math

Addressing Equity -Opportunity- Acceleration for All #Engage109

mlubelfeld General Posts , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
“Continuous effort, not strength or intelligence is the key to unlocking our potential.” – Winston Churchill
 

In the Deerfield Public Schools, District 109, we have decided to make a change to mathematics program delivery models starting in

ENGAGE, INSPIRE, EMPOWER

the 2017-18 school year in the 6th grade. We are going to eliminate “regular math” and offer “accelerated math” for all.

We engaged in a comprehensive review of our own student performance (status, growth, standardized test results) data and decision making processes. We also consulted with our research analytics partners, the ECRA team, as well as board members, we are confident that the right steps moving forward involve changing the math delivery model in 6th grade. We also made this decision after speaking with district and building administrators and a comprehensive review of research and data.

This equitable math curriculum delivery model change is based upon a substantial body of educational research, two years of our student performance data analyzed by professional psychometricians, and our unified, ongoing desire to create and sustain the most effective and proven structures for student learning possible. 
This decision is also supported by emerging themes of needed differentiation stemming from the input and analysis of the strategic plan information (from more than 1700 people’s input).
  • Strategic Planning Update: Board of Education President Nick Begley commended his fellow Board members and the administrators for a productive strategic planning meeting on Saturday, January 21. Dr. Lubelfeld reported that the District gathered input from more than 1,700 people as part of the process. He explained that the strategic planning process is an opportunity for stakeholders provide guidance to the Board to set the path of the District. The District 109 Board reviewed all the input and worked with ECRA in a half-day workshop to develop a draft plan that  includes the mission, vision, portrait of a graduate, guiding principles, goals and objectives. The administrative team will meet on January 31 to review the objective statements as they begin to plan the action plans to meet the objectives and goals. At the February 13 Committee of the Whole meeting, the Board and administrative team will meet to bring together their work. The final plan will be presented to the Board for action at the March 20, 2017 meeting.

 

As district and building and community leaders,we feel it’s incumbent upon us to design instructional structures that meet the needs of all children and provide equitable educational opportunities for all students. The current delivery model is providing barriers to access for some students, denying them the best opportunity to successfully master grade level standards.
The fact that less than 27% of 6th grade students enrolled in regular math for the past two years met minimum standards is simply unacceptable. We are not assigning blame to any teachers, of course, yet we are also not willing to make excuses for these results or overlook these results.
In our local situation, we discovered that sixty two students were enrolled in regular math (over the past few years) yet they had similar historical achievement levels to 32 students in accelerated math.  The 32 students in accelerated math grew at higher rates than the 62 students in regular math.
 
The issues surrounding how to best meet the needs of students is part of a broader look at education in general. Over the years, most recently through John Hattie’s meta-analysis of school studies, researchers have “proven”/found” that various instructional methods and organizational approaches have differing effects on student learning. Hattie’s findings relating to ability-based grouping are simply not encouraging.
 
In considering changing the model of 6th grade math offerings, members of the administration have reviewed and studied an abundance of research related to tracking, ability grouping, and instruction. In addition, the partnership with ECRA Group has allowed us to review and analyze multiple points of local student performance data over the past few years in each “program.”
 
Sharing one of many videos about ability grouping – causing us to pause, think, and “unlearn” for children – ALL children!

Our 6th grade math model moving forward calls for four sections of accelerated math on each middle school team with TAP (our gifted ed and high achieving track) still remaining separate. We understand that this will be a change for our current sixth grade math teachers.
However, it is worth noting what will not change: 6th grade teachers will move from teaching 4 sections of 6th grade math to 4 sections of 6th grade math with the curriculum map standards (as the “floor” for all students, but the “ceiling” for none) remaining identical to what they are now. The expectation for differentiation is not new, it’s done every day in every K-5 classroom across the district, and it has been happening in our middle school classrooms as well for decades.
 
We believe children must be allowed to show competence and mastery of their grade level standards, and when they do, the teacher must allow them to move beyond in an effort to remove the limits on our students.
 
Finally, this entire change process directly relates to the PLC (professional learning communities) work in which we have been involved. There are four basic questions we all must continuously ask and reflect upon every day:
 
  1. What do we expect our children to know and be able to do? (As mentioned before, with this change the answer will be the same: the 6th grade CCSS for mathematics will be the floor for all students and the ceiling for none).
  2. How will we know if they learned it? (Again, largely nothing will change; we will continue to use MAP, PARCC, DCA, and ongoing daily formative assessment data to monitor our results)
  3. How will we respond when some children do not learn? (Our answer to this question, based on all available data the past two years, is the “why” of this whole movement. This is something we’ve examined extensively and–having done so–determined we must now respond systemically; something must change to determine if we can get better results moving forward)
  4. How will we respond when some students already know/can do? (We want to spend more time on answering this question next year with the acceleration for all model, in which we insist on 6th standards as floor for all, yet the ceiling for none. How can we individualize/personalize 6th grade math instruction to make sure the ceiling is limitless for kids)
 

Internally we shared some of the following background information and resource collection:

There has been a lot of discussion, thinking, review and reflection about the administration’s goal to reduce tracking at the sixth grade math level next year. Our aim is to raise expectations and remove limits to student growth by making all or just about all math (except TAP/gifted) accelerated. Our “acceleration for all” philosophy is driven by research, best practices, literature, experience, professional judgement, resources available to us, and the performance on the achievement test of children in the “regular” class for the past two years. One hypothesis for the poor performance is the ill effects of ability grouping/tracking as has been in place. In addition, the past few years offers us incredible gains and growth – never before seen or experienced in the district. Our student performance K-5 is impacting needed changes in models at grades 6-8.

Please see these videos for perspectives from experts on tracking and ability grouping:

This is a complex and multifaceted issue that tracking alone does not explain. We believe that raising expectations for all students in the current “regular track” will improve student performance.

Additional literature/research information on this well researched topic:

According to Mary Fletcher, there are many benefits to expect when instructional staff are conversant with and dedicated to differentiated instruction and detracking:

  • Differentiation allows more students to feel invested in the lesson, thereby decreasing behavioral problems. Students who previously opted to be viewed as “bad” rather than “stupid” will have their learning needs met and other talents explored, allowing them to drop the “bad” act and become instead a valuable member of the class.

  • Students who might have been considered less intelligent because they learn in a nontraditional way become invaluable contributors to the heterogeneous classroom.

  • Differentiated instruction encourages flexibility. Teachers thus become adept at adapting lessons to fulfill each student’s individual needs.

  • Detracking removes the limits that come with rigid thinking about how learning should and does occur. Fair does not always mean “the same.” For example, allowing a student who struggles with the physical act of writing to type his notes can benefit that student and the rest of the class. Not only does the student get access to the material, but the entire class has a reliable set of notes that can be used for those who were absent. This student now becomes an expert—and essential—note-taker who takes pride in his responsibility and sees himself as a member of the class.

Eliminate the Lowest Track First

There is little doubt that tracking does the most harm to students who are consigned to the lowest track. According to the National Research Council (NRC), low-track classes have an especially deleterious effect on learning, since such classes are “typically characterized by an exclusive focus on basic skills, low expectations, and the least qualified teachers” (Heubert & Hauser, 1999, p. 282).

The preponderance of research regarding low-track classes was so overwhelmingly negative that the NRC concluded that students should not be educated in low-track classes as they are currently designed (Heubert & Hauser, 1999). It makes sense, therefore, to begin by eliminating the classes that do the most harm to students.

Why Ability Grouping Doesn’t Work by Shirley Clarke

Detracking for Excellence and Equity compilation of research findings from several sources

Moving Beyond Tracking by Wm Mathis

From: The Mathematics of Hope: Moving from Performance to Learning in Mathematics Classrooms– Jo Boaler:

Other changes need to happen as well. Mathematics teachers need to stop frequent, timed testing; replace grades with diagnostic feedback (Black et al. 2002; Boaler & Foster 2014); and deemphasize speed, so that the students who think slowly and deeply are not led to believe they are not capable (Boaler, 2014). Perhaps most significantly and most radically, schools should also remove fixed student groupings that transmit fixed mindset messages and replace them with flexible groupings that recognize that students have different strengths at different times (Boaler 2009; Boaler & Foster 2014).

Keeping Track: The Policy and Practice of Curriculum Inequality (Oakes)

Current DPS 109 5th Grade Data to review for Placement Discussions

Potential Resources for teachers:

Jo Boaler’s Online course for Teachers

Why Do Americans Stink at Math by Elizabeth Green

The American Math Crisis– Forthcoming Math Documentary

The Stereotypes that Distort How Americans Teach and Learn Math by Jo Boaler

How Math Should Be Taught – Jo Boaler

When You Believe In Your Students They Do Better -Jo Boaler

As always we welcome comments, thoughts, challenges, examples, etc!

The Future is Now – Transformation via Digital Learning

mlubelfeld General Posts , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

“A coach is someone who can give correction without causing resentment.”
– John Wooden

Over the past decade and especially in the last year and a half, DPS109 has been “going digital” as part of a 1:1 Transformation of teaching and learning practices – we are in 2015 so we are committed to educating like it’s 2015 and not 1915!

In support of this transformation we have invested time, dollars, resources, planning, training, and support for this transformation – not reformation – but transformation of teaching and learning leveraging modern techniques, research, tools, and culture in support of our mission: Engage, Inspire, Empower! Earlier this year I shared several blog posts outlining and describing many of the high level digital tools we have in support of our teachers and students. As part of this process I was fortunate to attend a national conversation on math achievement as a guest of Discovery Education.We are Future Ready!

Brief Report from National Education Leadership Event
District 109 Director for Learning and Assessment Services Amy Rubin and I went to Discovery Education World Headquarters for the release and review of math techbook as well as technology tool integration as part of a national conversation on math achievement. For more information, please visit: http://www.discoveryeducation.com/futurenow2015/math-techbook-launch/index.cfm.

We were guests of the Discovery Education Company and we were seated with the U.S. Secretary of Labor Tom Perez who also gave the keynote address at the event. Beyond reviewing “technology”, Amy and I were part of a national discussion about math achievement and the importance of math education for all students, especially for our girls. This is consistent with findings and recommendations of the Superintendent’s Task Force for Middle Level Education STEM subcommittee recommendations from last year’s community engagement process. Our plan is to share our learnings with the math PLC’s (Professional Learning Communities, teams) at both middle schools as well as with the math committee and the leadership teams.

Amy and I also visited a Washington D.C. public school where blended learning and digital transformations using tools that include the Discovery science, math, and social studies tech books are the norm. The school is the Wheatley Education Center, a K-8 public neighborhood school. The true differentiation taking place in each classroom was impressive – at low, medium and high levels. There were classrooms with direct instruction, group work and individual work going on at the same time – stations across the grade levels. As you may know, DPS109 has available for use Discovery Education science tech book in grades 1-8 and social studies tech book in grades 6-8. In addition, for several years we have had access to Discovery Streaming with audio, video, imagery, encyclopedia, songs, etc. resources for all subject areas grades K-12. Additional training on site has begun and most recently at our DPS109 Teaching & Learning Conference, Discovery Education trainers led sessions with our teachers and administrators.

Amy and I also benefitted greatly from having the opportunity to interact with executives from Discovery as well as education leaders from US and Canadian states/provinces. We also met with educators from the United Kingdom; these multiple perspectives serve to enlighten us to the possibilities of technology, improved instruction or pedagogy and “crack the code” on how to effectively differentiate for all learners – especially at the higher achievement levels. This event was unique in that we interacted with teachers, students, leaders, and politicians at the highest levels for the purposes of leveraging business/government/and educational partnership in support of public education and economic growth. We did all this amidst a flurry (no pun intended) of weather related communications and decision making this week. All and all it was a whirlwind of intensity and learning and energizing partnerships on behalf of student learning, staff training and growth, and community and national pride!

Summer Learning Resources from the IL State Superintendent

mlubelfeld General Posts , , , , , , ,

Message From State Superintendent Christopher A. Koch

The General Assembly’s spring legislative session is scheduled to wrap up later this week. Things move quickly during the end of session, as evidenced last week when lawmakers began work on a budget that significantly reduced funding for education. That proposal was soundly rejected Friday morning in the House with only five members voting for it and 107 voting against it.
…
I was pleased to join Governor Pat Quinn and Secretary of State Jesse White last week in encouraging students from across Illinois to access free online tools designed to promote reading, maintain math skills and inspire learning during summer vacation.

The free online Find a Book utility provides a way for parents and children to quickly and easily search books that match a child’s reading level and interests as well as locate a local library carrying each title. The Summer Math Challenge is a free math skills maintenance program targeted to students who have just completed grade 2 through 5 and is designed to help children retain math skills learned during the previous school year. From June 23 through Aug. 1, parents who enroll their children in the program will receive daily emails with fun activities and links to educational resources.

We hope that you can help disseminate the letters to parents, principals and librarians that was sent out last week as part of this annual promotion. You can also find copies of those letters and other resources on ISBE’s Summer Learning Webpage at http://isbe.net/find-a-book/default.htm.

Finally, I hope you had a safe and relaxing Memorial Day weekend.

Chris

More information from Dr. Koch:
llinois Virtual School

IVS Offers Summer School Opportunities for Students Across Illinois

Attention principals and guidance counselors, Illinois Virtual School (IVS) can be the summer school destination for students. IVS can be your resource for students needing:
· Credit recovery options to graduate on time;
· Opportunities to take a foreign language, or other course not offered at your school;
· Opportunities to strengthen reading and/or writing skills by enrolling in Reading Skills and Strategies or Writing Skills and Strategies;
· a chance to take a course for enrichment.

Visit http://ilvirtual.org/summer4 to learn more about what IVS has to offer this summer. Please share this link with parents that may be looking for summer school programs for their middle or high school students.