Running Head: ACTION PLAN

Updated Action Plan

Week Two Assignment

Nermin H. Fialkowski

National University

ATP 699- Captstone/Portfolio

Dr. Terry Bustillos

April 19th, 2019

ACTION PLAN 2

Initial Proposal

Submitted by: Nermin H. Fialkowski Date: April 9th, 2019

Reviewed by: Samantha Doerner Date: April 19th, 2019
Reviewed by: Dr. B Date: April 15th, 2019

Topic/Subject Area(s): Curriculum-Teaching with the Use of Clear Learning Targets,

Differentiated Instruction, and Formative Assessments
Specializations: Elective- Instruction Core- Assessment

Table of Contents
Context of Study ............................................................................................................................. 3
Plan............................................................................................................................................................ 3
Product ...................................................................................................................................................... 3
Audience ................................................................................................................................................... 3
Relevance/Importance ............................................................................................................................... 3
Wonderings/Purpose ....................................................................................................................... 3
Question/Purpose ...................................................................................................................................... 3
Beneficiaries.............................................................................................................................................. 4
Design ............................................................................................................................................. 4
Use of Data/Information/Research............................................................................................................ 4
Data Collection ......................................................................................................................................... 5
Source of Data ........................................................................................................................................... 5
Selection of Action Plan ........................................................................................................................... 5
Learning .......................................................................................................................................... 6
Learning Outcomes ................................................................................................................................... 6
Implications for Practice ................................................................................................................. 6
Application ................................................................................................................................................ 6
Resources ........................................................................................................................................ 7
ACTION PLAN 3

Context of Study
Plan
Sharing strategies and techniques to implement as apart of instruction and assessment to support
student learning and comprehension, with goals of increasing college and career readiness.

Product
A PowerPoint presentation sharing data between the misalignment between high school
graduation rates and college and career readiness. The presentation will include a call to action
to better align assessments (classroom, standardized, and college placement) with classroom
instruction and curriculum. I will share strategies and techniques to implement as apart of
instruction and assessment to support student learning and comprehension. These strategies and
techniques include: having clear learning targets, curriculum-teaching, universal design for
learning (UDL), descriptive and specific feedback, and the use of formative assessments.

Audience
Fellow math colleagues at my school site and the PLC Planning Committee.

Relevance/Importance
More than 60% of all community college students in California are placed into remedial classes
(Shelton & Brown, 2010). This high rate of remediation suggests that there is a widespread lack
of college preparation among recent high school graduates. Although students are
underperforming in standardized tests, it does not mean they are not successful in their high
school career. Students are still meeting the minimum course requirements for university
admission but are placed into remedial classes. And unfortunately, my school site follows trend.
Data from my school site suggests a large discrepancy between students meeting
college/university admission and their SBAC scores. Looking at the 2017-2018 school year,
70% of our students met the A-G requirements, with 83% meeting high school graduation
requirements, but only 11% met or exceeded the SBAC Mathematics Standards.

Completion Date
April 9th, 2019

Wonderings/Purpose
Question/Purpose
Question: How can I create an assessment system/teaching environment that has a strong content
curriculum that is aligned with state standards?

Purpose: When I first began this program, I learned that more than 60% of all community college
students in California are placed into remedial classes (Shelton & Brown, 2010).
Shortly thereafter, I learned that unfortunately, my school site also follows trend with
this data. Looking at the 2017-2018 school year, 70% of the students at my school site
met the A-G requirements, with 83% meeting high school graduation requirements, but
only 11% met or exceeded the SBAC Mathematics Standards. The SBAC is a
standardized, high-stakes state test, that identifies students’ college and career readiness
through four claims: concepts and procedures, problem solving, communicating
reasoning, and modeling and data analysis (California Assessment of Student
ACTION PLAN 4

Performance and Progress). And unfortunately, this a high remediation rate

demonstrates a widespread lack of college preparation among recent high school
graduates, which directly relates to my school; making this Action Plan very personal.
Although students are underperforming in standardized tests, they are still successful in
their high school career. Students are still meeting the minimum course requirements
for university admission but are placed into remedial classes. The core of this epidemic
lies between a misalignment standardized tests, college placement exams, and
classroom assessments. The purpose of my Action Plan is to address this misalignment
and provide a solution to increasing student’s college and career readiness through
curriculum-teaching.

Beneficiaries
Because my school site is directly affected by the offset of high school graduation rates and
college and career readiness, all of those at my school site will be greatly impacted by this
Action Plan presentation.

The greatest affect will be on the students at my site. The most direct impact will be for the
juniors at my school, since the SBAC exam is taken during 11th grade. The SBAC Exam is used
by the state of California to identify students’ college and career readiness. Colleges also use
SBAC scores to determine students’ college placement levels. The next major group of focus
will be the freshmen class. Ninth grade students at my site have the lowest A-G on-track record.
But ultimately, all students will benefit from better instructional strategies and techniques
implemented in the classroom as a part of instruction and assessment in supporting student
learning and comprehension

Teachers at my site will also greatly benefit from this Action Plan, as they are one will be
directly implementing the instructional strategies and techniques. As well as analyzing the
formative assessment data that will support student learning. Although most of the data provided
is reflective of students’ math scores, all teachers will be able to benefit from this Action Plan.
The instructional strategies presented, along with the implementation of formative assessments
has a universal focus on student learning and comprehension. All teachers can apply these
techniques to support student learning and increase their college and career readiness.

Completion Date
April 19th, 2019

Design
Use of Data/Information/Research
I will be using data about students from my site, including, but not limited to: A-G completion
rates, graduation rates, SBAC exam scores and class grades. I will also gather data on students’
learning and achievement from formative classroom assessments after implementing
instructional strategies that focus on supporting and increasing student learning and achievement.

I will research and find information on how to create better assessments, as a way to truly
monitor and assess student learning; so that there can be a better alignment between classroom,
standardized, and college placement assessments. In terms of instruction, I will be researching
ACTION PLAN 5

information on: learning targets, curriculum-teaching, universal design for learning (UDL), and
descriptive and specific feedback.

Data Collection
Data will be collected by analyzing and summarizing school data from my site. Additional data
and information will come from scholarly and peer reviewed articles, published journals,
textbooks, and videos regarding: student motivation, student achievement, goal setting, and
college and career readiness.

To verify the validity of my Action Plan, data on student learning and achievement will be gather
from formative classroom assessments.

Source of Data
Data regarding my school has been collected by my site through the school’s School
Accountability Report Card (SARC) and The School Plan for Student Achievement (SPSA).
Data was also pulled from California School Dashboard, which “provides parents and educators
with meaningful information on school and district progress so that they can participate in
decisions to improve student learning” (California School Dashboard). Any additional
information regarding my school site’s data was collected by our CIS Coordinator.

Other data and information for this Action Plan has been collected through the means of
scholarly and peer reviewed articles, published journals, textbooks, and videos regarding: student
motivation, student achievement, goal setting, and college and career readiness.

Selection of Action Plan

The purpose of my Action Plan is to address the misalignment between graduation rates and
college and career readiness. The core of this epidemic lies between a misalignment
standardized tests, college placement exams, and classroom assessments. Through the means of
my Action plan, I will share strategies and techniques to implement as apart of instruction and
assessment to support student learning and comprehension; to increasing student’s college and
career readiness. I chose this Action Plan because the content is very relevant and personal to
my career and philosophy as a teacher.

My school shows a large discrepancy between graduation rates and students’ college and career
readiness. In the school year 2017-2018, 70% of the students at my school site met the A-G
requirements, with 83% meeting high school graduation requirements, but only 11% met or
exceeded the SBAC Mathematics Standards. Additionally, my teacher philosophy is to help
students develop their reasoning and critical thinking skills. Having the ability to reason
abstractly and think critically will provide students with the independence needed for them to
come to their own conclusions about how to deal with difficult situations and the trajectory of
their own lives. The Existentialism side of me “understands that the ultimate goal of teaching is
to create independent, life-long learners and teaches accordingly” (Acosta-Teller et al., 2016).
And it is these elements that identify a student as college and career ready.

Completion Date
April 19th, 2019
ACTION PLAN 6

Learning
Learning Outcomes
The intentions of this of this Action Plan is that through curriculum-teaching and UDL, students’
knowledge and understanding about content will solidify and increase. The use of formative
assessments in the classroom will be used to verify this claim. The end goal is to demonstrate
that since curriculum-teaching and UDL solidify and increase students’ knowledge and
understanding, students’ college and career readiness levels will also increase.

The best way to support students in their learning is through “curriculum-teaching.” Curriculum-
teaching teaches to a body of knowledge and/or a set of skills (Popham, 2001). Teachers need to
focus on a more comprehensive set of understandings, which include building students’
background knowledge, being able to apply current their knowledge, and extend student thinking
(Neuman, 2016), as opposed to “item-teaching” where teaching is directly on individual/specific
assessment items (Popham, 2001). It is important that assessments results are valid, in which
they demonstrate students’ true comprehension skills. And although there is currently a
misalignment between standardized tests, college placement exams, and classroom assessments,
the best way to implement curriculum-teaching to support student learning and understanding is
by having strong curriculum content that is aligned with the standards associated with the high-
stakes exams.

Completion Date
April 13th, 2019

Implications for Practice

Application
The intentions of this Action Plan are to share the findings with my fellow math colleagues, so
that they too can implement curriculum-teaching and UDL strategies in the classroom, as a way
to increase student knowledge and understanding. Additional audience members of this Action
Plan include the members of my school’s PLC Planning Committee. This committee is
comprised of teachers of all contents who represent their departments subject, administrators on
campus, and curriculum specialists. The purpose of the PLC Planning Committee is to share,
plan, support, and implement initiatives and promote school climate, student achievement, and
teacher efficacy. After presenting to the PLC Planning Committee, the intent is that teachers of
other subjects will also take on curriculum-teaching, UDL, and formative assessments.

This Action Plan is a call to action for all of those involved in my school. Data suggests that our
students’ college and career readiness levels are significantly low, and something needs to be
done. And the first step to change needs to happen in the classroom. This Action Plan is to be
used as a way to inspire teachers to work together in closing the achievement gap. Teachers
need to better support their students in the classroom through better instruction and assessment
that supports that instruction. With the use of formative assessments in the classroom as a way
to monitor and support student learning, teachers will have relevant information about student
learning. Formative assessments help form and shape student learning during the learning
process; while focusing on how students understand material, not just on what they understood.
Completion Date
April 14th
ACTION PLAN 7

Resources

Acosta-Teller, E., Amador-Lankster, C., Anderson, L., Crow, N., Dickenson, P., Elder, D.,

Fabry, D., Gilbert, S., Karell, D., Reynolds, T., & Tolbert, D. (2016). The Inspired

Teacher and Seven Literacies Defined. Abstract retrieved from ATP 600: The Inspired

Educator.

California Assessment of Student Performance and Progress. Retrieved from:

http://www.caaspp.org

California School Dashboard. Retrieved from: https://www.caschooldashboard.org

Neuman, S. B. (2016). Code Red: The danger of Data-Driven Instruction. Educational

Leadership, 74(3), 25-29.

Popham, W. J. (2001). Teaching to the Test? Educational Leadership, 58(6), 16-20.

Shelton, A., & Brown, R. (2010). Measuring the Alignment of High School and Community

College Math Assessments. Journal of Applied Research in the Community

College, 18(1), 6-15.