Empowering Teachers and Students

2. Empowering Teachers and Students HISD Power Objectives

3. Welcome! Tracy Weeden, Ed.D. Assistant Superintendent Elementary Curriculum, Instruction, & Assessment Kelly Trlica, Ed.D. Assistant Superintendent Secondary Curriculum, Instruction, & Assessment

5. HISD Curriculum – How did we get here? • Project CLEAR Introduced standards-based district-wide curriculum • CLEAR Online Introduced new vehicle for disseminating curriculum • PASS Student data disaggregation tool • Snapshots District-wide benchmarks • Model Lessons Curriculum resources based on CLEAR curriculum

6. HISD Curriculum – How did we get here? • New CLEAR Online Interface • New curriculum documents • Vertical Alignment Matrix • TEKS/TAKS Correlations • Horizontal Alignment Planning Guides • Revised Documents • Power Objectives Initiative

7. HISD Curriculum – Where are we going? Instructional Management System

8. Power Objectives: A Definition • The term “Power Standards” was coined by Dr. Douglas Reeves. • Because HISD refers to knowledge and skills that a student must acquire as “objectives,” we have modified Reeves’ term to “Power Objectives.”

9. Power Objectives HISD Power Objectives are a subset of the complete list of HISD objectives (based on the TEKS/SEs) for each grade and for each subject.

10. Power Objectives “ …are those objectives that, once mastered, give a student the ability to use reasoning and thinking skills to learn and understand other curriculum objectives.” --Dr. Douglas Reeves

11. The Rationale for Power Objectives Teachers and curriculum specialists agree there are too many objectives to cover in the amount of time available to teachers!

12. According to the experts… • Robert Marzano calculated that there are 3,500 benchmarks spread across 14 different content areas. • To teach all the objectives in all the content areas, he remarked, “You would have to change schooling from K – 12 to K – 22!”

13. If educators are given no strategies for managing the volume of objectives, they must, on their own, “pick and choose” the ones they believe will most benefit their students. • This subjective selection leads to inconsistencies as to which objectives are emphasized and which are not.

14. “I’ve stopped teaching… Now I’m just giving the kids worksheets and practice drills so I can at least cover the rest of the material they will be tested on.”

15. Words of Caution • Identifying Power Objectives does not relieve teachers of the responsibility for teaching all objectives and indicators. • It must be decided which objectives are critical for student success, and which other ones can be given less emphasis.

16. Identifying Power Objectives Three criteria should be used to identify Power Objectives • Endurance • Leverage • Readiness

17. Three Criteria for Power Objectives #1 - Endurance Will this objective provide students with knowledge and skills that will be of value beyond a single test date?

18. # 2 - Leverage Will this objective provide knowledge and skills that will be of value in multiple disciplines?

19. #3 - Readiness Will this objective provide knowledge and skills that are required for the next level of learning?

20. A “guiding question” for determining Power Objectives… What must my students learn to be successful • in school, • in life, and • on TAKS?

21. Remember… • The textbook is not the curriculum. • Stanford 10 is not the curriculum. • TAKS is not the curriculum. • Power Objectives are not the curriculum. The HISD Objectives are the curriculum.

22. Next Steps • Develop recommendations for first drafts • Solicit feedback • Revise drafts • Implement power objectives • Ongoing professional development

23. HISD wants YOU to help our district identifyPower Objectives!