Assessment Interpretation Project

JESSICA TOLAND
DR. RYAN MONAGHAN
EDR 604- SUMMER I 2017
 How does our school compare to the state?

Comparison of 2016 ELA PSSA Results – State to School

State Results - Percentages School Results- Percentages
3.8 2.97 2.3
100% 100%
13.6 12.2 14.1
90% 90% 15.22 13.7 15.5
80% 80%
70% 25.5 29.1 24.4 70%
33.33
60% 60%
53
50% 50% 47.68
40% 34 45.3 40%
45.7
30% 30%
50
20% 20%
24.7 27.9
10% 15.2 16.2 10% 17.27
0% 0%
Third Grade Fourth Grade Fifth Grade Third Grade Fourth Grade Fifth Grade
Advanced Proficient Basic Below Basic Advanced Proficient Basic Below Basic
What are some strengths/needs across grades 3-5 ?

Strengths – Key Ideas Needs - Craft

Advanced Proficient Basic/BB Advanced Proficient Basic/BB
100% 100%
90% 16 21.6 90%
24 28.6 21.6
80% 80% 33.1
70% 70%
60% 53 60% 15.5
39.7 32.7
50% 58.6 50% 58.6
40% 40%
30% 30%
51.4
20% 36.3 20% 38.6
31.1
10% 19.5 10% 19.5
0% 0%
Third Grade Fourth Grade Fifth Grade Third Grade Fourth Grade Fifth Grade

• One area of strength across all three grade levels was in the Key Ideas Reporting Category, with 76 – 84% of
thee students scoring in the Proficient or Advanced ranges.

• In third through fifth grade, there was an overall increase in the Basic/Below Basic ranges in the Craft
Reporting Category
 What does the “Mean” mean?
The mean is the average score in a set of scores. By “drilling down” into the
raw scores in the Craft and Structure category, we can look more closely at
our students’ needs.
Overall
Gr. 3
Mean~
4.3
Overall
Gr. 4
Mean~
3rd Grade Anchor 2.1~ Anchor 2.2 ~
5.7 Overall
Mean ~ 4.65 1.27 N/A
Gr. 5
Mean~
Anchor 2.3 ~ Anchor 2.4 ~ 4th Grade Anchor 2.1~ Anchor 2.2 ~ 6.7
1.55 1.83 Mean ~ 5.96 .67 2.45

Anchor 2.3 ~ Anchor 2.4 ~ 5th Grade Anchor 2.1~ Anchor 2.2 ~
.71 2.13 Mean ~ 4.68 2.31 .63

Anchor 2.3 ~ Anchor 2.4 ~

N/A 1.74
Do the anchors help us understand
the problem?

Integration of
Craft and Structure Knowledge and
Ideas
Demonstrate understanding of
Demonstrate understanding of
connections within, between,
craft and structure in literature
and/or among texts

Demonstrate understanding of Demonstrate understanding of

craft and structure in informational connections within, between,
text and/or among informational texts
What are the three “P’s”?

1. Priority question:
What strategies do students need to know to demonstrate understanding of
author’s craft and structure in literary and informational text?

2. Problem (learner-centered):
Students struggle to identify and explain author’s point of view and
compare/contrast or make connections between texts.

3. Problem of practice:
As teachers, we do not spend enough time explicitly instructing, guiding and
informally assessing students’ ability to interact with text.
 How do we move into action to address
the problem?
Define “unit of improvement”
 Third, fourth and fifth
grade ELA
 Increasing student ability
to demonstrate
understanding of craft
and structure in literature
and informational text
across the curriculum
 Supports school-wide goal
of increasing student
learning by developing
higher level thinking skills
Brainstorm solutions
 Workshop model with shared
reading, interactive writing,
shared writing
 High volume of high-success,
high- interest reading
 Assessment-based conferring
and small group work
 Supporting students in building
a knowledge-base through
nonfiction reading
 Specific instruction in
comprehension skills and
strategies (mini –lessons)
 Interactive read alouds
Select a Solution
 All strategies can be easily
implemented into day to
day classroom instruction
to increase student ability
to deconstruct text
 Many are already being
practiced/utilized
 Strategy instruction can be
provided for teachers who
are not familiar
 Resources are already in
use or easily available
 What will the plan look like?

Teachers
 Use Reading Pathways and Units of Study for Teaching Reading by Lucy Calkins a workshop model
 Use of running records, reading logs, learning progressions, and performance assessments to drive
instruction
 Conference with students, setting goals, instructing and assisting with strategies
 Continually assess and adjust instruction as needed.
Students
 Set goals and monitor volume of reading
 Study and evaluate their own progress through data collected
 Understand own strengths and needs and work toward constant improvement in skills
What will the plan look like?

Classrooms Student Work

 Using think alouds to model how to  Reading logs
unpack thinking  Class created posters of learning
 Using close reads/TDA break down progressions
steps to understanding author’s  Performance assessments
craft/purpose of informational
text/text features  Student rubrics to self-assess
 Demonstrate how to identify point of
view by finding specific evidence (in
fiction or nonfiction) text
 Apply metacognitive strategies such
as visualizing, synthesizing and making
connections to learn about multiple
points of view.
Why are we doing this?

 Our students are not performing up to their potential in specific area of the ELA
curriculum

 In order to increase student success, we are implementing research based classroom

instruction practices that will build teacher capacity and increase student achievement

 More information about Teachers College Reading and Writing Project (TCRWP)

http://readingandwritingproject.org/
 What do we need to support this plan?

Resources – Beginning of the year (professional development days)

 All teachers receive copies of Reading Pathways and Units of Study for Teaching Reading by Lucy
Calkins
 Professional development and PLC will be created to review materials in grade level teams (paired
with videos on websites)
http://readingandwritingproject.org/resources/units-of-study-implementation/units-of-study-for-
teaching-reading-video-orientations-grades-k-5
http://readingandwritingproject.org/resources/units-of-study-implementation/units-of-study-
classroom-videos
 Additional literature/training to be provided on Daily 5 classroom management of literacy block
https://www.thedailycafe.com/
What do we need to support this
plan?
Observations – beginning/throughout the year
 Provide opportunities for teachers to observe workshop in action in other
districts or expert teacher’s classrooms
 Learning walks
Financial – beginning/throughout the year
 Substitutes provided for observation opportunities
 Purchase of texts/materials needed for implementation (folders, binders,
technology access)
Human – beginning/throughout the year
 Coach/specialists available to help with modeling lessons, management
issues/questions
 Assistants to help with classroom library organization, support with clerical tasks
 How do we assess progress?

Short term Medium Term Long Term

 Goal setting
 Learning progressions  PSSA data
 Student conferencing
 Performance Assessments  Local norm referenced
 Reading logs/stamina testing data
charts
 Running records
How will we know we are on the right track?

 Create a Google document of the action plan in summarized form for all
stakeholders as a reference
 Develop a curriculum map and embed strategies into overall plan
 Set up schedule to begin classroom visits regularly throughout the year
 Video tape exemplary teachers in the classroom to promote consistency
through shared understanding of effective instruction
 Evaluate what is working and adjust professional development
 Display student work to emphasize success, either with hard copy
representation or use of student driven digital portfolio sharing, such as
Seesaw:
https://web.seesaw.me/
 Adjustments for differing audiences

The adjustments made for an audience other than school staff (such as a School Board of
Directors) would be significant. I would include slides 2-3 that have the graphic representations
of our school data as compared to the statewide data results to illustrate the need for the
action plan. Then, I would include the priority question, learner-centered problem and the
problem of practice (Slide 6). I would then show the summarized Improvement Plan with the
learner centered problem and problem of practice, the instructional strategies and how they
are broken up (grade level, content related), and last how progress will be assessed across
short, medium and long term goals. A list of resources needed to achieve the goal(s) would be
included (Slides 11-12) and perhaps some examples of what assessment might look like across
grade levels.