Activity Directions: Continuous Improvement within a Standards-Based System

1. Staff review and discuss the Handout: Continuous Improvement within a Standards-based Education System to develop shared understanding of how the components of the Portal/standards-based education work together.

· Develop shared understanding of continuous improvement on learning, instruction and systems.

· Reflect on key questions to ask to improve learning, instruction and systems within a continuous improvement process.

1. Discuss the goals for this session: To develop a shared understanding of the for continuous improvement within a standards-based system by utilizing the questions below to discuss the Handout: Continuous Improvement within a Standards-based Education System.

2. Have participants review the documents silently. As they are reading, ask them to think about the questions in each of the learning, instruction and systems circles and their personal reactions as they read them. 

3. After individual reading, pair participants to discuss the following questions:

a. Brainstorm essential supports to respond to the question “What do students need to know, understand, and be able to do” Potential supports could include:

i. Standards in all content areas include grade-level expectations for all students and are adopted at the district level.

ii. Learning expectations for all students are identified, organized, and described around prepared graduate competencies that connect the expectations with the standards.

iii. District curriculum provides a scope and sequence of grade-level expectations organized to comprise a district’s guaranteed and viable curriculum from PreK-High School.

iv. District-produced curriculum documents, guides, or frameworks provide tools for teachers in planning effective instruction that focus on the “big ideas” along with the concepts and skills identified in the organizations’ guaranteed and viable curriculum.

v. Examples and exemplars of mastery-level student work are identified to create and provide models of performance expectations for students.

vi. Standards and grade-level expectations are communicated effectively to students and families.

vii. Standards and grade-level expectations are reviewed as part of a continuous review cycle.

b. Brainstorm essential supports to respond to the question “How do we teach effectively to ensure all students are learning?” Potential supports could include:

i. The organization’s curriculum is consistently and equitably taught.

ii. The organization designs, communicates and ensures implementation of an instructional framework that describes commonly expected, research-based instructional methods that actively, meaningfully and rigorously engage students in learning.

iii. Teachers engage in ongoing, intense collaborative work to develop units, lessons and instructional strategies focused on grade-level expectations.

iv. Instruction is continuously informed by assessment of student learning through intentional and ongoing formative assessment practices (assessments for learning), interim assessments to determine progress towards mastery, and summative assessments to measure mastery (assessments for learning).

c. Brainstorm essential supports to respond to the question “How do we know students are learning?” Potential supports could include:

i. All assessments to measure student mastery are tightly aligned with standards and grade-level expectations in the curriculum.

ii. All educators understand the multiple purposes of assessment, particularly the different purposes, construction, and application among formative assessment practices (assessments for learning to inform instruction), interim assessments to determine progress towards mastery, and summative assessments to measure mastery (assessments for learning to measure mastery).

iii. A variety of assessment methods and strategies are available and used to continuously measure student learning and inform instruction.

iv. Common assessments are developed and administered for similar courses and/or grade levels

v. Students receive timely feedback and guidance regarding their performance on assessments in order to monitor their own progress and set future learning goals.

vi. To guide decision-making, the organization continuously collect and analyze an array of data including student growth and learning results to improve the learning process.

d. Brainstorm essential supports to respond to the question “What do we do when students are not learning or are reaching mastery before expectation?” Potential supports could include:

iii. Instructional interventions are available outside the classroom are provided for students performing below mastery while extended enrichment opportunities are available for students performing above mastery.

iv. All intervention models, programs or strategies are research-based and delivered to meet individual learning needs of all students.

4. Conduct a group share out of paired discussions. Have the group then identify what supports may be missing.

5. The leader (facilitator) can then identify the next steps in the continuous improvement process that will be utilized to provide the missing supports.