Teachers analyze student learning.

Teachers think systematically and critically about student learning in their classrooms and schools:  why learning happens and what can be done to improve achievement. 

Teachers collect and analyze student performance data to improve school and classroom effectiveness.  They adapt their practice based on research and data to best meet the needs of students.

Teachers link professional growth to their professional goals.  

Teachers participate in continued, high-quality professional development that reflects a global view of educational practices; includes 21^st century skills and knowledge; aligns with the State Board of Education priorities; and meets the needs of students and their own professional growth.

Teachers function effectively in a complex, dynamic environment.  

Understanding that change is constant, teachers actively investigate and consider new ideas that improve teaching and learning.  They adapt their practice based on research and data to best meet the needs of their students.

Examples of Artifacts

To access the full North Carolina Teacher Evaluation Process Document, click here:  http://www.ncpublicschools.org/docs/profdev/training/teacher/teacher-eval.pdf   (Pages 5-9 of this document will provide you with background information, definitions, and a rationale for the changes in the teacher evaluation process and instrument.)

To access all documents, videos, forms, PowerPoints, and charts related to the New Teacher Evaluation Process, click here:  http://www.ncpublicschools.org/profdev/training/teacher/

Teachers know the ways in which learning takes place, and they know the appropriate levels of intellectual, physical, social, and emotional development of their students.

Teachers know how students think and learn. Teachers understand the influences that affect individual student learning (development, culture, language proficiency, etc.) and differentiate their instruction accordingly. 

Teachers keep abreast of evolving research about student learning. They adapt resources to address the strengths and weaknesses of their students.

Teachers plan instruction appropriate for their students.  

Teachers collaborate with their colleagues and use a variety of data sources for short- and long-range planning based on the North Carolina Standard Course of Study. These plans reflect an understanding of how students learn.

Teachers engage students in the learning process. They understand that instructional plans must be consistently monitored and modified to enhance learning.

Teachers make the curriculum responsive to cultural differences and individual learning needs.

Teachers use a variety of instructional methods.  

Teachers choose the methods and techniques that are most effective in meeting the needs of their students as they strive to eliminate achievement gaps.

Teachers employ a wide range of techniques including information and communication technology, learning styles, and differentiated instruction.

Teachers integrate and utilize technology in their instruction.  

Teachers know when and how to use technology to maximize student learning.

Teachers help students use technology to learn content, think critically, solve problems, discern reliability, use information, communicate, innovate, and collaborate.

Teachers help students develop critical-thinking and problem-solving skills.  

Teachers encourage students to ask questions, think creatively, develop and test innovative ideas, synthesize knowledge, and draw conclusions. They help students exercise and communicate sound reasoning; understand connections; make complex choices; and frame, analyze, and solve problems.

Teachers help students work in teams and develop leadership qualities.  

Teachers teach the importance of cooperation and collaboration. They organize learning teams in order to help students define roles, strengthen social ties, improve communication and collaborative skills, interact with people from different cultures and backgrounds, and develop leadership qualities.

Teachers communicate effectively.  

Teachers communicate in ways that are clearly understood by their students. They are perceptive listeners and are able to communicate with students in a variety of ways even when language is a barrier.

Teachers help students articulate thoughts and ideas clearly and effectively.

Teachers use a variety of methods to assess what each student has learned.  

Teachers use multiple indicators, including formative and summative assessments, to evaluate student progress and growth as they strive to eliminate achievement gaps.

Teachers provide opportunities, methods, feedback, and tools for students to assess themselves and each other.

Teachers use 21^st century assessment systems to inform instruction and demonstrate evidence of students’ 21st century knowledge, skills, performance, and dispositions.

Examples of Artifacts

To access the full North Carolina Teacher Evaluation Process Document, click here:  http://www.ncpublicschools.org/docs/profdev/training/teacher/teacher-eval.pdf   (Pages 5-9 of this document will provide you with background information, definitions, and a rationale for the changes in the teacher evaluation process and instrument.)

To access all documents, videos, forms, PowerPoints, and charts related to the New Teacher Evaluation Process, click here:  http://www.ncpublicschools.org/profdev/training/teacher/

In order to enhance the North Carolina Standard Course of Study, teachers investigate the content standards developed by professional organizations in their specialty area. 

They develop and apply strategies to make the curriculum rigorous and relevant for all students and provide a balanced curriculum that enhances literacy skills.

Elementary teachers have explicit and thorough preparation in literacy instruction. Middle and high school teachers incorporate literacy instruction within the content area or discipline.

Teachers know the content appropriate to their teaching specialty.

 Teachers bring a richness and depth of understanding to their classrooms by knowing their subjects beyond the content they are expected to teach and by directing students’ natural curiosity into an interest in learning.

Elementary teachers have broad knowledge across disciplines. Middle school and high school teachers have depth in one or more specific content areas or disciplines.

Teachers recognize the interconnectedness of content areas/disciplines.

Teachers…

• know the links and vertical alignment of the grade or subject they teach and the North Carolina Standard Course of Study
• understand how the content they teach relates to other disciplines in order to deepen understanding and connect learning for students
• promote global awareness and its relevance to subjects they teach

Teachers make instruction relevant to students.

Teachers incorporate 21st century life skills into their teaching deliberately, strategically, and broadly. These skills include leadership, ethics, accountability, adaptability, personal productivity, personal responsibility, people skills, self-direction, and social responsibility.

Teachers help their students understand the relationship between the North Carolina Standard Course of Study and 21st century content, which includes global awareness; financial, economic, business and entrepreneurial literacy; civic literacy; and health awareness.

Examples of Artifacts

To access the full North Carolina Teacher Evaluation Process Document, click here:  http://www.ncpublicschools.org/docs/profdev/training/teacher/teacher-eval.pdf   (Pages 5-9 of this document will provide you with background information, definitions, and a rationale for the changes in the teacher evaluation process and instrument.)

To access all documents, videos, forms, PowerPoints, and charts related to the New Teacher Evaluation Process, click here:  http://www.ncpublicschools.org/profdev/training/teacher/

Teachers provide an environment in which each child has a positive, nurturing relationship with caring adults.

Teachers encourage an environment that is inviting, respectful, supportive, inclusive, and flexible.

• Encourage an environment that is inviting, respectful, supportive, inclusive, and flexible.

Teachers embrace diversity in the school community and in the world.

Teachers demonstrate their knowledge of the history of diverse cultures and their role in shaping global issues. They actively select materials and develop lessons that counteract stereotypes and incorporate histories and contributions of all cultures.

Teachers recognize the influence of race, ethnicity, gender, religion, and other aspects of culture on a student’s development and personality. Teachers strive to understand how a student’s culture and background may influence his or her school performance. Teachers consider and incorporate different points of view in their instruction.

• Demonstrate knowledge of diverse cultures.
• Select materials and develop lessons that counteract stereotypes and incorporate contributions.
• Recognize the influences on a child’s development, personality, and performance.
• Consider and incorporate different points of view.

Teachers treat students as individuals.

Teachers maintain high expectations, including graduation from high school, for students of all backgrounds. Teachers appreciate the differences and value the contributions of each student in the learning environment by building positive, appropriate relationships.

• Maintain high expectations for all students.
• Appreciate differences and value contributions by building positive, appropriate relationships.

Teachers adapt their teaching for the benefit of students with special needs.

Teachers collaborate with the range of support specialists to help meet the special needs of all students. Through inclusion and other models of effective practice, teachers engage students to ensure that their needs are met.

• Collaborate with specialists.
• Engage students and ensure they meet the needs of their students through inclusion and other models of effective practice.

Teachers work collaboratively with the families and significant adults in the lives of their students.

Teachers recognize that educating children is a shared responsibility involving the school, parents or guardians, and the community. Teachers improve communication and collaboration between the school and the home and community in order to promote trust and understanding and build partnerships with all segments of the school community. Teachers seek solutions to overcome cultural and economic obstacles that may stand in the way of effective family and community involvement in the education of their students.

• Improve communication and collaboration between the school and the home and community.
• Promote trust and understanding and build partnerships with school community.
• Seek solutions to overcome obstacles that prevent family and community involvement.

Examples of Artifacts

To access the full North Carolina Teacher Evaluation Process Document, click here:  http://www.ncpublicschools.org/docs/profdev/training/teacher/teacher-eval.pdf   (Pages 5-9 of this document will provide you with background information, definitions, and a rationale for the changes in the teacher evaluation process and instrument.)

To access all documents, videos, forms, PowerPoints, and charts related to the New Teacher Evaluation Process, click here:  http://www.ncpublicschools.org/profdev/training/teacher/

Over the course of the next several months, we will explore each of the five standards of the new NC teacher evaluation instrument and the implications of this new process on teachers.  There will be an opportunity at each faculty meeting for you to ask questions regarding each standard. 

Standard I:  Teachers Demonstrate Leadership

Teachers lead in their classrooms.

Teachers demonstrate leadership by taking responsibility for the progress of all students to ensure that they graduate from high school, are globally competitive for work and postsecondary education, and are prepared for life in the 21st century.

Teachers communicate this vision to their students. Using a variety of data sources, they organize, plan, and set goals that meet the needs of the individual student and the class.

Teachers use various types of assessment data during the school year to evaluate student progress and to make adjustments to the teaching and learning process. They establish a safe, orderly environment, and create a culture that empowers students to collaborate and become lifelong learners.

ƒ. Take responsibility for all students’ learning

ƒ. Communicate vision to students

ƒ. Use data to organize, plan, and set goals

ƒ. Use a variety of assessment data throughout the year to evaluate progress

ƒ. Establish a safe and orderly environment

ƒ. Empower students

Teachers demonstrate leadership in the school.

Teachers work collaboratively with school personnel to create a professional learning community. They analyze and use local, state, and national data to develop goals and strategies in the school improvement plan that enhances student learning and teacher working conditions.

Teachers provide input in determining the school budget and in the selection of professional development that meets the needs of students and their own professional growth. They participate in the hiring process and collaborate with their colleagues to mentor and support teachers to improve the effectiveness of their departments or grade levels.

ƒ. Work collaboratively with all school personnel to create a professional learning community

ƒ. Analyze data

ƒ. Develop goals and strategies through the school improvement plan

ƒ. Assist in determining school budget and professional development

ƒ. Participate in hiring process

ƒ. Collaborate with colleagues to mentor and support teachers to improve effectiveness

Teachers lead the teaching profession.

Teachers strive to improve the teaching profession. They contribute to the establishment of positive working conditions in their school. They actively participate in and advocate for decision-making structures in education and government that take advantage of the expertise of teachers.

Teachers promote professional growth for all educators and collaborate with their colleagues to improve the profession.

ƒ. Strive to improve the profession

ƒ. Contribute to the establishment of positive working conditions

ƒ. Participate in decision-making structures

ƒ. Promote professional growth

Teachers advocate for schools and students.

Teachers advocate for positive change in policies and practices affecting student learning. They participate in the implementation of initiatives to improve the education of students.

ƒ. Advocate for positive change in policies and practices affecting student learning

ƒ. Participate in the implementation of initiatives to improve education

Teachers demonstrate high ethical standards.

Teachers demonstrate ethical principles including honesty, integrity, fair treatment, and respect for others. Teachers uphold the Code of Ethics for North Carolina Educators (effective June 1, 1997) and the Standards for Professional Conduct adopted April 1, 1998 (www.ncptsc.org) .

ƒ. Demonstrate ethical principles

ƒ. Uphold the Code of Ethics and Standards for the Professional Conduct

Examples of Artifacts

To access the full North Carolina Teacher Evaluation Process Document, click here:  http://www.ncpublicschools.org/docs/profdev/training/teacher/teacher-eval.pdf   (Pages 5-9 of this document will provide you with background information, definitions, and a rationale for the changes in the teacher evaluation process and instrument.)

To access all documents, videos, forms, PowerPoints, and charts related to the New Teacher Evaluation Process, click here:  http://www.ncpublicschools.org/profdev/training/teacher/

References

“North Carolina teacher evaluation process.” Public schools of North Carolina. North Carolina department of public instruction, n.d. Web. 7 Feb. 2010. <www.ncpublicschools.org/docs/profdev/training/teacher/teacher-eval.pdf>.

You continue to work to ensure that the curriculum is aligned with the standard course of study and that your pacing is appropriate. This is perhaps the most obvious and most discussed method of test preparation.  Through vertical alignment, discussions within your department, and sharing/adjusting pacing guides, you are making important instructional decisions that will give your students the best possible opportunity to experience success.

You have established a safe and caring emotional climate. Your hard work will help students feel secure, take more academic risks, and try again until they succeed. Continue to communicate the relationship between effort and achievement as well as your belief that your students will succeed.

You continue to use vocabulary, literacy, and formative assessment strategies that have created a climate for learning that is centered on the occurrence of frequent and quick reviews of previously learned material. Because your students are accustomed to regular reviews and they are aware of your expectations, you have created yet another plan for success. The self-assessment focus in our professional development is a means by which to help students learn to test themselves.  Because your students have experienced informal formative assessments, benchmark assessments, and self-assessments, they will rise to the occasion when taking exams.

I have seen many of you continue to work with students to unpack the language of the test and build students’ sense of security with test vocabulary. You have provided explicit practice to help students gain a greater understanding the language of both the test and the content to be tested.  Understanding that students often miss questions that contain information they already know because they cannot translate the language found in the question has helped prepare students for success.  By unpacking the language of the test, you have provided yet another means for student success.

Not only have worked to unpack the language of the test, but you have also used these terms in class.  I have heard you infuse these terms in discussions, writing assignments, quiz and test questions, tickets out the door, and graphic organizers.   You understand the importance of having students use these vocabulary terms when they take multiple-choice tests, but you also realize that it is imperative that students see and use these words outside of a standardized testing situation so they truly understand the meaning of the language and become comfortable using words that could potentially become stumbling blocks.

Perhaps reflecting on all the strategies that you have used throughout the semester will help alleviate some of your anxiety. I appreciate all that you do for our students.

Some Quick Pointers to Share with Students

• Read the question before you look at the answer.
• Come up with the answer in your head before looking at the possible answers.  This way the choices given on the test will not throw you off or trick you.
• Eliminate answers you know are not correct.
• Read all the choices before choosing your answer.
• Always take an educated guess and select an answer.
• Usually your first choice is the right one, unless you misread the question.
• A positive choice is more likely to be true than a negative one.

http://www.testtakingtips.com/test/multiple.htm

Please feel free to send your test-taking strategies out to the HHS Faculty this week so that everyone has the opportunity to share as many strategies with our students as possible.

As we approach the end of the first semester and anticipate the beginning of second semester, it is important to make sure that we continue to cultivate a We-Expect-Success attitude with our students. Some of our students are beginning to look for excuses to explain their failure. We must keep sending the message that their efforts are important and that their efforts will impact their performance.

Robert Marzano (2003), in his meta-analysis of research on motivation, identifies five lines of research that explain our motivation to learn. One line of research is attribution theory, which focuses on what students perceive to be the cause of their success or failure, such as ability, effort, luck, task difficulty, etc. Of the factors named, Marzano concludes that effort is the most useful because a strong belief in effort as a cause of success can translate into a willingness to engage in complex tasks and to persist.

The National Mathematics Advisory Panel weighed in on the importance of an effort-based belief system in the 2008 report Foundations for Success. The report states:

“Children’s goals and beliefs about learning are related to their mathematics performance. Experimental studies have demonstrated that changing children’s beliefs from a focus on ability to a focus on effort increases their engagement in mathematics learning, which in turn improves mathematics outcomes: When children believe that their efforts to learn make them “smarter” they show greater persistence in mathematics learning.”

Jonathan Saphier is another of the many researchers who writes about the role of beliefs and effort-based ability. He concluded that a student’s belief in his or her efforts rather than his or her innate ability is the most important determinant of student learning. He also stated that these beliefs can enable all students to do rigorous academic work at high standards. According to Saphier, schools that recognize and celebrate effort-based ability communicate three critical messages to all students:

1. What we are doing here is important.

2. You can do it.

3. I’m not going to give up on you—even if you give up on yourself (DuFour, Eaker, & DuFour, 2005, pp. 89-90).

What message are we sending to our students if we communicate to the class, either explicitly or implicitly, that we expect final grades to follow the bell curve?

Many students will interpret this message as, “Only a few of you can expect to get A’s in this class.” This is hardly a We-Expect-Success message.

Contrast this example to the message that students receive when a teacher announces that he or she expects grades to cluster at the lower end of the grading scale at the beginning of instruction, approach normal distribution as different students master content and skills at different times, and follow the “J” curve, with most students earning high scores by the time summative grades are posted.

By using the formative assessment strategies that we are learning during our professional development, we can continue to show students that their efforts are directly correlated to their academic success. Formative assessment is another means to communicate the message that we expect success.

Thank you for your willingness to send critical messages to our kids that communicate the importance of their effort and our belief in them.  Recognizing and celebrating the fact that the effort that they put in will result in their academic success will not only help our students become more motivated but also help them realize that they can be successful.

References

Westerberg, T. R. (2009). Cultivating a we expect success attitude. Becoming a great high school: 6 strategies and 1 attitude that make a difference (pp. 7-10). Alexandria: Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development.

Mid-continent Research for Education and Learning (McREL) makes the following five recommendations for classroom practice using nonlinguistic representation:

1. Use graphic organizers to represent knowledge.
2. Have students create physical models of the knowledge.
3. Have students generate mental pictures of the knowledge they are learning.
4. Use pictures or pictographs to represent knowledge.
5. Have students engage in kinesthetic activities representing the knowledge.

According to Marzano’s original meta-analysis (1998), using graphic representations had one of the highest impacts on student achievement, with an average effect size of 1.24, the equivalent of a gain of as many as 39 percentile points. As you begin a unit or a lesson, provide your students with a matrix or another graphic way to organize the information they are about to encounter.  Students’ attempts to complete the structure as a pre-learning activity can prime their brains and create anticipation. The following anticipation guide is an example of how we can help to structure students’ initial thinking about All Quiet on the Western Front before they begin the novel.

Similarly, the row headings in the analysis matrix below show students what to look for as they read an article on the components of blood—and the cell contents show how one student might complete it after having read the assigned material.

Analysis matrices are also great for helping students to develop patterns of understanding. The completed matrix below is designed to help students apply the pronouns. The fill-in-the-blank organizer at the bottom is designed to help students apply the understanding that subjunctive pronouns always perform the action of the verb, and the objective pronouns always receive the action of the verb.

As you may remember, during our staff development last year, Heather Mullins and Donna Murray shared many examples of multi-purpose graphic organizers.  This might be a good time to revisit some of the strategies from last year’s training or to contact Heather or Donna for a refresher.

You may want to check out Donna’s delicious links for graphic organizers.  She has tagged 38 different sites that provide a variety of organizers for classroom use.  http://delicious.com/murraygirl/graphicorganizers

Summarization Pyramids

A summarization pyramid is a versatile tool that comes in many formats, has many sizes, and can be used with many prompts. It’s easy to adapt the basic foundation of this technique to your curriculum and your students’ needs.

Basic Sequence

Construct a pyramid of lines on a sheet of paper. When first playing with this format, begin with eight lines, as shown below.

For each line, choose prompts that yield one-word or short answers for the shorter lines and longer responses for longer lines. If you have a large pyramid and a prompt that requires a lengthy response, consider asking students to use more than one line of the pyramid for their response. Consider these prompts and add your own as you experiment with this strategy:

• A synonym for the topic
• An analogy between the topic and a sport
• One question the topic sparks in you
• Three attributes or facts about the topic
• Three words that best describe the topic
• A news headline that would capture the essence of the topic
• One or two other topics related to this topic
• Causes of the topic
• Effects of the topic
• Reasons we study the topic
• Arguments for the topic
• Ingredients of the topic
• Personal opinion of the topic
• Demonstration of the topic in action
• The larger category from this topic comes
• A formula or sequence associated with this topic
• Insight gained from studying the topic
• Tools for using the topic
• Three moments in the history of the topic
• One thing that we used to think about the topic that we’ve discovered to be incorrect
• Samples of the topic
• People who use the topic
• What the topic will be like in 25 years

This list could go on forever. As you decide on prompts and pyramid sizes, challenge yourself to choose experiences that will allow the students to interact with the topic in several ways. Your goal is to have your students learn something from more than one angle in order to promote retention of the concept or skill.

Variations and Extended Applications

Consider asking your students to create a visual related to the topic as they respond to your prompts. For example, use clouds with various forms of precipitation to express information about the water cycle, a ziggurat to express information about Mesopotamia, or a bar graph or pie chart to express information about graphing data.

Dual-Coding

Research on the “dual-coding” theory of retaining knowledge suggests that knowledge is stored in two forms-a linguistic form and an imagery form. The linguistic mode is semantic in nature. The imagery mode, in contrast, is expressed as mental pictures or even physical sensations, such as smell, taste, touch, kinesthetic association, and sound (Richardson, 1983). The imagery mode of representation is referred to as non-linguistic representation. The more that we ask our students to use both systems of representation—linguistic and non-linguistic—the better they are able to think about and recall knowledge.

References

Marzano, R. J., Pickering, D. J., & Pollock, J. E. (2001). Classroom instruction that works: Research-based strategies for increasing student achievement. Alexandria, VA: Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development.

Wormeli, R. (2004). Summarization in any subject: 50 techniques to improve student learning. Alexandria, VA: Association For Supervision and Curriculum Development.

Providing students with a fill-in-the-blank style advance organizer is a great scaffolding strategy that also serves as a summarization device.  See the example below:

Try this method, and see how it works for your students. Write your own summarization of the material that you’re presenting. Then review what you’ve written and make a second draft, replacing key words and phrases with blank lines.

Either during or after the learning process, ask students to complete these fill-in-the-blank organizers by writing the correct terms. If appropriate and if time allows, they might share their responses with a class mate and agree on the best answers.  As students discuss their responses, they will engage in evaluation of their own responses as well as the responses of their peers.  Furthermore, if answers differ, students will justify their responses as they converse.

Even though you will have a specific idea of what word or phrase goes in each blank, you will be surprised at how our students can show us that the blank can be interpreted differently and how something else can fit logically into the space. When we are open to allowing students to explain their logic and reasoning for selecting a term or concept, we see that our students have a lot to teach us too!

Advance organizers are a great means of formative assessment.  Teachers can quickly discern what students understand as well as where clarification is needed.  The use of questions, cues, and advance organizers has an average effect size of 0.59 and can result in a 22 percentile gain in student achievement (Marzano, Pickering, & Pollock, 2001).

Share One; Get One is another quick processing technique that works as a “brain dump” to break lectures and other extended learning experiences into smaller chunks. These mini-processing activities can be done at any time during the lesson.

Present the lesson’s concepts as you normally would. When it’s time to take a break and have students process what has been presented, ask them to fold their paper or draw a grid of nine squares, big enough to cover at least half a sheet of notebook paper. In any three squares of the matrix, ask students to record three different concepts, facts, or skills they recall from the presentation. Now, ask students to move around the room asking classmates to fill in the remaining squares with concepts, facts, and skills that they haven’t recorded on their matrix. Each classmate can add only one idea to another classmate’s matrix, but students can add ideas to as many matrices as time allows. The task is complete when six different classmates have filled all remaining six squares with different concepts, facts, or skills. Then students return to their seats.

Ask your students to make a coherent summary of the presentation using the information recorded in their matrices.  Have your students put the concepts, facts, and skills in logical order and to rewrite the points from each square in sentence form. This manipulation of content and skills into a particular format is very effective because it forces students to interact with the material, not just record it. It also allows the students an opportunity to interact with the learning environment and to get out of their seats.

References

Marzano, R. J., Pickering, D. J., & Pollock, J. E. (2001). Classroom instruction that works: Research-based strategies for increasing student achievement. Alexandria, VA: Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development.

Wormeli, R. (2004). Summarization in any subject: 50 techniques to improve student learning. Alexandria, VA: Association For Supervision and Curriculum Development.