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Determination of Power Indicators

James Frakes & Associates, LLC

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“Good assessment is good instruction. The two should not be seen as separate activities.

Most of our problems related to improving student achievement are not so much due to the inability of students to learn, as they are related to providing an instructional environment where there is a tight relationship among the written, taught, and tested curriculum—in other words, where there is alignment”

(Leaving No Child Behind: 50 Ways to Close the Achievement Gap, 2003, p. 56).

The Power of Alignment

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“While the number of curriculum objectives in the United States is growing,

countries whose students are obtaining the highest scores on international tests

are teaching fewer objectives

but with greater depth”.

The Power of Focus

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The Power of Focus “When you have a doable

number of objectives and

students are learning the skills to master,

you have a high probability that not only will the students do well on the tests,

but that they will also remember the knowledge, skill, concept, or process

for use in life”

(Leaving No Child Behind: 50 Ways to Close the Achievement Gap, 2003, p. 29).

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Power Standards

Prioritized standards that are derived from a systematic and balanced approach

to distinguishing which standards are

absolutely essential for student success

from those that are “nice to know.”

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Power Standards

They represent the “safety net” of standards

each teacher needs to make sure

that every student learns

prior to leaving the current grade.

Power Standards by Larry Ainsworth

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Also known as the “80/20 law” or the “rule of the vital few”

Those things that matter most must not be at the mercy of the things that matter least.

The Pareto Rule

CurriculumPyramid

ResourcePyramid

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Ainsworth talks about “standards” but in Indiana we are more accurately referring to “skill indicators.”

A Mile wide and an inch deep

If everything is important, nothing is important

What must I teach to help the students be successful in school?

Power Indicators (Ainsworth)

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Deciding what we won’t emphasize as well as what we will focus on.

Teachers have to examine use of instructional time and ensure that bulk of time is focused on the most important skills. The “Woodrow Wilson Unit” may have to go.

Power Indicators

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Power Indicators

We have to stop saying “I covered it.”

We have to be able to say “Ninety-seven percent of my students mastered it.”

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Setting Selection Criteria How do you decide which standards are the

most important ones to teach (when you realize there is no way to teach all of them effectively in the time you have)?

Are all of you using the same selection criteria?

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Setting Selection Criteria

Identify the most important standards or indicators needed for:

success in school (this year, next year, and so

on)

life success,

success on ISTEP+ exam

Larry Ainsworth

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Power Indicators - Criteria1. Endurance – will this standard or indicator

provide students with knowledge and skills that be of value beyond a single test date?

2. Leverage – will this provide knowledge and skills that will be of value in multiple disciplines?

3. Readiness – will this provide students with essential knowledge and skills that are necessary for success in the next grade or the next level of instruction?

Dr. Douglas Reeves

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Power Indicators - Criteria

What do your students need for success:

in school - this year – as measured by ISTEP+ and other indicators (leverage)

next year- readiness for next levels of learning (readiness)

in life (endurance)

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Power Indicators - Criteria

As you work to identify the power indicators,

do not base your decisions on how your students are currently performing on those

indicators today,

but only consider the importance of the indicators for student learning and success.

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Step 1: Form teams (K-3, 4-6, 7-8, 9-10)

Select content area to address first (start with math)

Identify the first standard area to begin the process (e.g., Math – Number Sense)

Power Indicators

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Power Indicators

Step 2: Start with highest grade level and work backwards

e.g., if you are in a K-3 group, begin with grade 3, move to grade 2, then grade 1, and end with K).

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Step 3: Each team member works independently to make lists of skill indicators “Must Know” “Nice to Know” “Unnecessary to Know”

Use the three tests (life, next grade, ISTEP+).

Select 1/3 of the skill indicators as most important

Power Indicators

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Power Indicators

Take 5 minutes for each team member to complete her/his analysis

Use prior knowledge of types of skills students must perform on ISTEP+.

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Power Indicators

Step 4: Within your grade span team, compare selections and identify those indicators that you agree to be essential.

Make sure you have vertical articulation within your grade span (e.g., K-3 team).

Step 5: Compare to Power Indicator lists from other school corporations.

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Step 6: Continue the process with the next standard areas (math first and then LA).

Then, repeat the same process for the grade above and below within your grade span.

Record the numbers of the selected Power Indicators on a chart labeled with specific grades levels. Ensure you have maintained vertical articulation across the grades in your grade span

Power Indicators

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Power Indicators

Step 7: Share your DRAFT lists with other grade span teams. Are the power indicators vertically aligned across all four grade spans?

Step 8: Reconvene your team and use input to create final list for implementation.

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Next Steps How will you use the power indicators?

Revisit your Curriculum Maps – remove unnecessary standards from the maps.

When developing end-of-year or quarterly assessments, ensure the power indicators are weighted the most (at least four test items per power indicator)

For those schools implementing the Student Success Process, ensure the instructional calendar covers the power indicators.

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Next Steps How will you ensure all teachers are aware of,

understand the usefulness of the power indicators, and will use them to guide instructional time allocation?

How will you assess mastery of these indicators (formative assessment)?

You may want to cross-check the weighting of the ISTEP+ to specific skill indicators.

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After each year’s EOY Test or ISTEP+ administration, meet to review and adjust power indicators.

Consider how to sequence the power indicators, allocate instructional time (80/20), create aligned mastery assessments for each indicator and 9-week tests.

Engage in research to determine best instructional practices for various skill indicators (vocabulary development, writing)

Considerations