A306 Session 8: Digging into Data PART II Mar. 11, 2008

1. A306 Session 8: Digging into Data PART II Mar. 11, 2008

2. Plan for Today 4:10-4:20 Data Wise in Action 4:20-5:05 The Emerson School in Action 5:05-5:40 Standards in Practice Protocol Sarah Fiarman 5:40-5:50 Break 5:50-6:30 Standards in Practice, continued 6:30-7:00 Team Time, Meet with Teaching Fellow

3. Today’s Objectives • Dig deeper into digging into data and appreciate how central this work is to using data wisely. • Get ideas for how to collect and analyze formative data. • Experience a protocol for exploring the quality of student assignments.

4. Spring Plan Challenges

5. East Boston Early Education Center • Creating individual action plans for children scoring below 10 on the DRA assessment • Bringingin doctoral students from BC to work 4 hours/week supporting advanced reading in 1st grade, thus allowing teachers to concentrate on emergent readers. • Looking at student work once a month for writing and math.

6. Emerson • Evaluating the performance of ELL students enrolled in SEI and regular classrooms. • Categorizing the academic performance of individual students to develop interventions to meet the needs of students performing at a variety of levels. • Creating data collection templates and PowerPoint presentation templates to help teachers collect and evaluate student data and provide the data team with a common format for presenting school-wide data to the faculty.

7. Hennigan • Working with literacy specialists on strategies to improve vocabulary across disciplines. • Creating a knowledge management system to capture the work that has been leading up to using student data to drive classroom instruction and to benchmark the school's academic performance. • Focusing on culturally sensitive teaching throughout the school.

8. Sumner • Building capacity of MLT as pilot for rest of school. • Analyzing MCAS and 2007 BPS Math Assessment; found students are using increasingly efficient strategies but also that 1/3 to 1/2 “lost track of their work.” • Looking at BPS Math OR questions to identify what it specifically meant to “lose track of the work,” found that students did not understand the meaning of the numbers in the procedures they used and/or made simple addition mistakes. • Analyzing why this is happening to our students.

9. Data Wise at the R.W.Emerson C. Sura O’Mard-Gentle, Principal Created by Emerson Data Wise Group: Maria Fenwick, Johanna Schaefer, and Marcia Russell Presented by Emerson Data Team March 11, 2008

10. March 2007 Data Overview Presentation In-school PD focused on MCAS, including: Overall performance by grade level Content and Format of the tests Student performance by Item Type and Content Area Deeper analysis of selected test items, including sample student work April 2007 Data Analysis Workshop In-school PD for teachers grades 3-5 How to use MyBPS and DOE websites to access data, test items, and sample student work August 2007 MCAS Overview Summer Staff Meeting focused on preliminary scores on a grade and classroom level History

11. Example from March 2007: Grade 4 Which standards are emphasized the most? The least?

12. Example from March 2007 : Grade 4 • How did students perform by question type?

13. History • March 2007 Data Overview Presentation • In-school PD focused on MCAS, including: • Overall performance by grade level • Content and Format of the tests • Student performance by Item Type and Content Area • Deeper analysis of selected test items, including sample student work • April 2007 Data Analysis Workshop • In-school PD for teachers grades 3-5 • How to use MyBPS and DOE websites to access data, test items, and sample student work • August 2007 MCAS Overview • Summer Staff Meeting focused on preliminary scores on a grade and classroom level

14. Example from April 2007 • Where do I go if I want to…

15. History • March 2007 Data Overview Presentation • In-school PD focused on MCAS, including: • Overall performance by grade level • Content and Format of the tests • Student performance by Item Type and Content Area • Deeper analysis of selected test items, including sample student work • April 2007 Data Analysis Workshop • In-school PD for teachers grades 3-5 • How to use MyBPS and DOE websites to access data, test items, and sample student work • August 2007 MCAS Overview • Summer Staff Meeting focused on preliminary scores on a grade and classroom level

16. Example from Summer 2007 Look closely at the W category and the NI category. What do you notice?

17. This Year • Data Team is a consistent focus at our school • Meet twice per month • Incorporate Data Wise protocols; Focus on Data Wise process • Fall 2007 Workshops - Building Assessment Literacy • “ABCs of AYP” • Data Use and Misuse Scenarios • December 2007 WSIP • Established specific targets for improvement • Collaborated with ILT, LAT, and MLT to complete goals • January 2008 Data Calendar • Created 12 month calendar to be a timeline for future years

18. Example from Fall 2007 • Each school’s individual student scores are assigned a point value. The points are then averaged to find the CPI, or Composite Performance Index.

19. Example from Fall 2007

20. This Year • Data Team is a consistent focus at our school • Meet twice per month • Incorporate Data Wise protocols; Focus on Data Wise process • Fall 2007 Workshops - Building Assessment Literacy • “ABCs of AYP” • Data Use and Misuse Scenarios • December 2007 WSIP • Established specific targets for improvement • Collaborated with ILT, LAT, and MLT to complete goals • January 2008 Data Calendar • Created 12 month calendar to be a timeline for future years

21. R. W. Emerson DRAFT Data Calendar

22. Currently • Focusing on ELL student performance • Our school is roughly 50% SEI (Cape Verdean Creole) classrooms, 50% monolingual regular ed • ELL students without designations are found also in monolingual classrooms • At least 20 SIFE (Students with Interrupted Formal Schooling) students • Transient classrooms (over 20% transience rate) • Created templates for teachers to track and analyze their data • Teachers have had Data Binders since 2006 • Needed a way to formalize school-based assessment data • Templates include question packets that prompt teachers to analyze their own data

23. Challenges • Time: The perpetual obstacle • Using Professional Leadership Project funds, 3 teachers work together on data collection and analysis for 2.5 hours per week • Those teachers can visit other staff members during planning blocks • Larger group of teachers dedicate their time to Data Team meetings two hours per month before school • Creative use of student teachers and substitutes has allowed us to host in-school workshops • Technology • All templates are currently available in both electronic and paper-and-pencil format • Hope to inspire people to use electronic with conditional formatting and new laptops • Accountability • Teachers are supported by Data Team and are asked to turn their data in to the Data Team

24. ELL/SEI Focus • Identified Achievement Gap between SEI and monolingual regular ed classrooms • Understandings • When newcomers from a non-English speaking background and/or SIFE students take the MCAS, we expect there to be a lag in scores, at least initially • Current district assessments for newcomers have not been adequate • Actions • Restructured our SEI program • Reallocating resources to meet the needs of our students • Classification of “Warning,” is not helpful - Identified high- and low-scoring students within Warning and Needs Improvement • Look beyond just MCAS data to find progress - Use mid-year assessments as a more meaningful measure

25. Data Templates • Reading Open Response Assessment • Based on Harcourt Trophies story • Scored using Emerson Open Response Rubric (4-point scale) • Writing Prompt • Based on genre, depending on grade level • Scored using 6 Traits Rubric adapted by Emerson teachers • Math BPS District-wide Mid-Year Assessment • Science Mid-Year Assessment • Created by Emerson science teachers • Based on old MCAS items and teacher-created items • Format and scoring similar to math assessment

26. Mid-Year Open Response Template Assessment Details: Open Response Essay data is collected based on a standardized response question from a Harcourt Trophies anthology story. Essays are scored based on an Emerson School rubric with 4 points. “Strength” and “Weakness” boxes are for teacher input. Conditional Formatting and Formulas: Automatically highlights by score; finds overall class average.

27. Mid-Year Writing Prompt Template Assessment Details: Writing prompt is a standardized prompt given to students three times per year. In fourth grade, students write a personal narrative story. Students are scored using a version of the 6 Traits rubric that was adapted by Emerson teachers. Conditional Formatting and Formulas: Automatically highlights by score; finds student averages and class averages by trait.

28. Math Mid-Year Assessment Template Assessment Details: Based on BPS district-wide math midyear assessment. Conditional Formatting and Formulas: Multiple Choice & Short Answer Item Analysis: Automatically highlights correct answers; finds total correct and percentage of students answering correctly. Open Response: Automatically highlights by score - Red = 1, Orange = 2, Green = 3 and 4; finds class averages. Total Points/Total Score: Automatically highlights point values in Yellow if they are within 2 points of the next score; finds class averages.

29. Future Goals • Increase participation in classroom-level data analysis • School-wide Data Board • Large scale display of student data similar to the Gardner Pilot presentation • Use GRADE data, possibly mid-year Math assessment • Support SEI teachers to identify student progress • Look at MEPA • Find a way to track progress throughout SEI program • Create school-based system for assessing newcomers • Connect Data Team and ILT through Data Summary sheets created from school-wide mid-year data collection • Stay on target for MCAS prep using 12-month calendar

30. Team Time Emerson School TAKE-AWAYS Standards in Practice TAKE-AWAYS Hillsborough (DWIA Ch. 4) TAKE-AWAYS How will we integrate these ideas in our school?

31. Assignments for April 8 • Continue working on Spring Plan • Do the Standards in Practice protocol • Read Data Wise in Action ch. 5