Georgia Performance Standards

Middle SchoolMiddle SchoolELA, Math & ScienceELA, Math & ScienceFall 2005Fall 2005

What’s Different about GPS?

• Student learning is the focus.• Learning Goals are the same for all students.• Standards are integrated and should not be

taught in isolation.• Assessments are used to guide and modify

instruction.• Planning is structured in units.• The effectiveness of instruction is judged by

whether students meet the standard.

Not Repackaging an Old Product!

Standards-Based Education

1. Identify Desired Results (Learning Goals)

2. Develop an Assessment Plan(Evidence of Learning)

3. Make Instructional Decisions (Planned Learning Opportunities)

Assessment

Student Evidence instead of

Teacher Coverage

(Handout page 10)

Highly Qualified Teachers

• Special Education – Highly qualified in Accommodations,

Differentiation, and Modifications

• Content Specialists• Highly qualified in reading, or science, or

math, or social studies.

What must happen for every student to have a Highly Qualified Teacher throughout the day?

VIPs—Very Important Points

• All teachers must be familiar with the standards.

• Standards are revisited continuously throughout the teaching/learning process.

• Planning takes place at the unit level, and units are usually 3 to 6 weeks in length.

• Established coding procedures for unit/lesson plans need to be rethought.

Assessment vs. Grading

Student 1 receives mostly As and high Bs in the beginning; but his/her performance drops off considerably, and s/he receives an F on the final performance test.

Student 2 is erratic, receiving an equal number of As and Fs.

Student 3 is clueless at the beginning, but by the last few sessions, s/he catches on and performs flawlessly on the final performance. His/her grades are, in order from the first test to the last, F, F, F, F, C, B, A, A, A.

Assessment for Learning

• Not all students learn at the same rate or in the same way.

• Assessment is ongoing and continuous.

• Assessment guides instruction.

• Assessment provides evidence of student growth toward the learning goals.

Determine an Assessment PlanDetermine an Assessment Plan

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An Assessment Inventory

1. Assessments can also be categorized as selected response, constructed response, performance task, and informal/self-assessment.

2. To determine whether or not classroom assessment is balanced, complete the balanced assessment inventory as if you were still in the classroom.

3. How might this inventory assist you as you conduct teacher observations?

Assessment

“Not everything that can be counted counts, and not everything that counts can be counted.”

--Albert Einstein

Research Suggests . . .• According to Rick Stiggins, a balanced range of classroom

assessments is effective in improving student achievement, not only in individual classrooms, but also on state or other standardized tests that provide program evaluation data.

• In fact, Stiggins refers directly to a research review by Paul Black and Dylan William that reports effect sizes on high stakes tests of one-half to a full standard deviation for students who experienced “improved formative assessment” in their classrooms.

• This gain is sufficient to improve student achievement on standardized tests by “more than 30 percentile points, two grade-equivalents, or 100 points on the SAT scale” (Stiggins 2002).

Table Talk

Identify 3 things you’ve seen or heard so far

today that will impact your role as instructional

leader.

Be prepared to share your insights with the

whole group in 10 minutes.

What is Differentiation?

Differentiation can be defined as a way of teaching in which teachers proactively accommodate curriculum, teaching methods, resources, learning activities, and student products to address the needs of individual students and/or small groups of students to maximize the learning opportunity for each student in the classroom.

--Facilitator’s Guide, At Work in the Differentiated Classroom, 103.

Making Instructional Decisions

• Differentiated instruction is the norm when teaching with performance standards.

• A differentiated classroom is “big onstandards,” but “short on standardization.”

(Tomlinson, The Differentiated Classroom, 29)

The Road to Student Success

Although the destination remains constant, the routes we take to reach that destination and the time it takes us to get there may vary.

According to Grant Wiggins:

"Good planning leaves room for the unplannable. You do not know what you'll be doing on April 11, and you're a fool if you think so. If you do, then the curriculum is more important to you than your students."

(Grant Wiggins, "Designing and Using Student Reflections and Self-Assessment," ASCD Summer Conference on Differentiated Instruction and Understanding by Design, June 2005)

Making Instructional Decisions

1. Schedule planned assessments on unit calendar.

2. Determine the instruction necessary to equip students to provide evidence of learning on scheduled assessments.

3. Select the most appropriate instructional strategies for providing students access to learning.

4. Schedule instructional activities on unit calendar.

Incorporating a Variety of Instructional Strategies

1. Thinking back to your own classroom practice, read over the categories of instructional strategies.

2. Mark a strategy with a + if you used it regularly, a if you used it occasionally, or a if you rarely or never used it.

3. How might this checklist assist you as you conduct teacher observations?

Observing Teachers with GPS in Mind

• Are learning goals clear to both the teacher and the students?

• Are students actively engaged in their own learning?

• Are the readiness levels, interests, and learning styles of the students being addressed?

• Is assessment for learning guiding instruction to ensure growth for every student?

VIPs—Very Important Points

• All instructional and assessment activities should be designed to move students toward the learning goals—the GPS.

• Students need multiple opportunities to learn using a variety of instructional strategies that incorporate a number of different modalities.

• Instruction should focus on growth for all students. Often the students who come into a classroom knowing the most, learn the least.

• Unit plans must be flexible in order to allow assessment to guide instruction.

More VIPs—Very Important Points

• Unit plans must be flexible in order to allow assessment to guide instruction.

• In standards-based classrooms, teachers create student-centered learning environments.

• In student-centered learning environments, instruction takes place when students work independently, in pairs or small groups, one-on-one with the teacher, and in the class as a whole.

Table Talk

Performance standards provide consistency in terms

of learning goals, but standards are not the same

thing as standardization. Effective implementation of

the GPS precludes lockstep instruction. Discuss

what this may mean in terms of teacher observations

and evaluations.

Be prepared to share your ideas with the

whole group in 15 minutes.

Science in Middle School

2005-2007

Science GPS in grades 6 and 7

Science QCC in grade 8

Middle School Plan

2004-05

2005-06

2006-07

2007-08

6th Grade

Physical Science(QCC)

Earth Science(GPS)

Earth Science(GPS)

Earth Science(GPS)

7th Grade

Life Science(QCC)

Life Science(GPS)

Life Science(GPS)

Life Science(GPS)

8th Grade

Earth Science(QCC)

Earth Science(QCC)

Earth Science(QCC)

Physical Science(GPS)

Co-Requisites in Science

Content – Characteristics =Facts

Characteristics – Content =Activities

Characteristics + Content =

SCIENCE

Science Content ExampleS7L4. Students will examine the

dependence of organisms on one another and their environments.

d. Categorize relationships between organisms that are competitive or mutually beneficial.

What is a relationship?Mutualism? Commensalism? Parasite/Host? Predator/Prey? Competition?

Characteristics of ScienceS6CS5. Students will use the ideas of

system, model, change, and scale in exploring scientific and technological matters.

a. Observe and explain how parts can be related to other parts in a system such as predator/prey relationships in a community/ecosystem.

b. Understand that different models (such as physical replicas, pictures, and analogies) can be used to represent the same thing.

Characteristics of Science (cont.)

S6CS9. Students will enhance reading in all curriculum areas by:a. Reading in all curriculum areas

b. Discussing books

c. Building vocabulary knowledge

d. Establishing context

Sample TaskYou are a curator at an animal park. Your new project is to

design a display depicting a major biome that includes how the organisms relate to and interact with each other.

Your display will include 1. A research narrative with facts about a minimum of ten

organisms and their energy needs2. A food web of including all organisms from the

narrative including arrows showing sequence of the transfer of food energy (See next slide)

3. Examples of and explanations of sample symbiotic relationships including mutualism, commensalism, and parasitism

You Want Proof? I’ll Give You Proof! By Sydney Harris

Products that provide evidence of understanding

Signs for display:1. Major biome, organisms listed by kingdom2. Choose an example of an organism from each role in

the ecosystem (predator, prey, producer, consumer, parasite, host, scavenger, decomposer), explain the role of that organism and its energy (food/nutrient) needs.

3. Diagram of energy pyramid depicting organisms with arrows showing sequence of energy flow.

4. Show examples of symbiotic relationships from the biome. (commensalism, mutualism, competition, parasitism)

Far Side Gallery by Gary Larsen

Pay attention that you are scoring the evidence of what you want the student to know and be able to do. How good is good enough? Don’t get confused by criteria that sounds good but doesn’t match the goal.

Sample RubricHighly Qualified Director

Competent

Manager

Reading the Want Ads for a Job

Required

Items

Display includes examples from all major roles in the biome and all relationships are represented.

Display includes examples of three major roles in the biome and two or three relationships are represented

Display includes two or less examples of major roles in the biome and includes less than two relationships.

Accuracy

Signs include 10 or more facts that are accurate, spelled correctly and energy arrows are in right direction.

Signs include 5 to 9 facts that are accurate, few misspellings, and energy arrows are in right direction.

Signs include less than 5 facts that are accurate, have misspellings, and the energy arrows are not correct.

Presentation Display is legible and inviting. It contains colorful items and graphics/pictures.

Display contains required items, but is not organized.

Display is haphazard and/or messy. It is not legible and contains no color.

ELA in Middle School

GPS in grades 6, 7, and 8

Power Standards in ELA

RL1 Comprehension and Interpretation ◄RL2 VocabularyRL3 Fluency

RC1 1,000,000 wordsRC2 Discusses topics related to content readingRC3 Content vocabularyRC4 Puts reading in context

Power Standards in ELAW1 Organization, structure, and contextW2 Competence in a variety of genres ◄W3 Research and technology to support writingW4 Writing process

C1 Usage and mechanics

LSV1 Verbal interactions: S-T; S-S; GroupLSV2 Media literacy ◄

Determining Learning Goals for an ELA Unit

UnitListening, Speaking,

and Viewing

Writing

Reading

Math in Middle School

Math GPS in 6th Grade

Math QCC in 7th and 8th grades

GPS Phase-in Plan

Test Alignment

Criterion-Referenced Competency Tests (CRCT)

Test alignment is completed during

Year II implementation for each content area and grade level.

Grade 7 Math Assessment Timeline

• 2005-2006 School year: Grade 6 math CRCT will assess the GPS.Grade 7 math CRCT will assess the QCC.

• 2006-2007 School year: Grade 7 math CRCT will assess the GPS.

High School Course Chart

Core Mathematics Mathematics Accelerated Mathematics

Core Math IMathematics I

Accelerated Math ICore Math II

Core Math IIIMathematics II

Core Math IV

Accelerated Math IIMathematics III

Mathematics IV Accelerated Mathematics III

AP Calculus

ALGEBRA

• Students will investigate relationships between two quantities.

• They will write and solve proportions and simple one-step equations that result from problem situations.

Standard

• M6A2. Students will consider relationships between varying quantities.

a. Analyze and describe patterns

arising from mathematical rules,

tables, and graphs.

THE WAVE

Announcements

• Materials are on the way to your schools!

• A sixth grade framework has been added to the GPS mathematics site!

Training Materials

Frequently Asked Questions

http://www.georgiastandards.org

Standards

NEW! Framework

Teaching for Understanding

• In order to provide evidence of understanding, students must be able to apply acquired knowledge and skills to new situations.

• Culminating performance tasks allow students to provide evidence of understanding.

Performance Tasks . . .

. . . generally occur over time

. . . result in tangible products or observable performances

. . . involve meaning-making

. . . encourage self-evaluation and revision

. . . require judgment to score

. . . reveal degrees of proficiency based on criteria established

and made public prior to the performance

. . . sometimes involve students working with others

-Marzano, Pickering, & McTighe

VIPs—Very Important Points

• Assessment and grading are not the same thing.

• Students should be assessed on nearly everything they do, but it’s generally unwise to over-grade or to assign grades before the learning process is complete.

• Students do not all learn at the same rate or achieve the learning goals at the same time.

• Averaging to determine final grades does not provide an adequate picture of student growth.

• Students who learn conceptually perform significantly better on standardized tests.

Table Talk

Performance standards require that we rethink ourassessment and grading practices, but thesepractices are deeply embedded in the culture of ourschools. Determine 2 or 3 things that you might do in your schools to begin to align your grading policieswith the underlying principles of standards-basededucation.

Be prepared to share your ideas with thewhole group in 15 minutes.

Your questions?

Contact Information

Alice SmithDirector of Reading and Middle Schools

alismith@doe.k12.ga.us404-651-7274

Alicia McCartneyReading and Middle Schools

amccartn@doe.k12.ga.us

706-296-6610

Marlee TierceScience

mtierce@doe.k12.ga.us(404) 463-1977

Claire PierceMathematics

cpierce@doe.k12.ga.us(404) 657-7063

Peggy PoolMathematics

ppool@doe.k12.ga.us(404) 657-9063