Creating High Impact Schools Key Leaders Network— North December 13, 2011

Alphabet Soup! Alphabet Soup! ABPC — Alabama Best Practices Center KLN — Key Leaders Network PCN — Powerful Conversations Network SLN — Superintendent Leaders Network FA — Formative Assessment FF — Formative Feedback

Guiding Questions 1.How are we transferring our learnings from PCN/KLN sessions to professional learning in our schools and district? 2.In what ways can we use the partnership principles and practices associated with “Impact Schools” to optimize professional learning and growth in our schools and district?

Guiding Questions, cont’d 3. Why is formative assessment an essential component in an effective teaching-learning cycle? 4. How can we transfer the experiences and learnings of today to our colleagues back home?

Norms Collective Responsibility Collaboration Each of us is responsible for all of our students. Participation Monitor your talk. Encourage and support others. Respect Put cell phones on vibrate. No side-bar conversations. Time Begin and end on time. Take care of your own creature comforts.

Activity #1: Checking In: What Have We Done Since the Last KLN Session?— “Prouds” and “Sorries” WHAT? Team conversations focusing on use of materials, strategies, and/or learnings from our 2 nd KLN session WHY? To consolidate our experiences and prepare for reflective conversation with colleagues from other districts HOW? Name facilitator to lead your district team in a conversation focusing on questions provided in Activity #1, p. 1; all take notes to prepare for next activity

Activity #2: Creating An Impact School WHAT? Review Knight’s core concepts for impact schools, and generate a list of “look fors” WHY? To express concepts in observable terms so that they can be easily applied to work in schools HOW? Review pp in Unmistakable Impact ; collaborate with teammates to generate list of “look fors” related to impact schools. Use Activity Sheet #2, p. 2.

Meet Liberty Middle School, Madison City Schools! View videotape of Liberty’s journey toward becoming an “Impact School.” As you view the videotape, look and listen for evidence that Liberty is moving toward becoming an “impact school.” Record evidence beside the appropriate “look for” in Column 2 of the chart on Activity Sheet #2. Document ways that Liberty’s PCN/KLN teams collaborate and transfer experiences from network activities.

What Can We Learn From Liberty Middle School? 1.Compare and share with colleagues from other districts. a. Stand up, taking your activity packet and pen/pencil with you. b. Exchange one idea related to Liberty’s journey with a colleague from a district other than your own. c. Exchange ideas with other colleagues during the allocated time. 2.Share in home team, and dialogue using this focusing question: What have we learned from the Liberty experience?

Revisiting Formative Assessment PURPOSES: 1.To support your PCN schools work to extend and fine-tune use of formative assessment at every stage of the teaching-learning cycle 2.To review personal understanding in preparation for Instructional Rounds to be conducted in the Spring of 2012

Formative Assessment is a Partnership “Formative Assessment is an active and intentional learning process that partners the teacher and the students to continuously and systematically gather evidence of learning with the express goal of improving student achievement.” Moss and Brookhart, p. 6

Formative Assessment is a Process “Formative assessment is a process used by teachers and students during instruction that provides feedback to adjust ongoing teaching and learning to improve students’ achievement of intended instructional outcomes.” (Definition by Council of Chief State School Officers, 2006, reported in Popham, 2008, p. 5) Assessment FOR Learning

Components of Visible Learning “Teachers need to know the learning intentions and success criteria of their lessons, know how well they are attaining these for all students, and know where to go next in light of the gap between students’ current knowledge and understanding and the success criteria of “Where are you going?”, “How are you going?”, and “Where to next?” ”— John Hattie (2009). Visible Learning: A Synthesis of 800 Meta-analyses Related to Achievement, New York: Routledge, p. 239,.

A Look at the “Big Picture” of Formative Assessment A Formative Assessment System (see next slide) Source: From Visible Learning: A Synthesis of Over 800 Meta-analyses Relating to Achievement (p. 176, by J. Hattie, 2009, New York: Routledge)

Purpose To reduce discrepancies between current understanding/performance & a desired goal The discrepancy can be reduced by Teachers Providing appropriate challenging & specific goals OR Assisting students to reach goals through formative assessment systems Students Increased effort or use of more effective strategies OR Abandoning, blurring, or lowering the goals Effective formative assessment systems answer three questions Feed-Up Where am I going? Feedback How am I doing? Feed-Forward Where am I going next?

Activity #3: Key Components of Formative Assessment —Jigsaw WHAT? Deepening your understanding of formative assessment WHY? To review the key components of formative assessment and encourage reading of Dylan Wiliam’s book, Embedded Formative Assessment HOW? Jigsaw Cooperative Learning activity; see Activity Sheet #3, p. 3.

I. Preparing for Dialogue Select a colored index card from the center of your table. Read the pages from Embedded Formative Assessment related to your assignment.

Individual Reading Assignments BLUE: “Clarifying, Sharing, and Understanding Learning Intentions and Success Criteria”—p. 61 (“Issues in Constructing Learning Intentions”) to p. 65 (“Issues”) PINK: “Eliciting Evidence of Learners’ Achievement”—p. 75 (begin with 2 nd complete paragraph: “Teachers must acknowledge....”) to p. 78 (“Practical Techniques”) YELLOW: “Providing Feedback That Moves Learning Forward”—p. 119 (“A Recipe for Future Action”) to p. 122 (“Grading”) GREEN: “Activating Students as Instructional Resources for One Another”—p. 133 (“Cooperative Learning”) to p. 137 (“Practical Techniques”) WHITE: “Activating Students as Owners of Their Own Learning”—p. 146 (“Student Self-Assessment”) to p. 152 (“Practical Techniques”)

Organizing for Jigsaw II. Forming an “Expert Team.” 1. Find 2-3 other colleagues who read the same assignment as you. Clue: Look for others with the same colored card. 2.Name a facilitator and timekeeper. 3.Talk together about your reading, focusing on the following questions: a.What ideas do you find most interesting or thought-provoking? Why? b.How does this section deepen your understanding of the topic? c.What questions, if any, do you have about your reading? 4. Prepare to share with colleagues who did not read this section.

Organizing for Jigsaw III.Forming a Team for Sharing. 1.Form a heterogeneous team comprised of one individual who has read each of the five excerpts from Embedded Formative Assessment. 2.Name a facilitator and timekeeper. 3.Share-around insights from “expert” groups, taking no more than 2 minutes/expert. Final Question for Dialogue in District Team : In what ways has your understanding of formative assessment been deepened through reading and dialogue from Embedded Formative Assessment?.

Formative Assessment in Action View the video from Success at the Core. As you view, listen for and think about the following: How does this school-based example affirm and validate your understanding of FA? In what ways does this visual portrayal of FA align with your reading from Wiliam? With what groups in your district might you productively use this video resource? Resources: formative-assessment (features Paul Black) formative-assessment

Update from PCN Focus: Formative Assessment As a Critical Component of the Gradual Release of Responsibility Framework

Framework for Gradual Release of Responsibility Authors: Douglas Fisher & Nancy Frey Publisher: ASCD, 2008

Gradual Release of Responsibility Framework for Student Learning “The gradual release of responsibility model of instruction suggests that the cognitive load should shift slowly and purposefully from teachers-as-model, to joint responsibility, to independent practice and application by the learner (Pearson & Gallagher, 1983).” —p. 2, 2 nd paragraph, 1 st sentence, Better Learning Through Structured Teaching

Gradual Release of Responsibility 4 Phases F OCUS L ESSONS G UIDED I NSTRUCTION C OLLABORATIVE L EARNING I NDEPENDENT T ASKS

Independent Focus Lesson Guided Instruction Collaborative T EACHER R ESPONSIBILITY S TUDENT R ESPONSIBILITY “I do it” “We do it” “You do it together” “You do it alone” A structure for successful instruction, p. 4 Better Learning Through Structured Teaching

PCN QM Focus 1 st PCN: Overview of GRR Framework and Review of Formative Assessment Feedback; Emphasis on the “Focus Lesson” (“I Do”) 2 nd PCN: Teacher Sharing of Lesson Designs related to Focus Lesson; Emphasis on Guided Instruction (“We Do”); Skype with authors, Doug Fisher and Nancy Frey

“Mid-Year Review” WHAT? Collaboratively think and talk about how your PCN schools are applying learnings AND what the KLN team is doing to support these schools—and the learning of others in your district. WHY? To reflect on transfer of learning from PCN at the school and district level HOW? As a team, consider each of the questions on the “Mid-Year Review” form.

Final Individual Reflection 1. What were the strengths of today’s session? 2. What suggestions do you have to make our next KLN session more meaningful? 3. How can we use this information to support work in our schools and district?

Warm Wishes for a Blessed Holiday Season!