What does W2A Mean Anyway? “From Standardized Assessments to Local Decisions” What does W2A Mean Anyway? Presentation by Knob Noster RVIII School District

Who are we? Dr. Margaret Anderson – Superintendent of Schools April Williams – Curriculum and Assessment Coordinator awilliam@knobnoster.k12.mo.us

Where are we in the Process? Communication Arts and Math curriculum has been aligned and approved by the board for the district. Currently in the process of working on Common Assessments for Math K-5. Science teachers are working on aligning Curriculum. As a district meeting in Department/Grade Level groups (PLC’s) once a month to work on curriculum.

Vocabulary Review Grade Level Expectations (Gle’s)—specific objectives and concepts the state feels that all students in a grade level should be able to attain. Show Me Standards (Blue Placemat) Content Standards– Standards set by the state to be attained by all students in a program of study. Process Standards – Skills that are ingrained into all areas of study which students should acquire prior to completing school. Local Objectives– The target that local school districts set for instruction. (How is the local district going to insure that GLE’s are taught?)

Vertical Alignment – How the curriculum translates itself K-12 in a given content area. Horizontal – How the curriculum works across a given grade level. Internal Alignment – How the individual teacher brings the curriculum into the classroom

How did we get started? We got a C.L.U.E. Commitment to improving local curriculum to advance student achievement. (Board, Central Office, Administration, Teachers) Leadership to evaluate standardized assessments and align the curriculum. Understanding of and that the process would be lengthy. Education focus

Step One – Data Analysis Examine Multiple Years of Data to see trends and issues. One year of data is not enough to make critical decisions. Determine top 2 areas of need and analyze how to Improve in those areas Goal Year 1.1 1.5 1.6 1.8 2.1 2.2 2.4 3.1 3.4 3.5 3.7 3.8 2002   79 74 76 70 36 78 48 2003 52 82 57 65 73 50 2004 28 83 97 67 29 59 2005 75 55 46 58 60 45 2006 85 69 Communication Arts 3rd Grade: Process Standards

What do you need to get started?

Step Two – Vertical Teaming Invited Curriculum “experts” in to work with our teachers and discuss the goal and process of Curriculum Writing. Teachers were given work release time to discuss and begin work on curriculum. (2-3 days) Developed a Scope and Sequence Articulate goals for the content area K-12 Establish agreed upon formats ie: writing process, scientific method etc. Unify Vocabulary Usage Teachers given access to the tools and resources necessary to develop effective curriculum. (EAT Online)

Goal of Curriculum--The Written curriculum is Implemented by teachers and Learned by students

Curriculum Process

Examples of Scope and Sequence: KNOB NOSTER R-VIII SCOPE AND SEQUENCE OF WRITING For every grade level, students will publish at least one piece of writing per quarter Every teacher will use the following definitions: Personal Narrative relates a story or a personal essay (e.g., anecdote, autobiography, memoir) Expository Writing presents facts, opinions, definition of terms, and examples to inform the reader about a specific topic Persuasive writing seeks to influence readers or listeners to agree with a perspective or perform an action (e.g., editorials, advertisements, persuasive essays and letters, public service announcements, position papers) Kindergarten Focus on vocabulary and simple sentences. Re-tell stories with emphasis on beginning, middle, and end. Fourth Grade Continue to write personal narratives. Introduce expository writing with 3 paragraphs including an introduction, 2 body paragraphs, and a conclusion. Seventh Grade MAP Performance Event: Five Paragraph Expository. Continue focus on multi-paragraph (no fewer than 3) Expository. Continue to focus on organizational methods, topic sentence, main idea, supporting details, and elaboration. Write a research report using MLA format. Tenth Grade Continue focus on organizational methods. Write expository, comparison/contrast, and persuasive essays with no less that 5 paragraphs. Students will also write a personal narrative with real life applications. Develop a research project in MLA format. Research paper should include a works cited page and citations within the text. Twelfth Grade College-level writing of narrative, descriptive, compare/contrast, and classification/division, definition essays, exploration of arguments/issues relevant to proposed major(s), major research paper in MLA format. Write resume, cover letter and personal statement.

Step Three – Horizontal and Content Teaming Every teacher in the district participates in a Professional Learning Committee (PLC). They are required to meet for 1 hour per month and on early out days. The focus for the PLC went from being a study group to being a group that focused on curriculum revision.

Step Four -- Understand The GLE’s. Strand Big Idea Writing 10/18/04 2 Compose well-developed text using standard English conventions GRADE K GRADE 1 GRADE 2 GRADE 3 GRADE 4 GRADE 5 GRADE 6 GRADE 7 GRADE 8 GRADE 9-12 A Form letters correctly, using left- to-right directionality Print upper- and lower-case letters legibly, using left-to- right, top-to-bottom directionality and correct spacing between letters and words Create legible compositions with correct spacing between letters in a word and words in a sentence compositions with between words in a sentence and in margins H N D W R I T G S CA 1 1.6, 2.2 FR I 1a, II 6b, IV 3b, K-4 Concept Content and Process Standards

What does W2A mean? Using the Communication Arts GLE’s Strand = Writing Big Idea = 2 Compose well-developed text using standard English conventions. Concept = A Handwriting Grade Levels impacted K-3

GLE –R2C with Verbs Marked to “unpack” the GLE concept. Students will use details from Fiction Text to make inferences about the setting and character traits. The student will also infer as to the problem and solution. The skills practiced will be making predictions; drawing conclusions; compare and contrasting characters and changes in problems and settings. Students will use text features to identify the narrator/author’s purpose, cause and effect; and events from the beginning, middle and end.

Step Five—Write Local Objectives Local objectives are the translation of how to obtain the GLE’s at the local level. Three Methods for writing local objectives Districts may write local objectives that are based on the GLE’s. Districts may opt to adopt the GLE as the local objective. Districts may combine methods 1 and 2. This is the optimum choice. Allows GLE’s to be examined and unpacked individually, while making local decisions.

Step Six -- Alignment Align Local Objectives to GLE’S, Show-Me Content and Process Standards. (Blue Placemat) Developed understanding of what a Process Standard is and how to incorporate that into curriculum Method by which teachers teach in order to reach an essential skill. Less is more– Having your curriculum aligned to too many objectives/standards leads to a lack of consideration when planning assessments and activities.

Step Seven -- Design Assessment Activity EXAMPLE based on R2C Students will read a short story (excerpt) and write down predictions they have for each of the characters in regards to the problem and it’s result. Students will then create a compare and contrast chart between the characters problem and if this problem was happening to a real person. Students will use the compare and contrast chart and predictions to write a (4) sentence paragraph describing what would happen to the character and their problem if the setting of the story changed. Utilize Process Code to assess: 1.6– discover and evaluate patterns and relationships in information, ideas and structures in the assessment.

Step Eight – Create Learning Activities Read the story (Spaghetti for All) using a reading strategy, (Read, Pair, Share—Reading Buddies etc) Divide into small groups and take 1 method of arrangement that the family used for the tables – Draw a diagram, write a math sentence and then note the problem with the arrangement. As a whole class, discuss the problems that the family had when they were trying to arrange their seats. Ask if the problems that might have occurred if the story took place in a restaurant or a church etc. Discuss the parameters for the student’s assignment, length and items to be discussed in the paragraph, detailed seating arrangement for a classroom. Students will create their own seating plan using details from the text to identify and predict potential problems. Then write a paragraph comparing and contrasting how problems with a classroom seating plan might be similar to those in the book read. Utilize Content Standard 2 – Reading and evaluating fiction, poetry and drama.

Step Nine – Board Approval Upon completion of the curriculum, teachers and curriculum coordinator attend Board meeting to discuss the alignment of activities, sample assessments and activities. After Board approval, a copy of the approved curriculum is placed in the classroom and expected to be used and left for the next teacher of the grade level or class.

Included Resources Curriculum Evaluation Tool MSIP 4th Cycle Curriculum Questions MSIP 4th Cycle Classroom Observation Form D.O.K. Chart Math GLE Matrix Communication Arts GLE Matrix

Curriculum Checklist Sheet Class/subject__________________ Date_______________ Teacher(s) __________________ Local objectives written in specific language yes no refine utilizes D.O.K/Bloom’s to vary difficulty of skills yes no refine assessable yes no refine aligned to state GLE'S yes no refine aligned to content standards yes no refine aligned to process standards yes no refine Assessment Activity assesses local objectives ­ yes no refine uses reasonable assessments (scaffolding) yes no refine demonstrates students achievement yes no refine includes common assessment yes no refine describes specific assessment method yes no refine states concepts to be assessed clearly yes no refine assesses at the same level and manner as MAP yes no refine

MSIP 4th Cycle – Curriculum Analysis Essential Questions How well is the curriculum aligned to the Show-Me Standards and the Grade Level Expectations? What is the quality of the Measurable Learning Objectives Instructional Activities (student based)/Instructional Methods (teacher based) Assessments? What is the quality of the internal alignment of the curriculum? Does the assessment appear to match (on a Cognitive level) and appropriately measure the learning objective? Are the instructional activities listed appropriate to teach the content in a way that the assessment will measure? Do the learning activities give the student the opportunity to practice the assessment?

Math GLE Matrix MATH GLE's 2006 DATA Content Standard 3rd 4th 5th 6th 1-Number and Operations N1A   N1B N1C N1D N2A N2B N2C N2D N3B N3C N3D N3E