More Flexibility for Teacher Collaboration in IDTs

Today, our system-wide Assessment & Data Teams Committee had an excellent meeting.  The agenda centered on making effective use of the data provided by our new AAA software.  Joe Apicella led us through excellent examples of the ways in which teachers can use AAA to write a wider variety SMART goals.

The DTL will be offering small-group training sessions for teachers nominated by principals on this topic.  We hope that this technology will facilitate teachers' aligning instruction to the needs of students as defined by our assessments.

Joe prepared an excellent HANDOUT for the meeting and I recommend it to all instructional data teams.

Differentiated Learning in Ansonia

Hello Ansonia,

I'm excited to announce that our system-wide Curriculum & Instruction Committee (chaired by Sherrod McNeil) has made some significant progress regarding our work on Differentiated Learning for all students.  As you know, differentiation is an important part of our District Improvement Plan and is not a new initiative for us.  Many Ansonia teachers differentiate instructional practices on a daily basis.

The Committee has decided that Ansonia's definition of Differentiated Learning will be the "Five Non-negotiables" from Carol Tomlinson, an internationally renowned expert on the topic.  We believe that you will find these five concepts to be clear, concise, and practical while also finding examples in your current practice.  Tomlinson has a knack for taking this complex idea and expressing it in a no-frills way that connects with educators.  She is humble, contrite, and very reflective.

The Tomlinson Five Non-Negotiables of Differentiated Learning are:

• A supportive learning environment
• Continuous assessment
• High-quality curriculum
• Respectful tasks
• Planned, flexible grouping

In the following video, the Non-Negotiables are discussed starting at minute 20.  However, the entire video is excellent and well worth your time.

The whole committee and administration agree that many of our teachers are already implementing one or all of these tenets.  However, by choosing this model, it will give us a common vocabulary with which to collaborate, share our successes, and reflect on our struggles.  In the coming months, all Ansonia teachers will become very familiar with the 5 Non-negotiables.

At our January 27, 2012 PD day, teachers will enter an important phase in our implementation of Differentiated Learning.  Each grade-level or content-area team will choose an instructional methodology that they feel is relevant to their work and that fulfills the Non-Negotiables.  There are many, many methods that can fulfill these tenets: literature circles; flexible grouping by learning style, flexible grouping by readiness level, structured student choice in format of demonstrations, and many more.  These chosen methodologies will be the focus of ongoing in-school discussions and development opportunities.

Please do not hesitate to contact the DTL with your questions or thoughts.

Data Team Effectiveness!

Hello Ansonia!  Carol Merlone and I had a chance to visit a few data teams at Mead and Prendergast today.  These weren't walk-through's, per se.....more like stop-in's.  We saw excellent examples of teachers collaboratively using data to adapt instruction to meet the needs of students.  We came away with a new level of confidence in your efforts and work together.

Connected to this topic, there were several positive comments about the new AAA software and some questions as well.  If you haven't already reviewed the quick-start documents, I think you'll find them easy to use and helpful.  Most notably, the new CFA Roster Growth Report will be particularly useful in getting ready for data team meetings.  Links to these documents are below.

All teachers in K-6 are currently using AAA.  In grades 7-9 it's currently being piloted in English and Mathematics.  If funding allows, it will be rolled out to more grades and content area.

Quick-Start Guide for K-6
Quick-Start Guide for 7-9
CFA Roster Growth Report for K-6
CFA Roster Growth Report for 7-9

Student Performance on Pre-CFAs and Fall Benchmark

Hello All,

I wanted to take a moment to communicate with you directly regarding some feedback we’ve heard about the first set of pre-CFAs and benchmarks that students have taken this month.  Several teachers from across the grade-span have posed concerns about students not doing well and “struggling” with these assessments.

I ask that you please bear in mind that the pre-CFAs measure a unit of learning before instruction has occurred.  So, these are not assessments in which we should expect all students to do well.  Instead, their use is that of a diagnostic for the teacher…to discern what instruction is needed and where less emphasis is warranted.  Please explain this to your students so as to reduce their anxiety.  If most of your students are scoring well on a pre-CFA, the DTL needs to know about this because it may indicated that the CFA is not rigorous or perhaps there is a strong overlap in the curriculum from previous years.  The pre-CFA should spark conversations between the teacher and individual students about learning needs and areas of strength.  The pre-CFA is then used to show growth against the post-CFA at the end of each instructional unit.

The approach is similar with the Fall benchmark.  The Fall benchmark is essentially a pre-assessment for the whole year of instruction.  These assessments measure content and skills for the whole school year to come.  The Fall benchmarks provide diagnostic information for the teacher similar to the pre-CFAs, but on a larger, more general scale.  Again, we ask that you communicate this to your students to reduce their anxiety.  Like the CFAs, the benchmarks should be discussed with the students as identifiers of learning to be accomplished in the coming days/units.  The Fall benchmark serves as a baseline against which to show growth on the Winter and Spring administrations.

These assessments are an example of a type of assessment that is relatively new to our profession.  For ages we have been conducting assessments of learning.  However, the pre-CFAs and the Fall benchmarks are assessments for learning that is to come.  For this reason, student performance on pre- or mid-CFAs and the Fall/Winter benchmarks should not count as a grade in the teacher’s gradebook.  Post-CFAs and the Spring benchmark may be used as a grade at the discretion of the school administrator and teacher.

Thanks for your time in reading this and please do not hesitate to contact your building administrator, lead teacher, IRC or the DTL with any questions.

Tony

An excellent personal story about cultural differences

Bridget, Mike and I had a chance to attend a seminar on multicultural education this summer.  One of the excellent resources we used was this TED video.  It is well worth 20 minutes of your time.

TED VIDEO

Very neat video!

The call-to-arms type of video has become familiar to us in public education.  Lots of people have made convincing video presentations about the ways in which our profession needs to change and advance.  This is another in that genre but I think the mode of presentation is particularly unique.  Thanks to Betty T. for passing it along.

http://www.schooltube.com/video/2cb4889891b0c637f8f8/RSA-Animate-Changing-Education-Paradigms

Classroom Walk-through's for 2011-2012

The new school year is off to a great start.  It's great to see the enthusiasm on the faces of the students, teachers, and administrators.  Tomorrow, Carol and I will begin our executive walk-through's.  These will mostly take the same form as last year...with one key difference.  This year we will do a mix of announced and unannounced visits.  We want to give Ansonia teachers a chance to show off their talents.  It's not likely that when we visit a school that we'll get into every classroom.  Last year we did a total of 102 visits and we want to meet or exceed that number this year.

The protocol we'll use remains largely unchanged since last year. We're still focusing on the observance of Effective Teaching Strategies, middle- and higher-order thinking skills, and student-centered learning activities.  Our focus remains unchanged because we continue to center our attention on our three-year district improvement plan.

Thanks,
Tony

Summer Leadership Institute: Resources

Resources for the CAS Summer Leadership Institute are available at the following links:

Handout

PowerPoint

Where did the school year go?

Unbelievably, the school year is over.  Thanks to all teachers and staff for their efforts in making a difference for Ansonia's kids.  Here's the last newsletter of the year from the desk of the Assistant Superintendent.

We're Not Making This Stuff Up!

As we close Teacher Appreciation Week, I'd like to extend my thanks to all Ansonia teachers for their daily efforts on behalf of the community's children.  We know and understand the fact that teaching here can be more challenging and provides less monetary reward when compared with some other Connecticut school districts.  Your talents and dedication are recognized by all of us.  In my short time here, I've seen teachers continue to grow in their ability to collaborate and make effective, data-informed decisions about teaching and learning.

I wanted to use this post to help re-ground myself (and perhaps you as well) in the fact that our system-wide initiatives and methodologies are not flights of fancy or any one person's opinion on what schools should be doing.  Thanks to CALI, we have gotten training in some of the most up-to-date and solidly supported methods for improving curriculum, instruction, assessment, and collaboration.  The research done by the Leadership and Learning Center is international in its scope and outlines what works best for schools of all types.

I'd encourage you to view some of the videos found at the link below.  You will see that, while we continue to grow and improve, we are working toward the faithful implementation of practices that have been scientifically shown to improve learning for all students...making the professional work of teachers more rewarding in the process.

Again, I thank you for your work and hope that you enjoy some of these short video clips from Dr. Doug Reeves.

Tony.

Click the link to see the menu of videos.  VIDEO LIBRARY LINK:
In particular I recommend these topics:

• "Transforming a System:  The Norfolk Story" - near the bottom of the page, School Improvement Category
• All of the videos in the 90-90-90 Schools category
• "Getting Accountability Right"
• Both videos in the Assessment category
• All of the Instruction category

Congratulations, Larry DiPalma!

Congratulations to Larry DiPalma, Principal of Prendergast School, on being named the Connecticut Elementary School Principal of the Year!  We're all proud of you!

Valley Independent Sentinel Article

Science Resources

Here are some great science resources passed on by Liz B. at the CSDE.

Below are a few exciting ideas for motivating students to learn science. Please share with colleagues who may be inspired!

·        Unexpected Motivational Payoffs of Science Competitions: http://www.edweek.org/ew/articles/2011/04/06/27is-competitions.h30.html?tkn=MVNFB77Dh6k1V9WY0T3O5SjOqr7Uz6zY1FkM&cmp=clp-sb-ascd

·        One example of project-based learning in science: http://thejournal.com/articles/2011/04/06/high-school-students-to-launch-stratosphere-mission.aspx

·        School vegetable gardens teach about plants, soils and nutrition: http://www.foodsafetynews.com/2011/04/school-gardens-created-under-new-usda-project/

·        K-12 teachers interested in learning about meteorology and using real data in the classroom should read more about on-line/in-person credit-bearing courses developed for teachers by the American Meteorological Society. The program is called “DataStreme” (http://www.ametsoc.org/amsedu/DataStremeFrames.html), and the Connecticut course leader is Jim Backus,jbackus8746@charter.net.

Meet the Artists: Ansonia Senior Center

The AHS Culinary and Art students did a great job putting on a fabulous event for our senior citizens on Thursday, March 24th.  Lots of great food and fantastic art on display.

Where in Ansonia....

Can you identify where this photo was taken?

Unity of Purpose in Our Practices

Here in the Department of Teaching and Learning, in collaboration with our system-wide committees, we have been putting a lot of thought into making our curriculum, assessment, and data team practices more unified.  Our goal is to provide teachers and students with a sense of purpose and rhythm as they progress through the year's curriculum.  To this end, we have begun to restructure how our curriculum documents and assessment documents function and the schedule on which they will be implemented.  The objective is to make our CFAs, benchmarks, and curriculum documents all synchronize with the data team process.  Below you'll find a few documents that explain what we're working on.

Because our data team schedule is roughly based on calendar months, we'll be reorganizing our curriculum pacing guides to align with this.  In order to do this, we studied how many "instructional days" are in each month for the coming school year.  We defined an instructional day as a day in which teaching time was available.  In other words, an early-release school day equals approximately 0.5 of an instructional day.  This was enlightening to see how different the months can be in this respect:  Analysis document at this LINK.

We want to ensure that teachers, students, and parents can easily understand they ways in which CFAs help to guide and assess learning.  We also want to have a clear and simple connection between CFAs and benchmark assessments - showing that CFAs are the discrete building blocks upon which the benchmarks are built.  To this work, we've added a new and exciting grade-level capstone assessment.  Our district improvement plan states that we should be doing regular performance assessments, but it has been unclear how to implement this without taking away large amounts of instructional time.  We will begin to develop interdisciplinary performance assessments for each grade/content area.  Students will be asked to integrate the learning from a year's study to demonstrate that they have internalized the curriculum.  A conceptual model of how all of this will work together is available HERE.

Another exciting development is our continued growth in the implementation of instructional data teams.  We believe that, in a gradual-release model, Ansonia teachers are ready to move to the "we do" stage of implementing data teams.  By this we mean that we have the talent and are ready to take on more responsibility for facilitating our own meetings.  Our colleagues from ACES have been instrumental in our growth in this area.  Now it's time for us to take on the reins with continued support from ACES.  THIS document explains our plan for 2011-2012.

The Worth of Homework

Education.com recently published another article by Mike W., our Math & Science Coordinator:

http://www.education.com/reference/article/homework-why-do-it/?nocache

Khan Academy. WOW! Tons of Math, Physics, and History Resources.

Thanks to our ACES colleague, Emily F., for passing this along.  This could really be an incredible resource for high school teachers and students.
Khan Academy (http://www.khanacademy.org/) is a gigantic library of YouTube lectures and practice activities on an incredibly broad range of mathematical, scientific, and some historical topics.


In this TED video, he talks about an idea that I like a lot:  (http://www.ted.com/talks/salman_khan_let_s_use_video_to_reinvent_education.html).  Ask students to view the lecture for homework (at home or in the school library).  This allows class time to be more focused on guided and independent practice for the students while the teacher is there to help.


Even better, it seems that all of the videos are available for download, so if you're afraid that you won't be able to access YouTube in your classroom, download the video to a flash drive and bring it with you.

Tons and tons of examples of practical applications of Effective Teaching Strategies.

Thanks to Mike W. for passing on the following resources.  Lots to explore and lots to offer.


http://www.districtadministration.com/viewarticle.aspx?articleid=297

http://www.middleweb.com/MWLresources/marzchat1.html


www.uhseport.net/published/k/sh/kshaw/​collection/1/25/


http://www.iobservation.com/Marzano-Suite/

http://station05.qc.ca/css/cybersite/reach-out/strategies/TEACHING.htm

http://instructionaltech.org/online-resources/technology-support-for-high-yield-strategies/

http://www.schools.manatee.k12.fl.us/3160MARZANO/3160marzano/

http://www.smyser.org/ourpages/professional_development/2008-9%20Professional%20Development/The%20Art%20and%20Science%20of%20Teaching%20Professional%20Development%20PowerPoint.pdf

http://www.netc.org/focus/strategies/prov.php

http://www.sbac.edu/~include/documents/ACPSstrategies7-24draft.pdf

http://www.docstoc.com/docs/33118785/Marzanos-High-Leverage-Strategies

http://t4.jordan.k12.ut.us/professional_development/strategies/

http://www.ellingtonpublicschools.org/emslibrary/21stCenturyTechnologyandMarzano.htm

http://franklincountyschools.k12tn.net/Show%20Me%20the%20Strategies.htm

http://pdonline.ascd.org/pd_online/assessment/el200402_strong.html

http://www.meade.k12.sd.us/PASS/Pass%20Adobe%20Files/March%202007/SummarizingStrategies.pdf

Where in Ansonia...

More free Math Resources

From Mike W.: Here are a couple links for some good math practice activities - most appropriate for K-4.

www.mathnook.com

www.edupup.com

Quick Great Ideas from Fran A.

Making predictions and inferences before or during reading:

Provide students with key words (new vocab or not) from a text/topic and have students categorize the words under (setting, character, conflict),  (cause and effect) etc.  Thereafter have students use the words they have categorized to write 1-2 quick sentences about their predictions/inference about the text or topic. One of the sentences has to answer "why" the student feels his/her prediction/inference may be valid.  Provide no more than 6-8 words. This strategy can be applied in small groups or individually. Can this be done with selected sentences from a text? hhhmmmm

Please share your comments with us all and don't hesitate to send me your Quick Great Ideas!

Where in Ansonia is Tony Gasper?

Our first edition of a new feature on the blog....  Do you recognize the picture below?  Can you identify the source of the photo?  Do you know where it can be found?

Great Elementary Math Links

Thanks to Mike W. for passing on the following links for elementary math practice:

http://www.mathplayground.com/howto_regroupI.html

http://www.eduplace.com/math/mw/background/2/05/

http://www.homeschoolmath.net/worksheets/grade_2.php

http://www.dositey.com/2008/index.php?page=free_activities&sub=k2&subsub=m&sub_3=addition

The Common Core Is Coming!

It's likely that many of you have already heard about the Common Core States Standards (CCSS).  In essence, it is an effort to standardize learning expectations for all students on a national scale.  A lot of work has gone into developing these standards for language arts and mathematics and more content areas are on the way.  The Connecticut State Department of Education has tentatively said that our own CMT/CAPT tests will have a new iteration by the year 2014 or 2015 that will be based on the Common Core rather than Connecticut's own current standards.  So, in other words, moving to the CCSS is inevitable.  Here at the Department of Teaching and Learning we are in the initial stages of learning about the CCSS and planning for our transition over to these new standards.  You can find a general overview of the CCSS project and the standards HERE.

The CSDE has already begun a mapping process by which they've developed "crosswalk" documents to compare our current standards to the Common Core.  The good news is that Connecticut is in very good shape.  Most of our standards are either on or ahead of the grade level of the Common Core.  There are, though, several areas that will need adjustment.  You can find the CSDE work HERE.

I strongly encourage everyone to visit THIS SITE in which a full spectrum of curriculum has been developed in line with the new CCSS.  Even if you are not an ELA teacher, these curriculum maps are very informative and well developed.

Thanks for reading and enjoy your long weekend!

Great PD Videos and Resources from Ontario

At this link, you'll find a wealth of resources and videos from Ontario, Canada.  The topics vary from guided reading to algebra across grades K-6.  This is laid out in a way very similar to the Doing What Works website from the US Department of Education that I've referenced here before.  Definitely worth a few minutes of your time to explore.

Ontario On-line Teaching Resource

Excellent Description of Cooperative Learning

Thanks to Sara C. for passing along this page that does a great job of outlining cooperative learning in terms that are very clear and very easily applicable:

Prince George County:  Cooperative Learning Page

Validation: Data Team Process in Ansonia

Here is more great information from the federal Doing What Works website.  I hope that you'll take the time to view a few of the slideshows and videos found at the link below.  I think that you will see that our practices in Ansonia are very closely tied to those that are depicted and thus very strongly tied to research about how schools improve learning for all students.  We have much work left to do, but we're on the right track and continually improving our professional practice.  After seeing the videos, I recommend that you also click on the "Learn What Works" and "Do What Works" links to gain more information.

D.W.W. Videos on Data Teams

Black History Month Videos

I know that teachers may have trouble getting to YouTube through our web filters, but these are worth a look from home if necessary.  Thanks to Terri G. for passing them along!

• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WDt6bPEg4Fk  4:41 min Black inventors part 1 
• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tMtdWeiVeAI  4:48 min Black inventors part 2 
• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TTGHLdr-iak  4:54 min Brown v. Board of education
• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U8-GzX4Jz_w  5:41 min Blacks and their role in the Civil War

Re-imagining Math Curriculum, Instruction and Assessment

If you've never heard of TED before, it's a great website containing videos of conference presentations by some of the world's most renowned experts and lesser-known people alike.  Here's a great talk by a high school math teacher who specializes in working with lower-level students.

TED math video link

Higher-order Thinking Across Many Grades

Here's a great page from the Doing What Works federal resource.  This page has several videos demonstrating ways to get students thinking more deeply at a variety of grades.  The videos show teachers, students, and experts explaining how to make instruction more engaging by asking students to think more deeply.  Please take note of the resources and planning tools at the bottom right, under the video links.  Also, click on the "Learn What Works" tab in the upper menu bar to get more info.

HOTS Across the Grades

Believe it or not...... An Incredible Resource from the Feds!

In the coming weeks, I'll be making several posts to this blog highlighting resources that can be found at http://www.dww.ed.gov/.  The Doing What Works website is an incredible collection of examples, videos, interviews, and resources for the classroom and administrator's office.  If you're a fellow edu-geek and really enjoy learning more about our craft, take a look around.  The most impressive part of this compilation is that all of it is thoroughly supported by a very strong research base.  This is not a collection of one person's ideas or recommendations.  Each recommended practice is proven.  The research base can be found at http://www.ies.ed.gov/ncee/wwc/

If you currently happen to be pursuing a graduate degree in instruction, curriculum, or educational leadership, these two sites should prove very useful to you!

Video of ETS in the classroom

Here's an interesting example of a co-taught third grade classroom.  This is a quick view of two teachers integrating collaborative learning groups and setting objectives & providing feedback.  While the activity itself is not extremely rigorous, the reflection that students are asked to complete at the end is key to the lesson's effectiveness.  Video Link

Lots of Math & Science Resources

At the link below, you'll find a document containing a wide variety of math and science resources.  These websites offer interactive practice and games that you may find useful.  Thanks, Mike W.!

Document Link