Q UALITATIVE D ATA -D RIVEN O PPORTUNITIES
TO F OCUS THE 2014 – 2015 A CADEMIC Y EAR
R 4
T HE VISION OF A TLANTA P UBLIC S CHOOLS IS TO BE A STUDENT CENTERED , HIGH PERFORMING URBAN SCHOOL
DISTRICT , WHERE ALL STUDENTS BECOME SUCCESSFUL , LIFE LONG LEARNERS AND LEADERS .
P REPARED ESPECIALLY FOR THE I NSTRUCTIONAL C OACHES PLN OF
ATLANTA PUBLIC SCHOOLS by Dan Mulligan, flexiblecreativity.com
April 2014

page 3

Create cooperative pairs at your table.
If there are an odd number of people, form one team of three.

E
Q
THINK:
 On your THINK PAD, think…then…record your response to this question:
Based on your experience as a coach..
What are the primary areas to improve student achievement in your school next year?
PAIR/SHARE:
 Using your notes on the THINK PAD:
Share your insight with your team to the question:
What are the primary areas to improve student achievement in your school next year?

O PPORTUNITIES BASED ON Q UALITATIVE D ATA
• Revisit the efficacy of staff to unpack the standard in execution of the standard rather than just planning for the standard;
• Reinforce staff capacity to tie Depth of Knowledge to student engagement;
• Establish and expect a school-wide approach to reading
(annotating/referencing the text to support conclusions);
• Determine the current state of note-taking strategies compared to the expectations of college and career readiness and act accordingly;
• Strengthen staff craft to provide each student with effective feedback (is it compliance or authentic);
• Bolster staff mastery of cooperative learning versus group work; and
• Recommit staff to consistently using research-based learning strategies .

cooperative learning
pages 27 – 28

The Challenge
Essential Question:
Can the team work collaboratively to develop and execute a strategy to stack the cups into a pyramid without anyone touching the cups using only the string and rubber band?
1. Scatter the cups on the table or floor.
2. Remember your goal is to build a tower with the 10 cups. Four cups should be used to form the base, with the remaining cups stacked to form a pyramid shape. In the end, the top of the tower should have one cup.
3. Here are the rules: a. each member of the team needs to control at least one string b. everyone must be involved in moving each and every cup c. you can only use the rubber band & string to get the job done d. you may not tie the string to the rubber band e. if anything or anyone touches the cups with hands or body the team must start from the beginning
4. Everyone must understand the rules
5. You will have 15 minutes to complete the task . Good luck….

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26
With a partner:
 Determine the status of your staff in each element of the comparison chart.
 What are some resources that can be used to assist your staff?

Revisit the efficacy of staff to unpack the standard in execution of the standard rather than just planning for the standard pages
4 - 5

T HE S ECOND Q UESTION

Find a new friend in the room. Introduce yourself and share one great thing about your school.
Find 2 comfortable seats and relax.

Reinforce staff capacity to tie Depth of
Knowledge to student engagement
There are two different tools to describe cognitive rigor.
Each addresses something different.
RBT (Revised Bloom ’ s Taxonomy) – What type of thinking (verbs) is needed to complete a task?
DOK (Webb ’ s Depth of Knowledge) – How deeply do you have to understand the content to successfully interact with it? How complex or abstract is the content?

Bloom’s Taxonomy (1956) & Bloom’s Cognitive Process
Dimensions (2005)
Knowledge – Define, duplicate, label, list, name, order, recognize, relate, recall
Comprehension —Classify, describe, discuss, explain, express, identify, indicate, locate, recognize, report, review, select, translate
Remembe r – Retrieve knowledge from long-term memory, recognize, recall, locate, identify
Understand – Construct meaning, clarify, paraphrase, represent, translate, illustrate, give examples, classify, categorize, summarize, generalize, predict
Apply – Carry out or use a procedure in a given situation; carry out or use/apply to an unfamiliar task
Application – Analyze, choose, demonstrate, dramatize, employ, illustrate, interpret, practice, write
Analysis – Analyze, appraise, explain, calculate, categorize, compare, criticize, discriminate, examine
Synthesis – Rearrange, assemble, collect, compose, create, design, develop, formulate, manage, write
Evaluation – Appraise, argue, assess, choose, compare, defend, estimate, explain, judge, predict, rate, core, select, support, value
Analyze how parts relate
Evaluate check, detect inconsistencies/fallacies, critique
Create
– Break into constituent parts, determine
– Make judgments based on criteria,
– Put elements together to form a coherent whole, reorganize elements into new patterns/structures. page
6

H OW THE E XPERTS D EFINE C OGNITIVE R IGOR
…
Rigor is …
• Quality of thinking, not quantity, and can occur in any grade at any subject (Bogess, 2007)
• Deep immersion in a subject and should include real-world settings (Washor & Majkowki, 2006)
• Thoughtful analysis with sufficient attention to accuracy and detail (Beane, 2001)
• Helping students develop the capacity to understand content that is complex, ambiguous, provocative, and personally or emotionally challenging (Strong, Silver, & Perrini, 2001)

What is DOK?
Let ’ s watch a video
W EBB
’
S D EPTH OF -K NOWLEDGE L EVELS
 DOK-1 – Recall & Reproduction – Recall of a fact, term, principle, concept; perform a routine procedure; locate details
 DOK-2 – Basic Application of Skills/Concepts – Use of information; conceptual knowledge; select appropriate procedures for a given task; two or more steps with decision points along the way; routine problems; organize/ display data; interpret/use simple graphs; summarize; identify main idea; explain relationships; make predictions
 DOK-3 – Strategic Thinking – Requires reasoning, or developing a plan or sequence of steps to approach problem; requires decision making or justification; abstract, complex or non-routine; often more than one possible answer; support solutions or judgments with text evidence
 DOK-4 – Extended Thinking – An investigation or application to real world; requires time to research, problem solve, and process multiple conditions of the problem or task; non-routine manipulations; synthesize information across disciplines/content areas/multiple sources .

DOK is about depth & complexity –
Not difficulty!
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23
 The intended student learning outcome determines the DOK level. What mental process must occur?
 While verbs may appear to point to a DOK level, it is what comes after the verb that is the best indicator of the rigor/DOK level.
 Describe the process of photosynthesis
 Describe how the two political parties are alike and different
 Describe the most significant effect of WWII on the nations of Europe

Hess’s Cognitive Rigor Matrix: pages 38 - 40
Applies Webb ’ s DOK to RBT Cognitive Process Dimensions

S TORY : L ITTLE R ED R IDING H OOD
Where do these questions fit into the matrix? pages
38 - 40

S p i n t h e W o r d modified
• Remove the cards from the bag.
• Place the deck of cards face down in the center of the table.
• Determine the order of playing by each person rolling the die.
• Each card contains:
• Math vocabulary word, and
• Method of giving clues
• Remember:
• Each person has a turn,
• Each person has a lifeline!
• Enjoy!

Directions:
1.
Form communities of three table teams.
2.
Send a representative from each table in a community to obtain a different zip lock bag
(this person will be the
guardian of the zip lock).
3.
Number off in your table team.
4.
Work with your current team until requested to switch table teams within your community.
5.
Have fun while sharing…

Click on the arrow to start and stop spinner.

A rubric is a coherent set of criteria for students’ work that includes descriptions of levels of performance quality on the criteria.
They are descriptive rather than evaluative. Of course, rubrics can be used to evaluate, but the operating principle is to match the performance to the description rather than to “judge” it.

• Listen for the topic and the amount of time;
• Silently mix around the room;
• When directed, pair up with person closest to you;
• In pairs, Partner A shares and Partner B listens;
• Partner B responds to what he/she heard by paraphrasing: “LET ME TELL YOU WHAT I
UNDERSTOOD YOU TO SAY” ;
• Record summary of partners response; then
• Switch Roles

1
What is one initiative (action) conducted this year with staff that you are most proud as an instructional coach? Why was it effective?
2
What is one of your goals for your staff next year?
Why is it important?
3
What is one way this training
(over the past two years) has assisted you in refining your craft as an instructional coach? Why is this significant?

What is one initiative
(action) conducted this year with staff that you are most proud as an instructional coach? Why was it effective?
What is one way this training
(over the past two years) has assisted you in refining your craft as an instructional coach? Why is this significant?
What is one of your goals for your staff next year?
Why is it important?

Establish and expect a school-wide approach to reading
(annotating/referencing the text to support conclusions);
Determine the current state of note-taking strategies compared to the expectations of college and career readiness and act accordingly

Establish and expect a school-wide approach to reading
(annotating/referencing the text to support conclusions);
Determine the current state of note-taking strategies compared to the expectations of college and career readiness and act accordingly

Establish and expect a school-wide approach to reading
(annotating/referencing the text to support conclusions);
Determine the current state of note-taking strategies compared to the expectations of college and career readiness and act accordingly

pages
30 - 31

Organizing Theme:
Things someone would say…
Mohammad Ali
200 POINTS
Aretha Franklin Bill Clinton
Famous
Americans of the 20 th
Century
100 POINTS
Elvis
100 POINTS
Mickey Mouse Madonna
50 POINTS 50 POINTS 50 POINTS

Organizing Theme:
Teaching/Learning
Strategies
Relationships
200 POINTS
Formative
Assessment
Relevance
100 POINTS
Rigor
100 POINTS
Critical Thinking Collaboration
50 POINTS 50 POINTS 50 POINTS

Strengthen staff craft to provide each student with effective feedback (is it compliance or authentic) page
25

1.
INFORM INSTRUCTIONAL
DECISIONS
2.
ENCOURAGE STUDENTS TO TRY
“You can enhance or destroy students’ desire to succeed in school more quickly and permanently through your use of assessment than with any other tools you have at your disposal.”
Rick Stiggins, Assessment Trainers Institute

• Form a team of two (2) people…
• Determine the person with the most sisters and send them to pick-up a grid sheet for each person.
• Distribute a grid sheet to each team member.
• One team-member will face the screen and give directions. The other team member will have their back to the screen and follow the verbal clues provided by their partner (clarifying questions are encouraged).
• NOTE: Team members should NOT be able to see what each other is drawing.

• Each pair should share with your other team members the method you used to graph the figure.
• Discuss with your team:
– Which method appeals to you?
– Is there another method that you would prefer?
• Prepare for a “pairs choice of method” with a new graph.

Find a new friend in the room. Introduce yourself and share what you ‘do’.
Find 2 comfortable seats and relax.

Your school in
2013 - 2014
Your school in
2014 - 2015

Category
Identify similarities & differences
Summarizing & note taking
Reinforcing effort & providing recognition
Homework & practice
Nonlinguistic representations
Cooperative learning
*Setting objectives & providing feedback*
Generating & testing hypotheses
Questions, cues, & advance organizers
Ave. Effect
Size (ES)
1.61
1.00
.80
.77
.75
.73
.61
Percentile
Gain
45
34
29
28
27
27
23
.61
.59
23
22

Hey…
This looks familiar… Which of the high yield instructional strategies do you see in this structure?

PAGE 7

Name a noun.
Form a sentence.
Name a verb.
Name an adjective.

Kinds of Evidence – Continuum of Evidence
Informal Check for Understanding

When you realize that people learn naturally from the life they experience every day, it won’t surprise you that the brain is set up to learn better with active, hands-on endeavors . Many students request less bookwork and more hands-on activities.
Students are more willing to do bookwork if there is a project or activity as part of the lesson. Building models and displays, fieldtrips and fieldwork, hands-on experiments, and craft activities are all strategies that help students learn.

Introduce your partner to the other team members at the table
.

Fan and Pick flexiblecreativity.com

Things that are parallel
200 POINTS area perimeter
100 POINTS 100 POINTS
Types of graphs
Ways to make .25
50 POINTS 50 POINTS
Types of angles
50 POINTS

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31