REGIONAL EDUCATIONAL LAB ~ APPALACHIA

1. REGIONAL EDUCATIONAL LAB ~ APPALACHIA The Effects of Kentucky Virtual High School’s Hybrid Course in Algebra I on Teaching Practices, Classroom Quality, and Adolescent Learning On-Line Collaboration March 2008 Series Challenges to Teaching Hybrid Algebra I

2. GOALS FOR ON-LINE COLLABORATION • On-line Collaboration using Horizon Wimba: • Share teaching strategies/resources, • Discuss planning instruction, • Analyze student work, • Share formative and summative assessment instruments/strategies that move learning forward, • Provide instructional structures where “feedback is focused on how students can improve related to learning goals,” • Others as defined by teachers and as need to address issues in the field – including new learning that promotes student achievement.

3. NUTS & BOLTS • Technology Issues • Update regarding changes to the Lessons • See Spot Light on Algebra – Course Documents, Teacher’s Instructor Guide • Control Panel Hints • February Results

4. SHARING STRATEGIES, PROCESSES, & STRUCTURES • Mathematical Literacy Strategies - Vocabulary Development - Writing to Learn - Reading to Learn - Academic Dialogue - Technology - Manipulatives - Modeling

5. SHARING STRATEGIES, PROCESSES, & STRUCTURES (continued) • Formative or Summative Assessments Created and Used • Instructional Issues or Barriers You Are Facing or Encountering • Shared Experiences and/or Suggestions from Colleagues (Community of Learners) • Processes, Structures, and/or Lessons that Promote Student Achievement • Others

6. REQUESTED TOPICS • Storing key concepts in long-term memory. • Keeping students focused during the KVHS Lesson. • Gauging student learning progress and determining next steps what is the best time for the formal assessment. • Interacting with students during the KVHS Lesson in order to draw attention to key concepts. • Recognizing key components to graphing linear equations – especially slope-intercept of a line.

7. ASSESSING STUDENTS FOR GAUGING LEARNING AND DETERMINING NEXT STEPS • Use of accountable talk (L. Resnick) through: - Press for clarification and explanation. - Require justification of proposals and challenges. - Recognize and challenge misconceptions. - Demand evidence for claims and arguments. - Interpret and use each other's statements. • Attend to any written account of student understanding

8. Assessing Students: Gauging Learning & Determining Next Steps “ In its purest form, formative tests are not graded and are used as an ongoing diagnostic tool; hence the instructor employs the results of formative assessment solely t modify and adjust his or her teaching practices to reflect the needs and progress of his or her students.” (Swearingen, 2002) • What kind of formative assessments are we using? • How are we using them? • What do I want to know about formative assessments?

9. Formative Assessment • “Formative assessment helps students interpret feedback as a means of learning rather than as punishment or reward. Although we acknowledge the importance of performance, especially on standardized tests, student motivation for learning is more closely tied to formative assessment.” (Tunstall, 1996; Kafton, Buck, & Haack, 2006)

10. Formative Assessment (Continued) • “Formative assessment serves the dual purpose of giving the teacher information on the effectiveness of the lesson and giving students information on the current state of their learning.” • “Through this dialogue, or conversation, relationships form. Students begin to trust that they do not need to copy from the book to match what the teacher wants to hear. They can write down their thoughts, however ill-fashioned, and know future comments will direct the focus of learning.” (Kafton, Buck, & Haack, 2006)

11. Maximizing Efficacy of Formative Assessment • Necessary factors:Authenticity, Variety, Volume, Validity, Reliability • Principals of Effective F. A.: • Assessment is most effective when it reflects an understanding of learning as multidimensional, integrated, and revealed in performance over time. • Assessment works best when the programs it seeks to improve have clear, explicitly stated purposes. • Assessment requires attention to outcomes but also and equally to the experiences that lead to those outcomes. • Assessment works best when it is ongoing, not episodic. • Assessment is most likely to lead to improvement when it is part of a larger set of conditions that promote change. • Through assessment educators meet responsibilities to students. • (Swearingen, 2002)

12. Examples of Formative Assessment • Use questioning and classroom discussion as an opportunity to increase their students' knowledge and improve understanding. • Make sure to ask thoughtful, reflective questions rather than simple, factual questions • Give students adequate time to respond • Suggested strategies: • Invite students to discuss their thinking about a question or topic in pairs or small groups, then ask a representative to share the thinking with the larger group (sometimes called think-pair-share).  • Present several possible answers to a question, then ask students to vote on them.  • Ask all students to write down an answer, then read a selected few out loud.

13. (Striving Readers, 2008)

14. Examples of Formative Assessment (Continued) (Kafton, Buck, & Haack, 2006)

15. Examples of Formative Assessment (Continued) Assessing students' understanding: • Have students write their understanding of vocabulary or concepts before and after instruction.  • Ask students to summarize the main ideas they've taken away from a lecture, discussion, or assigned reading.  • Have students complete a few problems or questions at the end of instruction and check answers, provide suggestions for improving  • Interview students individually or in groups about their thinking as they solve problems.  • Assign brief, in-class writing assignments (e.g., “What is different about these two problems?”, ”How is this problem related to yesterday’s problem?”)

16. Studies of formative assessment show an effect size on standardized tests of between 0.4 and 0.7 (larger than most known educational interventions). (Black and William, 1998) • . . . . Formative assessment is particularly effective for students who have not done well in school, thus narrowing the gap between low and high achievers while raising overall achievement. (NCFOT, 1999, ¶ 4)

17. Bridging the Gap When do you move from formative to summative assessment?

18. RECOGNIZING KEY COMPONENTS TO GRAPHING LINEAR EQUATIONS – ESP SLOPE-INTERCEPT OF A LINE • Three way tie method each time you are discussing or modeling linear functions • Use of Number/Table, Algebraic Symbols/Equation, Graphic Model, Sentence or Oral Description of what story the Models are telling

19. REMINDERS • Office Hours: Monday from 9-10 AM & Tuesdays 1 -2. • March On-Line Series ( 13TH Thr, 17TH Mon.,18TH Tue,19THWed ) • April On-Line Series ( 1ST Tues, 2ND Wed, & 3RD Thurs) – three sessions • Help Line: • - Bb: 866-590-9240 • - KDE, Paula White: 502-564-4772(#4512) • paula.white@education.ky.gov • - KDE, Kari Welch: 502-564-4772 (#4546), kari.welch@education.ky.gov • - KDE, Grace Yeh: 502-564-4772 (#4537) • grace.yeh@education.ky.gov • - Identify yourself as HYBRID ALGEBRA I TEACHER • NCTM Conference: - April 9-12, 2008 ,Salt Lake, Utah - www.nctm.org • KCTM Technology Conference: April 19