2009-02-12

=PLE Literacy Lead Teachers= =Meeting 2-12-09=

COMMON ASSESSMENTS

 * Go Around: Sharing of hopes & fears about common assessment
 * Research Article: [|USING FORMATIVE ASSESSMENT TO INCREASE LEARNING], D. Wren Ed.D, Department of Research, Evaluation and Assessment, Virginia Beach City Public Schools
 * Jot key prases on notecard; circle the top two; share around table
 * **KEY POINTS FROM THE ARTICLE AS SHARED BY GROUP**
 * Formative assessments should not be limited to just tests.
 * Transmission model must be rejected.
 * The message is improvement, not evaluation.
 * Common assessment leads to responsive changes.
 * Student self assessment: know goal, evidence of where they are, and how to close the gap between the two.
 * The classroom atmosphere supports student positive response to learning.
 * Select key pieces of student work to evaluate.
 * Teachers need to be sure students fully understand what they are doing.
 * Classroom discussions should have more value.
 * Give children wait time.
 * Powerful tool to increase student learning.
 * Form ongoing instruction and learning.
 * Students need effective feedback from teachers.
 * More improvement and less about evaluation.
 * Breeding success instead of competition in the classroom.
 * Let the students create the questions.


 * **IN VIEW OF THE RESEARCH AND OUR EXPERIENCE WHAT WOULD WE DO THE SAME OR DIFFERENT REGARDING COMMON ASSESSMENT**
 * **SAME**
 * Teachers focus on data: where would they change instruction & where instruction has been successful
 * Common time
 * **DIFFERENT**
 * More staff development for understanding of common assessment
 * Teachers need to understand where we are, we need to go and how we get there; teachers as learners before using the data.
 * Redesign the test
 * Make the directions more clear
 * Revisit the format
 * Add more to the assessment
 * Conference with the student for personal goal setting
 * Communicate the purpose of the assessment to the students
 * Focus on the process, not the skill; informal


 * **Discuss [|feedback] from staff regarding Second Trimester LA Common Assessments**


 * **Share observations, comments, and questions from 2-11-09 Common Assessment Analysis & Planning Faculty Meeting**
 * [|Common_Assessment_Data_Analysis.doc]
 * Questions helped drive the data analysis.
 * Questions about the scoring rubric: Should we include Advanced if none of the questions were beyond the standard? How do the total rubric scores and the standard scores relate to each other?
 * Awareness of item analysis through the Question Summary report in Performance Tracker
 * Content: Can primary grades expect end-of-course mastery, when skills & strategies spiral through the grades?
 * Need more explanation of skill level: Introduced, Developed
 * Scores were not as high as first trimester common assessment: test was harder than the first trimester assessment - time has passed, so expectations are higher
 * Discussion about test-taking strategies: How/when do we develop this in reading? How do we work on developing metacognitive strategies?
 * Comfort with use of Performance Tracker was evident


 * **Where do we go from here?**
 * Third Trimester
 * First grade needs to build the common assessment
 * Second grade's assessment is ready
 * Develop and share a plan to share feedback strategies with the class after the test is done
 * Possibly use a Harcourt story question to demonstrate the process with students
 * Next Year
 * Add to June meeting agenda

RESPONSE TO INTERVENTION

 * Materials
 * Fountas & Pinnell Leveled Literacy Instruction Kits have been ordered
 * Support needed?
 * Consider moving students based on progress or lack of progress at each RtI planning session
 * D.E.A.R.
 * Students know the process
 * Reluctant readers are reading
 * Group would not recommend using book logs
 * Great to see the connections between students and all building staff

Next Meeting: UPDATE FROM THE WRITING COMMITTEE

 * Kim, Valerie, mt, Marie

Next Meeeting: PLANNING FOR DAILY READING INSTRUCTION

 * How are teachers selecting instructional activities from Harcourt?
 * How are teachers supplementing instructional activities for Harcourt?
 * What supplemental materials are teachers using?

PROFESSIONAL LEARNING COMMUNITIES IN LA: DESIGNING & PLANNING

 * Meeting Dates: Thursday March 5 & Thursday March 12; Room 112; 3:45-4:45


 * OTHER**
 * Fountas & Pinnell: Comprehension score needs to be Excellent or Satisfactory for mastery.