1. Supporting LASS High Schools Session # 6 LEADERSHIP & CONTENT LITERACY Lakeshore Alliance for Student Success, Inc. Edward Schoenfelt, Executive Director 56 S. Washington Street, Ste. 302 Valparaiso, IN 46383-5565 Wednesday, October 7, 2009 9:00 a.m. CST

2. Principal - LEADERSHIP R e v i e w  Purposeful visits to classroom when you are out and about  5 Cs of School Leadership –communication, -clarity, -consistency, -conviction and -cohesiveness.  Use this stump speech when you can Complete these phrases Here is what I believe is important in our school… My leadership will focus on … When I say “instruction, “ I mean… Here are some key indicators that we will concentrate on… My role in this school is … Your role in this school is…

3. Principal – FOCUS this year 1 – ECA Algebra and English 2 – Attendance Rates 3 - Discipline Infractions 4 - Participation Numbers 5 - Safe Learning Climate 6 - Quarterly Assessments 7 - Relationships

4. Teacher LEADERSHIP  What Instruction is being used at school?  What tools and strategies do teachers use to ensure they are delivering quality instruction?  How are we helping each student achieve to his of her potential?  How do we encourage student to get to know us and we get to know them?  What are our goals and how do we monitor them?  How do we define, evaluate, encourage, and talk about good teaching?  Allow time to collaborate with fellow teachers

5. Continuous Improvement Team  Driven by an agenda at each meeting  Report actions taken in meeting  Share data (What does the data mean?)  Build relationships by sharing accomplishments and failures  Admit mistakes  Drive the plan w/ supportive riders  Innovative Education

6. Stay on message LEADERSHIP

7. Content Literacy in the High School Some Background on the Problem Why do we need to pay attention to literacy in the content areas? The most recent National Assessment of Educational Progress Reading Report Card (Donahue et al., 2003) shows, for example, that while general test scores have improved over the last several years, very few young people in the United States read at proficient or advanced levels. While most can decode and answer basic comprehension questions, few can synthesize ideas, interpret information, or critique ideas offered In texts, particularly when working with expository texts. What’s more, being literate in a content area has implications that extend beyond the ability to make meaning from or about a content-area text. Advanced or specialized forms of literacy serve as tools for and signifiers of both school and social success, and thus can be considered important tools for gaining or denying access to opportunities for economic, political, and social success beyond school.

8. Each of these points underscores the need for a focus on literacy learning beyond the primary grades and beyond the discipline of English language arts. Content area texts Make unique demands on readers, and the best people to teach how to read and write Content area texts are those who are expert in the disciplines themselves. The exhortation to integrate literacy instruction into the various content areas of the secondary schools (HS) is not new. Since the early 1900s, educational practitioners, researchers, and policy makers have grappled with questions about the role of instruction in reading and writing in the secondary school (HS). Although more Recently researchers have turned to questions about the role that literacy plays in the in and out-of-school lives of adolescents, questions about Integrating literacy instruction into the secondary content areas have not been forgotten. Indeed, recent state and federal policy initiatives suggest renewed attention to the school-based literacy skills of youth, making questions about the integration of literacy into the content areas of the secondary school more salient now than ever before.

9. Integrating Literacy E. B. Moje 2006 Questions about the struggle to integrate the teaching and learning of literacy into the content areas of the secondary school (HS) beg the question what it means to talk about literacy. Does literacy simply refer to the cognitive processes of decoding, comprehending, encoding, and composing informational print texts? Or is literacy something more complex? In particular, what does it mean to engage in literate practice in content areas or disciplines? A re-conceptualized view of content-area literacy suggests that a person who has learned deeply in a content area can use a variety of representational forms—most notably reading and writing of written texts, but also oral language, visual images, music, and art

10. to communicate their learning, to synthesize ideas across texts and across groups of people, to express new ideas, and to question and challenge ideas held dear in the content areas and in broader spheres. With these arguments for the value of integrating literacy into the secondary content areas, it seems odd that secondary schools and teacher education programs have not been more successful in developing integrated secondary literacy programs. A small, but stable, research base in content literacy exists; teachers and administrators are aware of the need to do something different in secondary school classrooms; and teacher educators are generally committed to teacher education around content literacy. Why, then, the failure to integrate literacy teaching into the content areas in any widespread or sustained fashion?

11. Inform Decisions Through - Data Systems PICK ONE THING!!! This presentation will focus on high school writing!

12. SAMPLE QUESTIONS: 1. Life of Henry V: Act IV, Scene III, Open Response question Explain how the excerpt shows that the king is an effective leader. Use relevant and specific information from the excerpt to support your answer. (The question is looking for language and style analysis, not simply content). 2. Excerpt from Don Quixote, Open Response question Explain how the author creates a humorous tone in the excerpt. Use relevant and specific information from the excerpt to support your answer. (The question is looking for language analysis, not simply content).

13. Communicating the Focus: Interdisciplinary discussion groups reviewing our drafts: In each of the four areas of Reading, Writing, Speaking and Reasoning, have we included what is required for students to be successful in your class/your content area? Is the skill stated clearly so that all teachers and students can understand it? Is the skill applicable to ALL content areas?

14. A High School Approach

15. CONTENTFORM 8  Response contains a clear thesis and insightfully answers all parts of the question.  Response provides relevant and specific textual evidence.  Explanations of evidence are clear and accurate, and demonstrate superior understanding of the material. 4  Response contains sophisticated and effective use of transitions and strategic repetition indicating complete control of the material.  Response is logically and effectively organized in its thesis, paragraphing, and sequencing of examples.  Response contains clear sentence structure with few or no errors. 6  Response contains a clear thesis and adequately answers all parts of the question.  Response provides relevant but general textual evidence.  Explanations of evidence are mostly clear and accurate, and demonstrate good understanding of the material. 3  Response contains adequate but simplistic use of transitions and strategic repetition.  Response is organized in its thesis, paragraphing, and sequencing of examples.  Response contains clear sentence structure with no distracting errors. LEGIBILITY 1  Easy to read 0  Difficult to read 4  Response contains a thesis but only partially answers the question.  Response provides a mix of accurate and inaccurate textual evidence.  Explanations of evidence are vague and/or demonstrate limited understanding of the material. 2  Response contains some inappropriate use of transitions and strategic repetition.  Response demonstrates lapses in the organization of its thesis, paragraphing, and/or sequencing of examples.  Response contains lapses in sentence structure that interfere with the clarity of thought. 2  Response contains a thesis but only minimally answers the question.  Response provides insufficient and/or largely inaccurate textual evidence.  Explanations of evidence are unclear and/or demonstrate minimal understanding of the material. 1  Response contains incorrect or inadequate use of transitions and strategic repetition.  Response reflects minimal organization of its thesis, paragraphing, and/or sequencing of examples.  Response contains major errors in sentence structure. LENGTH 1  Sufficient 0  Insufficient 0  Response is incorrect.  Response contains insufficient evidence to show understanding of the material.  Response is off-topic and/or contains irrelevant content. 0  Response contains no evidence of transitions and strategic repetition.  Response reflects no organization.  Response contains little to no evidence of sentence structure. Evaluated by: Self Peer Teacher (Circle One) SCORING 13-14 = Advanced 11-12 = Proficient 8-10 = Needs Improvement 0-7 = Failing

16. For our HS: What gets monitored is what gets done!!! Collection and review of student work Structured portfolios for all students with IEPs and for all second language learners

17. Improving Student Academic Achievement: Addressing needs of special populations: 9 TH Grade STUDY SKILLS LESSONS FOLLOWING LITERACY OBJECTIVES Reading: Active reading strategies - Previewing a text – Using visuals to preview a chapter Writing: Note-taking – Summarizing (formal language vs. text) Speaking: Street talk vs. school talk – speaking in complete sentences – Listening Reasoning: Time management, Organizational strategies, Study strategies

18. The Cornell Note-Taking System  Forty years ago, Walter Pauk (1989) developed what is known as the Cornell note taking technique to help Cornell University students better organize their notes. Today, Pauk's note taking technique is probably the most widely used system throughout the United States. Pauk outlines six steps in the Cornell note taking system: 1 Record Simply record as many facts and ideas as you can in the six-inch column. Do not be concerned with getting every word down that the lecturer says or with writing your notes grammatically correctly. Learn to write telegraphic sentences or a streamlined version of the main points of the lecture by leaving out unnecessary words and using only key words. To ensure that your notes make sense weeks later, after the lecture is over, fill in blanks or make incomplete sentences complete. 2 Reduce (or question) After you read through your notes, your next step is to reduce important facts and ideas to key words or phrases, or to formulate questions based on the facts and ideas. Key words, phrases, and questions are written in the narrow column left of the six-inch column. The words and phrases act as memory cues so that when you review them, you will recall the ideas or facts. The questions help to clarify the meanings of the facts and ideas. 3Recite Recitation is a very powerful process in the retention of information. Reciting is different from rereading in that you state out loud and in your own words the facts and ideas you are trying to learn. It is an effective way to learn because hearing your thoughts helps you to sharpen your thinking process; and stating ideas and facts in your own words challenges you to think about the meaning of the information. When reciting, cover up your notes in the six-inch column, while leaving the cue words and questions uncovered and readily accessible. Next, read each key word or question, then recite and state aloud, in your own words, the information. If your answer is correct, continue on through the lecture by reciting aloud.

19. 4Reflect Reflection is pondering or thinking about the information you have learned. Reflecting is a step beyond learning note content. It reinforces deeper learning by the relating of facts and ideas to other learning and knowledge. Questions like the following enhance reflecting: How do these facts and ideas fit into what I already know? How can I apply them? How is knowing this important? What is the significance of these facts and ideas? 5Review The way to prevent forgetting is to review and recite your notes frequently. A good guideline to follow is to review your notes nightly or several times during the week by reciting, not rereading. Brief review sessions planned throughout the semester, perhaps weekly, will aid more complete comprehension and retention of information than will cramming the day before a test. It will cut on stress too! 6Recapitulate The recapitulation or summary of your notes goes at the bottom of the note page in the two-inch block column. Taking a few minutes after you have reduced, recited, and reflected to summarize the facts and ideas in your notes will help you integrate your information. The summary should not be a word-for-word rewriting of your notes. It should be in your own words and reflect the main points you want to remember from your notes. Reading through your summary(ies) in preparation for an exam is a good way to review.  There are three ways to go about summarizing:  Summarize each page of notes at the bottom of each page.  Summarize the whole lecture on the last page.  Do both 1 and 2, in combination.

20. A note student page example 2 Reduce or Question (After Lecture) Write key words, phrases or questions that serve as cues for notes taken in class cue phrases and questions should be in your own words 3 Recite With classroom notes covered, read each key word or question recite the fact or idea brought to mind by key word or question 1 Record (During Lecture) write down facts and ideas in phrases use abbreviations when possible (After Lecture) read through your notes 4 & 5 Fill in blanks and make scribbles more legible 4 & 5. Reflect and Review review your notes periodically by reciting think about what you have learned 6 Recapitulation (After Lecture) summarize each main idea use complete sentences

21. References  Moje, E. B., Peek-Brown, D., Sutherland, L. M., Marx, R. W., Blumenfeld, P., & Krajcik, J. (2004b). Explaining explanations: Developing scientific literacy in middle-school project-based science reforms. In D.Strickland & D. E. Alvermann (Eds.) Bridging the gap: Improving literacy learning for preadolescent and adolescent learners in grades 4-12 (pp. 227-251). New York: Carnegie Corporation.  Donahue, P., Daane, M., & Grigg, W. (2003). The nation’s report card: Reading highlights 2003 (No. NCES 2004452). Washington DC: National Center for Education Statistics.  Dr. Susan E. Szachowicz, Principal, Brockton High School, 470 Forest Avenue, Brockton, MA 02301, 508-580-7633, susanszachowicz@bpsma.orgsusanszachowicz@bpsma.org  The Cornell System, which was designed by Walter Pauk, emeritus, at Cornell University, Ithaca, NY 14853  Mr. Edward Schoenfelt, Executive Director, LASS, Inc. Valparaiso, IN 46383-5565 www.mvsc.k12.in.us/lass schoenfelteddeb@yahoo.com www.mvsc.k12.in.us/lass