Using MCA growth data to identify classrooms making unexpected positive growth

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Using MCA growth data to identify classrooms
making unexpected positive growth
Beating the Odds in Middle School Math
Classroom profiles found in some high performing
classrooms
by John Froelich David Heistad
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Beating the Odds

• Fall of 2008 schools identified with groups of
  students who made much greater than the
  anticipated gains on the 2007 MCAII (both simple
  and value added growth calculated)
• Multiple regression factors ethnicity, poverty,
  gender, ell, special ed
• Teachers responsible for gains identified
• A focus group study was conducted on October 9,
  2008
• Classroom observations of 2 4 hours per teacher
  completed October 2008

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Beating the OddsFocus Group

• High Expectations with no student allowed to
  fall through the cracks
• Frequent formative assessment with use of data to
  drive whole group and small group instruction
• Collaboration on individual and grade level math
  interventions within the school and across
  schools.
• Extra help and time for students struggling with
  math but rigorous pacing of instruction aligned
  with the standards.
• Efficient use of every minute available for math
  instruction.

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Beating the OddsFocus Group

• Balance of ensuring mastery of prerequisite
  skills with lots of exploration of higher order
  math concepts.
• Thorough knowledge and training in math with
  attention to High School and Elementary math
  prerequisites.
• Excellent experiences in staff development
  including classroom management skills, Avid,
  Responsive Classroom, etc.
• A passion for teaching mathematics which is
  evident to all observers and evidenced by their
  dedication to the work.
• A love of learning for themselves and well as the
  children who they consider their own.

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Beating the OddsFocus Group (J.F. comments)

• High Expectations with no student allowed to
  fall through the cracks (Apparent belief that
  all students were capable of learning the math
  being taught as reflected by giving independence
  to students as they did the work)
• Efficient use of every minute available for math
  instruction. (Teaching bell to bell)
• Excellent experiences in staff development
  including classroom management skills, Avid,
  Responsive Classroom, etc. (Reflected by CMP
  curriculum being delivered as the author
  intended)

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Creating the classroom profiles
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Looking at Learning

• is an intuitive software program that
  automatically calculates duration and student
  participation for all activities
• generates reports including graphs for individual
  observations or aggregate reports for any
  combination of observations

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Looking at Learningmeasurement focus

• Is based on the students point of view, not on
  the teachers point of view
• Is based on constructivist learning strategies
• Recognizes the importance of lesson design that
  emphasizes the cognitive purpose for activities
• Recognizes that what happens in the classroom is
  the true indication of whether any reform effort
  has had the intended effect

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What Looking at LearningMeasures

• Who is leading the class
• How are the students being grouped
• What is the activity the students are doing
• What proportion of the students are actually
  doing the activity
• What is the cognitive purpose for the activity
  (as know by the students)

Looking at Learning calculates the proportion of
time devoted to the various class configurations
and activities plus it calculates the relative
proportion of students on-task during each
activity.
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Looking at Learning Profiles

• Teacher 1
• School 1

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Looking at Learning Profiles

• Teacher 2
• School 1

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Looking at Learning Profiles

• Teacher 3
• School 2

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Looking at Learning Profiles

• Teacher 4
• School 2

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Looking at Learning Profiles

• Teacher 5
• School 3

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Looking at Learning Profiles

• Aggregate

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A typical profile from a school NOT beating the
odds

• Based on many observations

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Hypotheses about high performing math classrooms

• The teachers whose students make unanticipated
  positive gains have a strong belief that all
  students can learn and this plays itself out in
  the mix of classroom activities.
• The mix of student grouping and student
  activities has an effect on the student growth.
• Having students knowing the cognitive purpose of
  the work seems important to student growth.
• There is probably an optimum mix of grouping,
  activities and cognitive purpose that will result
  in maximum growth for all students. We need to
  explore what this mix should look liketeacher 1
  may represent a desirable mix for typical
  lessons.
• In the case of using the CMP materials, lesson
  designs that follow the publishers
  recommendation seem to result in excellent growth
  when used by skilled teachers.