A district philosophy for a culture that ensures high student performance through Rigor, Active Stud

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Putnam County Schools District 2008-2009

• A district philosophy for a culture that ensures
  high student performance through Rigor, Active
  Student Engagement and Power Standards

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Creating an Optimal Learning Environment

• Participate actively
• Start and end on time
• Cell phones turned off / vibrate
• Breaks (Also, take care of personal needs
  (restroom, food, beverages, stretching)
• Show respect (Critique ideas, not individuals)
• Laugh! Have Fun! Learn!
• Ask 3 Before Me
• Parking Lot
• Zero Noise Signal

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Zero Noise Signal

• 1. Complete your sentence.
• 2. Raise your hand.
• 3. Remain quiet.
• 4. Eyes on the speaker.

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GOAL

• By informing all stakeholders about
  depth-of-knowledge and complexity
• By providing administrators and teachers
  information and best teaching practices for
  active student engagement
• By providing stakeholders an opportunity to
  examine the connection between rigor, student
  engagement and Sunshine State Standards tested on
  the FCAT (power standards)
• By providing teachers and administrators
  opportunities for focused classroom walk throughs
• Cultural implications Language, artifacts,
  celebrations and belief system

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What it is NOT!

• It is NOT a new program
• It is NOT a teacher/administrator evaluation
  process

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What it is for the entire district

• A belief system that promotes higher student
  achievement
• A data gathering process to determine
  professional development needs
• A lens for focused classroom visits
• A process to develop a common vocabulary for
  rigor and student engagement
• This will promote a district wide culture of high
  student performance

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Power Standards
Student Engagement
Rigor
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The Alignment Issue What is rigor?

• No Child Left Behind calls for an alignment
  between state curriculum and state assessments
  regarding degree of emphasis and rigor.
• Teachers and administrators need to see
  alignment as two dimensional content and
  cognitive level (rigor).
• To ensure quality student performance, classroom
  assessments and assignments must recognize and
  report on the same level of rigor as that
  incorporated into state assessments.

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• In 1996 Secretary of Education Richard (Dick)
  Riley brought together all the major test
  developers in the country with the goal of
  raising expectations on assessments.

The Presidential Commission on Assessment (as
this group was known) determined that by 2004,
all state and national assessments would have at
least 52 of all items at the proficient and
advanced levels.
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Thoughts

• What is the current level of use and knowledge
  about rigor/complexity ( Webbs Depth of
  Knowledge) and the FCAT in our classrooms?

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Issues of Rigor

• Ensure that teachers and administrators
  understand rigor and the difference between
  difficulty and complexity
• By using Blooms Taxonomy
• Norman Webbs Depth-of-Knowledge (DOK) levels,
  and
• NAEPs complexity levels
• By incorporating all levels into our classroom
  instruction, assignments and assessments we
  ensure high student achievement.

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What does this look like in the classroom?

• Level One (Recall)
• Level Two (Skill/Concept)
• Level Three (Strategic Thinking)
• Level Four ( Extended Thinking)

?
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Power Standards
Student Engagement
Rigor
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Thoughts

• What does active student engagement vs. passive
  engagement look like in the classroom?
• 12 Definition excerpts from studies
• Schlecty Center Theory of Engagement
• National Education Association (NEA)
• Teaching That Emphasizes Active Engagement

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Power Standards
Student Engagement
Rigor
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Thought

• Power Standards
• Rigorous coursework engages ALL students with
  content that is aligned to state standards.
• What is the alignment of classroom instruction to
  power standards here in Putnam County?

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FCAT Reading 2008 Benchmark/Content
Focus/Number of Points Possible

• Power Standards

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Data Gathering Tool

• Focus Walk Through Sheet

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Resources on Putnam County School Districts
website at http//www.putnamschools.org/REPS/REPS
.html

• Norman Webbs Depth of Knowledge Rigor
• Active Student Engagement
• FCAT Power Standards

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GOAL

• To have all stakeholders (teachers,
  administrators, instructional coaches, students,
  parents, and others) understand rigor and active
  student engagement to increase high student
  performance.

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• District philosophy for a culture that ensures
  high student performance
• Rigor, Active Student Engagement
• And Power Standards