tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5291582404337089046.post6661376877426670888..comments2012-07-21T19:34:52.852-07:00Comments on Berkeley High Professional Development: A Focus on Linking Assessment to Instruction at Berkeley Highsusannahbellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07598558443328755258noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5291582404337089046.post-51738785406659754472012-05-17T13:33:12.871-07:002012-05-17T13:33:12.871-07:00Dan,
I can only speak to the PD focus for the Wor...Dan,<br /><br />I can only speak to the PD focus for the World Language Department next year. Our focus of PD next year will be on linking assessment to instruction, not only on assessment. Over the past three years, the World Language department has been working on creating common assessments in all of our courses. In our experience in Spanish I, it was the process of identifying common learning outcomes linked to standard based performance assessments that surfaced the conversations around instruction and best practices, “… the process of creating and sharing common assessments is itself a valuable opportunity for faculty to share ideas and collaborate to create the best curriculum possible for all students.” (Bambrick-Santoyo, 2010) <br /> <br />Since we developed the first “datawiseable” performance based common assessments two years ago, the Spanish 1 team has been able focus our attention on the results of the assessments to do analysis at the question level to inform out instruction and share best practices. For us, these meetings have helped us focus on student learning, “…most important, such meetings are integral to changing from a culture focused on what student were taught to a culture focused on what students actually learned.” (Bambrick-Santoyo, 2010) <br /><br />Looking at our results from common assessments also highlights the strengths and weakness of our department and allows us to determine the professional learning that we must undertake to enable us to support our students in reaching our identified learning outcomes. For us this has been a “powerful equity strategy” in that our collaborative work has given us the opportunity to think about what was we needed to increase our capacity as language teachers. We have now identified research based instructional practices that have been shown to increase student engagement and accelerate language learning. The entire Spanish 1 team will receive intensive training in this methodology this summer (thanks to generous grants from the Berkeley Public Education Foundation and the Berkeley Unified School District) and we believe that we’ll see results in the coming year in terms of our equity goal of increasing the achievement of African American and Latino students in our first year courses. It was this process that helped us identify the most high leverage training for our teachers in regards to our equity goal.<br /><br />Next year, all of our WL teachers will have even more time in their level alike / language alike groups to build on their work creating common learning outcomes and common assessments. Teachers see the value in this structured collaborative work that is geared towards planning with the end in mind, assessing student learning and adjusting curriculum and instruction to meet the needs of our students. <br /><br />As the PD team leader, I’m grateful to have a PD calendar which explicitly factors in the a time and space for teachers to regularly create smaller, common, formative assessments in addition to the summative common assessments. In this way, teachers can look at student work and performance frequently in order to inform our practice more regularly and continually throughout the year. <br /><br />In terms of our ability as teachers to have an impact on student learning in the face of the larger societal iniquities, I for one do believe that inspiring, capable teachers who continually strive to adjust, improve and refine their instructional practices through a cycle of inquiry can accomplish quite a bit… otherwise I wouldn’t be here.<br /><br />Respectfully,<br /><br />Tamara FriedmanTamarahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04172178837907819506noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5291582404337089046.post-77547341368325511082012-05-16T22:37:13.848-07:002012-05-16T22:37:13.848-07:00Reading this, I'm left wondering what you'...Reading this, I'm left wondering what you're actually planning for our PD. Can it please not be designing yet more assessments? In the math department, we've been tweaking our district-mandated common finals for three years. We reminisce wistfully about that one day, six years ago, when we all looked at student work on a single problem, and then engaged in a discussion about expectations, teaching, and learning. True, we have looked at the data from multiple choice finals together, and some people use that data to choose topics on which to focus. Others suggest we work together on whatever topic is coming up next. After all, we have new teachers among us, and they need to get ready for this week's lessons.<br /><br />Will we have to wait another six years to examine student work on the assessments we already have? The unit tests we give in math are decent, and quite similar from teacher to teacher. Can't we just start there?<br /><br />You assert that “access to a curriculum aligned with the standards is a powerful equity strategy,” and you speak about being hopeful about the Common Core Standards. I have hopes for the math CCS "standards of practice," but I invite you to investigate the CCS authors and their deep connections to the 0.01%. For instance, about ELA co-author David Coleman, see:<br />http://www.schoolsmatter.info/2012/04/david-colemans-global-revenge-and.html<br />He's the guy who, in defense of de-emphasizing both writing of personal essays and the reading of fiction said, “[A]s you grow up in this world you realize people really don’t give a shit about what you feel or what you think.” <br /><br />There are a few critics. In today's NY Times article about Coleman, one is quoted:<br /><br />“There’s no reason on earth for common core standards and these tests that we’re wasting billions of dollars on,” said Stephen Krashen, an emeritus education professor at the University of Southern California. “The problem is poverty, poverty, poverty. Middle-class children who go to well-funded schools do very well, but even the best tests, the most inspiring teachers, won’t mean anything if the kids don’t have enough to eat.”<br /><br />Dan PlonseyAnonymousnoreply@blogger.com