Adam Carter, Chief Academic Officer of Summit Public Schools presented a webinar for Next Generation Learning Challenges in October 2013 to share some of the tools Summit was using to build an aligned system of content, individualized playlists, and assessments. The webinar archive is available at http://nextgenlearning.org/event/building-aligned-system-digital-content-individualized-student-playlists-and-deeper-learning
The Center for Innovation in Education and Next Generation Learning Challenges invite applications to the Assessment for Learning Project. The grants will support educators to fundamentally rethink the core role(s) that assessment can play to support student attainment of deeper learning. Nearly $2 million is available for 12-15 grants. Applications are due December 10, 2015. This presentation was used in webinars on November 4 and November 12, 2015 to provide an overview of the grant opportunity to prospective applicants and respond to their questions.
Understand the ways in which an effective partnership with your Students' union can enhance the development of your student-focused activities.
Evaluate a range of approaches to partnership working with your students' union.
Assess your current working relationship with your student's' union and plan ways this can be effectively developed.
This session will be jointly delivered by King’s College London and Pearson, and will reflect on our experience of working together in partnership to deliver online education at scale. Participants will be encouraged to debate the advantages and disadvantages of working with a commercial provider, guided by our own experiences of the challenges we have faced. Participants will gain an insight into what online student support can look like, and will have an opportunity to discuss the applicability and feasibility of providing such personalised, proactive support to on-campus students. We will also discuss other areas of transformation, such as the challenge of changing academic perceptions of online learning and commercial partnerships, and the transformation of our business processes to meet the needs of a different model of delivering education.
The Center for Innovation in Education and Next Generation Learning Challenges invite applications to the Assessment for Learning Project. The grants will support educators to fundamentally rethink the core role(s) that assessment can play to support student attainment of deeper learning. Nearly $2 million is available for 12-15 grants. Applications are due December 10, 2015. This presentation was used in webinars on November 4 and November 12, 2015 to provide an overview of the grant opportunity to prospective applicants and respond to their questions.
Understand the ways in which an effective partnership with your Students' union can enhance the development of your student-focused activities.
Evaluate a range of approaches to partnership working with your students' union.
Assess your current working relationship with your student's' union and plan ways this can be effectively developed.
This session will be jointly delivered by King’s College London and Pearson, and will reflect on our experience of working together in partnership to deliver online education at scale. Participants will be encouraged to debate the advantages and disadvantages of working with a commercial provider, guided by our own experiences of the challenges we have faced. Participants will gain an insight into what online student support can look like, and will have an opportunity to discuss the applicability and feasibility of providing such personalised, proactive support to on-campus students. We will also discuss other areas of transformation, such as the challenge of changing academic perceptions of online learning and commercial partnerships, and the transformation of our business processes to meet the needs of a different model of delivering education.
Following a needs and impact assessment at Simon Fraser University, a curriculum focused on developing job search skills for EAL (English as an Additional Language) learners emerged. This curriculum has now been trialled with new international students in a pilot program at Fraser International College.
The findings of the impact assessment show that the curriculum has not only resulted in students having a better understanding of how to prepare for the job market post-graduation, but there has also been a positive impact on these students' motivation for academic study.
In this recording, Sharla Reid and Heather Williams discuss and share results from a pilot program. This program highlights the collaborative efforts between FIC and partner institution, Simon Fraser University to find new ways to adapt curriculum for new purposes while increasing student retention and engagement.
Please join the Community College Consortium for Open Educational Resources (CCCOER) on Tuesday, June 11, 10:00 am (PDT) for a webinar on Competency-based learning and OER. Competency-based learning is gaining traction as institutions strive to personalize learning experiences and decrease time to graduation. Students demonstrate mastery at their own pace through e-Portfolio assessments or on-demand tests and institutions often recommend free or open educational resources (OER) along with prior learning as a source for learning materials.
Hear from several higher education experts on how OER and open courses complement competency-based learning to improve student outcomes:
Dr. Ellen Marie Murphy, Executive Director of Curriculum and Learning Systems, Ivy Bridge College. Ivy Bridge College is a two-year online institution that streamlines the transfer process to four-year degrees through personalized learning programs.
Dr. Chari Leader-Kelley, Vice-President of Learning Counts at the Council for Adult & Experiential Learning (CAEL). Learning Counts specializes in the assessment of prior learning for college credit. Currently working with the Saylor foundation to embed portfolio templates into open courses to allow students to demonstrate and reflect upon their learning.
Dr. David Shulman, Vice-President of the Virtual Campus and Instructional Technology at Broward College, Florida. Broward College is offering a competency-based MOOC this summer entitled “College Foundations: Reading, Writing, and Math” to provide students with skills to begin college or to prepare for college placement exams.
Participant Login Information:
There is no need to register in advance but please use the link below on the day of the webinar. You may use a headset or dial-in over the phone if you would like to speak otherwise you can listen directly from your computer speakers and use the chat window.
The workplace equivalent of “teaching to the test” might be “we need training”. Why do individuals or organizations require training? Ideally, training is not applied as a one-size-fits-all answer to development, nor is it a knee-jerk reaction to a bad situation. Rather, effective training should be a planned and tailored implementation to elevate an employee’s skills required for efficacy in a current role, advancement to a future role or advancement of an enterprise-wide competency. Life Cycle Institute discusses actionable steps for assessing the current state of an employee or organization and developing a plan to advance towards competency through thoughtful and targeted training techniques
From Quality Assurance to Quality Enhancement (2006)JamesDunphy
Presentation given jointly - with David Lines - to the Heads of Educational Development Group in 2006 on the shift from Quality Assurance to Quality Enhancement within Scottish Higher Education
Slides from the presentation by Shamini Ragavan (Newcastle Law School) at the event Assessment and feedback issues for teaching international students in Law on 16 May 2011.
This presentation shares an overview of Competency-Based Education (CBE). Find notes with transcript here: https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B0lwpuBcseSvcGptOVlmSjZOakk/view?usp=sharing
Visit edusasha.com for more resources on CBE, instructional design, faculty professional development, gamification, MOOCs, digital badging and more.
Naviance Summer Institute 2015 Product ForumNaviance
The product forum at the 2015 Naviance Summer Institute highlighted Hobsons' commitment to bridging the divide between college eligibility and college readiness.
Following a needs and impact assessment at Simon Fraser University, a curriculum focused on developing job search skills for EAL (English as an Additional Language) learners emerged. This curriculum has now been trialled with new international students in a pilot program at Fraser International College.
The findings of the impact assessment show that the curriculum has not only resulted in students having a better understanding of how to prepare for the job market post-graduation, but there has also been a positive impact on these students' motivation for academic study.
In this recording, Sharla Reid and Heather Williams discuss and share results from a pilot program. This program highlights the collaborative efforts between FIC and partner institution, Simon Fraser University to find new ways to adapt curriculum for new purposes while increasing student retention and engagement.
Please join the Community College Consortium for Open Educational Resources (CCCOER) on Tuesday, June 11, 10:00 am (PDT) for a webinar on Competency-based learning and OER. Competency-based learning is gaining traction as institutions strive to personalize learning experiences and decrease time to graduation. Students demonstrate mastery at their own pace through e-Portfolio assessments or on-demand tests and institutions often recommend free or open educational resources (OER) along with prior learning as a source for learning materials.
Hear from several higher education experts on how OER and open courses complement competency-based learning to improve student outcomes:
Dr. Ellen Marie Murphy, Executive Director of Curriculum and Learning Systems, Ivy Bridge College. Ivy Bridge College is a two-year online institution that streamlines the transfer process to four-year degrees through personalized learning programs.
Dr. Chari Leader-Kelley, Vice-President of Learning Counts at the Council for Adult & Experiential Learning (CAEL). Learning Counts specializes in the assessment of prior learning for college credit. Currently working with the Saylor foundation to embed portfolio templates into open courses to allow students to demonstrate and reflect upon their learning.
Dr. David Shulman, Vice-President of the Virtual Campus and Instructional Technology at Broward College, Florida. Broward College is offering a competency-based MOOC this summer entitled “College Foundations: Reading, Writing, and Math” to provide students with skills to begin college or to prepare for college placement exams.
Participant Login Information:
There is no need to register in advance but please use the link below on the day of the webinar. You may use a headset or dial-in over the phone if you would like to speak otherwise you can listen directly from your computer speakers and use the chat window.
The workplace equivalent of “teaching to the test” might be “we need training”. Why do individuals or organizations require training? Ideally, training is not applied as a one-size-fits-all answer to development, nor is it a knee-jerk reaction to a bad situation. Rather, effective training should be a planned and tailored implementation to elevate an employee’s skills required for efficacy in a current role, advancement to a future role or advancement of an enterprise-wide competency. Life Cycle Institute discusses actionable steps for assessing the current state of an employee or organization and developing a plan to advance towards competency through thoughtful and targeted training techniques
From Quality Assurance to Quality Enhancement (2006)JamesDunphy
Presentation given jointly - with David Lines - to the Heads of Educational Development Group in 2006 on the shift from Quality Assurance to Quality Enhancement within Scottish Higher Education
Slides from the presentation by Shamini Ragavan (Newcastle Law School) at the event Assessment and feedback issues for teaching international students in Law on 16 May 2011.
This presentation shares an overview of Competency-Based Education (CBE). Find notes with transcript here: https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B0lwpuBcseSvcGptOVlmSjZOakk/view?usp=sharing
Visit edusasha.com for more resources on CBE, instructional design, faculty professional development, gamification, MOOCs, digital badging and more.
Naviance Summer Institute 2015 Product ForumNaviance
The product forum at the 2015 Naviance Summer Institute highlighted Hobsons' commitment to bridging the divide between college eligibility and college readiness.
This presentation, given at sites, provides the philosophical background and the vision of HUSD in the implementation of Common Core State Standards (CCSS), but focusses on the key question of "Why?" and "How?"as a precedent for the "What?" of CCSS.
Strategies for building a campus community that includes disability as a issue of diversity. Vital to building an inclusive environment looking at the intersections of identity must be part of the conversations.
The Naviance College and Career Readiness Curriculum is a blended learning experience for students in grades 6-12 that helps develop critical non-cognitive skills and college knowledge and instills confidence so that students persevere. In this presentation, Curriculum experts Kim Oppelt and Upendra Jejjala present the problems facing today's schools and students, preview the Curriculum lessons, and the highlight the results of the pilot program.
Similar to Summit Public Schools: Building an Aligned System of Digital Content, Individualized Student Playlists, and Deeper Learning Assessments (20)
April 2017.
The MyWays project draws on research across the broad “student success” landscape to provide a composite framework applicable to all students regardless of academic aptitude or socioeconomic circumstance, including those students who must overcome the extraordinary challenges of intergenerational poverty and racial discrimination. The Success Framework lies at the center of the MyWays project.
Nichole Husa, 2016. To support a shift in the school's learning model where blended learning is used in service of personalized learning, Cornerstone is taking a “staff first” approach through personalized professional development.
The MyWays Framework is a dashboard that concisely distills the major frameworks available today for deeper, richer definitions of student success. The 20 competencies are grouped in the four arenas of Content Knowledge, Creative Know-How, Habits of Success, and Wayfinding Abilities. (My ways exercise 3 slides 20151030v4 8)
The MyWays Framework is a dashboard that concisely distills the major frameworks available today for deeper, richer definitions of student success. The 20 competencies are grouped in the four arenas of Content Knowledge, Creative Know-How, Habits of Success, and Wayfinding Abilities. (My ways exercise 2 slides 20151001v3 1)
The MyWays Framework is a dashboard that concisely distills the major frameworks available today for deeper, richer definitions of student success. The 20 competencies are grouped in the four arenas of Content Knowledge, Creative Know-How, Habits of Success, and Wayfinding Abilities.
(My ways exercise 1 slides 20150918v2 2)
Prepared for the Emerging Harbormaster Network, May 2015, this presentation highlights the needs and strengths of the state's ecosystem for next gen learning and a vision and strategy to support personalized learning schools statewide.
The foundational framework for Valor Collegiate Academy in Nashville, Tennessee, identifies the beliefs, values, disciplines, and commitments for members of the Valor community.
More from Next Generation Learning Challenges (20)
Read| The latest issue of The Challenger is here! We are thrilled to announce that our school paper has qualified for the NATIONAL SCHOOLS PRESS CONFERENCE (NSPC) 2024. Thank you for your unwavering support and trust. Dive into the stories that made us stand out!
Operation “Blue Star” is the only event in the history of Independent India where the state went into war with its own people. Even after about 40 years it is not clear if it was culmination of states anger over people of the region, a political game of power or start of dictatorial chapter in the democratic setup.
The people of Punjab felt alienated from main stream due to denial of their just demands during a long democratic struggle since independence. As it happen all over the word, it led to militant struggle with great loss of lives of military, police and civilian personnel. Killing of Indira Gandhi and massacre of innocent Sikhs in Delhi and other India cities was also associated with this movement.
How to Split Bills in the Odoo 17 POS ModuleCeline George
Bills have a main role in point of sale procedure. It will help to track sales, handling payments and giving receipts to customers. Bill splitting also has an important role in POS. For example, If some friends come together for dinner and if they want to divide the bill then it is possible by POS bill splitting. This slide will show how to split bills in odoo 17 POS.
The Roman Empire A Historical Colossus.pdfkaushalkr1407
The Roman Empire, a vast and enduring power, stands as one of history's most remarkable civilizations, leaving an indelible imprint on the world. It emerged from the Roman Republic, transitioning into an imperial powerhouse under the leadership of Augustus Caesar in 27 BCE. This transformation marked the beginning of an era defined by unprecedented territorial expansion, architectural marvels, and profound cultural influence.
The empire's roots lie in the city of Rome, founded, according to legend, by Romulus in 753 BCE. Over centuries, Rome evolved from a small settlement to a formidable republic, characterized by a complex political system with elected officials and checks on power. However, internal strife, class conflicts, and military ambitions paved the way for the end of the Republic. Julius Caesar’s dictatorship and subsequent assassination in 44 BCE created a power vacuum, leading to a civil war. Octavian, later Augustus, emerged victorious, heralding the Roman Empire’s birth.
Under Augustus, the empire experienced the Pax Romana, a 200-year period of relative peace and stability. Augustus reformed the military, established efficient administrative systems, and initiated grand construction projects. The empire's borders expanded, encompassing territories from Britain to Egypt and from Spain to the Euphrates. Roman legions, renowned for their discipline and engineering prowess, secured and maintained these vast territories, building roads, fortifications, and cities that facilitated control and integration.
The Roman Empire’s society was hierarchical, with a rigid class system. At the top were the patricians, wealthy elites who held significant political power. Below them were the plebeians, free citizens with limited political influence, and the vast numbers of slaves who formed the backbone of the economy. The family unit was central, governed by the paterfamilias, the male head who held absolute authority.
Culturally, the Romans were eclectic, absorbing and adapting elements from the civilizations they encountered, particularly the Greeks. Roman art, literature, and philosophy reflected this synthesis, creating a rich cultural tapestry. Latin, the Roman language, became the lingua franca of the Western world, influencing numerous modern languages.
Roman architecture and engineering achievements were monumental. They perfected the arch, vault, and dome, constructing enduring structures like the Colosseum, Pantheon, and aqueducts. These engineering marvels not only showcased Roman ingenuity but also served practical purposes, from public entertainment to water supply.
Welcome to TechSoup New Member Orientation and Q&A (May 2024).pdfTechSoup
In this webinar you will learn how your organization can access TechSoup's wide variety of product discount and donation programs. From hardware to software, we'll give you a tour of the tools available to help your nonprofit with productivity, collaboration, financial management, donor tracking, security, and more.
How to Create Map Views in the Odoo 17 ERPCeline George
The map views are useful for providing a geographical representation of data. They allow users to visualize and analyze the data in a more intuitive manner.
The French Revolution, which began in 1789, was a period of radical social and political upheaval in France. It marked the decline of absolute monarchies, the rise of secular and democratic republics, and the eventual rise of Napoleon Bonaparte. This revolutionary period is crucial in understanding the transition from feudalism to modernity in Europe.
For more information, visit-www.vavaclasses.com
The Indian economy is classified into different sectors to simplify the analysis and understanding of economic activities. For Class 10, it's essential to grasp the sectors of the Indian economy, understand their characteristics, and recognize their importance. This guide will provide detailed notes on the Sectors of the Indian Economy Class 10, using specific long-tail keywords to enhance comprehension.
For more information, visit-www.vavaclasses.com
2. A minute of reflection:
What educational
challenges are you
currently trying to solve,
and what technology
tools may help you solve
them?
Feel free to share these
reflections in the Chat window
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
11. Who is Summit Public Schools?
• A charter organization founded in 2003
• 6 Summit Schools with 1,600 Students
across the Bay Area
• Expanding to serve more communities
• Serves a diverse student population
12. Summit Public Schools prepares a
diverse student population for success
in a four-year college, and to be
thoughtful contributing members of
society.
Our Mission
13. Summit Students Eligible
to Apply to a Four-year
College
Where are we today?
Summit Graduates Accepted
to a Least One Four-year
College
Summit Graduates on Track to
Complete College within Six Years
(Nearly Double the National Average)
14. Students empowered to drive their own
learning, ensuring they are prepared for
success in college, career and life.
Summit’s Next Generation School Model
15. Professionalizing Teaching
High Impact & Value to Students
Beyond College Acceptance
College & Career Readiness
3 Key Elements
of Summit’s Next Generation School Model
Culture of Innovation
Student Centered & Data-Driven Improvement
32. Habits of Success (Non-Cognitive Skills)
Self-Awareness & Self-Management, Social Awareness
& Interpersonal Skills, Decision Making
& Responsible Behaviors
Habits of Success
ASSESS
LEARN
DAY
40. Publishable & Publicly
Presented Performances
Application of Content Knowledge,
Cognitive Skills and Habits of Success
Expeditions
ASSESS
LEARN
DAY
45. Bringing It All Together
Personalized Learning Plan (PLP)
Set Learning Goals, Track Progress, Receive Immediate
Feedback, Access Learning Resources
Editor's Notes
Welcome
We’ll come back to this question shortly.
Introduce myself
Introduce this presentation: Summit Public Schools' Academic Model: Building An Aligned System of Online Content, Individualized Student Playlists, and Deeper Learning Assessments
Indonesia – school in the middle of a rice padi
Construction supplies piled in the back of the room
Blackboard in the front of the room (you can’t see it in this picture)
Do you have chalk?
Yes – runs to bag
When do you use it? When something really important needs to be understood.
Like what? Solving math problems. Especially place value.
Prior to beginning the NGO programme, I had been working at the most expensive international school in the country of Indonesia. They were just getting Smart Boards.
Maybe you know where this is going.
I spoke with one of my friends, the head of the math department, and I asked him why he wants a SmartBoard.
“It’s cool.” He said
But what will it add to your class?
“Well, for one, it’s a calculator.”
A calculator?
A really big calculator, he said. The whole class can see it!
“A really big calculator.” Okay…
He was getting annoyed. I wasn’t understanding.
“It’s a giant calculator! What’s wrong with that?”
There’s obviously nothing wrong with a giant calculator. A giant, $5,000 calculator is obviously really neat. But, will students learn more math because of it?
I propose that the Indonesian teacher with minimal secondary education, in a school so poorly funded that she has to stash her chalk in her purse, was using a donated chalkboard just as effectively as my Ivy League educated friend used a $5,000 piece of equipment shipped entirely around the world.
For more proof, here’s a major public school district’s 2004 technology budget, currently being processed in Texas before getting shipped to Ghana to become toxic flower pots.
I propose that the crux of the issue was raised by professor Larry Cuban of Stanford University with the question that opened this presentation:
What educational challenges are you currently trying to solve, and what technology tools may help you solve them?
In his 35 years of studying the use of technology in education, he writes that, too often, he has seen educators instead ask, “we know what our technology ‘solution’ is, can you please help us direct it at the right problems?”
At Summit, we quickly realized that we didn’t want a bigger calculator, and we didn’t want to cram a square peg into a round hole. So what did we want to do, and do better? What problems did we want to solve?
To understand how we approached the issue of the problems we are trying to solve, let me introduce our organization.
Ten years ago, “preparing a student for success in a four year college” was synonymous with “getting a student into a four year college”
We know that’s not the case today.
Research from David Conley, the University of Chicago Consortium, Mandy Savitz-Romer, Suzanne Bouffard, Angela Duckworth indicate that there is much more to gaining a college degree than entering college.
So how were we doing?
This slide makes it look like we’re proud of our 55%, but we’re not happy with this number at all. It’s abysmal that only 30% of students who enter college graduate in 6 years, and 55% is an improvement but nowhere near where we want to be.
We asked ourselves, “why?” Why--with our dedicated teaching faculty, with our 40 days of dedicated PD per year, with our mentoring program, with our belief that every student can succeed—why are 45% of our students not going to graduate in six years? Because we know that not graduating doesn’t simply mean a potentially less fulfilling career, with fewer open doors. We also know that it can mean being saddled with loan debt for years to come, and without the skills, and the degree, that come with graduation.
Looking In:
Remediation rates keeping students in college longer
Students struggling without Summit’s high supports and scaffolds
We had to do something about this disturbing trend, and so we began crafting a new vision to meet the problems we faced.
Looking Out:
Research on the importance of college and career ready skills to success (Cognitive & Non-cognitive Skills)
New technologies that enable personalized learning experiences for every student
We’ve always believed that students should be at the center of their learning, but we haven’t given them the tools to make decisions and quickly see the results of those decisions. We placed ourselves at the center of the classroom and, in doing so, added constraints to learning:
--Adults determined pace
--Adults directed class time, often on content knowledge acquisition
--Adults provided learning resources
Through a one-year blended pilot in 9th grade math, and then a subsequent pilot with 400 math students, we saw what was possible, if we worked together to remove these constraints.
Although all of these elements are deeply important to us, and all 3 are made possible by the catalyzing force of technology, I will limit this presentation to our first element:
Beyond College Acceptance
While being the result of a conscious effort to professionalize teaching and made possible by a culture of innovation, it is a focus on college and career readiness that is most important to us. We zoomed in on our mission.
First, we had to define college readiness in terms we had never made explicit in the past.
We had to define competencies and build towards them.
In every domain of college readiness, we believe that Grant Wiggins is right:
We must assess what we value, and value what we assess.
We must also articulate why the acquisition of content knowledge is important, and define what it looks like for our students.
We took the following curricular frameworks and broke them down for our students:
The Common Core literacy standards
The Common Core math standards
The NWEA MAP’s Descartes Continuum of math standards
The Next Generation science standards
The California social studies standards
The ACTFL Foreign Language standards
AP expectations and assessments
And we created competency-based guides that articulated what every level of content knowledge looks like from grades 5 – 12, including many AP courses.
These guides are the foundations of our content knowledge. They are essential for college readiness. They were built based on widely accepted frameworks but vetted and consented to by all of our subject-area teachers.
We needed a system to assess this content.
Illuminate:
--Excellent reporting capabilities
--Ability to easily push and pull student achievement data
--Solid item banks
--Innovative, interested partner
Two years ago, our CEO and I flew to Irvine and spent a day with the Illuminate team. At that time, we sketched out what a reporting tool could look like: one that gave students immediate assessment feedback and guided them towards the resources that would be best suited to help them learn. Some of the reports currently in Illuminate came from this discussion. We were hooked by this vision of on-demand assessments, which students can take when they are ready, and which are directly linked to learning resources.
So if we have a system to assess students’ content knowledge, it is important that we have a linked system that offers students the tools that they need to learn.
This was the second portion of the sketch on an Illuminate whiteboard two years ago. How could we do what no SIS was doing at that time? How could we take in-the-moment assessment information and give that information to students so that they could direct themselves towards the learning resources that were best suited for them, based on assessment results?
With the support of the Girard Foundation, Activate Instruction was born.
This free, open, online resource platform organizes resources into playlists, and these playlists are linked directly to the illuminate assessment database. It is not necessary to be an Illuminate customer to use Activate. You can start building rich playlists today just by logging into Activate. However, we have found that the power of linking assessments to resources, and reporting assessment results by objective within each focus area, is incredibly powerful in giving students the ability to direct their own learning.
Obviously, for this work to take place, we needed to support it with time and resources.
Thus, our school day was built around the belief that students need the time, space, and knowledge to interact with the resources that will help them learn, as well as to the assessments upon which they can demonstrate content proficiency.
Perhaps even more important than content knowledge are the cognitive skills
Problem Formulation
Research
Interpretation
Communication
That allow students to use content to acquire more knowledge, to think deeply about a topic, and to express their understandings in creative and novel ways.
Thus began an odyssey to build an assessment tool that would capture students’ cognitive skill development.
The first step in this process came in a brainstorming session in which we explored the idea: “are cognitive skills cognitive skills, or are cognitive skills discipline specific?”
We looked at:
The CCSS Math Practice Standards
The CCSS Literacy Standards
The Next Gen Science Standards
UCLA’s National Framework for Historical Thinking Standards
EPIC’s Key Cognitive Strategies
The AP’s assessment criteria
The IB Programme’s evaluation metrics
And from these, we distilled a draft of cognitive skills spanning a range of “no evidence” to “approaching professional quality”
We shopped these around with our faculties, and they agreed that these were excellent representations of cognitive skills, but…
We partnered with the Stanford Center for Assessment, Learning, and Equity – who writes all of the performance tasks for the Smarter Balanced Assessment Constorium – to revise this rubric, and we are using it today to appropriately level and scaffold projects.
With a framework for assessing cognitive skill development, we continued our research by finding the best ways to develop cognitive skills in our students.
Project Based Learning
The Buck Institute of Education
Rich, open-ended projects
Our faculties began curating their best projects and developing new projects based on the Buck Institute’s guidelines for PBL and linked explicitly to the cognitive skills rubric
But we still needed a platform for displaying and assessing the resulting student work for these projects.
Enter Show Evidence
In Show Evidence, we found a product that:
--Could visually display all the steps for completing a project-based performance task
--Could provide a range of options for helping teachers develop projects
--Could provide students with granular assessment feedback from teachers, peers and others to post and get feedback on their work
We spent much of this past summer with our teachers, building out projects and posting them to Show Evidence, where they are on the SE exchange. Anyone who is a Show Evidence customer can pull our projects and assessments, copy them, and adapt them as needed.
We continue to iterate on our assessments so that they are always improving
We needed time in the day given to this highest-value time for students
And in this time, teachers facilitate high-quality project-based learning.
Students engage in individual and collaborative activities such as:
Socratic Seminars
Complex Instruction and groupwork
Peer Editing
Writing
Researching
Drafting
Problem Solving
Students have twenty hours of facilitated project time per week in which they have access to structured learning opportunities, facilitated by our teachers.
Please take a moment and complete the poll.
Underlying students’ success on both cognitive skill development and content knowledge acquisition are students habits of success.
These are qualities such as:
Self Awareness
Self Management
Relationship Awareness
Relationship Management
And also include David Yeager’s dispositions of a self-directed learner, including:
Persistence
Strategy Shifting
Challenge Seeking
Appropriate Help Seeking
Response to Setbacks
We took the CASEL framework, developed using research from Daniel Goleman, Richard Boyatzis and others, and worked off of the Illinois standards for Social Emotional Learning to develop our Habits of Success Continuum.
Here, students, teachers, and families can see exactly what the next steps are for a student in terms of habits such as growth mindset and recognizing personal qualities and external supports, and can develop plans to progress as a learner.
Mentors are dedicated to coaching students at every stage of the learning process.
This work is woven into the fabric of everything we do.
Habits of success must be practiced in the context of individual and group work, of play, of goal setting and reflection.
Thus, all students continually go through what we call the Self Directed Learning Cycle.
Mentors support students in their learning through dedicated time: 10 minutes with each student, built into each school week.
Additionally, we support students’ development of habits of success through Socratic Seminars around topics such as:
Brene Brown’s work on Vulnerability
Carol Dweck’s Growth Mindset
Daniel Pink’s research on Motivation
Students meet in weekly seminars to apply these topics to their own lives to support greater understanding of themselves and of each other. This work is supported by a community blog that is updated every week.
Additionally, as we consider the best ways to support students’ ongoing literacy development, we have partnered with Gobstopper, a tool to deliver texts with resources and high-quality assessments to students.
This work is supported through a schedule that includes time for reading, community seminars, and 1:1 mentoring.
Finally, we have expeditions that are led by a team in house
We badge students’ performances.
These expeditions expand on students passions and interests, and are framed around topics such as:
Cultural Awareness
College Readiness
Career Explorations
Community Contributions
Health and wellness
Eight weeks of the year are given to these expeditions, and this is time in which our teachers are released for further professional development—time in which they can plan coming projects and lessons, review student learning information, collaborate meaningfully with colleagues, co-teach across sites, and further develop as teachers, leaders, and mentors.
These pictures are from our first series of expeditions, which roll throughout the school year and are happening right now in Daly City and San Jose.
Even with all of these data systems designed to solve problems from providing competency-based resources to students to fuelling collaboration to providing actionable assessment feedback in real-time, we needed to bring it all together. It was a problem that no system in existence seemed to adequately address.
Illuminate, an off-the-shelf SIS, can report students’ real-time learning of content.
Activate, and close partner who is free and open to everyone in the world with internet access, can direct students to the resources they need, exactly when they need them, given assessment information.
Show Evidence, a paid product, can display projects and link students’ performance on project to our cognitive skill rubric.
Gobstopper, a reading tool, can offer students reading support through curriculets.
But we did not have a way to pull from all of these sources, as well as others, and organize this information around the self-directed learning cycle. We could not show students their grades, and let them see how to improve their overall performance.
Thus, we hired a developer to create the Personalized Learning Plan.
PLPs of the past: 1x/year, sat in a drawer
PLPs today: data-rich, real-time, resource-linked, accessible by all members of the school community
And that’s where I want to take us now. After a five minute demo, I would love to take any questions that you have.