Progress Monitoring and Next Steps

Team,

Thank you all for your work with summative assessments last week.  When you meet as a PLC this week, you will discuss the progress your students have made and plans for next steps.  Attached to the email with this blog update is the Lesson Analysis Form that is used to analyze summative assessments.  You should have one sheet completed for reading and one completed for math.  This helps to analyze student work and make plans for next steps in instruction.

In team leader meeting, we discussed how we respond when students have not learned the information. The following were the notes we discussed in our deep dive into PLC question #3:

Question #3: How do we respond when they haven't learned it?

• Identify the two most common misconceptions in each class and across the grade level. Students must show their work at all times.
• What mistakes are students making -- is it understanding, process, calculation, text evidence...?
• What feedback do students need to understand their misconception?
• What learning has to take place (what do they need to know) for students to successfully answer questions on the re-test?
• When will the re-teach and practice happen? Can the practice be differentiated homework?
• What strategies will you use to re-teach differently?
• Plan the day for the re-test
• Review results and repeat this process

One of our biggest conundrums is often based around moving on when we don't have everyone at the same achievement level.  Please understand that some students will move forward and some will have to be re-taught and re-assessed until they have understanding.  This dilemma is exactly why the Learning Continuum will support our work along with Tiered Response Lessons. 

• The Learning Continuum tells us where our students are "ready to learn" according to specific standards.  You have set this lesson plan up to support three groups of students.  As students gain proficiency, the only planning that you are switching is your high group.  
• Your lowest group progresses to the mid-level group and your mid-level group progresses to the activities for the high group.
• Providing students feedback will tell them exactly where they are and what they need to move forward
• Goal setting is crucial -- share the goal and have them participate in this process -- this could also be homework to have parents assist with the learning goal.
• Have students track their progress -- why do you have to do all the work -- this also provides ownership (part of our ROARS expectations)
• Remember, the learning continuum supports gap closure -- so please USE IT!

Our goal as a school for the Winter MAP Assessment was to increase the number of students meeting the grade level benchmark by 10%, moving from 24% in reading and math to 34%.  We did not meet our goal.  We actually decreased by 6% in reading and 4% in math.  

We did see our growth in both subjects grow with 49% of students showing growth in reading and 57% of students showing growth in math, increasing from 34% growth on the Fall assessment.

The more specific we get, the better our results.  Last, in team leader meeting we also discussed daily formative assessment and had a breakthrough -- there was a misconception with daily targets and daily formative assessment.  Think of the daily target as the success criteria for the standard -- which small part are you teaching today?

• Each day you have a learning target.  This target should be explicit for the DAY.  At the end of the lesson, what should students be able to do/understand and how will they demonstrate or prove it to you?
• For example:  Target - We are learning to add fractions with like denominators.  The lesson you teach is on adding fractions with like denominators.  
• At the end of the lesson, give students one problem where they have to add fractions with like denominators (collect the student responses).
• Did they work the problem and get the correct answer?  Remember they have to show their work so that you can understand why they got it correct or what their misconception is.
• Sort the responses -- who got it, who didn't, who is waaaaay off?  This will inform your instruction for the next day when you work on fractions.

Updates

• Mr. Oliver is no longer with the Simmons program so he has left King
• Natalie is official as our Academic Instructional Coach
• Report cards go home Tuesday
• We have a parent engagement event Thursday -- Zoo Night -- we will have chili for families (5PM-7PM)
• Faculty Meeting Tuesday is dedicated to providing time to upload backpack artifacts
• SBDM meeting Thursday @ 4:15PM