The Power of Learning Targets Transforming Learning in

The Power of Learning Targets… Transforming Learning in the Classroom CCS Assessment Literacy Cadre Session #2

Group Norms • • • Start and end on time Put cell phones on silent Be respectful of all comments Everyone participates Exercise the rule of “two feet” You may not agree with me …and I’m okay with that!

Our Roadmap for Today Assessment and Instruction Wrap Up Review of Session 1 Types of Targets Implementation Considerations

4 -2 -1 Free Write Organizer • INDIVIDUALLY, identify four important ideas from our the article, or Chapter 3 that you read for homework. • PAIR UP and compare your ideas and decide on the TWO most important ideas. • PAIRS PAIR UP, share your ideas and then decide on the most important point. • Then, spend about 3 minutes explaining all that you know about the most important point. • Be prepared to share out as a group.

Main Ideas

BEFORE I thought this was just how to write Learning Targets. NOW This is a whole cultural shift.

BEFORE I thought all of this could be done quickly. NOW I realize the time involvement and what makes it worthwhile.

Learning targets are like… • A road map to show you how to get to the learning item. • A road map. It gives you a starting point and you travel through experiences. Sometimes the trip takes several weeks. • Self assessment. They guide one’s understanding of content towards mastery. • A road map. You know the end destination, but can find many routes to get there.

Important to Note… • Learning targets can be the primary driver of classroom assessment and instruction. • They form the basis for student engagement with the curriculum. • They allow students to self-assess their performance. • Inclusion of learning targets can be taken to many different levels. • Incorporation of learning targets and CASL methodology requires a great deal of time.

Learning Targets for Session 2 • I can explain the difference between standards, targets and activities. • I can describe how targets are used in assessment and instruction decisions. • I can identify important considerations for CASL implementation.

Learning Target #1 • I can explain the difference between standards, targets and activities.

QUESTION What are the similarities and differences between a STANDARD and a TARGET?

Are the Standards Clear? • Can your content standards stand alone and be used as learning targets or do they need to be deconstructed or ‘unpacked’? • Deconstruction involves taking a standard and breaking it down into manageable learning targets—Knowledge, Reasoning, Performance/skills, and/or Products—so that students and teachers can accurately identify what students should know and be able to do.

An Example • STANDARD: To shoot free throws with 80% accuracy. • TARGETS: – Proper placement for feet (stance) – Proper hand placement while maintaining stance – Shot A, B, C (3 -parts to shot) • ACTIVITIES: When should these be – Watch videos of great shooters and imitate added and/or their stance developed?

Developing Clear Learning Targets • Individually, draw the front of a penny. • Include as many details as you can without looking at one. • Do not compare with a partner until instructed.

Learning Targets • Knowledge • Reasoning • Performance/ skills • Products

Knowledge Targets Mastery of substantive subject content where mastery includes both knowing and understanding it.

Knowledge Examples • Identify metaphors and similes • Read and write quadratic equations • Describe the function of a cell membrane • Know the multiplication tables • Explain the effects of an acid on a base

Reasoning Targets The ability to use knowledge and understanding to figure things out and to solve problems.

Reasoning Examples • Use statistical methods to describe, analyze, evaluate, and make decisions. • Make a prediction based on evidence. • Examine data/results and propose a meaningful interpretation. • Distinguish between historical fact and opinion.

Performance/Skill Targets The development of proficiency in doing something where the process is most important.

Performance/Skill Examples • Measure mass in English and SI units • Use simple equipment and tools to gather data • Read aloud with fluency and expression • Participates in civic discussions with the aim of solving current problems • Dribbles to keep the ball away from an opponent

Product Targets The ability to create tangible products that meet certain standards of quality and present concrete evidence of academic proficiency.

Product Examples • Construct a bar graph • Develop a personal health-related fitness plan • Construct a physical model of an object • Write a term paper to support a thesis

Clear Targets: Benefits to Students • Students who could identify their learning scored 27 percentile points higher than those who could not (Marzano, 2005) • A student’s success on a standardized math test: 40% is dependent on mathematics literacy (Jacobs, 2004)

We need Clear Targets to: 1. Know if the assessment adequately covers what we taught. 2. Correctly identify what students know and don’t know 3. Have students self-assess or set goals likely to help them learn more. 4. Keep track of student learning target by target or standard by standard. 5. Complete a standards-based report card.

Learning Target #2 • I can describe how targets are used in assessment and instruction decisions.

How do Learning Targets connect to our assessment practices?

ACCURACY PURPOSE EFFECTIVE USE EFFECTIVE COMMUNICATION DESIGN STUDENT INVOLVEMENT TARGET

The Challenge…. How can we use assessments to help the student believe that the target is within reach?

Deconstruction of Standards Learning Targets Assessment Instructional Plan

Developing a Formative Assessment • What target are you going to assess? • What are some strategies you can use to assess it formatively? • What will you want to take into consideration in your assessment design? • How will feedback be delivered to the students? • What happens with the results of these type of assessments?

Formative Assessment Strategies • Think of the ways you assess the students in your class before the end of the unit. • Make a list of 4 ways you can formative assess student understanding. • Pair up with someone else at a different table, give them one new way from your list, and get one new way from theirs. • Then move on to a different person. • Continue this until you have a total of 8 different strategies, then return to your table

Test Blueprints “When we make a plan for an assessment, whether we intend to create the assessment or just copy it, we are making the advance decisions about validity—what the test will cover and how much weight each learning target will get. ” (CASL)

Test Blueprint (and Instructional) Design Considerations • Are the targets aligned to the standard? • Are the targets clear with respect to what evidence would constitute mastery? • Do the learning targets represent what has been or will be taught? • Does the relative importance of each learning target match its relative importance during instruction? • Is the sample size large enough to inform judgments about mastery of a target? • Have appropriate assessment methods been selected based on the target types?

Develop a Test Blue Print & Plan • What targets will this assessment cover? • What percentage will each target have on the assessment? Look back at considerations to help with this. • Once your blueprint has been determined, use the bank of test items & select appropriate items for the assessment.

1. Find the area of right triangles, other triangles, special quadrilaterals, and polygons by composing into rectangles or decomposing into triangles and other shapes; apply these techniques in the context of solving real-world and mathematical problems. 2. Find the volume of a right rectangular prism with fractional edge lengths by packing it with unit cubes of the appropriate unit fraction edge lengths, and show that the volume is the same as would be found by multiplying the edge lengths of the prism. Apply the formulas V = l w h and V = b h to find volumes of right rectangular prisms with fractional edge lengths in the context of solving real-world and mathematical problems. 3. Draw polygons in the coordinate plane given coordinates for the vertices; use coordinates to find the length of a side joining points with the same first coordinate or the same second coordinate. Apply these techniques in the context of solving real-world and mathematical problems. 4. Represent three-dimensional figures using nets made up of rectangles and triangles, and use the nets to find the surface area of these figures. Apply these techniques in the context of solving real-world and mathematical problems. Knowledge Reasoning Skills Products • Identify triangles, rectangles, quadrilaterals, polygons, and right rectangular prisms • Explain composing and decomposing of figures using rectangles, triangles, and other shapes • Define coordinate plane, volume, vertex, coordinate, and net • Compare volume of right rectangular prisms found using unit cubes to volume found by multiplying edge lengths • Apply volume formulas V = l x w x h and V = b x h to find volume of right rectangular prisms • Calculate the area of polygons by composition or decomposition • Use coordinates to find polygon side lengths of points with same first coordinate or second coordinate • Use nets to find surface areas of 3 -D figures. • Draw polygons in coordinate plane given coordinates for vertices. • Represent 3 -D figures using nets made of triangles and rectangles.

Mathematics » Grade 6 » Geometry Learning Targets • • • I can identify triangles, rectangles, quadrilaterals, polygons, and right rectangular prisms. I can explain composing figures using rectangles, triangles, and other shapes. This means I can combine figures to create a rectangle, triangle, or other shape. I can explain decomposing figures into rectangles, triangles, and other shapes. This means I can break a figure down into triangles, rectangles, or other shapes. I can define coordinate, coordinate plane, vertex, volume, and net. I can compare a right rectangular prism’s volume found by using unit cubes, to its volume found by multiplying edge lengths. I can apply formulas for finding volume (V = l x w x h and V = b x h) to right rectangular prisms. I can calculate the area of a polygon using composition or decomposition. This means I can find the area by either combining polygons to make a simpler shape, or breaking the polygon down into simpler shapes. I can find the side length of a polygon on a coordinate grid that has either the same first coordinate or same second coordinate. I can use nets to find the surface area of 3 -D figures. I can draw polygons on a coordinate plane when given the vertices coordinates. I can represent 3 -D figures using nets made of triangles and rectangles.

Developing a Test Blueprint • Use the highlighted targets from the previous slide as the basis for your blueprint. • Determine what percentage each target will count for on your assessment. • How many questions will you need to ask to know if students have mastered the target? • What type(s) of questions do you plan to ask for each target?

A Good Target-Method Match: ACCURATE and EFFICIENT

Target-Method Match • What’s the best way to assess the learning targets?

Target X Method Match KNOW REASON SKILLS PRODUCT SR EWR PA PC + + ? + + + CASL page 100

Sound Assessment Design Summary • Teachers must be able to evaluate the assessments they use. • Generally, off the shelf assessments are designed to cover as much content as possible. • A lack of good evaluative skills results in mismatched assessments with questionable validity. • Focusing on Sound Design allows teachers to be better consumers of assessment items. • Only when our assessments truly match our targets do we get useful information to help move our students along to mastery.

Summative as Formative • Summative assessment is administered, scored and returned. • Results identify targets mastered and targets needing further study and work. • After further practice, review, and re-teaching, students retest over identified targets. • Those results serve to further close the gap.

Summative Assessment with Formative Implications

Showing Mastery takes many forms. The bottom line is whether or not the student knows the material and to what depth. This can be measured by means other than a paper/pencil test.

Using Targets for Activity Selection • Identify your learning targets. • Design summative assessments. • Plan formative assessment strategies. • Determine the activities that will move your students toward mastery of the targets.

Deconstruction of Standards Learning Targets Assessment Instructional Plan

Learning Target #3 • I can identify important considerations for CASL implementation.

“I thought I knew what students needed to learn and what a good school looks like—because I was a student once and I went to school, and it worked for me. But times have changed. And maybe students today do need something different. I WONDER WHAT IT IS? ” Tony Wagner, The Global Achievement Gap, pg. 269

Communication • Who are the stakeholders in the school system? • How should they be informed about balanced assessment and CASL? • What steps can be taken to ensure that stakeholders are aware of assessment and instructional shifts that occur? • Who will be responsible for planning this?

Grading Issues • Does the school or district have a specific homework/test policy? Would it interfere with adoption of balanced assessment? • What expectations do students bring to your classrooms about grading? • What expectations do parents and your community have for grading? • What should a grade really encompass?

Classroom Culture • How does your ranking of the learning climate considerations connect to your vision of how classroom culture needs to change? • What ways will the school culture need to change to successfully incorporate CASL and balanced assessment? • “But my students won’t do it if it’s not a grade” – What do we do here?

Wrap Up • Learning targets talking points and follow up questions. • Self-assessment of today’s learning targets. • Learning targets, assessments, and instructional planning – in that order! • Where are you going from here? • Final reflection!