Analyzing Artifacts towards High School Reform

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Analyzing Artifacts towards High School Reform

• Session 49
• Jennifer Smith
• Shana Kennedy-Salchow

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In the last couple of years the dropout crisis of
this country has been brought to light.
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ON-TIME HIGH SCHOOL GRADUATION, CLASS of 2003
Source Ed Week, EPE Research Center, Diploma
Counts 2006, uses the Cumulative Promotion Index
(CPI).
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Of Every 100 Students in 9th Grade

• 89 will make it to 10th grade
• 81 will make it to 11th grade
• 75 will make it to 12th grade
• 70 will graduate on-time

Source Ed Week, EPE Research Center, Diploma
Counts 2006, uses the Cumulative Promotion Index
(CPI).
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Less has been said about content
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African American, Latino Native American high
school graduates are less likely to have been
enrolled in a full college prep track
percent in college prep
Full College Prep track is defined as at least 4
years of English, 3 years of math, 2 years of
natural science, 2 years of social science and 2
years of foreign language
Source Jay P. Greene, Public High School
Graduation and College Readiness Rates in the
United States, Manhattan Institute, September
2003. Table 8. 2001 high school graduates with
college-prep curriculum.
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Low-SES High School Graduates are Less Likely to
Have Completed a Rigorous High School Curriculum
Academic Concentration 4 English credits, 3 math
credits (1 higher than algebra II), 3 credits
science (1 higher than general biology), 3
credits social science (1 in U.S. or world
history, and 2 credits in a single foreign
language.
Occupational Concentration 3 credits in a
specific labor market preparation area (e.g. food
service, agriculture, protective services).
Source Academic Pathways, Preparation, and
Performance A Descriptive Overview of the
Transcripts from the High School
Graduating Class of 2003-04, National Center for
Education Statistics, November 2006.
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Minority High School Graduates are Less Likely to
Have Earned Credits for AP or IB Courses
Source Academic Pathways, Preparation, and
Performance A Descriptive Overview of the
Transcripts from the High School
Graduating Class of 2003-04, National Center for
Education Statistics, November 2006.
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Low-SES High School Graduates are Less Likely to
Have Completed High-Level Math Courses
Source Academic Pathways, Preparation, and
Performance A Descriptive Overview of the
Transcripts from the High School
Graduating Class of 2003-04, National Center for
Education Statistics, November 2006.
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The benefits of taking these college-prep courses
are enormous.
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Transcript Study single biggest predictor of
college success isQUALITY AND INTENSITY OF HIGH
SCHOOL CURRICULUM

• Source Cliff Adelman, 2006, The Toolbox
  Revisited, U.S. Department of Education.

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A Rigorous High School Curriculum Greatly
Increases Bachelors Degree Completion for All
Students
Rigorous Curriculum is defined as the top 40
percent of high school curriculum and the highest
high school mathematics above Algebra 2.
Note These numbers reflect outcomes for high
school graduates who enter four-year institutions
with no delay.
Source Clifford Adelman, U.S. Department of
Education, The Toolbox Revisited, 2006.
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The Highest Level of Math Reached in High School
is a Strong Predictor of BA Attainment
Source Clifford Adelman, U.S. Department of
Education, The Toolbox Revisited, 2006.
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Transcript Analysis

• Identifying patterns in our own data to determine
  whether all of our students are participating in
  courses that will prepare them for college and
  careers

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Please focus on the following

• What do you notice about this students math
  course taking?
• How will the math courses that they have taken
  prepare them for college and careers?

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Percent of Students Behind, Proficient and
Advanced in Math
Note The level of proficiency is defined by the
course the students are in. For example, in 9th
grade a student who is in algebra is considered
proficient, a student who is in general math or
pre-algebra is considered behind, and a student
in geometry or algebra honors is considered
advanced. A student not taking math is also
considered behind.
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Average Number of College-Prep Classes
The average should be at least 4.5 to be on
trajectory to be College Ready graduation.
Note The level of proficiency is defined by the
course the students are in. For example, in 9th
grade a student who is in algebra is considered
proficient, a student who is in general math or
pre-algebra is considered behind, and a student
in geometry or algebra honors is considered
advanced. A student not taking math is also
considered behind.
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Average Number of Support Classes
Note The level of proficiency is defined by the
course the students are in. For example, in 9th
grade a student who is in algebra is considered
proficient, a student who is in general math or
pre-algebra is considered behind, and a student
in geometry or algebra honors is considered
advanced. A student not taking math is also
considered behind.
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What is required for transcript analysis?

• A representative sample of transcripts
• NCAA List of Approved Courses
• A team of data savvy educators
• Attendance data
• Assessment scores

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Sadly, many students do not even have the
opportunities to take rigorous courses.
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Students of Color are Less Likely to Attend High
Schools that Offer High-Level Math Courses
Source Clifford Adelman, U.S. Department of
Education, The Toolbox Revisited, 2006.
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Low-SES Students are Less Likely to Attend High
Schools that Offer High-Level Math Courses
SES quintiles are composites of family income,
parental education, prestige of parental
occupation(s), and the presence of reading
materials and computers in the household.
Source Clifford Adelman, U.S. Department of
Education, The Toolbox Revisited, 2006.
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Master Schedule Analysis

• Identifying patterns in course offerings, teacher
  distribution, class sizes, and time efficiency in
  our schedules

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Examine the master schedule analysis focus on

• Patterns in these charts and what they indicate
• Changes you may implement to ensure that students
  have access to career and college-ready courses
  and support

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Enrollment 1,800
Of all math classes, what percent of them are 9th
grade classes?
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Percent of Courses that are College Prep
Of all science classes, what percent of them are
college-prep classes?
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Support Offerings
The 2 ELA support courses were AP support courses.
How many support courses are available?
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Teacher Experience
Of all 9th grade science classes, what percent of
them are taught by novice teachers?
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Time
Note This calculation accounts for the time used
for lunch, official attendance, school
announcements, and transition times during the
student day. This does not account for fire
drills, assemblies, teacher or student absences
In other words, this is a best case scenario.
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What artifacts are required for Master Schedule
Analysis?

• Master schedule
• Bell schedule
• Course Catalog
• Student load analysis (number of students in each
  class, bonus if it has grade-level of students)
• A list of years of experience for each teacher in
  a core academic area
• Daily time teachers are required to be in the
  building
• NCAA List of Approved courses
• A team of data savvy educators

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Even if students do have access to rigorous
courses, they are usually in name ONLY.
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The most important factor in the classroom is the
teacher and yet
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Poor and Minority Students Get More
Inexperienced Teachers
High poverty Low poverty
High minority Low minority
Teachers with 3 or fewer years of experience.
Note High poverty refers to the top quartile of
schools with students eligible for free/reduced
price lunch. Low poverty-bottom quartile of
schools with students eligible for free/reduced
price lunch. High minority-top quartile those
schools with the highest concentrations of
minority students. Low minority-bottom quartile
of schools with the lowest concentrations of
minority students
Source National Center for Education Statistics,
Monitoring Quality An Indicators Report,
December 2000.
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College Math Readiness is Affected More by
Teacher Quality than by Courses Taken
Percent of Students Most / More Ready
Algebra II
Trigonometry or other advanced math
Calculus
Lowest Quartile
Lowest 11-25 TQI
Highest TQI Quartile
Upper- Middle TQI Quartile
Lower- Middle TQI Quartile
Lowest 10 TQI
Source Presley, J. and Gong, Y. (2005). The
Demographics and Academics of College Readiness
in Illinois. Illinois Education Research Council.
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Even in courses with the same name, there are
drastically different expectations
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The Odyssey Ninth Grade High-level Assignment
Comparison/Contrast Paper Between Homer's Epic
Poem, The Odyssey and the Movie "0 Brother Where
Art Thou" By nature, humans compare and contrast
all elements of their world. Why? Because in the
juxtaposition of two different things, one can
learn more about each individual thing as well as
something about the universal nature of the
things being compared. For this 2-3 page paper
you will want to ask yourself the following
questions what larger ideas do you see working
in The Odyssey and "0 Brother Where Art Thou"? Do
both works treat these issues in the same way?
What do the similarities and differences between
the works reveal about the underlying nature of
the larger idea?
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The Odyssey Ninth Grade Low-level Assignment
Divide class into 3 groups Group 1 designs a
brochure titled "Odyssey Cruises". The students
listen to the story and write down all the places
Odysseus visited in his adventures, and list the
cost to travel from place to place. Group 2
draws pictures of each adventure. Group 3 takes
the names of the characters in the story and gods
and goddesses in the story and designs a
crossword puzzle.
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Assignment Alignment through Standards in Practice

• An interactive activity designed to analyze
  assignments, instruction, and student work.

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Students can do no better than the assignments
they are given and the instruction they receive
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Standards in Practice (SIP)What is it?

• A process to identify and close the gap between
  what students learn and what they need to learn
  to attain proficiency
• Provides a structured conversation to develop and
  implement instructional strategies to ensure
  rigorous academic work for all students

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Lets Give SIP a Try
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High School Example

• Original 10th Grade Assignment
• Draw a map of the Caribbean, labeling major
  cities and geologic features.

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Standards in Practice6 Step Model

• STEP 1 What is the academic purpose of this
  assignment ? The team examines the task to ask
  about content and context what learning was
  expected from this task?

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Standards in Practice6 Step Model

• STEP 2 The team asks what does someone need to
  know and be able to do to complete the task
  successfully?

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Standards in Practice6 Step Model

• STEP 3 The team identifies the standards that
  apply to this assignment
• General Standards in Practice Rule
• Each assignment must address at least
• One content standardliterature, math, social
  studies, science, art, music, world language,
  etc. (reading and writing are NOT content
  standards)
• One writing standard
• Note If the assignment is misaligned, SKIP to
  step 6/redesign.

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High School Example (cont)

• The benchmark that best fits the 10th grade
  assignment above is the PK-2 benchmark
• use simple maps, globes, and other
  three-dimensional models to identify and locate
  places.

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High School Example (cont)

• When we look at the Florida benchmarks for 10th
  grade, students are asked to use maps to do the
  following
• use a variety of maps, geographic technologies
  including geographic information systems (GIS)
  and satellite-produced imagery, and other
  advanced graphic representations to depict
  geographic problems.
• understand the advantages and disadvantages of
  using maps from different sources and different
  points of view.

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Standards in Practice6 Step Model

• STEP 4 The team generates a task-specific rubric
  for this assignment from the standards and the
  assignment

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Task specific rubric

• 4. A qualitative description of the student work
  on the assignment being reviewed that is
  exemplaryNO RETEACHING NECESSARY
• 3. A qualitative description of student work on
  the assignment being reviewed that meets the
  standard(s)NO RETEACHING NECESSARY
• 2. A qualitative description of student work on
  the assignment that almost meets the
  standard(s)student is in his/her zone of
  proximal development and is using but confusing
  concepts
• SOME RETEACHING NECESSARY
• 1. A qualitative description of student work on
  the assignment that does not meet the
  standard(s)SIGNIFICANT RETEACHING NECESSARY

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Standards in Practice6 Step Model

• STEP 5 The team diagnoses the student work,
  using the task-specific rubric/scoring guide.

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Standards in Practice6 Step Model

• STEP 6 The team analyzes the student work to
  plan instructional strategies for improving
  students performance. Questions, such as these,
  are asked
• What changes need to be made to the assignment to
  make it more rigorous?
• What instructional strategies do we need to teach
  the assignments?
• What other action needs to occur at the
  classroom, school and district level?
• What additional support do teachers/principals
  need?

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High School Example

• Revised Assignment
• How does Mercators 1633 map of the New World
  differ from Kirchers 1678 map? If you were going
  to sail alone from Europe to the New World, which
  map would you use and why?

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Lets look again at the two assignments

• Draw a map of the Caribbean, labeling major
  cities and geologic features.
• How does Mercators 1633 map of the New World
  differ from Kirchers 1678 map? If you were going
  to sail alone from Europe to the New World, which
  map would you use and why?

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Part of this step 6 conversation revolves around
the supports necessary to help all students reach
these high standards
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Supports

• What are the supports that are currently in place
  in your school/district?
• With what frequency (and how) are you measuring
  for effectiveness?

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We need both instructional and structural
strategies to ensure access, opportunity and
maximum effect

• Instructional supports
• Structural supports (changes)

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School Supports Must Raise Levels of Cognitive
Demand

• Teaching fewer concepts with greater depth
• (Narrowed curriculum)
• Focus on connections among concepts
• Seek explanation, justification and meaning in
  student feedback
• Connect general procedures to underlying concepts
  and meaning, complex thinking and reasoning
  strategies.

Source AERA (Fall 2006), Do the Math Cognitive
Demand Makes a Difference. Research Points,
Volume 4, Issue 2.
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Flow chart of mathematics tasks
Source Adapted from Stein, M.K., Grover, B.W.,
Henningsen, M. (1996). Building Student Capacity
for Mathematical Thinking and Reasoning An
Analysis of Mathematical Tasks Used in Reform
Classrooms. American Educational Research
Journal, Vol. 33, pp. 455488 as featured in
Research Points (AERA), Fall 2006, Do the Math
Cognitive Demand Makes a Difference.
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Source AERA (Fall 2006), Do the Math Cognitive
Demand Makes a Difference. Research Points,
Volume 4, Issue 2.
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Thinking about teaching

• Read excerpt from Its Being Done.
• Reflect on your own practice, that of your
  team/your school
• Identify one of the practices mentioned that if
  adopted by you/your team/your colleagues would
  change outcomes for the students in your school

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Structural Considerations

• Teacher assignment
• Fidelity of implementation of support models
• Time for focused collaborative conversation
• Master schedule changes necessary
• Role of school counselor in the reform effort

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Concluding activity What Shape Are You In?

• Draw a square and note anything that has occurred
  today that you are square with things that
  sit comfortably in your mind
• Draw a triangle and note those things that you
  will make a point to address upon your return
  to work
• Draw a circle and note the things that are still
  rolling around in your mind the things you are
  still processing.

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Ive come to realize that if we give students
the choice to fail, some will. Andrew Beaton,
Minnesota high-school principal
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The Education Trustwww.edtrust.org(202)
293-1217Jennifer Smith (x321)