LeaPS
Learning in Physical Science
December 9, 2010
Welcome!
A MSP Grant through KDE and
Administered by University of Kentucky
PIMSER Math and Science Outreach
Presentation Provided by the
P-12 Math and Science Outreach
Division of PIMSER
Project Goals for LeaPS
• Overall goal: Students will learn targeted
physical science concepts (structure and
transformation of matter, force & motion)
• Goal 1: Enhance teacher content and
pedagogical knowledge of targeted physical
science concepts
• Goal 2: Improve Teacher Instructional
Practices
• Goal 3: Enhance Administrator Support
Group Norms
• Stay on schedule; be on
time
• Put cell phones on silent
and computers closed
• Stay present, giving full
attention
• Listen actively as others are
speaking
• Be engaged—Be IN the work
• Avoid sidebar conversations
• Keep name tags visible
• Rule of 2 feet
• Any others?
Plans for Today
Assessment
Of vs For
Content:
Reaction
Rates
ELA
Science
Literacy
Standards
Let’s Review our Homework
• Look over your reading
guide for CASL Chapter 1
and the agree/disagree
statements.
• Discuss at your table:
– Why this book? How can
this book be used?
– Why the assessment
focus?
– What is your “take-away”
from your reading?
Assessment Literacy
• To be ‘assessment literate’ means to be
skilled both in gathering accurate
information about students’ learning and in
using it effectively to promote further
learning.
– Classroom Assessment for Student Learning,
p. 21
Learning Goals
In this session, participants will:
• Evaluate their assessment literacy and
determine some next steps for enhancing
their understanding.
• Compare Pillars of a Thoughtful
Classroom, Keys and Strategies for quality
classroom assessment, and CHETL to
write a recipe for improving student
learning.
“Make this taste better!”
•
•
•
•
How does one become a better chef?
Apply this to school improvement.
How does one become a ‘better’ teacher?
What are the ‘ingredients’ of effective
teaching that distinguish the most effective
teachers? The most effective learners?
“Make this taste better!”
 Skim through the handouts of the
Characteristics of Highly Effective
Teaching and Learning (HETL).
 Working with a partner, highlight on the
CHETL document, any statements
addressed by the 5 Keys to Quality, the 7
Strategies of Assessment, and the Pillars
from Thoughtful Classroom
• “Teachers working alone, with little or no
feedback on their instruction, will not be
able to improve significantly – no matter
how much professional development they
receive.”
• Tony Wagner, Change Leadership
“Improve student learning!”
• Write a “recipe” for improving student
learning that utilizes the characteristics of
CHETL, 5 Keys, 7 Strategies and the
Pillars.
• Were there any missing ingredients?
• What would you consider the secret
ingredient for improving student learning
that’s found in all 3?
• “Student achievement will not improve
unless and until teaching improves.
Higher standards, more testing, smaller
schools, etc. do not, by themselves,
improve teaching.”
• Tony Wagner, Change Leadership
Balanced Assessment
Goal of SB 1
Formative
Formal and informal processes teachers
and students use to gather evidence to
directly improve the learning of students
assessed
Assessment
for learning
Use assessments to
help students assess
and adjust their own
learning
Assessment
for learning
Use classroom
assessments to
inform teacher’s
decisions
Summative
Provides evidence
achievement to certify student
competence or program
effectiveness
Formative uses of
summative data
Use of summative evidence
to inform what comes next
for individuals or groups of
students
Current Status of U.S. Educational
Assessment System
Three Positives
• Reduction of assessment
bias in large-scale tests
• Research ratification of
the formative assessment
process
• Increased advocacy of
the formative assessment
process
Four Negatives
• Educator’s abysmal
assessment literacy
• Uncritical adoption of
interim assessment
system(s)
• Computer adapted
testing’s seductive allure
• Instructionally insensitive
accountability tests
James Popham, July 2010
• “Formative assessment, when used
effectively, can significantly improve student
achievement and raise teacher quality. Yet
high-quality formative assessment is rarely a
consistent part of the classroom culture.
Teachers are neither sufficiently familiar with
it nor equipped with the knowledge or the
skills to put formative assessment to work for
themselves and their students.”
– Advancing Formative Assessment in Every Classroom: A Guide
for Instructional Leaders, by Moss and Brookhart
Personal Reflection
• Please take a moment to think about, reflect on
and answer this question:
WHY DO YOU ASSESS?
• Take a few minutes to discuss your answers
with others around you.
THE FLAWS
Mistaken beliefs about:
Assessment and Motivation
Crucial Decision Makers
New Mission, New Beliefs
• As you view the DVD, keep your considerations
about assessment and assessment practices in
mind.
• Note any key points that Rick Stiggins makes,
where relevant, on the organizer.
• Complete Table 2.1 as you view the DVD.
After Viewing
• Summarization strategy:
– Write the ONE word that summarizes the
topic in the DVD (assessment FOR learning).
– Explain why you chose that word.
– Share your word choice with a neighbor.
– Defend your choice if it differs from his/her
choice.
Crucial Distinction
Assessment OF Learning:
How much have students learned as of a particular point in
time?
Assessment FOR Learning:
How can we use assessment to help students learn more?
ANALOGIES
Working with a partner, complete the following analogies:
• AOL is like _____________________________________________
because ______________________________________________.
o AFL is like______________________________________________
because ______________________________________________.
Assessment is REALLY
formative when:
• Its purpose is to support—not merely
monitor--learning
• It points up the scaffolding
• It provides descriptive feedback
• It builds self-confidence, self-efficacy
• It’s “Assessment FOR Learning”.
We ASSESS to:
• INFORM instructional decisions
• ENCOURAGE students to try to
learn
For Next Time
• Read the excerpt from Inside the Black
Box.
• Use your reading guide as you read
Chapter 2 in Classroom Assessment for
Student Learning.
• Begin gathering and keeping a file of all
the assessments that you give—formally
or informally.
Content Building
Is heat different from
temperature?
How do you know?
• Decide your position
• Think back to the last two meetings, what
evidence to you have to support your
position?
• Use the Writing an Argument Frame to
help you develop your answer.
Work Time
“Molecules Move”
• What questions do you have about the
observations that you made with the blue
dye and the bleach? With the hair dryer
and the balloon?
• How can we explain these macroscopic
observations?
• Read “Molecules Move.”
• What scientific support might you add to
your conclusions and summary from this
reading?
Literacy Standards for Science
• Learning Targets
– I can identify the
reading and writing
standards for science
for my grade level.
What matters most?
• What does our investment in teaching
students mean?
• What do we want students to walk away
with from our schools and classrooms?
• What should we teach?
33
The Five-Minute University
What is Guido Sarducci telling us about 20th
century learning?
34
BP Oil Spill: A Teachable Moment
What can we learn about the nature of the
challenges our students will face in the
21st century from this ecological
disaster?
35
The challenges and problems our students will face
in the 21st Century are:
• unpredictable. As in the case of the BP oil spill, we
can wake up facing new and significant challenges we
didn’t know we had yesterday.
• ambiguous. We may not have the knowledge we need
to solve the problems when they occur and will have to
acquire new knowledge as a result.
• interdependent. No single person or entity can solve
the problem of the BP oil spill. 21st century problems
are situated in a global economy in which individuals,
organizations, corporations, and governments often
have to work together to solve large-scale problems.
36
What is the Common Core State
Standard (CCSS) Initiative?
• State-led initiative, led by the National
Governors Association and the Council of
Chief School Officers.
48 states, Puerto Rico, District of Columbia,
and the U.S. Virgin Islands
What is the Common Core State
Standard (CCSS) Initiative?
• Collaboration based on multiple drafts and
feedback from school administrators,
teachers, experts, and the public.
Interesting fact: There were almost 10,000 responses
when the final draft was opened for public review.
What is the Common Core State
Standard (CCSS) Initiative?
• Draws upon the best practices of existing curricular
models in the United States, as well as
internationally—cognizant of the fact that we are
preparing our students to be active participants in a
global society and economy.
• Designed with a focus on coherence and
consistency, rigorous content and its application
through higher order thinking skills—to best prepare
students for college and careers.
• Emphasis on literacy across the content areas.
How are the Common Core State Standards
designed?
The CCSS are divided up into 2
categories:
ELA & Literacy in
Science, Social
Studies/History, &
Technical Subjects
Mathematics
ELA Standards—An Overview
• K-12 Standards for
– Reading
– Writing
– Speaking and Listening
– Language
• Reading and Writing Standards for
History/Social Studies
• Reading and Writing Standards for Science
and Technical Subjects
ELA Standards—Structure
This hierarchy describes how to read the CCSS documents for ELA &
Literacy in Science, Social Studies/History, Science & Technical
Subjects
College and Career Readiness Anchor Standards
ELA
– 4 sets: Reading, Writing, Language, and Speaking and Listening
– Social Studies/History, Science, and Technical Subjects—2 sets: Reading and Writing
– All of the standards within the grade bands are linked to these anchors with building
complexity as the grades increase
Strands
Within each set, the anchors are divided into strands
Grade Bands
The ELA anchors are grouped K-5 and 6-12 (6-12 only for Social Studies, History/Science, and Technical
Subjects)
Standards
The standards within grades and grade bands provide further specificity in a developmentally
appropriate progression toward meeting the expectation of the anchor
Appendices
Exemplar texts, performance tasks, student work
Strand
Grade Band
Standards
Appendices
Exemplar texts, performance tasks, student
work
Literacy Standards for Science:
Writing
• Examine the College and Career Readiness
Anchor Standards for Writing (pg. 63) and the
Writing Standards for Literacy in Science (pgs.
64-66).
• What are the 3 types of writing specified in the
CAS for science?
• What are some curricular and instructional
implications based on the “Research to Build
and Present Knowledge” strand and the “Range
of Writing” strand? How is this similar and
different from your current practices?
Literacy Standards for Science:
Writing
• Would the notebooking and argument frame we
used today help address these writing
standards? What evidence can you cite to
support your thinking?
• Examine the Grade 6 and 7 Student Samples of
Arguments.
• What might be some next steps with the
argument frame based on these samples?
• Why would it be important to help students
develop this type of thinking and writing in
science classes?
KCAS Considerations
Complexity of Text
• Skim the excerpt (Ch. 12) from The
Story of Science: Einstein Adds A
New Dimension by Joy Hakim.
• Determine what grade level you think
this excerpt would best serve based
on reading level.
• Share at your tables.
Text Complexity and the
Common Core State Standards
Grade
Band
Current
Lexile Band
"Stretch"
Lexile Band
K–1
N/A
N/A
2–3
450L–725L
450L–790L
4–5
645L–845L
770L–980L
6–8
860L–1010L
955L–1155L
9-10
960L–1115L
1080L–1305L
11–CCR
1070L–1220L
1215L–1355L
• Many educators think that lowering their
standards will give students success
experiences, boost their self-esteem, and
raise their achievement…Well, it doesn’t
work. Lowering standards just leads to
poorly educated students who feel entitled
to easy work and lavish praise.
– Carol Dweck, Mindset
For Next Time
• Our next meeting will be
sent on the List-Serv.
• Read Ch 2 in Classroom
Assessment for Student
Learning-please use the
reading guide.
• Read the excerpt from
the Black Box.
• Begin gathering and filing
all assessments that you
give--formal or informal.