Using Data to Drive Great Instruction
UCONN Assessment Colloquia Series
Workshop
Bridgeport, CT
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Brooklyn, NY
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Hartford, CT
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New Haven, CT
Achievement First
The Mission of Achievement First is to deliver on the
promise of equal educational opportunity for all of
America’s children. We believe that all children,
regardless of race or economic status, can succeed if
they have access to a great education.
Achievement First schools will provide all of our students
with the academic and character skills they need to
graduate from top colleges, to succeed in a competitive
world, and to serve as the next generation of leaders in
our communities.
Aims and Agenda
Aims:
TWBAT
• Build standards-based interim
assessments
Agenda
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Data-driven instruction
philosophy/overview
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Write great questions to assess
student progress towards
mastery of state standards.
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The AF curriculum overview
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Writing great assessments
Use data from standardsbased assessments to drive
instruction.
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Using data to inform instruction
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Wrap-up
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TWB
• Inspired to use, rather than
report data
Do Now
• Think back to times in your life when you have had to
take a high stakes exam.
• How did you prepare for the exam?
• Did you receive any feedback during the preparation for exam?
• What other feelings did you have about the process?
Why Test?
• Thinking back to that highstakes test you took…
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What was the purpose of the
test?
Where did your success on the
test get you?
What was the value or benefits
of the test?
• Why do we test?
The Achievement First View on Assessment
• The state standards are “the floor, not the ceiling”
• Standards lay out for us the basic skills students need for a
solid educational foundation. They are there to help us ensure
we are giving students this essential groundwork. However…
• Standards are the minimum. To fulfill our mission, we push
students beyond them and incorporate many other factors that
lead to student success
• Truly Valuable Assessment vs. “Teaching to the Test”
• Our assessments are based on our instruction, not the other
way around
• Assessments, used properly, let us know whether we’re truly
doing our best for our students
The Power of Great Assessment:
Using Rather Than Reporting Data
• Report Data to:
• Use Data to:
• update parents, principals,
school
• track student’s progress
• Reward or consequence
students
• inform instructional strategies
• measure growth over time
• identify misunderstandings &
measure mastery
Achievement First Curriculum Development Overview
State/AF standards
Scope and Sequence
Interim Assessments
Datasheets
Instructional Battle Plans
Curriculum Materials
Examining State Standards
Sample State
Objective:
Identify or infer
important
characters,
problems, settings,
events, relationships
and details.
Lessons That Teach Students to Master SETTING
• SWBAT identify the time and place of a story.
• SWBAT identify and describe the setting of a story
including the time period, place, and the unexpected
happening within the setting.
• SWBAT consider how a story would be different if it
happened in another time and place.
• SWBAT identify how the setting influenced the subject’s
life.
• SWBAT identify how the setting effects the mood and
can be a main character in the story.
Lessons That Teach Students to Master CHARACTER
Pair/Share Activity:
Turn to the person next to you and write 2-3 aims that
help students reach mastery of character analysis.
Sample State Objective:
Identify or infer important characters, problems, settings,
events, relationships and details.
Interim Assessments
• Aligned to the scope and sequence
• Match the state assessments in terms of level of
difficulty and question type
• Roughly follow the state assessment blueprints
• Cumulative
Interim Assessments
Start
IA 1
IA 2
IA 3
IA 4
IA 5
What Interim Assessments Are Not
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Perfect assessments of all the skills, knowledge, and motivation
that students will need to succeed … but they are a very solid
indication of student mastery of essential skills
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The only form of assessment used at Achievement First schools
(or that a teacher should use) … but they are one important part of
a complete picture of student success
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Standardized tests … but they are criterion-reference tests that
measure student mastery of clearly-defined standards
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Only basic skills, only multiple choice … but they include higherorder thinking skills, problem-solving, and writing to explain
answers
Writing Great Questions
• Each question addresses a standard that is
covered on the scope and sequence on or before
this IA.
• Each question asks the standard in the same (or
very similar) way as the state assessment or
example questions.
• Each question is geared at the appropriate grade
level.
• Each question has only one correct answer.
• Each question is clearly stated and free from
grammatical errors.
Examples of Interim Assessment Questions
Question 1:
Describe Gilly’s attitude when
she meets William Ernest for
the first time.
Question 2:
When the Gilly does
something really annoying,
why does she get in trouble?
Is this a strong question?
Is this a strong question?
What traits of great questions
does it have?
What traits of great questions
does it have?
Which does it lack?
Which does it lack?
The Lost Boy and the Little People
A long time ago when the world was new, a young Cherokee boy
was exploring the mountains near his home. Kanati walked along
dreaming about the time when he would be old enough to go
hunting with his father and the other men of the tribe. Preoccupied
with his thoughts, Kanati walked higher and higher into the
mountains, farther and farther from home. It was beginning to get
dark before Kanati realized he was lost.
Suddenly, ahead of him, Kanati heard noises that sounded like
people playing drums and dancing. The sounds seemed to be
getting louder, so he continued walking. “Maybe I’m coming to a
village,” he thought. But when he reached the spot where the
sounds seemed to be coming from, the drumming and dancing
noises stopped. The spot was barren except for some grass and
weeds.
Check for Understanding
Pair/Share Activity:
Turn to a partner and write a question that you would use to assess
students’ understanding of the character’s feelings.
Remember to use the guidelines for good question writing!
Distracter Answers
Distracter answers should:
• Be plausible answers that students may have
come to by specific, incorrect thinking.
• Parallel the length and grammatical structure of the
correct answer.
Check for Understanding
Pair/Share Activity:
Adjust the question you just created to include good
distracters.
Remember, distracters:
• Are plausible answers that students may have come to by
specific, incorrect thinking.
• Parallel the length and grammatical structure of the correct
answer.
The Basic Interim Assessment Process
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A structure for using a standards-based, data-based system to drive instruction
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6 weeks to Mastery
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Check the Scope and Sequence to determine what to teach
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Design standards-based lessons and units
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Teach so students master standards
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Give the Interim Assessment
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Grade the Interim Assessment
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Analyze the Interim Assessment
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Structured conversation around data
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Whole class review, small group review, one-on-one tutoring
Using Data to Drive Instruction
Using Data to Drive Instruction
In order to use data to inform instruction:
• Collect data in a central location that allows you to track it over time.
• Define student mastery.
• Highlight standards that student have mastered/not mastered.
• Create a battleplan to target instruction, tutoring, and practice.
Looking at Data
Data-Driven Plans
Check for Understanding
Pair/Share Activity:
Analyze a set of data to create your own data-driven plan
Wrap-up
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How do I develop a standards-based, data-based interim assessment
system?
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Get a hold of all state standards, released tests, example items, test prep
company materials, etc …
Analyze the materials to create a list of clear standards.
Put these standards in a discrete order (scope and sequence) that clearly defines
what is to be taught every 6 weeks (or whatever time period you use).
Develop an end-of-year assessment that covers all these standards; create
answer keys, info sheets, and reflection sheets. Make sure that your assessments
mirror (and exceed) the state’s assessments.
Develop interim, cumulative assessments to assess student growth during the
year.
Create a system for meaningful conferences about student achievement; put
these meetings on the calendar and hold firm to them.
Create a mechanism for curriculum development to address weaknesses exposed
by your assessments.
Ensure that teacher collaboration and professional development focus on the
following questions: What are our students mastering, not mastering? What is the
most effective and efficient way to teach this standard?
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Data-Driven Instruction
Next Steps
• What am I going to take away from this?
• What can I/others do?
• May/ June 2009:
• 2009-2010 School Year:
For more information
• Samantha Kennedy, Teacher Recruiter
samanthakennedy@achievementfirst.org
• Roxanna Lopez, Senior Curriculum and Professional
Development Associate
roxannalopez@achievementfirst.org