STAAR Navigation Guide Introduction to Planning Tool communication professional development PLANNING curriculum and instruction accountability data Effective planning connects all points of the STAAR. www.esc13.net/staar v. NOV 2011 Serving the Educational Community
Audiences & Resources School Board Essential Design Questions Strategies & Activities Lead Due Date What information does the board need regarding curriculum and instructional connections with School board presentation Policy and/or administrative changes Grading practices & procedures Update on Curriculum Alignment Plans for testing roll out Resource Allocation Accelerated Instruction Testing Administration EOC Graduation implications Evidence of Effectiveness Reflection What if anything should change regarding the delivery of information to the board? What further information might the board need as the school year progresses? Communication Administrators Teachers & Staff Parents To what degree are administrators facilitating conversations around instructional practices that support To what degree are teachers informed about the relationship between academic readiness and effective instructional practices? How does the district curriculum support academic What information do parents need to support their children in achieving Principal Meetings What evidence do we see of increased levels of student engagement? How are curriculum resources aligned with what we know? How are our instructional practices aligned with what we know? How are classroom observations informing feedback? Administrative changes Grading practices & procedures Semester Exams Semester Credit Testing administration plan Instructional materials supporting TEKS with rigor Faculty presentations or PLCs STAAR blueprints Readiness and Supporting Standards Increased rigor Vertical alignment Instructional materials supporting TEKS with rigor STAAR Sample Items District Curriculum Documents Creating/sharing community information STAAR parent brochure STAAR FAQ STAAR video series Town Hall meetings PTA presentations Information on district website Grading guidelines Graduation requirements Local policies (For example: Are we continuing with semester exam exemptions?) STAAR sample items What is the degree of confidence that campus based administrators exhibit around delivery of this information? What needs to be in place to continue building that confidence? What resources might be needed to facilitate these conversations? What if anything should change presentation and discussion regarding Is a common definition present in the district regarding What resources might be needed to support effective instructional practices? What if anything should change or be added to the communication for parents? What are the implications for information to be shared later in the school year? Students What information do students need in order to understand what it means to be academic ready? Sharing student information: Graduation requirements Grading implications 15% rule and corresponding district policies End-of-Course Exams Retake opportunities and limitations Acceleration and remediation support for struggling students Understanding student performance labels Academic Readiness: Engaging with content at deeper levels Emphasis on thinking and expression of thought What student concerns are parents, counselors, administrators, and teachers reporting? What district systems are supporting student understanding of what it means for them to be academically ready? What resources might be needed to increase this understanding? Community What information do community members need to know about how the emphasis on academic readiness is influencing the way schools prepare students? Creating/sharing community information: STAAR parent brochure STAAR FAQ STAAR video series What if anything should change or be added to the communication for the community? How is this initial information creating a foundation on which to build future communications about student and district achievement results?
CURRICULUM & INSTRUCTION Content Grade Bands Special Populations Administrator Support Formative Assessment Analysis Essential Design Questions Are all teachers well versed in both content and pedagogy at a level where they can teach both accurately and completely to ensure academic How are teachers connecting across grade levels, courses, and content areas to support instruction that promotes academic How are we implementing a systemic approach to providing equitable access to ensure academic readiness for all students? What are effective administrators doing to support an aligned curriculum, effective instructional practices, and academic readiness for all students? In what ways are teachers using a variety formative and summative assessments that are aligned to the district curriculum to ensure accurate assessment of Strategies & Activities Lead Due Date Ensuring content knowledge and alignment by using your district curriculum to facilitate: Vertical planning Lesson plan sharing Horizontal planning Effective use of interventions and TEKS discussions accommodations Common vocabulary discussions Ensuring access to ongoing professional development for all teachers to deepen content knowledge and instructional practices that support academic readiness. All teachers are facilitating metacognitive discussions with students regarding TEKS (content standards) and academic readiness in relation to their grade level, course, career, college. Ensuring content knowledge and alignment by using your district curriculum to facilitate: Vertical planning Lesson plan sharing Horizontal planning Effective use of interventions and TEKS discussions accommodations Common vocabulary discussions Ensuring access to ongoing professional development for all teachers to deepen content knowledge and instructional practices that support academic readiness. All teachers are facilitating metacognitive discussions with students regarding TEKS (content standards) and academic readiness in relation to their grade level, course, career, college. Ensuring content knowledge and alignment by using your district curriculum to facilitate: Vertical planning Lesson plan sharing Horizontal planning Effective use of interventions and TEKS discussions accommodations Common vocabulary discussions Ensuring access to ongoing professional development for all teachers to deepen content knowledge and instructional practices that support academic readiness. All teachers are facilitating metacognitive discussions with students regarding TEKS (content standards) and academic readiness in relation to their grade level, course, career, college. Ensuring more a more rigorous and effective instructional program through: Classroom observations Teacher feedback and conversation regarding accurate and complete instruction for all students Administrator supported professional learning opportunities Administrators and teachers collaborate to define rigor Administrators and teachers collaborate to implement best instructional practices to promote academic readiness for all students. Ensuring teachers have access to appropriate formative assessment data and tools: Tools Strategies Best practices Dialogue opportunities Peer observations Ensuring teachers have support in creating both formative and summative assessments that are informed by STAAR: Assessment tasks that assess readiness and supporting standards Inclusion of dual coding Inclusion of open ended responses Discussions to determine appropriate state assessment accommodations and their routine use in the classroom. Evidence of Effectiveness Reflection What is the current level of content understanding of the staff? What are the next steps needed to ensure common understanding? What is the current level of implementation of pedagogy supporting What tools and resources might be needed to support instruction that is accurate and complete? To what degree is professional dialogue across grade levels, courses, and content areas reflecting vertical alignment of readiness and supporting standards to ensure To what degree is professional dialogue across and within grade levels reflecting effective use of interventions and accommodations for all learners? To what degree are administrators observing a consistently more rigorous and effective instructional program school wide? To what degree are administrators observing a consistent use of a variety of formative and summative assessments to inform instruction, interventions, and accommodations school wide? Blueprint/Specs To what degree does classroom evidence indicate that all teachers understand the STAAR blueprints and specs and their implications for Facilitating discussions regarding STAAR blueprints and implications for instruction: Grade level meetings Vertical team meetings Classroom observations Teacher feedback and conversation regarding accurate and complete instruction for all students Administrators and teachers collaborate to define rigor Administrators and teachers collaborate to implement best instructional practices to promote academic readiness for all students. Administrator supported professional learning opportunities What is the current level of understanding among all teachers and where are the gaps, misconceptions, and resources needed to build capacity?
Formative Assessment Essential Design Questions Strategies & Activities Lead Due Date Evidence of Effectiveness Reflection What systems are in place to use formative assessment data to inform instruction to best prepare students to be academically ready? Ensure alignment between formative assessments and the curriculum. A variety of formative assessments are integrated into instruction. Data from formative assessments informs instruction Do the systems we have in place support all students? Do the systems need to be strengthened in order to ensure that students are supported in their progression to success in the grade level/ course and to be academically ready for the next grade/course? data Historically strong and weak standards Based on TAKS longitudinal data, where have students excelled and where have they struggled? Ensure that we build on our strengths and address our weaknesses: Review longitudinal data Connect results to readiness and supporting standards Connect data to reporting categories Connect interventions to strengths and weaknesses Use of data for planned differentiation Study the construct of the test in relation to historical data to inform instruction and differentiation In what ways do we continue the momentum around effective instructional planning that builds on strengths and addresses weaknesses? What student learning needs have emerged in the first quarter? What differentiation/intervention strategies are proving most effective? How might we build on this success? School Processes How does data inform school processes that support academic Implement systems for: RtI Differentiation support Interventions and accommodations Ensuring that students are taking the appropriate assessment Professional learning communities Professional development Course catalog and articulated pathways for students Graduation plans To what degree is data being used to guide school processes supporting academic What types of data are being used? Do they reflect the whole child?
State Essential Design Questions Strategies & Activities Lead Due Date Evidence of Effectiveness Reflection instructional program with a focus on What observable evidence indicates that student performance data are being utilized to plan for instruction? How might instructional plans be adjusted on a regular basis to address student learning needs? ACCOUNTABILITY Federal Performance Based Monitoring Analysis System (PBMAS) instructional program? instructional program with a focus on What observable evidence indicates that student performance data are being utilized to plan for instruction? How might instructional plans be adjusted for the 2nd quarter to address student learning needs? To what degree are systems in place to utilize data available to the district to support instructional practices with a focus on State Performance Plan (SPP) for Special Education instructional program with a focus on academic readiness for each stage of the student s academic career? To what degree are data being utilized to inform instructional programs at each stage of the student s academic career?
PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT November May Professional development pathway: Core Background: As we learn more about the complexities and comprehensive nature of what it means to be career and academic ready, the focus of ongoing conversations centers around: content acquisition critical thinking relevance integration application of concepts long-term retention student ownership of learning. Therefore, purposeful dialogue among teachers and school leaders results in shared clarity and ownership about enhanced instructional practices that produce career and academic ready graduates. Essential Design Questions Strategies & Activities Lead Due Date Evidence of Effectiveness Reflection To what degree is our professional development focused on the following? content acquisition grounded in key concepts and understanding; critical thinking that is promotes authentic student engagement; relevance to real-world skills through integration and application of concepts; rekindling the curiosity, innovation and imagination of learners. Professional development that focuses on the following. Understanding the rigorous nature of TEKS across grade levels and content areas: STAAR Readiness and Supporting Standards Reporting categories STAAR Blueprints STAAR sample items Analyzing student work: To determine student approaches to problems/concepts To inform instruction: determine trends identify misconceptions identify successful strategies Increasing student engagement at higher levels: content engagement applied in independent and collaborative settings What is our system s current level of knowledge and skill? In what ways are we extending the staff s depth of knowledge to support individual teacher growth with a focus on student In what ways are classroom practices reflecting a more rigorous instructional program? How are we working to integrate instruction so that readiness standards, in particular, are reinforced across disciplines? In what ways do these professional development opportunities build capacity in staff?
Communication Curriculum & Instruction Resources ESC Region XIII STAAR Website - http://www5.esc13.net/staar/index.html Resources by content area as well as Special Education - http://www5.esc13.net/staar/resources.html Superintendent/Board Information - http://www5.esc13.net/staar/superintendents_resources.html Parent Resources - http://www5.esc13.net/staar/parent_resources.html ESC Region XIII Blogs - http://www5.esc13.net/thescoop/blogs/ ESC Region XIII Twitter - http://twitter.com/#!/region13 TEA Assessment Resources for Students and Parents - http://www.tea.state.tx.us/student.assessment/parents/ TEA STAAR Q&A - http://www.txetests.com/faqs/index.asp?roots=%601.02.11%60 TEA STAAR Resources - http://www.tea.state.tx.us/student.assessment/staar/ Includes Released STAAR Items ESC Region XIII Teaching and Learning - http://www5.esc13.net/teachingandlearning/index.html The In-Sight: A Newsletter for Curriculum, Instruction, and Assessment - http://www5.esc13.net/thescoop/insight/ ESC Region XIII Bilingual/English as a Second Language - http://www5.esc13.net/bilingual/ ESC Region XIII Special Education / IDEA Coordination - http://www5.esc13.net/spedservices/ ESC Region XIII Dyslexia - http://www5.esc13.net/dyslexia/ ESC Region XIII Section 504 resources - http://www5.esc13.net/section504/ TEA Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills http://www.tea.state.tx.us/index2.aspx?id=6148 Includes English Language Proficiency Standards Prekindergarten Guidelines College Readiness Standards STAAR writing rubrics - http://www.tea.state.tx.us/student.assessment/staar/writing/ TEA Accommodations for Students with Disabilities taking STAAR, STAAR Spanish, STAAR Modified, STAAR L, and TELPAS - http://www.tea.state.tx.us/student.assessment/accommodations/staar-telpas/ Region XIII TV Core Curriculum and Instruction - http://www5.esc13.net/tv/core/ Data Accountability Professional Development System Support Resources - http://www5.esc13.net/data_assessment/resources.html Accountability and assessment podcasts are also located on this page. What Are Formative Assessments and Why Should We Use Them? - http://www.scholastic.com/teachers/article/what-are-formative-assessments-and-why-should-we-use-them The Best Value in Formative Assessment - http://www.ascd.org/publications/educational-leadership/dec07/vol65/num04/the-best-value-in-formative-assessment.aspx Accommodations for Students with Disabilities taking STAAR, STAAR Spanish, STAAR Modified, STAAR L, and TELPAS - http://www.tea.state.tx.us/student.assessment/accommodations/staar-telpas/ Total mandatory STAAR Testing Days - http://www.tea.state.tx.us/student.assessment/staar/ Performance Labels and Policy Definitions for STAAR - http://www.tea.state.tx.us/student.assessment/staar/ A New Assessment Model (PDF) - http://www.tea.state.tx.us/student.assessment/staar/ A Comparison of Assessment Attributes TAKS to STAAR - http://www.tea.state.tx.us/student.assessment/staar/ Professional Development Pathway - http://www5.esc13.net/teachingandlearning/pd_pathways.html Ensuring that all adult learners are engaging in professional development that supports their growth and development. Standards for Professional Learning - www.learningforward.org/news/getdocument.cfm?articleid=2326 Professional Development and Appraisal System (PDAS) forms - http://www5.esc13.net/pdas/forms.html Specialists at ESC Region XIII plan professional development in support of the TEKS with a focus on the expectations of the state assessment program. Examples include: Literacy throughout the Day: Developing Academic Vocabulary Math for the High School Science Classroom Elementary Science STAAR Reporting Category Series Exploring Measurement through Math and Science Expository Writing Content Area Literacy