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Iowa ASCD

Volume 15, Number 18                            The Source

October 16, 2015
Dr. Wise Requests Feedback for the Council on Educator Development - Teacher and Principal Evaluations

A group of Iowans who make up the Council on Educator Development have spent the past two years studying teacher and administrator evaluation practices and professional development.  Their document represents their preliminary recommendations.  The council now needs feedback on these recommendations from Iowa's education community, including superintendents, principals, teachers, and school board members.

The following link will take you to an online survey, which includes instructions for submitting feedback: https//www.surveymonkey.com/r/CEDRec1015.  The survey will be open through November 30, 2015.  All survey feedback will remain anonymous.

Dr. Wise reminds us that gathering input is critical not only to this process, it is required by law.  The council was formed in the fall of 2013 in response to an education reform package adopted by Iowa lawmakers that year.  The legislation, House File 215, calls for a period of feedback beginning October 1, 2015.  Once the feedback is collected and analyzed, the council will use it to develop a final report.

Your feedback is important and appreciated.  Dr. Wise noted, "Your feedback is important and appreciated.  Thank you for taking the time to support this work and for all you do for Iowa's learners."
No Child Left Behind Replacement:  Next Steps

After years of lackluster education policy action, the House and Senate rallied and passed bills to replace the NCLB. (See previous Capitol Connection coverage by ASCD). Momentum has slowed, however, and little progress has occurred in recent weeks. It's time for Congress to get NCLB replacement efforts back on track.

The next steps in the process include creating a House-Senate conference committee (PDF) to reconcile differences between the House and Senate bills (H.R.5 and S.1177, respectively).

Congressional staff have been poring over the two bills to find every point of divergence so conference committee members can address these differences. However, conferees have yet to be appointed and no meetings have been scheduled.

Congress must push forward to provide schools with the updated policies they need. Contact your elected officials today to urge them to keep the NCLB replacement process in motion.
Fall Academy - November 16-17:  Standards-Based Grading for School Leaders

Conference speaker Tammy Heflebower of Marzano Research Center shares practical steps and strategies for school and district leaders and their teams to guide educators, students and parents through the implementation process and become acquainted with opportunities and challenges that may arise during the transition to standards-based grading.

Standards-based grading gives students and parents useful feedback by clearly identifying what students need to know and what they still need to learn to achieve those goals. Teachers use proficiency scales to track and report students' progress on prioritized standards and report cards communicate what students have mastered, what they need to work on, and how quickly they are progressing.

During this workshop, participants will explore specific aspects of standards-based grading implementation, from identifying prioritized standards and composing proficiency scales to creating aligned assessments and revising report cards. School and District leaders will learn practical steps and strategies for guiding educators, students and parents through this work.

Outcomes and Goals
  • Explore concrete steps for implementing standards-based grading.
  • Learn to recruit and build teams of educators to prioritize standards and write proficiency scales.
  • Discover three kinds of assessments and learn how educators can use each type as an effective part of a standards-based grading system.
  • Understand the unique grading challenges posed by exceptional learners and how to incorporate accommodations and modifications into grading practices.
  • Create an action plan for revising report cards to more clearly communicate student progress and achievement.
  • Formulate an implementation and communication plan to facilitate your school's transition to standards-based grading.
 
About the Presenter
 
Dr. Tammy Heflebower is a senior scholar at Marzano
 
Research. She is a highly sought-after school leader and consultant with vast  experience in urban, rural, and suburban districts. Dr. Heflebower has served as a classroom teacher, building leader, district leader, regional professional development director, and national trainer. She has also been an adjunct professor of curriculum, instruction, and assessment at several universities.

Registration Information:    
Iowa ASCD Fall Academy
November 16th and 17th, 2015
Registration: 1:00 p.m. - 1:30 p.m.
Conference: 11/16: 1:30 p.m. - 8:00 p.m.
                     11/17: 9:00 a.m. - 3:30 p.m.
Drake University, Olmsted Center
2507 University Avenue
Des Moines, Iowa
 
Snacks and supper will be served on November 16 and a continental breakfast and lunch will be served on November 17.
 
Early Bird Rate:       $275 for Iowa ASCD Members
                               $320 for Non-Members

After 11/9:              $320 for Iowa ASCD members
                               $365 for non-members
  
You may register by sending a purchase order or check with a list of names and their e-mail addresses to Bridget Arrasmith, School of Education, Room 123, Drake University, 3206 University Avenue, Des Moines, IA  50311 (FAX  (515) 271-2233).

You may register on line at http://iowaascd.org/index.php/events/event-registration/

All participants will receive A School Leader's Guide to Standard-Based Grading by the Marzano Research Center.
Gallup Poll for Students - Ask Your Students to Participate!

The nationally renowned pollster Gallup has added the voice of America's youth to the dialogue on how to ensure a positive future for America's students.

The Gallup Student Poll, with over 3 million total completes to date, is designed to aid educa-tors in providing a more focused education - one that builds engagement, creates hope for the future, fosters talent and prepares students to participate meaningfully in our nation's economy by finding or creating a good job.

The web-based survey is administered in the fall of each school year and supplies teachers, administrators, and community leaders with actionable and malleable data. The Gallup Student Poll takes between 10 to 15 minutes for most students to complete. U.S. schools may participate at no cost.

The survey is open now and must be completed by Oct. 30. The survey is available Mondays through Fridays from 6 a.m. to 8 p.m. Central Time. To register, click hereTo view last year's report, click here.
Lexington Institute Announces 27 Finalists (2 from Iowa) for the Second Cohort of Personalized Learning LELA Fellows

The Lexington Institute has selected 27 outstanding district leaders from across the country as finalists for the second cohort of the Lexington Education Leadership Award. Each is a pioneer in the space, ready to do even more to support students and teachers in personalized learning.

The Lexington Institute, a non-profit public policy think tank focused on education reform, announced on October 2 the names of 27 finalists for its second cohort of personalized learning fellows. Based on the success of the first ten leaders to go through the program. Lexington opened applications for a second cohort of 10 in July. To date, over 100 leaders have applied to participate in this fellowship. For this round, 27 were selected as finalists and 10 will be selected as fellows. Two of those 27 are Iowans - Superintendent John Carver and Superintendent Jason Ellingson.  Congratulations to both of you!

The LELA fellowship is an exciting and highly selective 6-month program designed to expose district leaders to personalized learning and facilitate the first steps to implementation. The first class of 10 fellows represented leaders from districts across the country including UT, IA (Theron Schutte of Bettendorf Community School District), NE, NJ, CA among others. (For a reflection from a current LELA fellow, see here).

The 27 finalists include: Raj Adusumilli (Arlington Public Schools, VA), Darryl Adams (Coachella Valley Unified School District, CA), Phil Auger (North Kingstown School Department, RI), John Carver (Howard-Winneshiek Community Schools, IA), Wanda Creel (Gainesville City School System, GA), Marie Doyle (Longmeadow Public Schools, MA), Jason Ellingson (Collins-Maxwell, IA), Dale Ellis (Montgomery County Schools, NC), Jeff Hawkins (Kentucky Valley Educational Cooperative, KY), Kim Hendon (Roanoke City Schools, AL), Shon Hocker (Big Horn County SD #1, WY), Eric Hibbs (Marlboro Township Public Schools, NJ), Marvin Howard (Randolph County, GA), Richard Hughes (Central Valley CSD, NY), William Hunter (Polk School District, GA), Dennis Krueger (Howard-Suamico School District, WI), Valya Lee (Liberty County, GA), Kimberly Moritz (Randolph Central School District, NY), Michael Murphy (St. Clair R-XIII, MN), Brad Newkirk (Batavia School District 101, IL), Angelique Nedved (Lawrence Public Schools, KS), Scott Niven (Red Oak ISD, TX), David Pyle (Nuview School District, CA), Sandra Sheldon (Churchill County School District, NV), Randy Smasal (Edina Public Schools, MN), Richard Tomko (Belleville, NJ), and Kevin West (Roselle Public Schools, NJ).

"We are so excited to include 27 distinguished leaders as finalists for the second cohort,"said Don Soifer, Executive Director of the Lexington Institute. "Every application we received was impressive and this group of finalists even more so. It was wonderful to see the commitment to supporting student learning expressed by every leader. It will be difficult to select only 10 of these innovative districts to move forward with the more intensive support provided by the fellowship."

The 27 finalists selected will participate in a specialized track and special networking opportunities at the iNACOL symposium in Orlando this November. The 10 selected as fellows will spend six months learning from each other and receiving support from Education Elements, the personalized learning organization selected by The Lexington Institute to provide technical assistance and work closely with each of the fellows on articulating their vision for personalized learning and developing a strategic framework for a district implementation. "Education Elements has provided excellent support to the first 10 fellows, acting as mentors, guides and facilitators and helping each of them to move forward with personalized learning. We are fortunate to be able to work with them again," said Soifer.

The ten district leaders included in the first round, including Theron Schutte of Bettendorf, each ends the fellowship having made significant leaps from where they started. Not only does each district have a clearer vision for personalized learning, but many districts have laid the groundwork for school and district-wide implementations, considered how to support teachers and leaders, and begun the process of thinking about classroom designs and digital content selection. Equally important, while the fellowship is coming to an end this group will keep in touch and continue to share with, and learn from, one another.

"The first round of LELA fellows has been a terrific experience for us as an organization," said Amy Jenkins, who supported the LELA fellowship at Education Elements. "We have learned a tremendous amount from each district leader and are honored to be selected to work with the next cohort."

Applications for the next class of LELA fellows will open this Spring. Please email lela(at)lexingtoninstitute(dot)org to be added to a notification list.

About Lexington Institute: The Lexington Institute is a nonprofit, nonpartisan public policy think headquartered in Arlington, Virginia. Founded in 1998, its major areas of focus include education, national security, energy and logistics. Please visit lexingtoninstitute.org/category/education/ to learn more.

About Education Elements: Education Elements is a nationally recognized company that helps districts develop and implement personalized learning strategies. Ed Elements' services help districts to create strategies, design instructional models and support teachers in integrating technology and instruction. Our platform provides students, teachers, and administrators each with a single entry point to access digital content and the detailed performance data they need to guide instruction and learning. This innovative cloud service offers simple and accessible data visualizations with actionable insights for users of all types. Education Elements has worked with over 100 schools across 40+ districts in the US; more than any other company. Please visit http://www.edelements.com to learn more.
Curriculum Leads - The Upcoming Work in November
  • When Iowa ASCD Board of Directors met with several new and veteran curriculum leads this summer, they expressed a need for a calendar of events and a monthly "nudge" before things get away from them.  Here are a few upcoming events . Please feel free to contact any Iowa ASCD board member, including Executive Director Lou Howell, for any needed assistance. (See list of directors with their email addresses in the right-hand column.)  Double check with your superintendent to determine those items for which you are responsible.
  • "To Do" in November:
    • Administrative Team Meetings:
      • Prepare for and participate in administrative team meetings
    • Board Meetings: 
      • Assure board reports are to the superintendent/designee by ____ of each month
    • Budgets:
      • Review and update budget(s); share updates as appropriate
  •  
    • Curriculum, Instruction, and Assessment
      • Monitor all work with curriculum, instruction, and assessment. It might be valuable to meet with each building principal to have a conversation about how they are doing with implementing their respective building-level improvement plans.  
      • Share an update with the School Board on progress
    • District Leadership Team
      • Meet with DLT.  Collect and share data from the most recent professional development.  Use data to determine/adjust the next district/building-level professional development.  
    • Evaluation
      • Continue with evaluations of assigned staff members.

    • Iowa ASCD
      • Participate in Iowa ASCD Fall Academy
      • Read The Source for latest news and tips for instructional leadership
      • Review function: Leader of Professional Development on Iowa ASCD webpage for curriculum leads:  http://iowaascd.org/index.php/iowa-ascd-curriculum-leaders/
      • Follow Iowa ASCD on Twitter @IowaASCD and Facebook.

    • Mentoring
      • Send reminder to mentors/teachers to have mentees complete on-line assessment and then analyze and share the data with mentors.  Address all concerns.
      • Be sure mentoring/induction revision form is to the DE by November 15, if needed.  Contact Marietta Rives at the DE for technical assistance.

  •  
  •           Newsletter
      • Place at least one article in district newsletter by the ______ of the month. Items might include the following:  Data from district APR and C-Plan as well as description of professional development initiatives and others events in the district;
Professional Development
  • Coordinate/Participate in professional development activities.
    • Assure facilitation of professional development
    • Publish agendas of professional development activities
    • Aggregate/disaggregate/share evaluations of professional development
Walk-throughs 
  • Conduct building walk-throughs and share aggregated dataProfessional Development 
Please see Iowa ASCD website for an updated calendar through November.
 
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Be sure to check out Iowa ASCD's web page especially for curriculum leaders.  New resources are added often. 
30 Books Available to You 24/7
 
A special thank you to Iowa ASCD Member Sandy Merritt, who has reviewed one of the books available to you 24/7:  Engaging Teachers in Classroom Walkthroughs.  She says, "This book is great!"  Read on for her book review.

Engaging Teachers in Classroom Walkthroughs

by Donald S. Kachur, Judith A. Stout, and Claudia L. Edwards

 Taking the classroom walkthrough process to a higher level by including teachers in the planning, observation and follow up discussions is the topic of this book. The authors suggest that when teachers are engaged and active participants in classroom walkthroughs, the result is rich professional conversations and improved teaching and learning. The authors studied multiple districts where teachers were actively involved in walkthroughs and share their stories and insights in this book. It was a "two-year study of 40 schools that were conducting teacher walkthroughs-representing 30 school districts in 17 states and 6 schools from 1 school district in Canada . . . . In addition to traditional public schools, the study included a Native American school (Ganado Intermediate School), an alternative high school (Bridges High School), and a charter school (Arroyo Vista Charter School). The schools ranged in size from 80 to 2,690 students, with teaching staffs of 6 to 149. The schools represented wide variations of racial and ethnic mixes, and poverty rates ranged from 4 to 99 percent, based on free and reduced lunch program enrollment." The book has stories told by administrators and teacher leaders of their journeys and challenges. Questions and recommendations follow each chapter for the purpose of further reflection.

Chapter 1 discusses the concept of walkthroughs as an important tool in school improvement. Classroom walkthroughs are described as brief, frequent, and focused classroom visits. The purpose is to collect data on specific educational practices. They are based on a set of identified look-fors based on building goals. "We knew that if teachers did the walkthroughs, they would observe the teaching themselves and could better discuss and identify strong teaching practices. If only principals were doing the observations and then talked about what they saw with the teachers, it would not only be very "top-down," but the school improvement process would not be owned by everyone." Moriah Martin, former staff development teacher at James Hubert Blake High School
"Teachers observing teachers provides opportunities for the teaching staff to (1) note useful practices other than the ones they use; (2) ease the fear of trying something new; (3) feel motivated to improve their craft; (4) identify possible areas for their own professional development; (5) identify areas of practice for reflective dialogue with colleagues; and (6) accelerate improvement in student performance." 
 
"Compared to other types of professional development, the walkthrough is the most enriching and stimulating. It is an opportunity to see 'best' practices in action and debrief and reflect upon those observations with colleagues."
Mary Lou Bettez, 7th/8th Grade ELA Teacher, Alan Shawn Feinstein Middle School


Developing a culture in which walkthroughs are accepted and valued is the focus of Chapter 2. The authors asked these questions of the schools in their study to better understand their building climate:
  • How committed are teachers to improving teaching and student learning? 
  • How committed are teachers to their own continuous learning?
  • What is the level of communication, trust, and collaboration among teachers and between teachers and administrators?
  • How accepting, caring, respecting, and encouraging are teachers of one another?
  • To what extent do teachers feel safe to say what they really think?
  • To what extent are teachers open to examining new ideas and taking risks?
  • To what extent do teachers feel supported rather than judged?
School leaders share how they built a collaborative community of learning. In one high school, after providing training on the walkthrough process, the principal stepped back and did not participate in follow-up discussions so that staff would not think that any part of the process was evaluative. Building leadership teams were also used to introduce the idea, discuss the value of walkthroughs, what could be learned from them, and how the process would be evaluated and adjusted as needed. The one clear message was that the focus was on the students not the teachers.

"In order for schools to reap the greatest benefit from teacher walkthroughs, each teacher must be willing to collaborate with colleagues, reflect on his or her own practice, and be ready to embark on professional conversations that will challenge one's own thinking while taking rigor to the next level. The results are obvious through student achievement." Kimberly Naiman, 3rd/4th Grade Teacher, Arroyo Vista Charter School

Chapter 3 shares various paper and software models of observation forms available for districts to implement or adapt to create their own. Components of the process including focus, look-fors, methods for recording data, and follow up discussions are covered. The authors stress the importance of reflection in the process. Reflection enables teachers to analyze their existing instructional practices, develop different ones, and identify next steps. Identifying action steps is essential to the process and includes determining necessary professional development, identifying the focus for future walkthroughs, establishing coaching arrangements, and individual teachers making commitments to improving their skills and learning practices. "The single greatest influence on the professional practices of teachers is the direct observation of other teachers." Douglas B. Reeves

In some cases, teachers were paired with those from the same grade level or subject area to do walkthroughs together. In other schools, the teams were mixed to get a good representation of the building. Some teams visited every classroom; others visited a designated number of classrooms. Sometimes teachers observed alone and sometimes with the administrator or a group. In some cases, each teacher had a designated role or responsibility. The frequency ranged from once a week to once a year, quarterly being the most popular. Observation time also varied with the most common being 10 minutes or less.  
"I know that being involved as an observer in walkthroughs has impacted the way I think about teaching and learning. However, I think the most far reaching benefit of these walks schoolwide is when we are interacting with one another in regards to what this data collection reveals."
Lindsey Yundt, 9th Grade Math Teacher, South Junior High School, Idaho
 
Chapter 4 focuses on strategies for getting teachers involved in the walkthrough process. The recommendations include using teacher leaders, having a clear purpose, introducing the idea slowly and carefully, ensuring transparency, developing norms for the classroom visits, providing training, scheduling follow-up time, starting with volunteers, ensuring that the focus is on students not teachers, and conducting discussions about the findings. "When teachers have an opportunity to observe and interact with their colleagues in a non-evaluative way regarding instruction, everyone wins." Robert Marzano

"When I walk into a classroom, I spend only a split-second observing the teacher before analyzing the level of engagement of each student. I immediately reflect on my own teaching and ask, "If I were teaching this lesson, what would I do to ensure every student was engaged at the highest level possible?" Tammy Butler, Literacy Specialist, Monitor Elementary School

Having teachers as part of the observation process does not come easily for many teachers so it is very important that the process is introduced carefully, giving staff time to accept and get behind the idea. This and other challenges are discussed in Chapter 5. Having teachers as part of the initial planning stages is of great importance. Once staff has an understanding of the walkthrough process, it is suggested that teachers are surveyed by asking these questions:
  • What concerns do you have about classroom walkthroughs?
  • What needs to happen in our school for classroom walkthroughs to be an effective professional growth experience?
Other issues discussed include dealing with teacher union concerns, coordinating and tracking the walkthrough process, announcing walkthroughs, connecting walkthroughs to other school improvement data and efforts, and evaluating the walkthrough process and measuring the effect it has on teaching and learning.

Chapter 6 brings the book to a close with concluding thoughts about making walkthroughs successful. It discusses the importance of including the Common Core Standards as a focus for walkthroughs. There is a set of appendices that includes a list of all the schools featured in this book, questions that guided the study of these schools, a sample survey for acquiring teacher input in designing a walkthrough model, examples of walkthrough observation forms, a step-by-step account of a walkthrough in practice, and a sample questionnaire for evaluating a classroom walkthrough process.

Classroom walkthroughs have always been a powerful tool for observing instructional practices. When teachers are included in the process as described in this book, the process is much richer, allowing great things to happen in professional development and student achievement. Whether you are a teacher, an instructional coach, or a school administrator, this book is for those interested in actively engaging classroom teachers in all aspects of walkthroughs.

This is an easy read and great process for schools to consider. This book is great!

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All Iowa ASCD members have access to these books 24/7 in 2015 and 2016. 
If you have forgotten your password to these resources, please contact Lou Howell at [email protected].

 
Exploring the Future Education Workforce:  New Roles for an Expanding Learning Ecosystem

There's no question that education is changing.

Students have more opportunity to learn any time, in school, throughout the community and on the web. There's growing interest in learning through virtual realities, digital games and social media platforms. Educators and stakeholders are placing more importance on immediate student-level data to help adjust learning more quickly.

But as education continues to change, educator roles will need to adapt to expanding learning environments in which students learn in new ways. This paper forecasts what kinds of educator roles might contribute to more flexible and rigorous learning environments in 10 years.  These include the following:
  • Learning Pathways Designer:  Works with students, parents, and learning journey mentors to set learning goals, track student progress and pacing, and model potential sequences of activities that support learning experiences aligned with competencies.
  • Competency Tracker:  Tags and maps community-based learning opportunities by the competencies they address in order to support the development of reconfigurable personalized learning pathways and school formats.
  • Pop-up Reality Produce:  Works with educators, subject matter experts, story developers, and game designers to produce pervasive learning extravaganzas that engage learners in flow states and help them develop relevant skills, academic competencies, and know-how.
  • Social Innovation Portfolio Director:  Builds networks in support of meaningful service-based learning and community impact by linking student action-learning groups seeking to develop core skills and knowledge with organizations seeking creative solutions.
  • Learning Naturalist: Designs and deploys assessment protocols that capture evidence of learning in students' diverse learning environments and contexts.
  • Micro-Credential Analyst:  Provides trusted, research-based evaluations and audits of micro-credential options and digital portfolio platforms in order to provide learners and institutions with comparative quality assurance metrics.
  • Data Steward:  Acts as a third-party information trustee to ensure responsible and ethical use of personal data and to maintain broader education data system integrity and effective application through purposeful analytics.

 

Read the entire paper from KnowledgeWorks to explore each of the roles as wells as the drivers of change supporting their development.  There are sample job descriptions, recruiting announcements, and images of the future.  

Personalized Learning:  Relationships and Roles 

James Rickabaugh has been a featured speaker the past three years at the Iowa Summer Institute, helping all of us better understand competency-based learning and the role of personalized learning in our learners' success.  The "learner" could be students in your classrooms or the adults in their own professional learning.

Last month we shared the core of his "honeycomb," emphasizing the importance of "the core," which  includes learner profiles, customized learning paths, and proficiency-based progress.  We also look at in early October  "the cells" of learning and teaching in the personalized learning environment - personal learning goals, learner voice infused, learner choice incorporated, multiple instructional methods/modes, cultural responsiveness, rapid cycle feedback, customized responsive instruction, assessment of learning, assessment for learning, and assessment as learning, as well as progressions toward deeper learning, and standards-guided learning.

In this issue, we explore the "cells" of relationships and roles:
  • Learner Independence:  Describe how your learners have the capacity to learn and work independently, without heavy dependence on external structures and supports.
  • Learner as Resource:    Share how your learners are seen as partners and as a resource for their own learning and others.  Is the learning inside/out, beginning where the learner is currently, based on their readiness, strengths, needs, and interests?
  • Community Engagement:  Describe how the learners, the schools, and the community work together to fully leverage resources and expertise to maximize the learning experience. 
  • Co-designers of Learning:  Share how your learners and educators work together to design learning experiences and determine how proficiency is demonstrated.
  • Educator Collaboration: Do your educators practice together, coach each other, and work as an interdependent team to craft personalized learning experiences?
  • Family Engagement:  Do you use family perspective, input, and experiences as crucial sources of data to understand and support learner success?
  • Shared Commitment to Success:    Share how your learners and educators are interdependent, sharing a commitment to success.  How do you intentionally nurture and reinforce self-efficacy and high expectations.

Be sure to revisit the resources Rickabaugh has shared with all of us at the Summer Institute (2015).

Need help in better understanding personalized learning vs individualized learning vs differentiated learning?  Check out these resources:

Featured Website:   Association of American Colleges and Universities - VALUE Rubrics 

Attention professors of higher education!!  This is a great site to access the VALUE rubrics involved in a pilot of the Association of American Colleges and Universities.

A consortium of 59 universities and community colleges in nine states is working to develop a rubric-based assessment system that would allow them to measure these crucial skills within ongoing coursework that students produce.

First, they set out to define the essential learning outcomes that faculty, employers and accreditors saw as important. They settled on 16 qualities, some of which are: critical thinking, writing, quantitative literacy, oral communication, ethics, teamwork, intercultural understanding, and integrating learning from one area to another.

For the first-year pilot study they focused only on three of those outcomes: written communication, critical thinking and quantitative literacy. The faculty worked together to write rubrics (called Valid Assessment of Learning in Undergraduate Education or VALUE rubrics) that laid out what a progression of these skills looks like. The rubrics were tested on campuses and rewritten three times before reaching a final version.

Once the rubrics were set, faculty from all 59 universities were trained on how to use them. They went through norming sessions where each person would score a piece of student work using the rubric, and they'd come together to make sure people were assigning a similar grade.

"I really trust the process of preparation that the scorers have," said Kathy Willis, associate English professor and director of the writing program at Indiana University-Purdue University Columbia campus. "Having gone through the norming session, I see how it works and that you can really get to a fair assessment of student work."
In a pilot study of the rubrics, 127 trained scorers evaluated 7,000 samples of student work across a variety of disciplines. Because they were grading the cross-cutting skills of written communication, critical thinking and quantitative literacy, faculty evaluated work from disciplines that were not their own.

"These rubrics are designed to be cross-disciplinary," explained Bonnie Orcutt, associate professor of economics at Worcester State University and temporarily the director of Learning Outcomes Assessment for the Massachusetts Department of Higher Education. "I can look at something and have no idea if the content was correct, but that's not what I'm looking for. Independent of whether the content is correct, they may have used a body of evidence really well, have good organization, good syntax, good citations."
In other words the facts might be all wrong, but the person is a good writer, which is what the scorer is trying to evaluate with this rubric.

The pilot study results are encouraging. "This is something that's possible for campuses to do and is something that could be delivered to states for decision-making," said Terrel Rhodes, Association of American Colleges and Universities vice president.

The organization is now working with assessment experts to design an even more rigorous study of rubric-based grading, but Rhodes says the pilot study results have faculty and administrators feeling confident.

Be sure to check out the VALUES Rubrics on the website of the Association of American Colleges and Universities.

State Board of Education Begins Process to Adopt New State Assessment

Members of the State Board of Education voted on September 17 to start the formal process of adopting a new state assessment to replace the current state tests in math and reading taken each year by Iowa students.

Board members reviewed proposed state administrative rules that would put in place the Smarter Balanced Assessments as recommended by a legislatively created task force of Iowans. Board members then voted unanimously to start the rule-making process required for adoption. The state's administrative rules process, which includes public hearings and reviews by a legislative committee, takes at least 108 days.

Board members gave several reasons they support the Smarter Balanced Assessments, including the need to accurately measure how students have progressed in reaching expectations set by Iowa's academic standards, which outline what students in kindergarten through 12th grade should know and be able to do in math, English-language arts, science, social studies and 21st century skills.

"We need to know that Iowa schools are preparing students to be ready for the demands of college and career training," said Charlie Edwards of Des Moines, the board's president. "Iowa took a huge step years ago with putting the right state standards in place, and now we must follow that with an assessment that effectively tells us whether students are meeting those standards." 

Iowa law says a new state assessment must be in place by the 2016-17 school year. Students currently take the Iowa Assessments in grades 3-8 and 11 in math and reading to meet state and federal accountability laws.

The Smarter Balanced Assessments were developed by a consortium of states, including Iowa, guided by the belief that a high-quality assessment system aligned to rigorous academic standards can improve teaching and can help prepare students for success in college and in the workplace.

Adopting the Smarter Balanced Assessments was the centerpiece of a Dec. 2014 report from the Iowa Assessment Task Force, created by lawmakers in 2013 to study the state's assessment needs and to make a recommendation.

State Board of Education members closely studied the task force's work and endorsed the recommendations earlier this year.

"Choosing a state assessment requires expertise to ensure that it reflects what is being taught in classrooms, appropriately measures student progress, and gives teachers and parents valuable feedback," said Mary Ellen Miller, a board member from Wayne County. "The Assessment Task Force has this expertise and invested more than a year into a recommendation that is right for Iowa."

The proposed rules will be published in the Iowa Administrative Bulletin, the state's official notice of all proposed and adopted changes to the rules in the Iowa Administrative Code. The Iowa Department of Education will hold a public hearing on the proposed rules on Nov. 3 and will accept written comments (see page 1 of the proposed rules).

For more information on Iowa's administrative rules process, visit the following:
For more information about the Smarter Balanced Assessments, visit: www.smarterbalanced.org/
Advocacy:  Free Webinar for IASB Members - Igniting Your Advocacy Efforts on December 2

Registration is open for the webinar Igniting Your Advocacy Efforts on December 2.  The live webinar will take place on Wednesday, December 2, at 6:00 P.M.

There has never been a more critical time for effective advocacy on behalf of Iowa's students.  Schools are expected to do more with fewer resources, as the demand for rigor and innovation in student learning continues to increase.  Join this discussion to be inspired and gain solid techniques to ignite your board's advocacy efforts to make a difference for Iowa's students.

This webinar is free for IASB members.

Register here.

If you would like to get more involved in leading the advocacy work in Iowa ASCD, please contact the Advocacy Directors - Dr. Susan Pecinovsky and Dr. Elaine Smith-Bright.
Webinars for Your Learning
 
Iowa ASCD seeks to keep you informed about webinars for your  learning and the learning of those with whom you work.  Check out the following; many of these support the work in your collaborative time and definitely help with implementation of The Core! 

  • Title:  Introducing AP Computer Science Principles
    • Presenter: Gregg Fleisher, Chief Academic Officer, National Math and Science Initiatives
    • Provider:  Education Week
    • Date:  October 21 at 1:00 - 2:00 P.M. CT
    • Register Here
       
  • Title:  Seven Strengths for Reading Success
    • Presenters:  Pam Allyn, Ernest Morrell, and Donalyn Miller
    • Providers:  ASCD and Scholastic
    • Date:  October 27 at 3:00 P.M. CT
    • Register Here
  • Title:  Teaching Students to Reflect on Personal Learning
    • Presenter:  Starr Sackstein
    • Provider:  ASCD
    • Date:  November 19 at 2:00 P.M. CT
    • Register Here 
    • Presenters: Donalyn Miller and Kwame Alexander:
    • Providers:  ASCD and Scholastic
    • Date: November 30 at 6:00 P.M. CT
Check It Out!

Check out the following:
  • Be sure to check out Dr. Wise's Fall Message, where he discusses the vision, mission, and five critical functions of the Iowa Department of Education.
  • Save the date, January 13, for  Literacy Intervention Conference in Des Moines. The focus will be sharing research-based interventions that help achieve our goals of all learners becoming successful readers by the end of third grade.  The event will feature a keynote by Amanda VanDerHeyden, a national expert who will be talking to district teams about Return on Investment in Education. 
  • Social Studies - Year 2 Professional Development:  The Iowa Department of Education is rolling out year two for the statewide professional development for social studies. Each
    Area Education Agency provides professional development to teachers within their agencies.  this year will focus on academic vocabulary - text complexity, text-based evidence and argument, and writing from sources. In addition to training each AEA around these modules, the DE extends an invitation to districts who might be interested in sending a teacher leader to the training, who would then provide professional development to social studies teachers within their districts.   Contact Erika Cook at [email protected].
     
  • Check out SHAPE America for their back-to-school resources to keep kids moving to boost their learning.  There are resources especially for teachers and administrators, college and university professors, future professionals, and parents
  • Meet the five Iowa teachers who have been named finalists in the Presidential Awards for Excellence in Mathematics and Science Teaching (PAEMST) - 2015.  The Iowa finalists' applications have been submitted to the national selection committee. Two award-winners may be selected to represent Iowa. Award-winners receive $10,000 and a trip to Washington, D.C., where they will participate in recognition events and professional development programs.  The nominations for 2016 focus on K-6 teachers. The 2016 Awards will honor mathematics and science (including computer science) teachers working in grades K-6. Nominations close on April 1, 2016.  Go here to nominate a K-6 teacher of math and/or science, including computer science for 2016 recognition.
  • Check out these opportunities to learn more about the new science standards. The first event is on October 20 in Iowa City when the University of Iowa and Grandview University will host a day of learning from national experts on the new science standards in Iowa. This day is intended for leaders (e.g., administrators, curriculum leaders, teacher leaders, professors, and AEA consultants) who will partner in the rollout and implementation of the standards. 
  • The Iowa Department of Education's Team Nutrition has partnered with the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics Foundation to bring a two-hour workshop to elementary schools to promote school wellness through nutrition education and physical activity. The workshops will include school wellness strategies and implementation resources. The workshops can be held during a staff in-service day or they can be held during the school day while utilizing substitutes for lead teachers. Grants totaling $500 for substitutes are available.  Click here for an application. 
  • Remember to renew your membership for 2015 -  2016.  Beginning January 1, 2015, all Iowa ASCD members have had access to 30 on-line books 24/7 for the entire year and next year, too!
  • Consider an institutional membership for your building, district, or AEA.  The fee is $25 per person when you enroll at least 20 people at one time.  Great benefits!  Contact Lou Howell for more information.
  • Are you a student in a graduate program?  If so, you may get a membership for three years for $45.  Contact Lou Howell for more information.
  • Are you a student in a pre-service program?  If so, you may get a one-year membership for $15.  Contact Lou Howell for more information.
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Iowa ASCD is the source for developing instructional leadership and translating research into daily practice. Serving more than 1500 educators - teachers, principals, superintendents, directors of curriculum, technology specialists, college professors, AEA staff - Iowa ASCD strives to develop the collaborative capacity to impact the learning of each and every student in Iowa.

Be Sure to Check Out . . .
Feedback Requested on Teacher & Prinicpal Evaluations
Contact Your Legislators!
Fall Academy - November 16-17
Gallup Poll for Students
LELA Fellows from Iowa
Curriculum Leads: Leaders of Data Analysis
30 Books for YOU - Book Review
New Roles for Educators
Personalized Learning - Relationships and Roles
Featured Website: VALUE Rubrics from AACU
New State Assessment
Iowa ASCD Advocacy - Free Webinar
Webinars
Check It Out!
Iowa ASCD Twitter!
Iowa ASCD Contacts

Quick Links:

 

Iowa ASCD  

 

Iowa ASCD Twitter

 


Iowa ASCD Contacts

 

President-Elect

Becky Martin

 

Past-President

Kevin Vidergar 

    

President-Elect

Pam Zeigler   

    

Membership and Conference Information

Bridget Arrasmith

 

Secretary

Leslie Moore 

 

Treasurer  

Jeff Watson  

 

Members-at-Large

  

Diane Campbell 

Ottie Maxey 

Sara Oswald 

 Katy Evenson 

 

DE Liaison

 Rita Martens  

 

Higher Education

Jan Beatty-Westerman 

Randal Peters 

 

Advocacy and Influence 

Susan Pecinovsky 

Elaine Smith-Bright  

 

Curriculum Leadership Academy

Sue Wood  

Pam Zeigler  

 

Fall Academy

 Veta Thode  

 

Fall Institute

Amy Whittington

 

Summer Institutes  

 Kym Stein 

 Becky Martin    

 

Planning Chair 

Cindy Swanson  

 

Partnership Chair

Jason Ellingson 

 

Technology

Chris Welch  

 

Membership Relations and E-Learning

Amy Wichman 

 

Executive Director

 Lou Howell   

 

 

Here's What's Happening!
  • November 16-17, 2015
    • Fall Academy
    • Drake University
    • Tammy Heflebower
    • Standards-Based Grading for School Leaders
  • February 11, 2016
    • Advocacy Workshop
    • State Capitol
    • Advocating for Learning
  • April 21-22, 2016
    • Curriculum Leadership Academy
    • Iowa Events Center
    • Rick Wormeli
    • Differentiating for Learning
  • June 21-22, 2016
    • Summer Institute
  • Get The Source the first and third Friday of each month.
  • Join us on Twitter @IowaASCD