Using Learning Progressions to Understand the Maryland Common Core Curriculum Frameworks Dr. Ronald Thomas Center for Leadership in Education at Towson University

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Using Learning Progressions to Understand the
Maryland Common Core Curriculum Frameworks
Dr. Ronald ThomasCenter for Leadership in
Education at Towson University
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Objectives for this Session

• Today, we will
• Describe the advantages of writing learning
  progressions.
• Identify the components of a learning progression
  and why each is important.
• Identify how the use of learning progressions can
  help teachers understand and teach the Maryland
  Common Core Curriculum Frameworks more
  effectively.

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Shifting the Focus to the Standards
Standards have created a kind of vacuum. In
the main, this vacuum is being filled by tests
obsessions about tests, preparation for tests,
and fears of test results.
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Shifting the Focus to the Standards
Standards have created a kind of vacuum. In
the main, this vacuum is being filled by tests
obsessions about tests, preparation for tests,
and fears of test results. DOES THIS DESCRIBE
YOUR SCHOOL?
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Shifting the Focus to the Standards
Standards have created a kind of vacuum. In
the main, this vacuum is being filled by tests
obsessions about tests, preparation for tests,
and fears of test results. So long as teachers
are ambivalent toward standards and passive about
them as a catalyst to improve instruction, tests
and accountability will fill the vacuum. Hayes
Mizell, Learning Forward
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The Number One Hallmark of a Standards-based
Classroom

• Educators understand the content (the knowledge
  and skills) and the level of rigor that are
  expected by the standards for the students of the
  grade level.

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Collaborative Study of the Maryland Common Core
Curriculum Frameworks

• Promotes clarity What the new curriculum will
  look and sound like in classrooms
• Promotes consistent priorities Whether teachers
  will cover the essential targets before they run
  out of time
• Is critical to common pacing How much time
  teachers will spend on a topic

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Collaborative Study of the Maryland Common Core
Curriculum Frameworks

• Establishes a viable curriculum So subsequent
  teachers will know what has been taught and what
  has not
• Creates ownership of curriculum among those who
  are asked to teach it To make the intended
  curriculum the taught curriculum
• 
  -DuFour et al. (2006)

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A Thought Question
Why would schools in which teachers were
absolutely clear about the learning targets
likely lead to higher achievement for students?
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A Thought Question
Why would schools in which teachers were
absolutely clear about the learning targets
likely lead to higher achievement for
students? Have a 2-minute conversation with a
colleague about this question. If the teachers
dont understand the target, the students never
will!
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Previous Ways We Have Studied the State Curriculum

• Developed task analyses
• Unpacked standards
• Unwrapped standards
• Deconstructed standards
• Now, we are looking for a way to help teachers
  better understand the standards, sequence them in
  a logical way, and assess them

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Learning Progressions
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What Is a Learning Progression?

• A sequenced set of subskills and bodies of
  enabling knowledge that students must master en
  route to mastering a more remote standard
• OR
• The step-by-step building blocks students need to
  master the SC/CCCF
• -Adapted from Popham, Transformative
  Assessment (2008)

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What Is a Learning Progression?

• A sequenced set of subskills and bodies of
  enabling knowledge that students must master en
  route to mastering a more remote standard
• OR
• The step-by-step building blocks students need to
  master the SC/CCSS
• -Adapted from Popham, Transformative
  Assessment (2008)

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What Is a Learning Progression?

• A sequenced set of subskills and bodies of
  enabling knowledge that students must master en
  route to mastering a more remote standard
• OR
• The step-by-step building blocks students need to
  master the SC/CCSS
• -Adapted from Popham, Transformative
  Assessment (2008)

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What Is a Learning Progression?

• A sequenced set of subskills and bodies of
  enabling knowledge that students must master en
  route to mastering a more remote standard
• OR
• The step-by-step building blocks students need to
  master the SC/CCSS
• -Adapted from Popham, Transformative
  Assessment (2008)

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What Is a Learning Progression?

• A sequenced set of subskills and bodies of
  enabling knowledge that students must master en
  route to mastering a more remote standard
• OR
• The step-by-step building blocks students need to
  master the SC/CCSS
• -Adapted from Popham, Transformative
  Assessment (2008)

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Learning Progressions Definitive
progressions have been developed in science,
math, reading and other subjects. These are
multi-year, very lengthy, highly-researched, and
extensively evaluated documents.
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But, when teachers develop their own learning
progressions, the process becomes

• A vehicle to enable teachers to become absolutely
  clear about the learning targets, the knowledge
  and skills that students will need to master
  them, and the
• ways to assess them.

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The Learning Progression Reveals the Knowledge
and Skills

• To pre-assess prior to instruction
• On which to assess formatively and to provide
  students feedback during instruction using
  analytical scoring tools
• To use as components of the summative assessment
  to determine if students have met the standard

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Developing Learning Progressions
Developing learning progressions are perfect
professional development and planning activities
for teacher teams or PLCs to not only build their
understanding of the Maryland CCCFs but as a
strategy to strengthen a collaborative culture in
the school.
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After Developing Learning Progressions, a Teacher
Said
Although Ive been teaching for several years,
this is the first time Ive really looked at the
standards and analyzed them with other teachers.
At last, I feel I really understand what it is I
am supposed to be teaching my students.
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The Gold Standard for a Learning Progression
Could you cover over the standard and
confidently plan instruction and the assessment
using only your knowledge and skills listing,
knowing that you have faithfully captured every
important concept or skill that the students
needed to learn?
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Components of Learning Progressions


THE GRADE-LEVEL STANDARD FROM THE MD. CCCF
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Components of Learning Progressions
The big ideas and enduring understandings in
which the grade-level standard is
embedded EXPAND
BIG IDEAS
GRADE-LEVEL STANDARD FROM THE MD. CCCF
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Big Ideas/Enduring Understandings

• 1. Big ideas are expressed as declarative
  sentences.
• 2. They state an essential concept or
  understanding that teachers want students to
  remember after they have forgotten the details.
• 3. They answer questions such as
• Why do I need to learn this?
• Why is this important to me?
• How does this fit in with other things I am
  learning?4. Big ideas do not restate the
  standards but rather put the standards into
  bigger contexts. They are enduring.

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Big Ideas

• Why is connecting the specific grade-level
  standard with a BIG IDEA so important for student
  success?
• Have a 3-minute conversation with a few
  colleagues around you about this question.

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Components of Learning Progressions
BREAK
DOWN
GRADE-LEVEL STANDARD FROM MD. CCCF
ENABLING KNOWLEDGE Facts, concepts, or understandings that students must know or understand to master the standard SUBSKILLS Physical or cognitive skills students must know how to do to master the standard
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Learning Progressions
GRADE 5.NBT.6 Find whole-number quotients of
whole numbers with up to four-digit dividends and
two-digit divisors, using strategies based on
place value, the properties of operations, and/or
the relationship between multiplication and
division. Illustrate and explain the calculation
by using equations, rectangular arrays, and/or
area models.
KNOWLEDGE (Facts, concepts and understandings) Enabling knowledge is usually suggested by the NOUNS in the grade-level standards.
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Learning Progressions
GRADE 5.NBT.6 Find whole-number quotients of
whole numbers with up to four-digit dividends and
two-digit divisors, using strategies based on
place value, the properties of operations, and/or
the relationship between multiplication and
division. Illustrate and explain the calculation
by using equations, rectangular arrays, and/or
area models.
SUBSKILLS VERBS in the grade-level standards often suggest the skills that students must know how to do.
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Format for Learning Progressions
GRADE-LEVEL STANDARD FROM MD. CCCF
In order to know this, students need to
know/know how to In order to know
this, students need to know/know how to
In order to know
this, students need to know/know how to
In order to know this, students need to
know/know how to





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Developing Learning Progressions
GRADE-LEVEL STANDARD FROM MD. CCCF
In order to know this, students need to
know/know how to In order to know this,
students need to know/know how to
In order to know this,
students need to know/know how to In
order to know this, students need to know/know
how to Unpack
Down




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Developing Learning Progressions
GRADE-LEVEL STANDARD FROM MD. CCCF
In order to know this,
students need to know/know how to
In order to know this, students need to
know/know how to
In order to know this, students
need to know/know how to
In order to know this, students need to know/know
how to TEACH UP





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Developing Learning Progressions
CCCF GRADE-LEVEL STANDARD Assess Summatively - GIVE FEEDBACK
In order to know this,
students need to know/know how to
In order to know this, students need to
know/know how to
In order to know this, students
need to know/know how to
In order to know this, students need to know/know
how to TEACH UP

TEACH 3 Assess Formatively GIVE FEEDBACK RETEACH DIFFERENTLY
TEACH 2 Assess Formatively GIVE FEEDBACK
TEACH 1 Assess Formatively - GIVE FEEDBACK
PRE-ASSESS Students know it, skip it.
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The Learning Progression May Look Like This

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Or, this
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Or, this
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Or, this
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Or, this
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Or, this
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Or, this
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Or, this
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Cautions When Building Learning Progressions

• Your learning progression may not be correct.
  Think of it as an hypothesis that may need to be
  modified during instruction.
• Your learning progression may not work equally
  well with all students.
• Make your learning progression as simple as
  required, but not more so.

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Pophams Steps in Constructing a Learning
Progression
Please form groups of four. Would each person
read one of the steps and explain to the rest of
the group the big ideas found in that step.
You may record the big ideas of each step on
page 17. Step 1 Page 19 Step 2 Page 20 Step 3
Page 21 Step 4 Page 22
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Steps in Constructing a Learning Progression
What was the big idea from Step 1? Step
2? Step 3? Step 4?
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Constructing a Learning Progression
Can we give it a try? Pages 27-28
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Try to Construct a Learning Progression (pp.
27-28)
EXPAND BREAK DOWN
BIG IDEAS/ENDURING UNDERSTANDINGS
MARYLAND COMMON CORE CURRICULUM FRAMEWORK GRADE 5 MATH STANDARD
ENABLING KNOWLEDGE SUBSKILLS
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Share Your Learning Progression (pp.
27-28)
EXPAND BREAK DOWN
BIG IDEAS/ENDURING UNDERSTANDINGS
MARYLAND COMMON CORE CURRICULUM FRAMEWORK GRADE 5 MATH STANDARD
ENABLING KNOWLEDGE SUBSKILLS
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What did you learn from this process about
LPs?
EXPAND BREAK DOWN
BIG IDEAS/ENDURING UNDERSTANDINGS
MARYLAND COMMON CORE CURRICULUM FRAMEWORK GRADE 5 MATH STANDARD
ENABLING KNOWLEDGE SUBSKILLS
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Student SpeakNot Edu-Speak

• Write targets are in student friendly terms.
• Produce separate progressions with the targets in
  student-friendly language and share them with the
  students.
• TEACHERS CAN NEVER TEACH A TARGET THEY DONT
  UNDERSTAND!
• STUDENTS CAN NEVER HIT A TARGET THEY DONT
  UNDERSTAND!

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Quality Expectations for Learning Progressions

• The grade-level objective is unpacked
  completely, showing all appropriate enabling
  knowledge and subskills in the learning.
• All targets can be assessed.
• All big ideas are written in declarative
  sentences and summarize for students the main
  concepts that they will be expected to remember
  in this unit that relate to the learning
  progression.
• All targets are written in student-friendly
  terms, if needed for the grade level.
• There is an appropriate balance between
  lower-level knowledge and higher-level reasoning
  targets.

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Objectives for this Session

• Today, we
• Described the advantages of writing learning
  progressions.
• Identified the components of a learning
  progression and why each is important.
• Identified how use of learning progressions will
  help teachers understand and teach the Maryland
  Common Core Curriculum Framework more
  effectively.

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Your Exit Ticket 70/30 Rule of Professional
Development

• The 70 On one side of the card, write one
  learning from this session that validated or
  supported something you already knew.
• The 30 On the other side, identify a new
  learning for you from this session.
• Please share your card with me on the way out.
  Thank you.