’

A: Acquire skills of steering, turning, braking, etc.; know the laws

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Acquisition

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Acquisition goals

Learn, with accurate and timely recall, important facts and discrete skillsAim: automaticity of recall when needed in performance

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Acquisition goals

Know the meaning of ‘y-intercept’Do the order of operations accurately

Know the Pythagorean theoremBe able to plot points in a linear relationship

Calculate answers to problems involving fractions and decimals

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Meaning Making

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Meaning goals

Make connections & generalizations, using the facts and skills – e.g. interpret and extrapolate from data,

recognize patterns in the data, etc.AIM: independent and defensible inferences about data, experiences - ‘helpful understandings’

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Meaning goalsExtrapolate from a graph of data: what are other points, given the trend?

Analyze the ‘proof’ that 2 = 1 and find the flaw (dividing by zero)

Any word problem where the equations have to be set up from the story

Critique 3 different approaches to the same non-routine problem

Generalize from a narrow approach or small data set

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Transfer

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Transfer GoalsAdapt your knowledge, skill, and understanding to specific and realistic situations and contexts

AIM: efficient, effective solutions for real-world (or realistic) challenges, audiences, purposes, settings

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Transfer GoalsAnalyze real-world data to develop a price point for a bake sale

Use the math of Newton’s Laws to debug a failed design for a roller coaster

Determine which measure of central tendency suits particular audiences and purposes

Any problem in a specific setting that requires you to adapt your math to context - conditions, audience, purpose

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the point of the content

I want them to learn __________ [skill/knowledge]

so that, in the long run, they will be able, on their own, to _______________________________[a long-term real-world performance ability, involving smart application of many skills and facts & insight, in context]

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i.e. - not a good way to learn to drive a car...but this is often how school works

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New Template reflects AMT

Transfer

Meaning

Understandings Essential Questions

Acquisition

Knowledge Skill

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PrioritiesPriorities

What structures and policies exist to – keep long-term and bottom-line

priorities in view?make teachers prioritize teaching and

learning, and not fixate on indiscriminate coverage?

Make clear to students their long-term priorities as learners? 77

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Keep in mind the big pictureKeep in mind the big picture

Mission falls through the cracks of conventional teaching, testing, gradingWhere specifically does it get lost?Why do teachers not see Mission as their

job? Why, for example do they think the textbook is their job?

What would make it more likely that people work on Mission and don’t lose sight of long-term goals in short-term decisions? 78

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The research is clearThe research is clear

From Edmunds and Lezotte to Marzano: the key elements of effective schools are in our controlGuaranteed and viable curriculumLeadership based on MissionFeedback

Tackling fatalism and job confusion is a central task of academic leadership

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HarvardHarvard The aim of a liberal education is to unsettle presumptions, to

defamiliarize the familiar, to reveal what is going on beneath and behind appearances, to disorient young people and to help them to find ways to re-orient themselves. A liberal education aims to accomplish these things by questioning assumptions, by inducing self-reflection, by teaching students to think critically and analytically, by exposing them to the sense of alienation produced by encounters with radically different historical moments and cultural formations and with phenomena that exceed their, and even our own, capacity fully to understand. From Harvard’s new statement of purpose for undergraduate

education

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SkidmoreSkidmoreThe Skidmore English department invites students to consider questions and to frame their own. Throughout the curriculum, English majors learn to read closely, think critically, challenge assumptions, practice methods of interpretation and research, analyze the formal qualities of texts, approach texts from various perspectives, place texts in various contexts, and write with clarity, coherence, and precision. As the English major progresses from introductory to capstone courses, students are offered increasingly sophisticated and elaborate writing and analytic tasks and called upon to perform steadily more original, inventive, independent work.

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AP History RedesignAP History RedesignThe redesign project will produce a more inclusive and more

engaging program of study for each discipline. To achieve this, the commissions have identified:

A coherent and conceptual framework for the course appropriate to the field of history

Key historical themes for each course that are to be studied in depthThe essential historical thinking skills that are to be supported by

instruction and measured on the exams Teaching practices that are most successful at developing understanding

Potential ways to incorporate more fully the study of historical scholarship into the courses

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AP History RedesignAP History Redesign

The process of AP history redesign has been informed by: A College Curriculum Study conducted to

identify opportunities to improve AP by incorporating some of the best examples of successful college curriculum

National and select state standards Established learning science approaches to

curriculum and assessment design -Learning and Understanding (National Research Council,

2002) Understanding by Design (Wiggins and McTighe, 2005)

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AP Science RedesignAP Science Redesign

Changes to the AP science program will reflect the latest research on how students learn. The redesign will emphasize depth of understanding so that students will be better equipped to navigate complex content and to transfer their knowledge during assessments. A "less is more" principle, or the notion that it is better to "uncover material than to cover it," will guide the selection of content.

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MIT ubd-based reformsMIT ubd-based reforms“The physics department has replaced the traditional large introductory lecture with

smaller classes that emphasize hands-on, interactive, collaborative learning. Last fall, after years of experimentation and debate and resistance from students, who initially petitioned against it, the department made the change permanent. Already, attendance is up and the failure rate has dropped by more than 50 percent.

M.I.T. is not alone. Other universities are changing their ways, among them Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, North Carolina State University, the University of Maryland, the University of Colorado at Boulder and Harvard. In these institutions, physicists have been pioneering teaching methods drawn from research showing that most students learn fundamental concepts more successfully, and are better able to apply them, through interactive, collaborative, student-centered learning.”

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Research in HS-college Research in HS-college achievementachievement

This study relates the performance of college students in introductory science courses to the amount of content covered in their high school science courses. The sample includes 8310 students in introductory biology, chemistry, or physics courses in 55 randomly chosen U.S. colleges and universities.

Students who reported covering at least 1 major topic in depth, for a month or longer, in high school were found to earn higher grades in college science than did students who reported no coverage in depth. Students reporting breadth in their high school course, covering all major topics, did not appear to have any advantage in chemistry or physics and a significant disadvantage in biology. Care was taken to account for significant covariates: socioeconomic variables, English and mathematics proficiency, and rigor of their preparatory high science course.

We conclude that teachers should use their judgment to reduce coverage in high school science courses and aim for mastery by extending at least 1 topic in depth over an extended period of time.

© 2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Sci Ed 1 – 29, 2008

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The course is The course is notnot the the textbooktextbook

The textbook CANNOT be a complete course - it is a resourceIt is a jam-packed resource, to be sold in 50 states - FL, CA, TX highlighted!

Like an encyclopedia & dictionary, it provides ‘logically’ organized content – not necessarily useful material to suit your local goals and needs

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Intelligent use of textbooks1. Syllabus written before textbooks

chosen2. Syllabus is based on Standards, big

ideas, transfer goals3. Thus: given the standards and

mission:a. Which chapters highlighted? b. which skimmed? c. which skipped?

4. What activities and assessments needed, beyond what the textbook supplies?

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Build Backward from key tasks in the subject:

(‘decathlon’)Construct a valid story from varied (incomplete & conflicting) sources [social studies, history]

Find a pattern/relation/function in messy data, with outliers and “error” [math, science]

Read and make meaning, on your own, of a puzzling text - a tall tale, “A Modest Proposal,” etc.[English, Language Arts]

Communicate successfully in challenging situations, with speakers who disagree with you or have completely different backgrounds [World Languages, Language Arts]

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6. Do your curricula, units, and lessons reflect

appropriate understanding-focused

goals?

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But, Grant -But, Grant -

What about the tests????

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93

94

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NAEP 12th grade item

What is the distance between the points (2,10) and (-4, 2) in the xy plane?

68101418

96

97

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NAEP item3

0 inch

es

40 inches

What is the diagonal

measurement of the TV screen?253550701200

12th-grade:

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Famous NY Regents item. 11th-grade

34 A straw is placed into a rectangular box that is 3 inches by 4 inches by 8 inches, as shown in the accompanying diagram. If the straw fits exactly into the box diagonally from the bottom left front corner to the top right back corner, how long is the straw, to the nearest tenth of an inch?

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FCAT 10th grade math

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Warning from Florida DOEParents and teachers should NOT use the released tests to drill students on specific questions for the next year, since test questions will be different, or identify all of the content that might be on future tests. Other tests will use different passages and

assess different skills. For example:A question on the mathematics test assesses the volume of a

cylinder; however, future tests could assess volume of different shapes or a cylinder with different dimensions.

Instruction on volume using only cylinders would be inappropriate.

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FCAT 10th grade ReadingFCAT 10th grade Reading

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If that’s the Standard...If that’s the Standard...

What follows for local assessment?

What follows for local planning?What follows for methods of instruction and classroom experiences needed?

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7. Do you know enough about how assessment works? What myths and

beliefs about assessment impede your progress?

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CURRICULUM and ASSESSMENT SYSTEM

INSTRUCTIONAL PROGRAMS & PRACTICES

PERSONNEL - HIRING, APPRAISAL, DEVELOPMENT

MISSION

LEARNING PRINCIPLES

POLICIES, STRUCTURES,

GOVERNANCE, RESOURCE

ALLOCATION

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Crucial to get agreement on Crucial to get agreement on how people learnhow people learn

What does our experience reveal?What does common sense tell us?What does the research say?

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Toward depersonalizationToward depersonalizationThe mantra must become: “Nothing personal, but does that fit with our principles of learning?”

Keep refining the principlesHave the draft vetted by credible

outsidersAsk teachers to self-assess their

course and unit plans against the principles; audit it every year

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Sample Learning PrinciplesSample Learning Principles

1. Learning depends on learning how to learn. Time must be devoted to ensuring that students understand how to succeed, how to self-assess, and how to self-adjust – metacognition must be taught.

2. Persistent and successful learning requires seeing the value (meaning/usefulness) of what we are asked to learn.

See “Examining the Teaching Life,” Wiggins & McTighe, March 2006 Educational Leadership

Cf. Chapter 4 in Schooling by Design

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Exercise:Exercise:

What was the best-designed learning experience you ever were in? What made it so engaging and effective?

Generalize: what do the best designs have in common?Work from this draft to formalize

district learning principles

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The Backward Design The Backward Design Question: Question:

The question is NOT: “Where can we get ‘more’ time?”

RATHER, the question is: What should we do with the limited time we have? How can we stay focused on and accomplish our (few) priority goals?

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8. Do well do your faculty know how people learn? Best practice? Models in

their subject area?

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UNDERSTANDINGS AND ESSENTIAL QUESTIONS, based on Big Ideas

VALID

MAPS

CORNERSTONE ASSESSMENTS

ANCHORS

VALID LEARNING

EVENTS

DIAGNOSTIC AND

FORMATIVE ASSESSMENTS

DIFFERENTIATIONTROUBLE-

SHOOTING GUIDE

PERFORMANCE GOAL FRAMED

COMMON RUBRICS

(Fixed and Longitudinal)

Mission-based CurriculumMission-based Curriculum

MISSION

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CURRICULUM PERFORMANCE

GOALS

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What curriculum is and isn’tWhat curriculum is and isn’t

What curriculum is: the optimal path for achieving your long-term learning goals (via initial designs, and adjustments based on feedback)

What curriculum isn’t: a march through content topics and tests on the content - ‘teach, test, hope for the best’

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worth being familiar with

important to

know & do

Big ideas& core transfer

tasks

Toward Valid Curriculum: Toward Valid Curriculum: Focus on Priority outcomesFocus on Priority outcomes

“big ideas”& core transfer tasks

at theheart of the subject

importantknowledge & skill

“nice to know”

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9. To what extent is your curriculum framework and writing process adequate to the needs of Mission, Vision, Program Goals?

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MISSION

LEARNING PRINCIPLES

CURRICULUM and ASSESSMENT SYSTEM

PERSONNEL - HIRING, APPRAISAL, DEVELOPMENT

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What’s my job?What’s my job?

What’s bottom-line accomplishment?What do the transfer goals imply for the needed learning & instruction?

What are the “big ideas” that I must help the students uncover and use, to make meaning on their own?

What learning sequence will maximize student engagement, understanding and increasingly autonomous transfer?

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The Job as Teacher...The Job as Teacher...

My job IS NOT to simply: “cover” the materialteach my favorite

topics “cover” content

standardsuse engaging activitiespractice for the state

test

My job IS to:

Cause learning teach for

understanding help students “make

meaning” of big ideas use engaging and

effective learning that causes transfer

help students “do” the subject

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The Job as Teacher...The Job as Teacher...

My job out of class:Design learningPeer reviewAnalyze results alone

and with othersAdjust program,

instruction, curriculum based on results and goals

Action research based on need and interest

My job in class:

Use best practice related to goals

Constantly get feedback and adjust learning

Ensure that All learners understand goals and how to achieve them

Personalize the learning and ensure all students feel they belong and are capable of success

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A key EQ about the job:A key EQ about the job:

Where must we agree to agree?

Where is my freedom - I.e. where can we agree to disagree?Clarifying this question is a key

leadership task moving forward

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feedback and its use is key to greatest gains

Black & Wiliam meta-analysis:“There is a body of firm evidence that formative

assessment is essential... We know of no other way of raising standards for which such a strong prima facie case can be made.”

Black and Wiliam (1998) “Inside the Black Box: Raising Standards through Classroom Assessment,” Phi Delta Kappan, volume 80, 2 (October), pp. 139 ff.

Cf. Working Inside the Black Box: Assessment for Learning in the Classroom, by Paul Black, Christine Harrison, Clare Lee, Bethan Marshall, and Dylan Wiliam Phi Delta Kappan, Volume 86, #1 (September, 2004)

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True for teachers, too: True for teachers, too: E.g. Weekly Survey of E.g. Weekly Survey of

StudentsStudentsA former colleague of mine did this every week: on an index card tell me specifically what DID and DID NOT “work” for you this week, to help you learn?

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10. Do teachers know their true job? To what extent do they confuse ‘covering’ with ‘causing

learning’?

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1. Identify desired results related to mission.

2. Determine valid evidence and get feedback.

3. Develop the appropriate action plan.

3 Stages applied to 3 Stages applied to leadershipleadership

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Typical Error

1. Identify vague goals and platitudes.

2. Take initial actions, with little follow-up.

3. Keep acting without feedback.

The norm, alasThe norm, alas

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Backward Design of School Backward Design of School ChangeChangeDesired Results:

What are the principles/vision and specific goals? What would school be like if our aims were achieved?

What understandings do we want faculty to come to? What misunderstandings impede our and their work?

Evidence:What are indicators that our long-term goals are being

achieved and that faculty are ‘getting it’?What assessments should be ongoing, given our vision and

goals? What feedback is essential, early and often, to stay on track and adjust to achieve our goals?

ActionsWhat should we plan and do, in light of our goals?What should we do, in light of the feedback?

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StrategyStrategy

1. Plan backward from ‘Mission Accomplished’

2. Constantly confront the gap between Vision & reality

3. Plan to Adjust

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8 action-related tactical 8 action-related tactical understandingsunderstandings about reform about reform Successful leadership requires that you

–1. Diagnose before prescribing2. Go with talent and interest3. Plan for the ‘Yes, but..’4. Get the incentives right5. Practice and model what you preach6. Minimize Disruptions7. Think big, start small, and ‘go for an

early win’8. Help everyone Work Smarter, Not Harder

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Incentives: “Why Adopt It?”

Promising - the obvious advantages outweigh the disadvantages

Fits - with recent initiatives, our needs, and our aspirations

Elegant – powerful yet enticing, well designedUser friendly - accessible, easy entry path, clear

process, well supportedCustomizable - able to be adjusted or personalized

to suit differences in goals and abilities

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““What’s In It For Me?”What’s In It For Me?”Increased

Power/authority/influenceFreedomBudgetTimeSupport (staff, resources, materials)RecognitionPay

DecreasedTrivial dutiesIrrelevant meetingsMicro-supervision, mandated behavior

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“Who must be on board?”

Key veterans - your ‘E F Huttons’Local Experts in UbDYour best teachersLeaders with influenceKey early adoptersTalented skepticsCommunity VIPs

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Place all your current Place all your current initiatives in the UbD initiatives in the UbD

TemplateTemplateShow how – seemingly separate initiatives fit together

“This just makes good sense”

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Where to begin?Where to begin?

Go with talentThink big, act small, have a plan for growing effort, based on feedback and visionJust do it

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So? Where should you target your efforts?

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Resources/ReferencesSchooling by Design, Wiggins & McTigheHow People Learn, National Academy of Sciences

NEASC Accreditation Standards and Support materials

A Place Called School, John GoodladThe Shopping Mall HS, Powell et alHorace’s Compromise and Horace’s School, Ted Sizer

Breaking Ranks, NASSP

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Ohio’s Portal

http://portal.success-ode-state-oh-us.info/

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FCAT Released tests

http://fcat.fldoe.org/fcatrelease.asp

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for further information...for further information...Contact me:

grant@authenticeducation.org

Resources:online courses: www.authenticeducationonline.org

free online journal for information and resources, blog, samples, links

Curriculum Framer: electronic template and 100+ model units: http://demo.curriculum-framer.com

ID & PW: demo, demo

Pearson/ubd site: http://dev.pearsonubd.com/programs.htm