Dear Staff,
This first term has absolutely flown by. It is so true that
every year goes faster. I hope you have had a great first
quarter to the school year.
There continues to be a lot happening in the Teaching and
Learning Department. Please take a few minutes to catch
up on the latest happenings.
As always, do not hesitate to contact me with questions,
concerns, comments, ideas, and/or praise!
Messa g e f r om H eid i . . .
N o v e m b e r , 2 0 1 4
Teaching and Learning Newsletter
TE
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HIN
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ND
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NIN
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2014 ~ 2015 Assessment Field
Test 2
EdcampLO 2
Teaching
Vocabulary 3
Math News 4
Ten Tips for Writ-
ing Common
Formative Assess-
ments
5
1. K-12 Common Assess-
ment
2. Assessment Overview
3. EdcampLO
4. Psyched Up!
5. LOCS Book Drive
attachments
A lot of our middle school
classrooms are already taking
advantage of NewsELA. Here
is yet another article outlining
what a great resource this is
for our students and how well
it is aligned to our reading
workshop philosophies. http://
hechingerreport.org/content/tailor-difficulty-school-text-childs-comfort-level-make-sweat_17618/
Heidi Mercer
Assistant Superintendent of Teaching and Learning
MIDDLE
SCHOOL ELA COMMON ASSESSMENT
REQUIREMENTS
All teachers should have received
the district common assessment
requirements by level. The pur-
pose for these requirements is to
provide consistency and validity.
As you read the requirements,
you should note that essentially
these are just good teaching
practices.
If you have questions please
contact Heidi Mercer. ATTACHMENT 1
Blanche Sims, Orion Oaks, Paint Creek, Stadi-
um Drive, and Webber Elementary Schools re-
cently participated in the K—2 Michigan Interim
Assessment Field Test
196 grade 1 students completed the Grade
1 ELA Assessment
241 grade 2 students completed the Grade
2 ELA Assessment
261 grade 1 students completed the Grade
1 Math Assessment
232 grade 2 students completed the Grade
2 Math Assessment
The Fall 2014 Field Test provides an oppor-
tunity for schools to test bandwidth capacity
and student scheduling for online testing prior
to the state summative assessment which will
LAKE ORION ELEMENTARY SCHOOLS PARTIICIPATE IN
MICHIGAN INTERIM ASSESSMENT FIELD TEST
Teaching and Learning
P a g e 2
be administered in spring 2015. Students had
the benefit of taking an online assessment in a
low-stakes setting and practice using common
online assessment tools (calculators, highlighters,
etc.). The district will also earn TRIG incentive
funds in the amount of $3.00 per assessment
completed. Teachers will receive an invitation to
provide feedback and recommendations for im-
proving the testing process.
An iPAD/Chromebook Pilot for the K—2 Interim
Assessment will also be held this fall. Currently,
plans are being made for Paint Creek to partici-
pate in this pilot using iPADs.
LAKE ORION will be offering an EdCamp
on 4/18/15 from 7:30 a.m.—12:00 at
Oakview Middle School. EdCamp is an
“unconference” designed specifically for
teachers and their needs. EdCamp has
an agenda created and presented by the
participants. See the attachment for
more details and registration information.
ATTACHMENT 3
Please see the attachment, Psyched Up!
It includes information on working memory
and long-term memory.
The attachment also includes 11 ways to
improve students’ memory.
ATTACHMENT 4
FROM THE SPECIAL EDUCATION
DEPARTMENT
TEACHING AND LEARNING DEPARTMENT REQUEST
Email Heidi with something that has been on your mind regarding the Teaching and Learning Depart-
ment, district, etc. It can be a question, comment, concern and/or praise.
Your email will enter you into a drawing for this T & L Newsletter edition prize!!!
You must email by 4:00 p.m. on Tuesday, November 2nd to be eligible.
TEACHING VOCABULARY WORDS TO MEET CORE STANDARDS
P a g e 3
Many children who enter Kindergarten with a low vocabulary are
at risk of not being able to close the gap between what they know
and the increased requirements for vocabulary from the Com-
mon Core Standards.
Vocabulary is the single best predictor for school success.
“Children’s oral language competence is strongly predictive of
their facility in learning to read and write….
Listening and speaking vocabulary sets boundaries as to what
children can read and understand no matter how well they
can decode.”
One can’t understand what you read until you have the lan-
guage to understand it.
“Prior studies suggest a student needs to hear a new word 28
times on average to remember it. The more sophisticated the
more important it is for students to have opportunities to
recall the word, use it, and understand how it relates to other,
similar words...”
Research has also shown that teaching vocabulary in context
is most beneficial.
Classroom Strategies: Focus on teaching
strategies instead definitions.
Drawing relationships between words: compare and con-
trast, graphic organizers, and word maps.
Vocabulary Word walls that correspond with content areas
(social studies, math)
Grouping words into similar categories. For example:
people, places, and things, similarities and differences,
and synonyms and antonyms.
Expanding vocabulary from one use into a broader con-
text. For example, if a child is reading a book about
trains, the teacher can expand on the broader context of
transportation.
Resources:
Greenhalgh, K.S., & Strong, C.J. (2001). Literate lan-
guage features in spoken narratives ofchildren with typi-
cal language and children with language impaorments.
Language, Speech, and Hearing Services in Schools, 32,
114-125.
Sparks, Sarah D. (2013) Students Must Learn More
Words, Say Studies. Education Week.
Allen, J. (1999). Words, Words, Words: Teaching Vocab-
ulary in Grades 4-12. Yourk, ME: Stenhouse.
Beck, I.L., McKeown, M.G., & Kucan, L. (2002). Bring-
ing Words to Life. NewYork; Guuilford.
Stahl, S.A. & Nagy, W.e. (2006). Teaching Word Mean-
ings. Mahwah, N.J.: Erlbaum.
Teaching and Learning
P a g e 4
News Puzzle of the Month
Elementary - November 4th is coming up fast. Please re-
member our district PD will be at Paint Creek starting at 8am. We will start with a keynote speaker in the cafeteria and then you will be able to attend three sessions and take away math instructional ideas to implement in your classroom. Lunch will be available for $5.00 and will include Jets Pizza (2 slices), salad, drink and dessert. You can pay at the door. More info on sessions will be headed your way from your administrator. Middle Level – November 3
rd is coming up fast and we will be
working on pacing, assessments and MathXL. We will also look at the new and improved CMP website and all it has to offer you and parents. http://connectedmath.msu.edu
High School - Do you want your students to graph parabolas with ease? Grasp vocab quickly? Check out The Free Gra-phing Calculator app (Jockusch 2010). This app helps visual-ize the key terms and provides a strong conceptual back-ground. A second free app, Skitch (Evernote Corp. 2012), can be used to compare and contrast quadratic equation families. Students take a screen capture of their graphed equations and insert it into Skitch. This will allow them to label appropriate parts of the parabola and compare roots, symmetry, and verti-ces.
The Wheel Shop sells all types of bicycles. They have a different number of bicycles, tandem bicy-cles, and tricycles in the shop. There are a total of 135 seats, 118 front handlebars (that steer the bike), and 269 wheels. How many bicycles, tandem bicycles and tricycles are there in the Wheel Shop? For more problems of the month K-12 (differentiated), go to http://www.insidemathematics.org/problems-of-the-month/download-problems-of-the-month
Book Club idea: Re-Thinking Homework: Best Practices That Support Diverse Needs by Cathy Vatterott
Is homework an essential component of rigorous schooling or a harmful practice that alien-ates and discourages a significant number of students? The debate over homework has gone on for decades, but schools and families have changed in many ways, and, as author Cathy Vatterott notes, "There's a growing suspicion that something is wrong with home-work." Rethinking Homework: Best Practices That Support Diverse Needs examines the role home-work has played in the culture of schooling over the years; how such factors as family life, the media, and the "balance movement" have affected the homework controversy; and what research--and educators' common sense--tells us about the effects of homework on student learning. The best way to address the pro- and anti-homework controversy is not to eliminate home-work. Instead, the author urges educators to replace the "old paradigm" (characterized by longstanding cultural beliefs, moralistic views, the puritan work ethic, and behaviorist philos-ophy) with a "new paradigm" based on the following elements: * Designing quality homework tasks; * Differentiating homework tasks; * Deemphasizing grading of homework; * Improving homework completion; and * Implementing homework strategies and support programs. Numerous examples from teachers and schools that have revised their practices and poli-cies for homework illustrate the new paradigm in action. The end product is homework that works--for all students, at all levels.
MATH DEPARTMENT NEWS
P a g e 5
One of my favorite books about assessing student
learning is Common Formative Assessment: A Toolkit
for PLCs at Work (link is external) by Kim Bailey and
Chris Jakicic.
In 140 pages, Bailey and Jakicic succeed in making a
process that is fundamental to driving student learn-
ing -- and yet fundamentally intimidating to teachers
-- approachable. Each chapter is full of essential
background knowledge and practical suggestions that
helped me to feel more comfortable about what
formative assessment should look like in my class-
room.
Here's ten tips that I pulled from Common Formative
Assessment that might help to strengthen the assess-
ment practices of your learning teams:
Remember that getting information quickly and easily
is essential. Assessment data is only valuable if (1).
you are actually willing and able to collect it and (2).
you can act on it in a timely manner. That simple
truth should fundamentally change the way that you
think about assessments.
Write your assessments and scoring rubrics together
even if that means you initially deliver fewer common
assessments. Collaborative conversations about what
to assess, how to assess and what mastery looks
like in action are just as valuable as student data
sets.
Assess ONLY the learning targets that you identified
as essential. Assessing nonessential standards just
makes it more difficult to get -- and to take action
on -- information quickly and easily.
Ask at least 3 questions for each learning target that
you are trying to test. That allows students to muff
a question and still demonstrate mastery. Just as
importantly, that means a poorly written question
won't ruin your data set.
Test mastery of no more than 3 or 4 learning tar-
gets per assessment. Doing so makes remediation
after an assessment doable. Can you imagine trying
to intervene when an assessment shows students
who have struggled to master more than 4 learning
targets?
Clearly tie every single question to an essential
learning target. Doing so makes tracking mastery
by student and standard possible. Your data sets
have more meaning when you can spot patterns in
mastery at the target -- instead of just the ques-
tion -- level.
Choose assessment types that are appropriate for
the content or skills that you are trying to meas-
ure. Using performance assessments to measure
the mastery of basic facts is overkill. Similarly,
using a slew of multiple choice questions to meas-
ure the mastery of complex thinking skills is proba-
bly going to come up short.
#sheeshArne
When writing multiple choice questions, use wrong
answer choices to highlight common misconcep-
tions. The patterns found in the WRONG answers
of well-written tests can tell you just as much as
the patterns found in the RIGHT answers. Fill your
test with careless or comical distractors and you
are missing out on an opportunity to learn more
about your kids.
When writing constructed response questions, pro-
vide students with enough context to be able to
answer the question. Context plays a vital role in
constructing a meaningful response to any ques-
tion. Need proof? Find the parents of a teenage
daughter who asks, "Can I go to the mall with
some friends tonight?" How much you want to bet
that they are going to ask a few questions before
saying yes? I know I will!
#sorryReecie (link is external)
Make sure that higher level questions ask students
to apply knowledge and/or skills in new situa-
tions. A higher level question that asks kids to
apply knowledge in the same way as they have
practiced before becomes a lower level question
really quickly.
The beautiful part of all of these tips, y'all, is that
they are easy to understand AND easy to integrate
into your process for developing common formative
assessments.
So whaddya' waiting for ?
From the CENTER FOR TEACHING QUALITY
Ten Tips for Writing Common Formative Assessments
Posted by Bill Ferriter on
Friday, 04/04/2014
No ads for items or services were turned in prior to
the distribution of this edition of the Teaching and
Learning Newsletter.
Please don’t forget this as a source for selling, buy-
ing, renting, advertising, promoting, or just getting
a message out there.
If you intended to send something to me and just
didn’t do it in time, it will be in the next edition.
We should have at least one more edition before the
holidays.
HAPPY FALL FROM
TEACHING AN D LEARNING!!!
K-5 Common Assessment Requirements
Each test question must be aligned to appropriate standard(s).
Common Assessments must be given and scanned in the scheduled window as it appears on the curriculum map, assessment calendar or assessment answer form. If circumstances arise to change the window, it will be discussed and communicated to all buildings.
Familiarize yourself with the assessment prior to the course/term/unit. This will help you understand what your students are expected to know, understand, or be able to do.
All District will administer MCAP to 5th Grade (Winter/March) and include in Pearson Inform as untimed (hand enter total score).
Suggested Review Materials will be added to each answer document. This was added to discontinue the use of review tests that mimic the common assessment.
District Common Assessments CANNOT be used as a pre-test or used in place of instructional material.
If constructed response question(s) are part of the assessment, the score from the response must be scanned or hand entered into Inform.
IEP/504/ELL students may only receive the accommodations according to their respective plan.
Assessments may not be changed to eliminate standards or change the wording.
Accommodations are only used to remove the disability allowing the student to demonstrate knowledge of the information presented.
IEP/504 students will obtain the information presented with their grade level, receive appropriate accommodations and the IEP/504 should address the standards not mastered.
Students 3+ grade levels behind, such as a student in a categorical program, do not need to participate in the district common assessment. Students at this level should be determined case by case and approved by building principal.
K-2 - may be administered as whole group, small group, or individual.
3-5 - students who normally have tests read to them may have the common assessment read to them.
Common Assessment data must be used as one of the pieces in determining student achievement on report card.
The assessments may be sent home with students after the assessment window (with MCAP as the exception).
The Common Assessments are to be used both summatively and formatively. At this time there are no retakes.
MathELA Science Social Studies 10/27/2014
6-8 Common Assessment Requirements
Each test question must be aligned to appropriate standard(s).
Common Assessments must be given at the end of each unit and scanned according to the date on the curriculum map, assessment calendar or answer form. If circumstances arise to change the targeted date, it will be discussed and communicated to all buildings.
Familiarize yourself with the assessment prior to the course/term/unit. This will help you understand what your students are expected to know, understand, or be able to do.
Review Materials can review concepts/standards but must not be a “practice test” version of the common assessment.
Students are not allowed to use class notes or notebooks on the common assessments.
If constructed response question(s) are part of the assessment, the score from the responses must be scanned or hand entered into Inform.
District Common Assessments CANNOT be used as a pre-test/growth measure or in place of instructional material (effective Fall 2015). Refer to District Appropriate Growth Measures document.
Common Assessment data must be used as ONE of the pieces in determining student achievement/grade for the report card.
IEP/504/ELL students may only receive the accommodations according to their respective plan.
Assessments may not be changed to eliminate standards or change the wording.
Accommodations are only used to remove the disability allowing the student to demonstrate knowledge of the information presented.
IEP/504 students will obtain the information presented with their grade level, receive appropriate accommodations and the IEP/504 should address the standards not mastered.
Students 3+ grade levels behind, such as a student in a categorical program, do not need to participate in the district common assessment. Students at this level should be determined case by case and approved by building principal
The assessments may be sent home with students after the assessment window and after all students have taken the assessment (with MCOMP/MCAP and Algebra 1 exams as the exception).
The Common Assessments are to be used both summativelyand formatively.
In the event a teacher offers a retake:
A student must receive re-teaching opportunities
The re-take is created with different questions or numeric values (same standards)
The re-take is approved by the district department chair
The re-take is scanned into Inform using a different code from original assessment
The re-take score may override original score in the gradebook
MathELA Science Social Studies 10/27/2014
9-12 Common Assessment Requirements
Each test question must be aligned to appropriate standard(s).
Adjustments to the common assessment/exam must be approved by district department chair (if there is no district chair, then building department chair and administration approval).
Common Assessments/Exams must be given at the end of each unit/term and scanned according to the curriculum map or assessment calendar. If circumstances arise that may lead to a change in the date, it will be discussed and communicated to the department.
Familiarize yourself with the assessment prior to the course/term/unit. This will help you understand what your students are expected to know, understand, or be able to do.
If constructed response question(s) are part of the assessment, the responses must be scanned into Inform.
Review Materials can review concepts/standards but must not be a “practice test” version of the common assessment/exam.
Students are not allowed to use class notes or notebooks on the common assessments/exams.
IEP/504/ELL students may only receive the accommodations according to their respective plan.
Assessments may not be changed to eliminate standards or change the wording.
Accommodations are only used to remove the disability allowing the student to demonstrate knowledge of the information presented.
IEP/504 students will obtain the information presented with their grade level, receive appropriate accommodations and the IEP/504 should address the standards not mastered.
Students 3+ grade levels behind, such as a student in a categorical program, do not need to participate in the district common assessment. Students at this level should be determined case by case and approved by building principal
Common Assessments/exam data is to be used as one of the pieces in determining student achievement/grade on report card.
The assessments/exams must NOT be sent home with students.
MathELA Science Social Studies 10/27/2014
FREE GENTLY USED BOOKS
Donated to Lake orion Community Schools
LOCS BOOK DRIVE!
for more information on this event contact Kate DiMeo at [email protected]
Bring Your Own Bags!
LOCS K-12 teachers are invited to “shop” for Free
books for their classroom on Monday, November
24th from 3-6PM on the CERC stage. In the past,
teachers have selected high-interest books of all
Levels and genres.
Teachers usually leave with about 25 books each!
20
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