Tuesday, March 12, 2019
IAR is Here!
This year the State of Illinois is replacing the PARRC with IAR. The test manuals and procedures have been sent out to all schools 3rd-8th grade. The testing window is now open. Please be sure to check out the link from the State Board for any more information on this new assessment. ISBE Link
Spring Learning Shenanigans!
Spring is right around the corner. We would like to use this blog post to share the great things you have planned to energize yourself and your students. Some of the best ideas in learning have come from other educators! Please take a moment to comment a great way to ring in the new season! (now a plug....these ideas shared would also be great KCN articles, feel free to capture the Spring learning fun and send a short article and picture to kcn@kaneland.org)
Collective Efficacy Blog Post
Please take a moment to check out this great blog post by Garth Larson on Collective Efficacy. It is an interesting read with some great references and analogies.
How Educators Can Understand the Power of Collective Efficacy From This Year’s Milwaukee Brewers
October 14, 2018 by Garth Larson, Ed.D
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
OCTOBER…one of the best times of the entire calendar year in the midwest. Although the current temperature is 32 degrees in Oshkosh, Wisconsin, there is so much to be excited about with October. Football is in full swing as high school teams are just beginning their playoff runs, college teams are in the middle of their brutal conference schedules, and professional football is nearing the halfway point of the season. Usually, that is enough to keep me excited about all that October brings. However, as a die-hard fan of all Wisconsin athletics, this October has even more to offer.
Our Milwaukee Brewers are playing the Los Angeles Dodgers in the National League Championship Series. Although I was excited the last time the Brewers were in the NLCS (2011), there was a feeling that team was going to lose to the St. Louis Cardinals.
They didn’t have the same swagger this year’s team demonstrates every time they walk on the field. But it’s not just the swagger and confidence that makes this year’s Milwaukee Brewers so interesting to watch, it’s their Collective Efficacy and different way of thinking about winning baseball games.
Professor John’s Hattie’s research in Visible Learning clearly points out that collective teacher efficacy has the highest impact on learning than any other approach to learning that has been studied. According to Hattie’s work, Collective Teacher Efficacy carries an impact of 1.57 (Visible Learning Plus, December 2017), which is almost four times the rate of what would be considered one year’s growth in learning. So if Collective Teacher Efficacy is so influential and we are aware of this statistic, why are schools still struggling to support high levels of learning for all students? The answer is pretty simple, they either don’t know what being efficacious looks like, or they have not established teams that believe they have the impact to do amazing things on behalf of kids and learning.
According to Jenni Donohoo’s blog post for The Learning Exchange on January 9, 2017, “Collective teacher efficacy (CTE) refers to a staff’s shared belief that through their collective action, they can positively influence student outcomes, including those who are disengaged and/or disadvantaged. Educators with high efficacy show greater effort and persistence, a willingness to try new teaching approaches, set more challenging goals, and attend more closely to the needs of students who require extra assistance.”
Dr. Donohoo goes on to include the following:
“Efficacy beliefs are very powerful because they guide educators’ actions. Goddard, Hoy, and Woolfolk Hoy (2004) noted that efficacy beliefs “directly affect the diligence and resolve with which groups choose to pursue their goals” (p. 8).
If educators’ realities are filtered through the belief that there is very little they can do to influence student achievement, then it is very likely these beliefs will be manifested in their practice. However, if a school staff shares a sense of collective efficacy, then they have a greater likelihood of positively impacting student learning, over and above any other influence.”
This is where the 2018 edition of the Milwaukee Brewers can be used to explain the notion of efficacy.The Brewers entered the final month of the season 4 games behind the Chicago Cubs and went 19-7 in September, including winning their last eight regular season games to win the division, and become the first place seed for the National League. That streak concluded at 12 games with their loss on Saturday night, but it still appears this team is poised to look ahead and what they can accomplish collectively as a team.
Why have they experienced this level of success? Because of the belief systems in themselves and each other to achieve success. Every interview I watch with this team revolves around the team and their strengths. Brewers manager Craig Counsell has taken an approach with his bullpen that is much different than most traditional teams. Their focus as a team defensively is to get 27 outs and score more runs than the other team. He doesn’t care how he gets those outs and scores the runs, as long as it happens. As a result of this leadership, his team has fully invested and bought into their collective efforts to achieve greatness. Having a starter intentionally only pitch 2 innings so they can go to the bullpen is unheard of. However, the Milwaukee Brewers have put on an absolute clinic using this approach by continually playing to the strengths of all players.
In 2003, Michael Lewis authored the book Moneyball:
The Art of Winning an Unfair Game. This book and later movie (2011) starring Brad Pitt, has helped educators think differently about supporting student learning. While I was working as the Director of Learning for the Winneconne Community School District (WI), we showed our staff the trailer to the movie Moneyball during our welcome back in-service that August.
Our goal was to help them understand the art of thinking different, using data/evidence to support decision making and to believe in the power of a team.
After watching the trailer and discussing the key ideas and concepts from the book and movie, we came up with three conclusions we could ALL support.
We have to think differently:We recognized the model of school we were using was not effective for all students. We were not ensuring ALL students were learning at high levels and we knew that needed to be the focus moving forward.
Our Goal Shouldn’t be to Raise Test Scores, Our Goal Should be to Focus on Increasing Learning!:Although the movie doesn’t necessarily indicate anything about test scores, there is a scene where Peter Brandt (Jonah Hill) says to Billy Beane (Brad Pitt), “your goal shouldn’t be the buy players, your goal should be to buy wins, and in order to buy wins, you need to buy runs.” We made it very clear at that point in our conversations with our staff that we were not on a mission to raise test scores or increase accountability ratings. Our goal was to focus on increasing LEARNING. We knew if we focused on increasing learning and did it well for all students, test scores and accountability ratings would be the beneficiary of that approach.
The Answers are in the Room:We recognized we could not go out and recruit the state teacher of the year from every district because that wasn’t financially feasible. We also recognized that through our thoughts and beliefs, we could create grade level and content level teams of the year! We believed that we had all the talent we needed to help students experience higher levels of success. However, we had to believe this collectively as a district. We had to believe in our impact and trust each other to do amazing things collectively on behalf of our students.
The end result was amazing, just as we are seeing with the Milwaukee Brewers. In four years, we significantly increased learning for ALL students and moved from accountability ratings showing “Meets Expectations” to now “Significantly Exceeding Expectations” and having the fourth highest rating of all K-12 school districts in the state of Wisconsin (422 school districts total). All of this was the result of amazing group of adults, supporting each other and believing in each other to support our students. That’s the power of collective efficacy!
In terms of this year’s Milwaukee Brewers, Collectively Efficacious is the best way to describe them. They are focused on winning as a group, not as a group of individuals. They trust each other in all scenarios, they have tried new approaches and they are focused on the strengths of each member within the organization. According to the work of John Hattie and Jenni Donohoo, that’s a formula for success. Although the Brewers may not win the NLCS or World Series if they get there, this year’s Milwaukee Brewers have provided additional evidence to support Hattie and Donohoo’s work on the undeniable power of collective efficacy!
How Educators Can Understand the Power of Collective Efficacy From This Year’s Milwaukee Brewers
October 14, 2018 by Garth Larson, Ed.D
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
OCTOBER…one of the best times of the entire calendar year in the midwest. Although the current temperature is 32 degrees in Oshkosh, Wisconsin, there is so much to be excited about with October. Football is in full swing as high school teams are just beginning their playoff runs, college teams are in the middle of their brutal conference schedules, and professional football is nearing the halfway point of the season. Usually, that is enough to keep me excited about all that October brings. However, as a die-hard fan of all Wisconsin athletics, this October has even more to offer.
Our Milwaukee Brewers are playing the Los Angeles Dodgers in the National League Championship Series. Although I was excited the last time the Brewers were in the NLCS (2011), there was a feeling that team was going to lose to the St. Louis Cardinals.
They didn’t have the same swagger this year’s team demonstrates every time they walk on the field. But it’s not just the swagger and confidence that makes this year’s Milwaukee Brewers so interesting to watch, it’s their Collective Efficacy and different way of thinking about winning baseball games.
Professor John’s Hattie’s research in Visible Learning clearly points out that collective teacher efficacy has the highest impact on learning than any other approach to learning that has been studied. According to Hattie’s work, Collective Teacher Efficacy carries an impact of 1.57 (Visible Learning Plus, December 2017), which is almost four times the rate of what would be considered one year’s growth in learning. So if Collective Teacher Efficacy is so influential and we are aware of this statistic, why are schools still struggling to support high levels of learning for all students? The answer is pretty simple, they either don’t know what being efficacious looks like, or they have not established teams that believe they have the impact to do amazing things on behalf of kids and learning.
According to Jenni Donohoo’s blog post for The Learning Exchange on January 9, 2017, “Collective teacher efficacy (CTE) refers to a staff’s shared belief that through their collective action, they can positively influence student outcomes, including those who are disengaged and/or disadvantaged. Educators with high efficacy show greater effort and persistence, a willingness to try new teaching approaches, set more challenging goals, and attend more closely to the needs of students who require extra assistance.”
Dr. Donohoo goes on to include the following:
“Efficacy beliefs are very powerful because they guide educators’ actions. Goddard, Hoy, and Woolfolk Hoy (2004) noted that efficacy beliefs “directly affect the diligence and resolve with which groups choose to pursue their goals” (p. 8).
If educators’ realities are filtered through the belief that there is very little they can do to influence student achievement, then it is very likely these beliefs will be manifested in their practice. However, if a school staff shares a sense of collective efficacy, then they have a greater likelihood of positively impacting student learning, over and above any other influence.”
This is where the 2018 edition of the Milwaukee Brewers can be used to explain the notion of efficacy.The Brewers entered the final month of the season 4 games behind the Chicago Cubs and went 19-7 in September, including winning their last eight regular season games to win the division, and become the first place seed for the National League. That streak concluded at 12 games with their loss on Saturday night, but it still appears this team is poised to look ahead and what they can accomplish collectively as a team.
Why have they experienced this level of success? Because of the belief systems in themselves and each other to achieve success. Every interview I watch with this team revolves around the team and their strengths. Brewers manager Craig Counsell has taken an approach with his bullpen that is much different than most traditional teams. Their focus as a team defensively is to get 27 outs and score more runs than the other team. He doesn’t care how he gets those outs and scores the runs, as long as it happens. As a result of this leadership, his team has fully invested and bought into their collective efforts to achieve greatness. Having a starter intentionally only pitch 2 innings so they can go to the bullpen is unheard of. However, the Milwaukee Brewers have put on an absolute clinic using this approach by continually playing to the strengths of all players.
In 2003, Michael Lewis authored the book Moneyball:
The Art of Winning an Unfair Game. This book and later movie (2011) starring Brad Pitt, has helped educators think differently about supporting student learning. While I was working as the Director of Learning for the Winneconne Community School District (WI), we showed our staff the trailer to the movie Moneyball during our welcome back in-service that August.
Our goal was to help them understand the art of thinking different, using data/evidence to support decision making and to believe in the power of a team.
After watching the trailer and discussing the key ideas and concepts from the book and movie, we came up with three conclusions we could ALL support.
We have to think differently:We recognized the model of school we were using was not effective for all students. We were not ensuring ALL students were learning at high levels and we knew that needed to be the focus moving forward.
Our Goal Shouldn’t be to Raise Test Scores, Our Goal Should be to Focus on Increasing Learning!:Although the movie doesn’t necessarily indicate anything about test scores, there is a scene where Peter Brandt (Jonah Hill) says to Billy Beane (Brad Pitt), “your goal shouldn’t be the buy players, your goal should be to buy wins, and in order to buy wins, you need to buy runs.” We made it very clear at that point in our conversations with our staff that we were not on a mission to raise test scores or increase accountability ratings. Our goal was to focus on increasing LEARNING. We knew if we focused on increasing learning and did it well for all students, test scores and accountability ratings would be the beneficiary of that approach.
The Answers are in the Room:We recognized we could not go out and recruit the state teacher of the year from every district because that wasn’t financially feasible. We also recognized that through our thoughts and beliefs, we could create grade level and content level teams of the year! We believed that we had all the talent we needed to help students experience higher levels of success. However, we had to believe this collectively as a district. We had to believe in our impact and trust each other to do amazing things collectively on behalf of our students.
The end result was amazing, just as we are seeing with the Milwaukee Brewers. In four years, we significantly increased learning for ALL students and moved from accountability ratings showing “Meets Expectations” to now “Significantly Exceeding Expectations” and having the fourth highest rating of all K-12 school districts in the state of Wisconsin (422 school districts total). All of this was the result of amazing group of adults, supporting each other and believing in each other to support our students. That’s the power of collective efficacy!
In terms of this year’s Milwaukee Brewers, Collectively Efficacious is the best way to describe them. They are focused on winning as a group, not as a group of individuals. They trust each other in all scenarios, they have tried new approaches and they are focused on the strengths of each member within the organization. According to the work of John Hattie and Jenni Donohoo, that’s a formula for success. Although the Brewers may not win the NLCS or World Series if they get there, this year’s Milwaukee Brewers have provided additional evidence to support Hattie and Donohoo’s work on the undeniable power of collective efficacy!
Tuesday, March 5, 2019
What If Blog
I recently read this blog post from the Institute for Personalized Learning. I thought it was of interest. Happy reading!
What If????
by Eric Hill, Professional Development Specialist
Each morning, my four-year-old son and I play a game he calls, “What if?” on the way to school. The game is simple, one person gets to say, “What if…” and then we go back and forth on what it would be like if that statement were true. “What if ice sank instead of floated?” “What if humans could fly?” It is the perfect way to start the day and for us to connect and enjoy one another’s company each morning. What’s more, it reminds me how creative, imaginative, and thoughtful kids are and the importance of creating opportunities to foster those habits of mind each and every day, not to mention the value in fostering that creativity in our own lives and practice (Costa & Kallick, 2008).
As a child, I was grateful to be given the opportunity to dream and imagine each and every day. Growing up in a family that was engaged in the community, participating in the Boy Scouts, playing on several sports teams, and playing with the neighborhood kids kept me active. It also gave me opportunities to dream, inspired me to want more, and taught me to question the status quo and ask, “What if?” That boundary pushing, barrier breaking, inquisitive nature is what has come to define me and my dispositions for teaching and learning.
As Dr. Jim Rickabaugh discusses in the white paper, Learner Independence Continuum, I believe that when students authentically engage in learning, which may be structured and scaffolded with or by students based on their interest, readiness, or pace, AND when learning is not limited by time, place or curriculum, AND we give students opportunities to own their work and the learning process, as well as share it in meaningful ways, THEN we are engaging, educating, equipping, and empowering students for their future.
With this in mind, I wonder how often we truly remove all barriers, agendas, and structures and let students ask, “What if?” It is essential that we create these opportunities for students and not stifle their creativity and inquisitive nature. I was lucky enough to have access to opportunities that encouraged the development of these habits of mind throughout my childhood, but as educators we know that such opportunities are not equitable for every student. As such, it becomes our responsibility to create such an environment, and with that responsibility comes opportunity to make positive change.
If this idea or disposition is challenging for you, maybe your entry point is playing the “What if” game as an ice breaker at the beginning of class. Imagine though… What if this became your framework for a lesson or a unit? What if this became the foundation of your classroom culture?
What if?
Monday, March 4, 2019
Locked Quizzes on Chromebooks
Some of you may have been in sessions on Friday that talked about a locked mode when distributing quizzes created in Google Forms to students when they are using chromebooks. Coincidentally, I just learned that this feature, though in Beta, is now available for all of our staff!
While we look to begin training on useful tech tools for our upcoming 1:1 rollout, this is one that many of you have been asking for for a LONG time and one that may be useful as early as today. It is a fairly straight-forward process, but if you are looking for an in-depth setup guide and review of the feature, you can click this link to read a blog post and watch a video about how to set up and use locked mode for google quizzes.
While it is still in beta and there are definitely some drawbacks (mainly the lack of a built in re-assess feature) that may limit usefulness for some of you, I wanted to share for those interested.
Have a great day!
Tuesday, February 26, 2019
2018-19 SIP All In Goal Data
After three weeks of interviewing and collecting data from 1,128
students, the following is the summary of our All In SIP goals. While the
data this year leaves room for improvement, there are definitely still areas to
celebrate. Please be sure to read carefully below for the ratings, data
and summary of key points. You can revisit the presentation we shared
earlier in the year with more details here if you would like.
Learner Profile Goal:
By February 2019, the overall percent of students observed at
levels 2 and 3 on the learner profile rubric will increase 30% from February
2018 levels. In February 2018, 56% of students observed were at a level 2
or 3, making the goal for 2019 to have 86% of students observed.
This year, our combined students at level 2 or 3 was 57.4% (This
is an increase from fall of 27.6, but only 1.4 from a year ago at this time).
For a bit more detail, see this table with information about where
our students were last February compared to this February:
Level
|
February 2018
|
February 2019
|
0
|
16%
|
12.4%
|
1
|
28%
|
30.2%
|
2
|
39%
|
39.9%
|
3
|
17%
|
17.5%
|
Based on the rubric we shared earlier this year, the growth we
achieved this year fell in the unsatisfactory
range.
Proficiency Based Progress
Goal:
By February 2019, the overall percent of students observed at
levels 2 and 3 on the
proficiency based observation rubric will increase from September
2018 (15.5%) to February 2019 by a total of 60%.
Based on the rubrics shared earlier this year, in order to reach
proficiency for this goal 66% of our students surveyed in February would have
needed to be in levels 2 and 3.
In February, the combined percentage of students at levels 2 or 3
was 56.9%. Again, based on the rubrics
shared earlier this year this would mean the rating for this goal is Needs Improvement.
For a bit more detail, see this table with information about where
our students were in October compared to February:
The following data is current data compared to fall data (in
parenthesis) of this year:
Level
|
October
|
February
|
0
|
51.8%
|
10.6%
|
1
|
32.7%
|
32.4%
|
2
|
13.1%
|
36.7%
|
3
|
2.4%
|
20.2%
|
Impact for evaluation:
Overall, if any staff member used both All In SIP goals, their 30%
student growth rating is needs improvement for this school year. Because of that, please see the following
tables for the impact on your summative evaluation rating. The first describes how the overall rating of
Needs Improvement for the student
growth component is arrived at.
To determine Student Growth Goal Rating:
Student Growth Goal One (15%)
|
|||||
Student Growth Goal Two (15%)
|
Excellent
4
|
Proficient
3
|
Needs
Improvement
2
|
Unsatisfactory
0
|
|
Excellent
4
|
Excellent
|
Excellent
|
Proficient
|
Needs Improvement
|
|
Proficient
3
|
Excellent
|
Proficient
|
Proficient
|
Needs Improvement
|
|
Needs
Improvement
2
|
Proficient
|
Proficient
|
Needs Improvement
|
Needs Improvement
|
|
Unsatisfactory
0
|
Needs Improvement
|
Needs Improvement
|
Needs Improvement
|
Unsatisfactory
|
|
This means that the highest overall summative rating a teacher who
used both the Learner Profile and Proficiency Based Progress goals can achieve
is proficient. Please see the chart below to see how your
student growth rating and teacher performance rating interact.
To determine OVERALL SUMMATIVE RATING:
Teacher Performance (70%)
|
|||||
Student Growth (30%)
|
Excellent
4
|
Proficient
3
|
Needs
Improvement
2
|
Unsatisfactory
0
|
|
Excellent
4
|
Excellent
|
Proficient
|
Proficient
|
Needs Improvement
|
|
Proficient
3
|
Excellent
|
Proficient
|
Needs Improvement
|
Unsatisfactory
|
|
Needs
Improvement
2
|
Proficient
|
Proficient
|
Needs Improvement
|
Unsatisfactory
|
|
Unsatisfactory
0
|
Proficient
|
Needs Improvement
|
Needs Improvement
|
Unsatisfactory
|
|
Obviously, everyone would hope we would have seen more success
with these goals. However, there are definitely some areas to celebrate when
looking at the data more closely.
1. A huge reduction in the number of students
that cannot identify I Can statements! The percent shifted from 51.8% to
10.6%! It is a celebration to consider that only 10% of our students
could not identify I Can statements.
2. We were able to maintain the level 2 and 3
students that know who they are as a learner and use that to advocate for their
learning.
3. Having 20.2% of our students able to link
the feedback they are receiving to the I Can statement and know the next steps
for learning, is a great celebration!
We hope everyone will take a moment to reflect on the data and
consider how we could better embed the learner profile and feedback to guide
proficiency into our classrooms daily.
At all levels, we will be evaluating this information and considering
what the impact on our next steps as a district will be.
1:1
At last night's board of education, the board unanimously voted to approve the 1:1 rollout for grades 4-12 beginning next year! Now that this has been formally approved, look for much more information to be rolling out--likely beginning with the Spring road shows--regarding logistics, training, support, and expectations. This is an exciting development that will support our district's work in the area of Personalized Learning, and we couldn't be more excited!
I know for many of you this has been a long time coming, and we thank each of you for all of the ideas you've shared along the way that have helped increase the momentum of this idea.
Please also know, as you'll hear countless times, that a 1:1 rollout is worthless without incredible staff like we have here in Kaneland. You still and always will stand at the center of what our students are able to accomplish. Though roles and tools may change, your importance in the lives of students is something that cannot and should not be diminished.
I know for many of you this has been a long time coming, and we thank each of you for all of the ideas you've shared along the way that have helped increase the momentum of this idea.
Please also know, as you'll hear countless times, that a 1:1 rollout is worthless without incredible staff like we have here in Kaneland. You still and always will stand at the center of what our students are able to accomplish. Though roles and tools may change, your importance in the lives of students is something that cannot and should not be diminished.
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