Transcript Toyota Pimser Grant - Research 2

Toyota Pimser Grant
Diocese of Lexington
2012
Authors
Meghan Bottom, teaches junior high science at Mary Queen of
the Holy Rosary School
Kathy Leonard, Science chair at Christ the King School
Wendy Berryman, teaches middle school math at St. Agatha School
Timothy J. Weaver, Superintendent of Schools, Diocese of Lexington
Michele Ulrich, Assistant Superintendent of Schools, Diocese of Lexington
Presenters
Presenting the Common Core Standards for Math and Science and providing
interactive session to equip teachers to devise and implement standards
based lessons and assessments:
Dr. Margaret Mohr-Schroeder Dr. Mary Mohr-Schroder
Assistance Professor of Mathematics Education in STEM Education at the University of Kentucky
Dr. Craig Schroeder
Mathematics coach for Fayette County Public Schools
Presenting hands –on activities for participants:
Ursula Thielen
Education Specialist, Alltect Corporation
Why this project ?
1. The Catholic Diocese has as its goal teacher training in the
national core standards, yet has few resources by which to
access this needed training. This funding of the grant will
ensure that students in Catholic schools have an opportunity
to have highly-trained teachers in their core mathematics and
science areas.
2. At the secondary education level, our data indicates that
there are low-performing students, who did not meet the
benchmarks, and furthermore performed below average on
the EXPLORE, PLAN, and ACT tests, as well as the Terra Nova
achievement tests. Our goal at the Diocese of Lexington is to
have all of our students performing at high levels, at ninety
percent or above on national achievement and MAP tests.
Qualitative Data
All district math and science teachers were sent a survey to complete, which was aimed at
uncovering areas of need for teacher training and professional growth. What we found
from this survey was:
1) 47.6% of math and science teachers considered having PD to help them
“design and implement standards-based assessment strategies” was a “high priority” need.
2) 44.3% of these teachers also indicated a high-priority need for learning how to
design and implement standards-based assessment strategies.
3) 81.5% of teachers polled indicated that the need to acquire materials and
training to learn to differentiate instruction was a problem that needed to be addressed.
This number was expected, as our teachers have few resources to support them in their
efforts to address the individual needs of students. However, many of our teachers have an
earnest desire to learn how to do this better, as the percentage indicates.
4)70.9% of math and science teachers believe that they need more opportunities
to share ideas, and have identified this as a problem area for the Diocese.
5) 63.8% of math teachers see the need for more “mathematics in-service
education opportunities”.
6) 66.7% of science teachers see the need for more “science in-service education
opportunities”.
Quantitative Data
While our students often perform well overall, there are
many students in the Diocese who are not performing as
high-achievers, which we define on a norm-referenced
achievement test, those who score at the 90% and above
as a national percentile. Furthermore, in many cases
across the Diocese, our students are performing below
benchmarks for college readiness. Ensuring that our
students are best prepared for college is a top priority for
our school system. The following data reveals our need
to continue improving the achievement of students in
math and science areas.
Qualitative Data
Terra Nova Scores – Grades 5 – 8 as National Percentiles for 2010
Grade Level
Math
Grade 5
No. of
Students
284
Math
Composite
66
Science
66
Math
Computation
63
Grade 6
231
67
65
68
63
Grade 7
277
71
71
73
63
Grade 8
46
72
75
76
72
65
Qualitative - continued
Grade 9: EXPLORE
In this grade at Lexington Catholic High School, 210 students took this test.
44% did not reach College Readiness Benchmarks in Mathematics
51% did not reach College Readiness Benchmarks in Science
Grade 10: PLAN
In grade 10 at Lexington Catholic High School, 179 students were tested. Out of these
students the following data was discovered:
46% of students fell below 75th percentile, which means they scored at or below the 17-19
range in Mathematics.
34% of students fell below 75th percentile, which means they performed at or below the 17-19
point range with a possible 32pts score.
Grade 11: ACT
In grade 11 at Lexington Catholic High School, 207 students took the ACT in 2010. Of those
students, a large percentage did not meet the benchmark score.
40% of students tested fell below the benchmark of 22 in Mathematics
51% of students tested fell below the benchmark of 24 in Science.
Project Goals
• To improve teacher training and efficacy in core content areas
of math and science for grades 5-12
• To better learn how to differentiate in our math and science
methods
• To ultimately increase student performance in math and
science
• To develop and sustain a district wide Professional Learning
Community among colleagues in the field of math and science
with teachers, administrators and partners from higher
education
Professional Development
for Science
Day 1
8:30-9:00
Reading the standards; Development and Design
9:00-9:30
Mathematical Practices
9:30-10:00
What are the challenges faced?
10:00-10:30
Developing/Finding Assessment Items
10:30-11:00
Developing units that address the standards
11:00-11:30
Formative Assessment for Learning
11:30-12:00
Example Activities
Professional Development for Math
Day 2
8:30-9:00
Reading the standards; Development and Design
9:00-9:30
Science & Engineering Practices
9:30-10:00
Cross-cutting Concepts
10:00-10:30
Literacy in Science
10:30-11:00
Developing units that address the standards
11:00-11:30
Formative Assessment for Learning
11:30-12:00
Example Activities
Incentives and Accommodations
for Teachers in Attendance
• Every teacher who attends the professional development will receive $25
an hour for the 6 hours
• A teacher traveling more than 60 miles will receive 30 cents per mile and
will be provided lodging for each day attending
• Lunch and snacks will be provided each day
• All participants will receive a published copy of the new NCTM or NSTA
standards
• Paid substitutes for the proposal writers
Continued Partnership with UK and
Alltech
As an extension of our relationship, we will meet with the faculty in
regular follow-up sessions scheduled to occur in follow-up to the
conference. Through our partnership, we will help them disaggregate
data and draw conclusions that will uncover areas of need in the areas
of math and science. We will also communicate through a wiki/blog
page which will be set up as a platform to assist teachers in the field
who are trying to devise strategies to improve the knowledge and skills
of students in their classrooms. Once per month, 1 – 2 new research
articles will be posted which can help the teachers as they design an
instructional improvement plan. Finally, we will be part of the
conversations held in the Skype discussions online. During these, we
will act as facilitators and guides, using our experience in the field, and
research knowledge to add raise concerns, offer solutions, etc.
Follow-up for Professional Learning
Communities
1) September 12, 2012, 3-4pm – Teachers should bring baseline data from previous years’ math and
science assessments, and come prepared to talk about what core strands are showing a low student
performance. Our higher education faculty will assist in this conversation, helping teachers understand
how to use this data to build a picture of the school. Teachers will be asked to prepare homework for
the next session, this will be a plan of action to address the areas of weakness within their own school
2) November 14, 2012, 3-4pm – Presentation of what each teacher group plans on changing to address
areas of deficiency. The higher education faculty will weigh in on whether research will support these
methods and strategies. They will be ask to provide a couple articles on best practices for this session.
3) February 13, 2013, 3-4pm – At this session, the teachers will bring data, unit test scores, student
feedback, etc. to discuss evidence on what worked well, and what parts of the improvement plan need
to be revised or approached differently. Higher education faculty will offer insights about whether these
strategies have worked well other places, or whether this may be niche to our own schools and student
bodies.
4) April 24, 2013, 3-4pm – Teaches will share best practices that produced the greatest gap reduction in
the one year period that the strategy was implemented. All math and science teachers will be provided
with a copy of the lesson, which will key a common core standard, and include corresponding
assessments.
A bonus of $100 will be paid to each teacher that engages in all four sessions.
How Will We Know if the Project is
Effective
Since our school district is in the process of phasing out the Terra Nova norm-referenced
achievement tests, and is replacing them with MAP test modules, we must use percentiles on the
Terra Nova and compare them to the MAP test modules in Math and Science. Currently, some of
our schools are only taking the Language, Reading, and Math modules of the MAP test.
Therefore, to establish a baseline for Science achievement for grades 5-8, we had to use the Terra
Nova tests. However, the three schools that are not using this module will be provided with the
module as part of the materials (on a one time basis) in order to gather the post-intervention
data. Fortunately, both the Terra Nova and the MAP test modules translate any students’ scores
into National Percentiles. As a result, we will be able to compare the percentiles from the Terra
Nova Tests with the percentages from the MAP test modules and still be able to determine if
some growth in student achievement has occurred following teacher training in the Core
Common Standards and differentiated instruction.
For grades 9-11, we will be comparing the performances of next year’s spring test session,
Spring of 2013, of the EXPLORE, PLAN, and ACT modules in order to see what, if any, growth in
the areas of math and science have occurred. We hope to see all students arriving at the
benchmarks, and plan to continue having teachers mentor each other with best lessons and best
practices through established professional communities that will meet regularly not only during
this special year, but for many years to come. We are hoping that this opportunity will be a fullblown overhaul of the way we have done business. We want our best teachers who are helping
move all students forward to share their ideas and practices so that we as a Catholic Diocese can
provide an excellent academic education to the families who entrust their children to our care
and leadership.
Developing the Project
We had a great experience developing and writing our project. Our new
partners from the University of Kentucky and Alltech are excited about our
venture and are willing to stay with us on the journey. We feel so lucky to
have them on board to help us grow in math and science.
We were pleasantly surprised that we did not receive one negative comment
about the project from the principals or the teachers. They are all eager to be
involved in this new learning experience.
We also valued having Dr. Barbara Shoemaker’s support and guidance.
And last but not least- thank you Toyota Corporation for giving us an
opportunity to learn the new standards in math and science and to how to
incorporate the standards in to our daily lessons. We look forward to using
these new methods to reach every student with hopes of producing future
engineers, scientists, or perhaps many enlighten teachers.