Instructional greatness is the theme in Friendship Central School. Teachers here have dedicated time and effort into making every moment in school count. They have worked countless hours to help all students achieve success. One way they have accomplished this is through data driven instruction.
Planning instruction based on assessments is hard work. Teachers in Friendship are diligently working at unpacking standards, aligning curriculum and planning lessons using the data from CA BOCES-created benchmark assessments. This teacher tool gives educators the knowledge and understanding of student learning. It also provides a foundation for teacher professional development.
Teachers engage in collegial and collaborative conversations on a regular basis. There are numerous benefits to these conversations such as creating professional community, learning, and a culture where knowledge and respect are highly valued. These educators are responsible for transforming classrooms as they share ideas and expertise. The support they receive from colleagues is inspiring. Ultimately, these professionals develop and maintain the culture of cooperation so that teachers continue to learn and students achieve. The work in Friendship is transformational and teachers are the heart of this work.
By: Michelle Rickicki, CA BOCES Professional Development
In September, several members of the CA BOCES ISS team had the opportunity to attend the Staff/Curriculum Development Network conference with Larry Ainsworth, educational expert on standards and formative assessment. It was an intensive day of exploring curriculum development through prioritizing standards. Members of the team worked with other Curriculum Coordinators from across the state in Math, Science, ELA, and Social Studies to examine the standards, learning how to prioritize, and the implications such work has on curriculum and assessment.
Because each discipline has dozens of standards, Larry Ainsworth argues that to develop curriculum, prioritizing the standards is a critical step in the process. Throughout the work we did, Larry made sure to say that just because some standards are prioritized, it does not mean the other standards do not matter. We worked with an analogy of a fence, seeing prioritized standards as posts and supporting standards as rails. Seeing standards in this light can help teachers determine what to elevate in instruction, and what standards are foundational to building other skills.
In his book, Rigorous Curriculum Design, criteria is established for looking at each standard to determine whether it should be prioritized. There are four lenses to examine each standard through: Readiness, Endurance, Leverage, and External Exams. Readiness represents how the standard prepares students for next level learning. Endurance of a standard determines whether it’s a concept or skill that lasts over time. Leverage of a standard means that it has interdisciplinary connections. Finally, standards should be looked at through how they are assessed on external exams.
Due to the size of the group and the multiple different disciplines we were working with, we examined the standards through for readiness, endurance, and leverage. In small groups, teams reviewed standards at a particular grade level through the lenses, trying to establish a list of standards that should be prioritized. The conversations were fantastic and allowed for in-depth discussion on not only the standard, but the implementation of the standard in the classroom.
Because of the depth of analysis of the standards, Brendan Keiser and Sarah Wittmeyer facilitated the prioritization process with the Middle School/High School English Language Arts CLC in October. Teachers were divided by grade level bands, and in small groups looked at the standards through the first three lenses.
After the standards were reviewed through those lenses, we added in the data from the 6-8 ELA State Tests and the English Regents Exam regarding the most frequently assessed standards. This allowed for another layer and added in-depth discussion on what standards should be prioritized.
The purpose of the activity with the CLC was not to give teachers a list of standards to prioritize in their curriculum, but rather to give teachers a protocol by which to examine the standards. The process included discussions on unpacking the language, understanding what the standard looks like in the classroom, and the importance of the standard at the particular grade level. Teachers walked away with the ability to replicate the process in district, but also a more comprehensive understanding of the Next Generation English Language Arts Standards.
By: Sarah Wittmeyer, CA BOCES Professional Development
It was “that time of year again”, for our 6-8 Middle School Math CLCs to meet as a collaborative learning community. It’s a great opportunity for teacher in the C-A region to come to learn, discuss, and collaborate ideas for classroom implementation. On October 4th, teachers came to The Barn Training Room to attend the second of three meetings. The day started off with some learning focused around the mathematical practices, and how teachers can implement them in their planning and preparation for the classroom. The next part of the day focused around the review of the newly adopted, Next Generation Math Standards. Teachers were given an overview of the changes from kindergarten through high school, and how the changes would look in each grade level. Teachers had rich and thoughtful discussions surrounding the implementation of the new standards by the school year 2020-2021. Another portion of the day was used to look at the activities the PD team brought back from Albany, including learning through Algebra Tiles. The day was rounded out by digging deep into NYS test data for the 6-8 math assessments, as well as looking at released test questions, and planning instruction for units with colleagues at the CLC.
By: Kathleen Agnello, CA BOCES Professional Development; Karen Insley, CA BOCES Learning Resources; and Ryan McGinnis, CA BOCES Professional Development
Over the past couple of years in New York, the state education department has been developing a new framework for Social Studies instruction, and a new format for the Global History and Geography Regents exam.
The combination of these two changes has brought an opportunity to review and revise social studies curriculum. One district that has spent time focusing on these changes and developing assessments that align to the content and the format of the state changes has been the Pioneer Central School District.
The middle school teachers at Pioneer spent three days in April reviewing their curriculum and developing assessment tasks that reflected the changes from NYSED. Utilizing a stimulus source, such as this map, teachers were able to develop questions and tasks that reflected Geographic Reasoning, one of the social studies practices outlined in the Framework.
Spending time doing this type of curriculum development and work not only is preparing teachers for these changes, but allows them to prepare the students as well for what they will be asked to accomplish when they are assessed with the Global History and Geography Regents exam in the future.
By: Rob Griffith, CA BOCES Professional Development