Content Teams & Learning Targets

1. August 28, 2008 Content Teams &Learning Targets Meadowdale Middle School

2. Learning Target • Review our Understanding of Learning Targets -Understand the research that supports Learning Targets. -Understand how to implement Learning Targets.

3. Why focus on learning? “A recent meta-analysis of 53 research studies (Marzano, 1998) found that… …when students were clear in advance about what they were learning, their achievement was, on average, 34 percentile points higher on tests used in these studies than students in control groups.” (McREL, 2000)

4. Mike Schmoker~ “In most cases neither teachers or students can articulate what they are supposed to be learning that day; they can only describe the activity or assignment…” …there is a glaring absence of the most basic elements of an effective lesson: as essential as, clearly-defined learning objectives.

5. Classrooms in which there was evidence of a clear Learning Target: Only 4% in a study of 1,500 classrooms (Learning 24/7, 2005)

6. So what? • Defining the Learning Target is how our brain learns. • The reticular activation system is the sorting system of the brain. • Students need to know the Learning Target to be able to focus on what they need to know and be able to do to meet standard.

7. “What is the difference between a Learning Target & an Objective?” An objective is based upon a state standard and usually spans the time of a week or more within a unit of study. A Learning Target is the specific skill, process, or content to be learned in a single class period. The compilation of Learning Targets supports an objective within a unit of study.

8. Learning Target (content-DNA) + Learning Target (skill-focus microscopes) + Learning Target (process- reflection) = Objective • Objective + Objective + Objective = Enduring Understanding

9. “How do the students know the daily Learning Target?” • Write it on the whiteboard. • Create a warm-up activity that introduces the Learning Target. • Teach the steps to meet the Learning Target. • Check for understanding of the Learning Target. • Develop class resources to support the Learning Target. • Throughout the class period, ask students about their progress toward meeting the Learning Target. • “Reflect” on the Learning Target as a debrief before the class period ends.

10. “I don’t have time to do Learning Targets, because my class period is only 50 minutes long.” • Less is more. • We need to recognize the value between knowing what is planned vs. taught vs. learned. • If we can’t answer why we plan to teach it, then we shouldn’t teach it (take things off your plate!).

11. PLCs ask 3 questions of adults: 1. What should students know & be able to do? 2. How do we know students learned it? 3. What do we do if students did NOT learn it? Learning Targets ask 3 questions of students: 1. What should I know and be able to do, today? 2. What are the steps to learn it? 3. Where are the resources to help me if I am struggling with the Learning Target? How do Learning Targets & Content Teams support one another?

12. It sounds like a lot of “extra” work. • When asked, students will always respond about their learning through the eyes of their own experiences. So, a teacher does not need to worry about being an expert in all languages, cultures, and socio-economic backgrounds to close the achievement gap. • If you listen to the students tell you about what they learned, then you will save yourself time by demystifying the learning process for everyone.

13. Reflect Do you feel prepared to begin talking about Learning Targets in your Content Teams?

14. Learning Target Apply the learning from Chapter 2: Today’s Preadolescent Learner to our work as middle school teachers. -Share & Discuss highlights from Chapter 2. -Prepare 2 or 3 modifications to your work with Leanring Targets, in Content Teams, OR your classroom management plan based upon the reading.

15. The Essential Middle School • “There is nothing so unequal as the equal treatment of unequals.” (p. 31) • “By recognizing that behaviors of middle school students reflect intellectual immaturity, middle school educators can themselves become more rational in their reactions to students.” (p. 30) • “…there should be a balance in the curriculum among personal development activities, basic skills programs, and content studies.” (.39)

16. “Interviews with high school students indicate that the personal needs met by middle school teachers are much more important to students than cognitive knowledge attained.” (p. 51) “If the school presents a curriculum that is too hard or too easy, irrelevant to the lives of the pupils, or not flexible enough to accommodate all of the bumps and curves of being a preadolescent, students will resist school.” (p. 51)

17. Reflect • Do you have new ideas of how to better serve the pre-adolescents in your classroom?

18. Why are you a teacher?

19. Learning Target • Be able to explain the meaning behind MMS 2008 WASL scores.

20. 2008 WASL Comments made by State Superintendent, Terry Bergeson….. “In general, WASL passage rates stalled or declined in more areas than they advanced.” “The drops were big enough in the fourth and seventh grades to make some question whether the problem was with the test.” “She cited a school in Bellevue, where a little less than half of fourth-graders passed math this year, compared with 89% last year when many of the same students were third-graders.”

21. In Renton, for example, middle-school passage rates declined in reading and math after a big gain last year. RSD Superintendent Mary Alice Heuschel said, “I just told them they just need to keep going because we are doing the right things.”

22. School vs. District vs. State • School should always be above District & District should always be above State. • Must also consider if the gap between School vs. District vs. State increases or decreases.

23. District & State In 7th grade ~ • Reading=.3% less than state • Math = 1.3% less than state • Writing = 1.4 % less than state *Summary = Slight dip in 7th grade, over all In 8th grade ~ • Reading = 4% above state • Math = 3.1% above state • Science = 2.9% above state. *Summary = Slight increase in 8th grade, over all

24. What if… • our School’s WASL results increase the gap between the District’s WASL results? For instance- ’07 – School = 65% (+10) ’07 – District = 55% ’08 – School = 66% (+18) ’08 – District 48%

25. What if… • our School WASL scores decrease the gap between the District’s WASL Scores? • For instance: • ’07- School – 68% (+8) • ’07- District – 60% • ’08 – School 69% (+2) • ’08 – District 67%

26. 1st Order Change vs.2nd Order Change • 1st Order Change in a school will cause initial increase in test scores – typically peaking around 80%. • 2nd Order Change is required in a school to increase test scores past 80%. WHY?

28. How can every teacher, in every subject, support the teaching & learning of Writing at MMS?

30. How can every teacher, in every class, support the teaching and learning of Reading (non-fiction) & Inquiry at MMS?

31. We are fine! • We are working on exactly what research states are best practices and OSPI would implement during the School Improvement Process. TEAMWORK is the answer!

32. Learning Target Be able to explain Adequate Yearly Progress.

33. What is Adequate Yearly Progress? • Commonly referred to as AYP. • Cornerstone of the federal Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) signed into law January 2002, as the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act. • WASL Reading & Math • 2014 = 100% of students will achieve proficiency in each subject area.

34. School must “pass” State Uniform Bar. State Uniform Bar is “bumped” up every 3 years. 2008 is a “bump year.” • Must pass in all 9 categories. 30+ students and no less than 10 students activates the category.

35. After 2 consecutive years of not meeting AYP target… • Step 1 = Must notify parents of status, Will receive technical assistance to improve performance, Offer parents the opportunity to transfer their students to another public school within the district, Must pay for transportation if transfer is requested.

36. Step 2 of not making AYP • Must notify parents • Offer public school choice • Offer parents the opportunity to request Supplemental Educational Services, such as tutoring, to low achieving students.

37. Step 3 • Identified for corrective action and must notify parents of their status. • Continue to offer Public School Choice. • Must select options from the following list: -Replace certain school staff; implement new curriculum; decrease management authority; appoint outside expert to advise on SIP; Extend school year or school day; or Restructure the internal organization of the school.

38. Step 4 • Identified for restructuring and must notify parents. • Continue to offer Public School Choice. • Plan for Restructuring.

39. Step 5 • Implement Restructuring • Select from below options: -Replace all or most of relevant school staff -Contract with outside entity to operate school -If the state agrees, undergo a state takeover

40. Don’t Worry. Be Happy. Important School-Wide Initiatives: -Content Teams (Professional Learning Communities) – 100% -Learning Targets – 100% -Curriculum Maps & Common Assessments – 100% -Focus on Instruction & Evidence of Student learning – 100% -Safe & Civil Schools – 100% -Shared Mission – 100% -Positive School Culture & Climate – 100% -Pyramid of Academic Interventions (TLC) – 100% -Rewards and Incentives (Renaissance) – 100% -Focus on Literacy (Reading Advisory) – 100% -Focus on Relationships (Wednesday Advisory) – 100% -Community Partnerships (NEW this year!) – 100% -Understand Pre-Adolescent Learners (our customers!) -6th Period Math Support (NEW this year!) – 100% -Student Voice & Ownership (ASB, Leadership, Student Focus Groups) – 100%

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