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The Amazing Book of Connections for Learning
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The Learning-Focused Connections Newsletter is a weekly link to exemplary practice and ideas that will help you as an educator to increase achievement in your classroom and school. Some weeks there will be a mix of articles in the mailer; other weeks we will follow a theme. We are all working with the same goal in mind, continuous improvement in student achievement.
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National LEARNING-FOCUSED Conference
February 2-4, 2009
Cobb Galleria Centre
Atlanta, GA
Registration Fee: $125.00 per person/day
Includes all conference materials (notebooks, flipcharts, handouts)
Registrations after November 1, 2008: $150.00 per person/day
Sessions and registration now available at www.LearningFocused.com.
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It's Not About the Text - It's About the Learning!
by Jim Riedl
Have you found yourself in the situation of implementing Learning-Focused, only to have the consistent and pervasive focus start to fade during text book adoption time? Achievement increases most when school leaders provide high support and high accountability to teachers on the targeted school goals. Often, during textbook adoption targeted goals become greater in number and more random, or even dropped. When a school starts losing focus, teachers become unsure of which goals are important to continue addressing. In the case of text book adoption, teachers must make a choice - implement the text book "program", or continue to plan and implement Learning-Focused lessons. Their uncertainty becomes even greater as more emphasis is placed on training of the newly adopted text book. School leaders often fail to provide a clear focus on the role of the adopted text book with the targeted school goals.
In the current situation in education all states have made it very clear that we need to be standards driven. This very simply means that our students must learn and be able to apply at much higher levels of challenge the knowledge and skills contained in the standards. The standards are very precise about what students need, and the same knowledge and skills are measured on the state tests. It, then, is no mystery what must be taught at depth in our schools. In order to provide students with the best possible preparation, we must look first to the standards and let them drive our decisions about the priorities we establish for student learning.
In the past schools were likely to purchase a text series or program that offered the best features. These features varied widely from company to company. The choice was often dictated by the supplemental materials rather than the actual text itself. Other times it was the training offered to get the teachers ready to use the new materials. Whatever the reason, the purchased program usually served the purpose until the standards came along, and the rules changed.
As soon as the standards became the focus, and schools started to concentrate on the knowledge and skills students needed to demonstrate success on the content of the standards, they were hard pressed to find a single source for resources. Each text or program has its own strengths and weaknesses, but none seemed to provide everything students need. To deal with this issue schools began to develop new standards driven curriculum and address the concept of prioritizing the standards based on the amount of time needed, so students had the knowledge and skills to be at least proficient. When they focused on the standards first, there was a disconnect created between the ability of textbooks or purchased programs to meet the specific student needs and the level at which the students were expected to perform.
We have begun to contend with a very serious need by many schools with standards driven curriculum to find a way to select the instructional materials to support the outcomes they want for their students. Most have found that they get the best results with multiple sources that match much better to their students' needs, not to any particular text or program. This does not mean that schools will no longer use textbooks or commercial programs, but it will impact the order in which they make their choices.
In the current environment those schools having the highest rates of success typically start with the standards and develop their curriculum. This results in curriculum that does not easily match any particular commercially available program but does allow for choices of supplemental materials provided to assure students are as well prepared as possible. Decisions about instructional materials need to follow decisions about the knowledge and skills we want our students to learn and apply at higher levels of thinking.
The focus on standards has brought about many changes, but the selection of instructional materials may be one of the most significant. There has been a major shift of focus from the teaching to the learning. Textbooks and commercial programs have traditionally focused on the teaching, while the standards have transitioned to the learning. It will always be difficult to make them match when they are at counter purposes.
If you are a teacher and find yourself in a position where your school goals are becoming unclear during text book adoption, it is important to discuss with your school leader(s) what the school goals are, how the text book is going to fit in with these goals, and specifically where you should focus when determining "what" to teach. If you are an administrator, it is important to remember that achievement increases when there is high accountability and high support on just a few targeted goals. When introducing new resources, exactly what role will they play in your school? Is it necessary to train teachers on content (which is what text books provide)? And finally, always remember that text books are not standards driven - at best they are usually around 75% standards aligned.
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The Learning-Focused Strategies Notebook is now three different notebooks!
 In order to provide you with additional examples and strategies the Learning-Focused Connecting Strategies
and Planning Learning Units notebook (item 536) has been discontinued and is now three different notebooks. Effective immediately, the previous single notebook (item 536) is no longer available for purchase. It is now three different books with the addition of over 200 pages of new content. Together, all three notebooks are The LEARNING-FOCUSED Instructional Strategies Model Set. This set of notebooks provides the resources and instruction for implementing the #1 framework for thinking about, planning, and delivering instruction using exemplary practices that focus on learning consistently and pervasively. The Learning-Focused Instructional Strategies model is a framework for connecting all the components that define quality standards-driven instruction. It is the most comprehensive model available for connecting curriculum, instruction, and assessment in a logical, manageable planning framework.
The Set (Item #800): $90.00
YOU SAVE $10 BY PURCHASING THE COMPLETE SET!
The descriptions of each book of The Learning-Focused Instructional Strategies Model:
The Learning-Focused Instructional Strategies Model
Connecting Strategies Notebook:
This notebook is part 1 of 3 for The Learning-Focused Instructional Strategies Model. This notebook provides instruction and resources on the Model Overview, Activating Strategies, Graphic Organizers, Acquisition Lesson Framework, Acceleration, Summarizing, and Model Implementation.
Notebook Item #801: $40.00
The Learning-Focused Instructional Strategies Model
Connecting Extending Thinking Notebook:
This notebook is part 2 of 3 for The Learning-Focused Instructional Strategies Model. This notebook provides instruction and resources on the Model Overview, Extending Thinking Activities and Lessons, and Model Implementation. Extending Thinking is the #1 strategy for increasing achievement. Implementing The Learning-Focused Instructional Strategies Model ensures that all teachers include extending thinking lessons and activities consistently and pervasively in their instruction.
Notebook Item #802: $40.00
The Learning-Focused Instructional Strategies Model
Planning Units for Learning Notebook:
This notebook is part 3 of 3 for The Learning-Focused Instructional Strategies Model. This notebook provides instruction and resources on the Model Overview, Learning Units, Rubric Assessment, and Model Implementation. This is the notebook for "putting it all together"!
Notebook Item #803: $20.00
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Mileposts and Checkpoints
by Denise Burson
Distinguishing between formative and summative assessments requires thoughtful and purposeful planning. Johnson (1996) says teachers should consider assessments as mileposts (summative) or as checkpoints (formative). He suggests that teachers plan a number of milepost assessments for each unit of study and then "design appropriate checkpoints-those activities which prepare students for the Milepost Assessment." When the teacher knows what summative assessment will be used, he/she can ensure that the students have the appropriate practice opportunities.
Characteristics of Assessments:
Summative:
· Assessment of learning
· Snapshot of attainment at the end of a unit or key period of time
· Comparision of achievement against learning outcomes
· Comparison of learners against each other (standardized tests)
· Award qualifications
· Teacher centered
Formative:
· Assessment for learning
· Feedback for students on their performance/achievement
· Identification of students' need(s) and guides student instruction
· Performance improvement
· Constant occurrence in the classroom
· Increase in motivation to learn/study
· Promotion of self-assessment and self-monitoring
· Promotion of further improvement of student attainment
· Centered with student
Common Elements of Assessments:
· Focus on expectations
· Engaging for students
· Enhancing student knowledge and skills
It is important to give students opportunities to practice their new knowledge, skills and behaviors before mileposts and checkpoints. Rogers and Graham, 1997, suggest that educators use more than one assessment method. This ensures comprehensive and consistent indicators of student performance.
The Amazing Book of Connections for Learning provides more information on Assessments for Learning! |
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We Want You to Make "Connections"!
Subscribers, feel free to share the information, tips and strategies
that you receive in Learning-Focused Connections with your colleagues.
Administrators and coaches, pass them on to the teachers in your school;
teachers, share them with your teammates and leadership team. The
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Past Connections Articles
Past Connections articles are available through the archive tool of this newsletter. Please click here to view the resources.
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Have an Idea for a Connections Article?
If
there are questions you want answered or strategies you want to know
more about, please let us know by emailing info@learningfocused.com.
Insert "newsletter article request" in the subject line.
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Article Correction
The following publications were resources used for the article on "Tips On Questioning Techniques That Challenge Minds" in Issue # 18:
Bacon, Tim. Asking effective questions: a collaborative problem solving technique. ThoughtWorks Inc, UK. http://www.primeeight.co.u/AskingEffectiveQuestions.AgileTimes.pdf
Cotton, Kathleen (2001). Classroom Questioning. School Improvement Research Series, Close-Up # 5. http://www.nwrel.org/scpd/sirs/3/cu5.html
McComas, W.F. & Abraham, L. Asking More Effective Questions.
Rossier School of Education. http://www.usc.edu/program/cet/private/pdfs/usc/Asking_Better_Questions.pdf
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