STRENGTHENING TEACHER EFFECTIVENESS: ACTION RESEARCH AS PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT Using Formative Assessment to Meet Common Core Standards Central Square Central School District

A New Partnership CSQ SUNY Oswego How can Oswego State meet their needs for student teaching and practicum placements? How can we provide meaningful, differentiated professional development here at CSQ?

Participants

Collaboration

Number of Student Involved

Goals

Data Collection

Types of Data Collected (Evidence of Student Learning)  Performance vs multiple choice assessment  DIBELS  Warm-up SMART response data  Teacher Observation of student participation  Progress monitoring tools  Accuracy with new vocabulary  Close observation of at-risk readers  Running records  Student progress in Listening and reading in target languages (Modern Languages)  Quizlet- mastery of concepts  Student reflections (oral and written) on their own learning, goals, beliefs, suggestions  Test scores, unit exams, parallel assessments, quizzes  Student questionnaires  Student participation in discussions: posing questions, asking for help  Star Math and Reading/ELA scores  Homework completion: quantity and quality  Information on best teaching strategies  Student self-assessments  Rubrics

Motivation

How has your teaching changed as a result of taking this course?  This is where our ten or so volunteers will stand and read quotes. We can put them on index cards so it will be more like watching a performance than reading a slide or two.

Our Formative Assessment: Planning for  Q3: If you were to speak to a colleague who might be interested in taking a similar course next year, what would you say? Please give pros and cons.  Results: 100% of the teachers surveyed would recommend this graduate course to a colleague.

Cons/Suggestions for the Action Research Course  Added extra pressure to my already full schedule  Class length should be half a year rather than a full year  Need a better tutorial for the wiki  Expectations for the final project need to be clear from the start of the course  Can be difficult to manage  Be prepared to monitor and adjust during the process  Use what you already are doing in your classroom  Limit the number of things you want to change  You have to be self-motivated and organized  Somewhat trial and error-it takes awhile to figure out what to study  Scary to return to college after 20+ years!

Three Categories of Benefits of the Action Research Course I. Practical Benefits - immediately applicable to the classroom, location, convenience, pay increase, manageable workload (“totally worth it”), not overwhelming, laid back II. Collaboration with instructor, outside school, with teachers from other schools 

Three Categories of Benefits of the Action Research Course III. Professional Growth and Empowerment  Forces me to try new things  Meets your individual needs as a teacher  Decide for yourself what to work on  Helped me explore strategies  Leads to change and improvement  You take an in-depth look at one particular aspect of your teaching  Focuses your instruction; gives it purpose  I was in charge and vested in the results  I learned a lot from my project, the instructor and my fellow teachers  I remembered how much I love learning!  Teaches you to look at your data to see what it is telling you  “Opened my eyes to the fact that students can be motivated”  “Fun, interesting, just enough to kick start your professional growth journey” 

Q and A?