How are we making our students THINK?
...a blog co-authored through the eyes of Megan Humphrey, our Library Media Specialist and Angie Adrean, our Principal
“We are all in this together.”
#FI14
Tuesday, November 4 was Election Day for all of us, and it was also “A Day of Learning” for all Worthington educators. Approximately 740 educators gathered on our Worthington Kilbourne HS/ McCord MS/ Granby Elementary campuses to collaborate, contribute, and connect. Our focus centered around gaining a further understanding of the rigor of the new standards, as well as the connection to our current assessment practices and the upcoming computer-based PARCC and AIR state assessments.
The PARCC website (http://www.parcconline.org) explains, “high quality assessments will allow parents and educators to see how children are progressing in school and whether they are on track for postsecondary success. The PARCC assessment also provides teachers with the ability to identify students who may be falling behind and need extra help.” PARCC includes two Summative Assessment Components:
- Performance-Based Assessment (PBA) administered after approximately 75% of the school year (February 16-March 20). The ELA/literacy PBA will focus on writing effectively when analyzing text. The mathematics PBA will focus on expressing mathematical reasoning and modeling real-world problems. The ELA PBA consists of 3 Units and the Math PBA consists of 2 Units.
- End-of-Year Assessment (EOY) administered after approximately 90% of the school year (April 13-May 15). The ELA/literacy EOY will focus on reading comprehension. The mathematics EOY will call on students to demonstrate further conceptual understanding of the Major Content and Additional and Supporting Content of the grade/course (as outlined in the PARCC Model Content Frameworks). The EOY for both ELA and Math consists of 2 Units each.
AIR (American Institute for Research) will provide the Social Students (American History and American Government) and Science (Physical Science) assessments to compliment the computer-based PARCC assessments. Each of these assessments will consist of 1 PBA and 1 EOY Unit.
So, what does this mean for our students and our teachers?
As educators, we have a responsibility, regardless of our content area, to motivate our students in learning that engages them to think on a deeper and more complex level. During our “Day of Learning”, WKHS staff members were asked to produce a group definition of what the word RIGOR meant to them. Here is an example of a found poem created by four of our teachers:
Deep Immersion
Entrepreneurial, Initiative
Application, Agility, Adaptability
Complex, Critical
Quality, Questions
Solutions
Depth
As our teachers collaborate, they plan with intent to incorporate higher order thinking skills from Bloom’s Taxonomy including creating, evaluating, and analyzing. For example, rather than the traditional 1980-1990’s models (and yes, we are dating ourselves) of questioning and understanding through knowledge based comprehension and recall questions, we are now asking our students to take it a step further and apply knowledge to questions such as comparing and contrasting two to three texts about a similar theme or concept.
Below are several links that will allow you to navigate through the PARCC website including practice tests, technology tutorials, and rubrics.
Tutorial on Navigation of Test Technology Tools http://parcc.pearson.com/tutorial/
Practice Tests: http://practice.parcc.testnav.com/
Rubrics and Answer Keys: http://parcc.pearson.com/sample-items/
Admittedly, the logistics and the accountability of the new state assessments have increased our anxiety and pushed us to self-evaluate and reinvent our practices. However, we can assure that Worthington Kilbourne High School teachers and staff value students’ personal and academic growth and are up to any challenges that come our way. We are in this together and together we shall provide our students with the skills and knowledge to be successful not just on these new state assessments but in life beyond high school.
#GoWolves
