High School Science Content Expectations: Setting the Stage

1
High School Science Content Expectations Setting
the Stage

• Work Group Meeting
• January 9, 2006
• MEA Building
• Office of School Improvement
• Michigan Department of Education

2
High School Content Expectations External
Variables

• Why are we doing this now?
• NCLB Assessments aligned to rigorous standards
• K 8 GLCE response to NCLB, set the stage for
  transition
• Michigan Merit Exam
• National attention to high school reform
  Achieve and state curricular/course standards
• Cherry Commission Michigans economic future
  depends on postsecondary engagement
• Postsecondary remediation

3
High School Content Expectations External
Variables

• MDEs High School Redesign 6 Action Teams
  Content Standards, Assessment, Promising
  Practices
• High School Graduation Requirements
• National Governors Association 1.8 million
  grant awarded over 2 years Enrolled Michigan in
  American Diploma Project
• Request from the Practitioners Define high
  school expectations

4
High School Redesign
Information Gathering Presentations Position
Development Group discussions, advisory
input Position Dissemination Roll out,
publications
5
Who are the key players?

• CAO lead on High School Redesign
• Office of School Improvement lead on curriculum
• Office of Educational Assessment and
  Accountability lead on Michigan Merit
• Charles (Andy) Anderson and Robert Poel, Science
  Co-chairs
• Betty Underwood, Assistant Director, OSI
• Sue Codere Kelly, Project Coordinator, OSI
• Kevin Richard, Science Consultant, OSI
• Work Group is the Academic Review

6
Who is OSI?

• Curriculum Instruction
• Curriculum ELA, Math, Science, SS, the Arts
• Reading First
• Academic Support PSAs, Migrant, ELL, Homeless,
  CSR, AP, GTC, Dual, Alternative, Blue Ribbon,
  Boarding
• School Improvement
• Field Services 5 Regions
• Title 1 (and others)
• NCLB/AYP
• High Priority Schools

7
OSI

• 73 FTE Civil Servants
• 40 contracted/on loan consultants
• 15 million budget
• 900 million flow-through
• Director, 2 Assistant Directors
• 3 Supervisors
• 2 Manager Consultants

8
Roles of Key Players

• Andy Anderson and Bob Poel
• Convene and facilitate work group(s)
• Provide content/process expertise and direction
• Review final documents
• Hub for all issues
• Represent the MDE when requested
• Betty Underwood
• Represent OSI and director
• Convene and facilitate next steps
• Budget authority
• In the loop on committee decisions

9
Roles

• Susan Codere/Kelly
• Responsible for production in an organized,
  efficient, and timely manner for final Board
  approval
• Serves as the central collection point of the
  project NGA related
• Responsible for logistics of project
• Ensures an "expectations" path as opposed to
  repackaging our current "standards and keeping
  the next part of the project in her scope
• Convene the meetings for subsequent layers of
  review teams
• Serves as a valuable resource for researching
  information on behalf of the committees
• OSI's point person for activities that relate to
  high school curriculum in general
• Support for Andy and Bob, has the latitude to
  make suggestions on formatting and process
• All other duties as assigned by the director
• reports directly to Director on this project and
  works in tandem with Betty regarding the
  day-to-day operations of high school content
  expectations development

10
Roles

• Kevin Richard
• Serves as MDE Science representative
• Provides statewide perspective
• Provides content expertise
• Lead on dissemination and companion documents
• Works with Sue on subsequent layers of review
• Provides input to Betty/Sue on feasibility

11
Your Role

• Collaborate as a member of a team
• Understand your commission
• Be sensitive to the political nature inherent in
  doing work for a statewide initiative
• Accept the fact that this is an iterative process
• Reach consensus, support group decisions
• Skate to where the puck is going

12
Your Mission

• As a team, develop a draft of high school course
  content expectations - consideration of variables
  that impact our work
• Virtual, face-to-face, topical groups
• Do not re-package previous work
• Forward thinkingcurricular format options,
  companion documents, instructional support,
  assessment
• Work group chairs are responsible for the product

13
Curricular Format Options
EXAMPLE
1. Traditional Course/Grade Specific CTE
Integrated
9th Grade ELA Overview Algebra I or Geometry
10th Grade American Literature Geometry or
Algebra II
11th Grade British/World Literature Algebra II
or Pre-Calculus or Statistics
12th Grade ELA/Overview Pre-Calculus or
AP Statistics or AP Calculus
3. By the End of High School Set of Content
Expectations Mathematics ELA Social
Studies Science CTE Integrated
Transparency, Specificity, Pacing
14
OSI Curriculum Protocol Flowchart
Draft Documents Small Review Group MDE
representative practitioners 1
Document Development Work Group of Scholars Chair
and 5 8 appointed members OSI Convened
Final Documents Dissemination 3 Regional 10
Localized 10
15
Developing Science Content Expectations Key
Issues

1. Constraints on development process and product
2. Timeline
3. Expectations and review process
4. Capacity of system to teach for student learning
5. Possible criteria for science expectations that
   support useful and connected knowledge
6. Content to be included
7. Specifications for form of expectations, criteria
   for student understanding
8. (Setting boundaries)

16
Constraints Timeline

• We must have a draft ready for review by April
• Tradeoff sharing ideas vs. setting parameters
  quickly
• Tradeoff originality (i.e., writing ourselves
  rather than adapting other models) vs. quality
  and consistency of product
• Tradeoff consultation vs. getting the job done
  (aiming for process that is transparent but
  based on what those of us in the room now bring
  to the table)
• We must agree to specifications then write to
  those specifications

17
Constraints Expectations and Review Process

• Flanagan recommendations Biology, chemistry or
  physics, one other course
• We will need to develop recommendations for 4
  courses in grades 8-12
• First step Essential and advanced expectations
  for end of high school
• Internal review
• Achieve review (Achieve.org)

18
Questions for ACHIEVE Review (from Website)

• Are the standards as rigorous as those of highly
  regarded states and nations? Is there a clear
  progression of knowledge and skills as students
  grow older? Do the standards include samples of
  student work to illustrate the quality and
  complexity of student expectations?
• Are the standards clearly written and easy to
  understand? Are they specific enough to provide
  clear guidance to students, teachers, parents,
  administrators, and curriculum and assessment
  developers? Do they focus on measurable content,
  knowledge and skills?
• Are the standards teachable, or do they sacrifice
  breadth for depth? Do the standards balance
  mastery of knowledge with conceptual
  understanding? Are connections among the
  disciplines emphasized?

19
Constraint Capacity of the System to Teach for
Understanding

• Tradeoff Procedural display vs. useful and
  connected knowledge
• Tradeoff content coverage vs. practices
  associated with useful and connected knowledge

20
Procedural Display

• Definition Learning to manipulate words and
  symbols without fully understanding their meaning
• Antonym Useful and connected knowledge
• Useful for explanation, prediction, technological
  design
• Connections among observations, patterns, models
  and theories
• Connections among different representations
  (words, equations, graphs, tables, drawings, etc.)

21
An Example of Procedural Display The
Montillation of Traxoline

• It is very important that you learn about
  traxoline. Traxoline is a new form of zionter.
  It is montilled in Ceristanna. The Ceristannians
  gristerlate large amounts of fevon and then
  bracter it to quasel traxoline. Traxoline may
  well be one of our most lukizes snezlaus in the
  future because of our zionter lescelidge.
• Answer the following questions in complete
  sentences.
• What is traxoline?
• Where is traxoline montilled?
• How is traxoline quaselled?
• Why is it important to know about traxoline

22
Research Findings and Personal Experience

• Procedural display is the dominant form of
  science learning in American high schools
• College-level examples from my experience (senior
  science majors)
• What determines the mass of a sealed bag and its
  contents? Does changing the density change the
  mass?
• Where does the mass of a tree come from? Does
  knowing the chemical formula for photosynthesis
  help you to answer this question?

23
Development of an Inquiry-Based Science
Curriculum

• Where to start? What standards and benchmarks?
• Developers expectations and Classroom realities.
• Importance of field testing and revision.
• Covering content or uncovering concepts.
• The nature of scientific inquiry. How scientist
  make claims and persuade others?
• The tyranny of large population states with state
  wide adoptions.
• Researched-based decisions versus practical
  realities.
• The pedagogical contract. Who establishes it?

24
Conclusion

• We need to push for useful and connected
  knowledge of carefully selected content
• Virtually unanimous belief of people doing
  research and development in science learning We
  are trying to cover too much content too
  shallowly
• Virtually unanimous reaction of subject matter
  specialists
• Overall, this looks like a lot to cover without
  slipping into procedural display
• The coverage of my area is inadequate

25
Possible Criteria Included Content

• Essential content
• 1. Included in NAEP framework
• 2. Necessary for students to play roles of
  responsible citizens learner, consumer, voter,
  worker, volunteer, advocate
• Advanced content
• 1. Important for specific kinds of work
• 2. Important preparation for college science
  courses

26
Possible Criteria Specifications for
Understanding

• NAEP categories of practice (page 83)
• 1. Identifying Science Principles
• 2. Using Science Principles
• 3. Using Scientific Inquiry
• 4. Using Technological Design
• NRC Science Learning Study strands of scientific
  proficiency
• 1. Understanding and using scientific
  explanations of the natural world
• 2. Generating, and evaluating scientific evidence
  and explanations
• 3. Understanding how personal and scientific
  knowledge are constructed
• 4. Productive participation in the science
  classroom

27
Specifications for Understanding (cont)

• Students should demonstrate proficiency across
  ALL categories of practice for EACH content
  statement
• NAEP Learning Performances are developed as
  specific practices for particular content
  statements (see NAEP framework, pages 83-86)

28
Possible Criteria Setting Boundaries

• Possible types of boundaries
• Technical vocabulary
• Examples, observations, data (e.g., which
  organisms, compounds, landforms)
• Instruments and units of measure
• Representations (e.g., which kinds of formulas,
  symbols, level of mathematical proficiency,
  diagrams, etc.)
• Possibly leave for later?

29
Possible Future Meeting Dates

• Setting specifications?
• Sharing first drafts Week of February 13
• Sharing and discussing revisions Week of March 6
• Discussing final revisions Week of March 27

30
Tasks for Working Groups

• Get to know one another
• Review available resources
• Try writing some expectations (very small topic)
• Develop timeline and division of responsibilities
• Prepare to share with whole group
• Your draft expectations
• Main problems and issues that you are concerned
  about

31
Issues for Final Discussion

• Can we agree on specifications
• Conceptual content How do we decide whats
  included?
• Practice dimension How do we define useful and
  connected understanding?
• Language of content expectations Conceptual or
  performance?
• How to produce expectations in performance
  language?
• Are we ready for content groups to start writing?
  What additional agreements do we need?

32
MDE Contact Information

• Susan Codere Kelly, Project Coordinator
• Office of School Improvement
• Michigan Department of Education
• SCodere_at_aol.com
• Betty Underwood, Assistant Director
• Office of School Improvement
• Michigan Department of Education
• UnderwoodB_at_michigan.gov
• Dr. Yvonne Caamal Canul, Director
• Office of School Improvement
• Michigan Department of Education
• Canuly_at_michigan.gov