Sunday, April 28, 2013

Communication is Key To Success of Common Core State Standards

Do you believe that the Common Core State Standards / Ohio's New Learning Standards are good for kids?  I do.  I am not the only one. My support of these standards is based on Evidence.  For those of you who know me, you will recognize that Evidence is my favorite word when talking about the new standards and the new assessments...and a lot of other changes going on in education.
How we go about communicating this Evidence is key to the success of our new standards. There are 6 major areas of focus:
  • Key shifts in teaching, assessment 
  • Alignment and Rigor - Implementing Ohio's New Learning Standards
  • College and Career Readiness - partnership with Ohio Board of Regents
  • Costs and Budget
  • Technology Integration and Implementation
  • Timelines and Legislation

We need to consider not only how we communicate information around these 6 focus areas, but also who our audience is going to be and what is the best medium to use to communicate with them.  There are 6 key groups of stakeholders:
  • Students - most interested in how changes will effect graduation requirements, how they will be assessed, how they will be able to access/use technology in their learning, how their assignments will change, how they will be graded.
    • `Communication about CCSS 
      • teacher directed, informal through classroom discussions
      • parent directed, informal
      • school directed - for MS and HS students through scheduling/course description changes.
  • Teachers - most interested in how changes will effect their unit/lesson development, how will they keep the creativity in their teaching, what teaching materials/texts will be available for them, what they need to do to make the needed shifts to meet expected rigor of the new standards, what professional development will be available,what is the timeline for implementation, what tech skills they and their students will need, how to make sure students are prepared for the new assessments, how assessment results will impact their teacher evaluation, how to communicate shifts to parents.
    • Communication about CCSS -
      • self directed - through social media, professional organizations, conference sessions, web research/resource materials
      • peer directed - through teacher teams, informal collaboration
      • administrator directed - through staff meetings, building level team meetings, scheduled collaborative time, building newsletters and websites, social media
      • district directed - through newsletters, district website, social media, emails, PD offerings, district level team meetings 
  • Administrators - most interested in planning for technology required to meet expectations for new standards and assessments, how to schedule time for teacher teams to work together on shifting to new standards and assessments, what to "look for" to ensure teachers are making the shifts in their classrooms, how to select/design curriculum that is aligned to the standards, how to tie together work being done around the new standards with the new teacher eval system, student growth measures and formative instruction, how to communicate shifts to parents.
    • Communication about CCSS-
      • self directed - through social media, professional organizations, web research, ESC training, regional and state conference attendance.
      • peer directed - social media, district and building website, newsletters, informal collaboration, continuing ed coursework
      • district directed - through admin team/cabinet meetings, district website, email, District Leadership Team, social media, newsletters, allowing attendance at conferences.
  • Parents - most interested in assurance that their students are learning what they need to know to be successful in college or careers as they grow into adulthood, how much it will cost them in increased student fees or tech costs, how students will be assessed, how teachers will communicate learning progress, what they can do at home to support students, how will classroom technology be used safely and equitably.
    • Communication about CCSS
      • self directed - through websites, local and national news
      • peer directed - through PTA meetings and newsletters, community organizations
      • district directed - through district website, emails, newsletters, BOE meetings
  • Community members - most interested in cost to the community, maintaining local control over curriculum decisions, supporting a quality educational system to keep home values up, schools preparing students to be active members of the community.
    • Communicating about CCSS
      • self directed - through websites, local and national news
      • peer directed - through social and political affiliation meetings and publications, social media
      • district directed - through social media, community newsletters, community forums, district newsletters, local media
  • Public officials- BOE members, legislators - costs to the district and state, how to budget for teacher training, curriculum changes and technology upgrades, how to balance/respond to  opposing viewpoints around adopting the standards,  setting aggressive but achievable timelines for implementation, how to increase accountability for student learning - teachers and admins
    • Communicating about CCSS
      • self directed -through websites, local and national news
      • peer directed - OSBA news and conference, ODE updates
      • district/state directed - Reports from stakeholders at BOE meetings, district website, newsletters, policy updates, legislative updates,  technology planning tools, updates from educational leaders, local media

So where do you find the Evidence that you need to communicate about CCSS and Aligned Assessments?  That depends on who you are communicating to and what you want to accomplish by communicating to them!  Here are some resources to help you get started. 


Resources for Questions/Comments on Common Core State Standards


Main CCCSS and PARCC Websites

ODE Websites Related to Standards and Assessments

Ohio Revised Code


Articles about History of Ohio’s New Learning Standards - Including CCSS and PARCC

Sampling of  Articles Supporting CCSS
Sites That Are Critical of CCSS in Ohio

Other Resource Sites for Info on CCSS or PARCC
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Friday, March 15, 2013

PARCC Is Leading To Climate Change

I write this blog from my office near the shoreline of Lake Erie.  On any given day in March, I may look out my window and see snow, rain, sleet, sunshine, gusting wind, or total calm - all within an 8 hour work day.  In Cleveland, we have a saying that if you don't like the weather, just wait 10 minutes and it will change.

I have heard this saying used when talking about the shift to Ohio's New Learning Standards/CCSS and  our Next Generation Assessments/ PARCC  Assessments.  Some people believe that if we just hang tight, that the education "weather" will change and we won't have to make any of these shifts.  I was a science teacher for a good chunk of my classroom career.  Weather is defined as the daily state of the local atmosphere - as measured by temperature, barometric pressure and precipitation.  Weather is variable and can change quickly.  The Cleveland weather analogy doesn't fit with what is happening in Ohio or in education across the US.  Global Climate Change would be a better match.  Climate changes slowly.  It is the average condition of temperature, precipitation and wind patterns in a large region over an extended period of time, beyond even a year.  Human behavior is impacting global climate change. Climate change is happening and we need to adjust accordingly to what the new "normal" is going to be.   

I think that PARCC and the CCSS are helping to shape Educational Climate Change.   Let's look at the components of Educational Climate - student knowledge, assessment of learning, and educational infrastructure and how we can begin to define the new "normal" in education.

 Student Knowledge
  • CCSS/Ohio's New Learning Standards are designed to allow students to work on mastering a more focused set of grade level standards.   By vertically aligning these standards preK -12 and into college/career training, teachers will not have to re-teach material from prior years - but instead will be able to build on prior learning. 
    •  Educational Climate Change 
      • The first few weeks of a course or grade level will be focusing on new material, not review of the prior year.
      • Lessons will be designed to allow students more time to practice and explore new knowledge/skills.  
      • Students will have opportunities to apply their knowledge to real world problems.
      • Lessons will focus on being able to read more complex materials -both fiction and informational.
      • Assignments will focus on writing argumentatively using text based evidence to support ideas across all content areas.
      • Reading will also center around  building vocabulary in context.
      • There will be a balance of learning content and learning thinking skills like problem solving, modeling, analyzing, and questioning skills
      • The use of technology to acquire knowledge, collaborate to build knowledge and to share knowledge. 
Assessment of Learning
  • PARCC is the consortium of 22 states working together to build assessments around the new standards. Through the process of Evidence Centered Design - assessments will be based on "claims" of what a student should be able to do - these claims come from the standards.  Assessment designers and classroom teachers can look at the "Claims" and come to consensus on what "Evidence" they will look for to show that a student can do what the standards claim they should be able to do/know.  Assessments will be designed to be a tool to "Gather the Evidence" that everyone agrees shows what a student knows/or can do.
    • Educational Climate Change
      • Increased use of Formative Assessments (assessment FOR learning)  to help teachers and student monitor progress towards meeting the "Claims". Done on a regular basis, not just at the end of a unit (Summative Assessment).
      • More use of "Growth Measures" to gather evidence of where a student starts in their learning - and where they finish over a given period of time.
      • Technology based assessment tools - that allow for interactive questions, the use of simulations and modeling, built in testing accommodations and engaging questions.
      • Assessment results that are more timely and more detailed.
      • A balance of End of Course tests that measure content knowledge and Performance Tasks that measure mathematical and English "practices" as well as how well a student can apply knowledge to real world scenarios or problems.
      • Shift away from "Teaching the the Test" and toward "Testing to the Teaching"  Assessments that are truly aligned to the standards - so that a teacher who is teaching and assessing in a classroom aligned to the standards should not have to take "time out" to practice for the new assessments.
Educational Infrastructure
  • As the Educational Climate changes, we need to also change the way we think about what "school" is and what tools students and teachers need to be effective learners together.  Ohio's Next Generation Assessments/PARCC and  CCSS/Ohio's New Learning Standards both are helping to define these new infrastructures.
    • Educational Climate Change
      • Blended Learning classrooms where students and teachers use a mix of face to face and web based learning.  This can be done on a small scale, within the context of an instructional unit or on a large scale  within the context of a course by using Learning Management Systems (LMS) to organize student assignment folders, threaded discussion boards, resources and collaborative work.
      • Traditional worksheets, practice workbooks and textbooks are now mixed with eBooks, student developed texts and supplemental materials pulled from a wide range of sources.
      • Teachers who now have a common set of standards not only within a state, but across state boundaries working within collaborative teams - in district and beyond their district using technology as a communication tool.
      • A progression of learning that spans not only the traditional k-12 environment but the preK- College/Career environment.
      • Learning opportunities for ALL students, no matter where they are on the learning continuum. 
      • More technology integrated into the daily learning process.  To quote Marc Prensky - "Assigning the tasks and not the tools." 
      • Data driven decision making with the ability for district and building teams to work together to decide what data is important, how to gather it, where to keep it and how to use it to impact student learning.
As the "winds of change" blow across our state, we can choose to run down into the storm cellar, close the shutters and hope that once the wind stops, we will emerge to find everything just the way it was before OR we can acknowledge that the winds are part of a larger climate change and begin to plan for how to continue to help students grow as learners in our new climate zone.   
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Friday, March 1, 2013

Another PARCC Postcard from Chicago

I want to thank the weather and the airlines for allowing me extra time to sit and process all of the new ideas and information I learned Wednesday at the PARCC ELC conference.  Actually, 4 hours of processing time.  Here are my take-aways from our second day of meetings:

Supporting GT and High Potential Learners In CCSS - Joyce Van Tassell-Baska
First, how exciting to be able to learn more about GT and CCSS from such a respected and knowledgeable presenter.
Take-aways:
1. Do not mistake differentiation for individualization.  Differentiation is specific to students who are functioning above or below grade level. Individualization is the idea that education should be tailored to meet the needs of every single child. This is a great concept, but few teachers can do it well. Differentiate by complexity, acceleration, depth and creativity.
2.  The ELA emphasis on analyze different genres of complex text and developing both written and oral arguments is a good fit for providing "stretch" for GT students.
3. We should consider talent trajectories, starting with the career path students might follow and working backwards to ensure they are developing the right skills/knowledge.

Resource - Books for the Gifted Child (Baskin and Harris) - out of print, but lots of used copies available on Amazon.com http://www.amazon.com/gp/offer-listing/0835214281/ref=dp_olp_used?ie=UTF8&condition=used


ELA and The PARCC Evidence Tables  Michelle StieBuckles (NMSI)
What a fun way to end the conference - having the chance to brainstorm ways to "remodel" units of instruction using the new Evidence Tables. These Evidence Tables will be available to the public soon! Watch for more info on these in the future.
Take-aways:
1. Use the Evidence Tables to help choose texts, plan units, write assessment aligned to standards. Do not go into the standards above or below your level - but you can use these to see where kids are heading.
2. Will be a great additional tool to use with the Tri-State Rubric columns on alignment/rigor and assessment.
3. We need to help teachers take an honest look at materials they are currently teaching to see if they are getting the most "bang for their buck" out of them.  May be perfectly awesome book or poem or article, but if it only hits on 1 or 2 standards, maybe there is something else that would accomplish the same purpose, but have more options for building learning opportunities.

Read my summary of the PARCC Updates and 6 Month Timeline at this link:
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1btiedDXkyRmmekD7mczqXqUsLvvtsbiilD_ahACWf6A/edit?usp=sharing



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Wednesday, February 27, 2013

A PARCC Postcard From Chicago

Hi Blog Friends,

Wind is whistling through the crack in my hotel window, snow has been coming down all day...this is February in Chicago.  Inside the O'Hare Hilton,  hot topics of discussion included updates on accommodations for students with disabilities, literacy in all content areas, using the Tri-state Rubric, supporting ELL students and using the standards and evidence tables for classroom instruction.  Since you all can't be here, let me share some "snapshots" from my day.

Can your students explain why literacy is important in their science classes? How do we help them see the importance of literacy and also of being scientifically literate?  Three take aways from this session:
1.  Science teachers ( math too) can use CLAIMS EVIDENCE  REASONING (CER) as a basic formula to help students write scientifically or mathematically with precision.
2. Students can have precision in their reading by using close reading strategies to help them access their textbook, lab procedures, research articles, narrative texts, and informational text.
3. Teachers need to model close reading and CER in science and math.

PARCC News You Can Use
Three take aways from our PARCC update session:
1. Additonal tech preparedness tool targeted to building principals and superintendents will be released in early March.  It will help with gap anlaysis, allow modeling of different scenarios and have additional info on testing windows ( with some flexibility for district start and end dates)
2. Available in April will be ELL draft policies, and Draft subject and grade level performance indicators will be available for public comment.
3. For HS on block scheduling, the EOC exams will be available at the end of semester 1 in the 2014-2015 school year.

Testing Accommodations for Students With Disabilities
Three take aways:
1. Currently doing cognitive research on how students with disabilities interact with PARCC like items. This will help with decision making on accommodations.
2. PARCC does not directly assess k-2 foundational reading skills, so, the 3-11 standards focus on reading independently and with comprehension. Audio text would meet this standard when appropriate.
3. The accommodations manual will be approved in June.

PARCC Lunchtime awesomeness:
Three take aways from my chance lunch encounter with Lydia Stack, former president of TESOL and  one of the writers of  the Framework for English Language Proficiency Development Standards corresponding to the CCSS and Next Generation Science standards.
1. Great ELL insights for teachers of Math, ELA and Science http://ell.stanford.edu/teaching_resources
2. Great VENN Diagram showing relationship of the standard "practices" in ELA, Math and Science
http://ell.stanford.edu/sites/default/files/VennDiagram_practices_FINAL_with%20citation_0.pdf
3. ELL research papers and videos  http://ell.stanford.edu/papers/practice

PARCC Assessment Limits in Evidence Tables...scholarly title for " how to decode the numbering/ cataloging system being used to help match "evidence" that will be " looked for" in the assessments with the original standard(s)
Three take aways:
1. There are two types of evidence standards...exact - a direct restatement of the standard and derived- a component of a standard that has been broken into smaller pieces for assessment.
2. Clarifications will be provided to help teachers see how it will be used on a grade level assessment. In some cases, multiple standards may be asssessed in one item (especially true on performance tasks)
3. On the 3rd grade math performance task, which is designed to assess students 75% of the way through the 3rd grade year, second grade major standards may be included to allow students to demonstrate a secure understanding of the standard and how it applies to 3rd grade work. This does NOT mean that 3rd grade teachers need to reteach 2 nd grade materials, only that they should be building on foundations laid in 2nd grade.
More from PARCC Chicago tomorrow!


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Thursday, January 31, 2013

A Playbook For Ohio Education Initiatives...Learning From the Super Bowl

This is Super Bowl Weekend.  Analysts have spent two weeks dissecting every possible factor that could impact the performance of either team in the big game.  Data has been analyzed, portrayed in charts, graphs and pictographs. Data has been talked about, diagrammed and shared via multiple social networks for others to comment on.  No one thinks that this is abnormal - in fact it is expected that the coaching staff from the contending teams would have gathered as much information as possible about the opposition's players, play calling, offensive performance, defensive packages, special team threats.   Commentators will share percentages on field goals made beyond 50 yards, 3rd down conversion rates...and on and on. Plays will be called based on evidence collected from past games.  There are very high expectations for player performance, growth targets are in place, the ability to shift plays on the fly to adjust to what is happening in the game is essential - hmmmm. This sounds very much like what we, as educators, should be doing to prepare for implementing Ohio's New Learning Standards, OTES and Ohio's Next Generation Assessments.  Maybe we need ESPN - Educational Shift Programming Network.

So, sit down with some wings, nachos and some pizza bites and lets look at how we can use evidence to help us prepare for 2014-2015...our Ohio "Big Game" year.

The best Defense Is A Good Offense
Evidence Centered Design is the process being used by PARCC to develop assessment tasks/items that will accurately measure a student's performance on a standard.   Based on the concept of "claims", teacher teams can discuss standards to come to agreement on what students will be expected to do - and a what level of rigor. From this, assessment items can be designed to collect the "evidence" that would be needed to prove that students can actually DO what they are expected to do - at the level we expected them to do it.    Once assessments are created, units and lessons can be designed to provide the supports students will need to get to the point that they will be successful on the assessment.  If all teachers would invest the time up-front in setting learning targets, understanding the expectations of the standards and building assessments - both formative and summative - to make sure students reach those targets - our test scores in 2014-2015 may not be as low as everyone is predicting.

Put Me In Coach..I Am Ready To Play
OTES is the new teacher evaluation system.  Professional Performance will be assessed using 10 categories, based on Ohio's Teacher Standards.   Teachers and Principals (or other credentialed observers) will be collecting evidence to support a rating of ineffective, developing, proficient or accomplished.  Teachers should spend time now going through the OTES rubric to begin to identify what they already do - or could tweak- in their professional practice that could be used as evidence in categories like "knowledge of students", "differentiation", "use of assessment data" and "use of resources"  Think about ways to organize your evidence - box, binder, pile on a bookshelf, electronic portfolio - whatever works for you.  Remember, the new OTES system is based on a collaborative relationship between the teacher and the evaluator - so be prepared!  Most teachers in the state will be rated "Proficient".  Proficient is a GOOD thing!

32 27 Chevy Blue Right Shift ...or if you are a Browns Fan - Red Right 88
 Like an NFL playbook, teachers build lesson/assessment plans for the year, based on evidence, to help all students to grow as learners and achieve long term learning goals. OTES also includes a Student Growth Measure evaluation component. Teacher teams have the opportunity to do  "pre-season" data analysis to set expectations based on levels of expected student performance.  State tests provide more data on past and predicted achievement. Throughout the school year, using formative assessments to gather evidence that students are on track and units designed to help students build understanding/skill, teachers coach their students through practice - and assessments - all preparing them for the final assessment of growth at the end of the year.   State Value Added Data is also a growth measure.  It is a detailed analysis of student past performance and projected future performance.  Value Added data uses NCEs (Normal Curve Equivalent) as an equal interval scale that lets researchers compare achievement over time.  Ohio will be using Value Added data as a required component of the OTES.  SLO plans are also an option for some teachers.  SLO plans give teachers the opportunity to assemble evidence of student growth based on locally developed growth measures.  Team discussions of "baseline" evidence, agreement on potential evidence of growth, rationale for tiered growth targets  - and how to accurately assess them will help all teachers and could be used to demonstrate "evidence of differentiation, use of assessment data and focus for learning", components of the OTES Teacher Rubric.

Show me the evidence...and start preparing now for the changes that will be implemented between now and 2014-2015....and enjoy the Super Bowl festivities this weekend! Maybe someday the Browns will make it to the game - given the right plays, the right coaching, the right supports...there is always next year.




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Tuesday, November 20, 2012

Assessment Literacy, SLOs and New Standards

Assessment is one of the main components of the educational shifts that are occurring in our district, our state and across the country -assessment of learning, formative assessment "for learning", growth measures, assessment of teacher effectiveness, Student Learning Objectives (SLOs), assessment of College and Career Readiness, and alignment of assessments to the rigor of the new standards.  Teachers, administrators, parents, students and community members need to become "Assessment Literate". 

  Let's start with what Assessment Literacy IS.  

 I did some searching and came up with three definitions for Assessment Literacy.  A good starting point for discussions with your own staff might be "Define Assessment Literacy" and see what they think!

 W.James Popham, in his 2009 blog post "Is Assessment Literacy the Magic Bullet" defines it as follows, "Assessment literacy is present when a person possesses the assessment-related knowledge and skills needed for the competent performance of that person’s responsibilities. 

 Rick Stiggins, in his 2001 book Student Involved Classroom Assessment, states that
 " those who know the meaning of assessment quality with all of its nuances and know that one is never justified in settling for unsound assessments are assessment literate. "

 The Standards for Teacher Competence In The Educational Assessments of Students, developed by the American Federation of Teachers, the National Education Assoc.,and the National Council on Measurement in Education in 1990, defines 7 areas where teachers should be able to demonstrate competency to be considered assessment literate.
  • Teachers should be skilled in choosing assessment methods appropriate for instructional decisions.
  • Teachers should be skilled in developing assessment methods appropriate for instructional decisions.  
  • The teacher should be skilled in administering, scoring and interpreting the results of both externally-produced and teacher-produced assessment methods.  
  • Teachers should be skilled in using assessment results when making decisions about individual students, planning teaching, developing curriculum, and school improvement.
  • Teachers should be skilled in developing valid pupil grading procedures which use pupil assessments.  
  • Teachers should be skilled in communicating assessment results to students, parents, other lay audiences, and other educators.  
  • Teachers should be skilled in recognizing unethical, illegal, and otherwise inappropriate assessment methods and uses of assessment information.
    •    
What does Assessment Literacy Look Like?
Teachers - Reference prior student knowledge when planning lessons. Tier lesson expectations to stretch all kids based on regularly collected formative assessment data. Develop summative assessments that accurately measure what the standards are asking the students to DO. Regularly use assessment data to help with the design of instructional units. Can explain to parents the steps necessary for their student to move forward on the learning path, using data they have gathered on the student. Can explain to administrators how data is used to guide student learning. Reads assessment data reports and can understand student growth and achievement on state or standardized assessments. Use technology as a part of their assessment plan.  Use effective feedback strategies to help students monitor their own learning.  Have a variety of assessment strategies to choose from that are appropriate to the skill or task to be assessed.

Students - Can explain where they are in their learning - and what they need to do to move forward. Know what their strengths and weaknesses are as learners and can use appropriate strategies to support their own learning. Have a set of strategies to use when asked to do a performance task, answer Evidence Based Selected Response Questions, or write an argument, synthesis or analysis. Can use assessment results to decide what they may still need to spend time mastering vs. items they may have missed because of a careless mistake.  Can utilize a variety of study strategies (metacognition) to help them "internalize" information and build knowledge.

Parents - Can explain where their children are in their learning and what can be done at school and at home to help move learning forward. Can talk with teachers about their student's strengths and weaknesses as a learner and what learning approaches may work best for their students. Can look at assessment results and understand what is being measured and how this measurement reflects their student's learning.

Community Members - Can look at assessment data reported in district newsletters or local new articles and understand how this reflects the learning environment being provided in their local schools. Can look at the "District Report Card" information shared by the ODE and understand the factors that go into assessing the district - and what influences each of those factors.



Resources
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Friday, October 26, 2012

Common Core State Standards for ALL Students

The COMMON in Common Core State Standards is not just referring to the fact that the majority of states in the US have adopted these standards for Math and English Language Arts.  Here in Ohio, where Ohio's New Learning Standards include not just the CCSS but also new standards in Science, Social Studies, Fine Arts, Business, Physical Education, Foreign Language and more, the expectation is that COMMON means for all students in all districts.   That's right, ALL students, no matter what their ability level, grade level, economic background, ethnic background or primary language.   The challenge for teachers is not only how to implement the new standards effectively ,focusing on text complexity, depth of learning, mastery of content, vocabulary development, fluency etc. but also making sure that all students are "stretched" as learners and show growth over a year. Wow.  In order to differentiate learning within a classroom to meet the needs of all students, teachers will need to focus on three things - Complexity of Content, Delivery of Content, and Assessment of Learning. 

COMPLEXITY
In any classroom, there will always be some students who could "take the test" on the first day of a unit, and pass it. Those students are showing mastery of grade level standards and need to be given opportunities to build deeper learning of the material.  As you design your lessons, consider how you can build "stretch" moments into the group discussions, small group activities and individual work.  Building deeper learning doesn't necessarily mean moving them forward along the continuum of learning for that particular standard - in other words, don't just give them work from the next grade level or your future units.  Instead, provide them with tasks that encourage them to learn and apply different strategies to solve a problem,  real world scenarios that require them to think about their knowledge differently or the chance to support peers.

On the other end of the learner spectrum are the students who are not able to begin working on the grade level mastery standard because they need additional supports, may be missing key pieces of knowledge, may be ELL or developmentally may not be ready to hit that " mastery" target.  Formative assessments are key to understanding where these students are in their learning.  As you design your lessons, consider how you can include "scaffolding" moments into the group discussions, small group activities and individual work.  Once you identify the starting point for learning for these students - you need to map out a path that will help them move toward success on the grade level standard.  They may need modified materials, extra "scoops" of instruction, different kinds of practice activities and the chance to learn from "think out -louds", peer modeling and model materials/manipulatives.

For that big group in the middle, you also need to map out their path to mastery of your grade level standards. Evidence Centered Design is a great starting point for thinking about lesson design. Start with the learning targets and identify what it is that students need to DO. Decide what you would be able to circle, highlight, point to or observe in their work that will show you  that they can DO it.  Now, focus on building a lesson or series of lessons that will get them to the point that they can DO it.  Consider  lesson pacing, how to include a variety of activities, how to provide effective modeling, when and how to insert feedback that helps them to move their learning forward, scaffolding, and how to build in chances to make connections to real world scenarios. Look for materials that offer grade appropriate text complexity and will help them to build understanding of key content vocabulary.

DELIVERY
How do students build knowledge in your classroom?  During lessons that are teacher driven, are you providing written and oral directions?  Are your directions clear and easy to follow? Do you have consistent procedures in place in your classroom that help students transition from one activity to the next within the lesson.  Lessons that are student driven also need structure. What kind of lesson framework do you have in place that would allow students to anticipate what will happen during a lesson?  Are the resources that you are providing to the students appropriate for the rigor of the standard? Is there more than one way for them to access the material (think eBooks, audio books, hands-on materials, visual prompts) What are you doing to achieve a balance between teacher centered delivery of materials and student centered acquisition of knowledge (independent reading, computer research, group work, peer sharing)

ASSESSMENT OF LEARNING
"One size fits all" strategies for assessing progress towards mastering a standard won't work in our diverse classrooms.  Evidence Centered Design is a useful way to look at designing assessments. Take a look at the learning targets or objectives for your unit. Once you know WHAT a student needs to DO and have identified what this DOING looks like, you can build authentic assessments.  Think about what EVIDENCE you can collect to point back to the "DOING". Formative assessments might include simple "thumbs up or thumbs down" quick checks, entry and exit cards or keeping a checklist during group discussions or small group observations. Summative assessments may be computer based, may be portfolio or project based or may be adapted to offer students some choice in how they will be assessed.  Be flexible.  Some students may not be able share "what they know" in the same ways as the larger group.  Think about how these students CAN communicate, rather than focusing on the can't.  Utilize clickers, picture cues, computer aided communication, modeling and drawing instead of writing or offering a scribe as ways to help these students share their learning with you and their peers.   For some students with Severe Cognitive Disabilities, you may be assessing them along a grade band of standards or by using the "essence" of the standard. ( See - Ohio Academic Content Standards - extended)

As our state shifts to using the new Ohio Teacher Evaluation System (OTES) teachers must become more attuned to making sure all students are showing growth.  By planning  how we are differentiating by complexity, delivery and assessment, we can make sure to meet the needs of all our students.


RESOURCE INFO

Evidence Centered Design
This is the process that PARCC is using to design the Next Generation Assessments for Math and ELA.  It starts with "CLAIMS" - very broad statements about what learners should be able to do.  From the claims - Teachers can identify "what can be circled, highlighted, pointed to, listened for, demonstrated" that show that the student is doing what the claim states. Then, teachers decide what EVIDENCE will be collected to prove this. Lesson plans can be developed that will make sure the students have the necessary learning opportunities to ultimately DO what the claim states.  In a classroom setting - the claims can be Learning Targets or Unit Objectives...or SLOs!
CLAIMS 




 Ohio's Academic Content Standards - extended 
These were initially designed to be a guide for students who would be using the state Alternative Assessment, but the grade band vertical alignment, the essence of the standard (think enduring understandings) and the "continuum of complexity" also makes a great starting point for thinking about how to differentiate by complexity in a diverse classroom.






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