Biology Update

Evanston Township High School • District 202

Dr. Pete Bavis

04/17/2012

Purpose of this Presentation

• Provide an overview of the process and timeline of Biology preparation work

• Describe the work of the assessment team and their progress

• Preview anticipated activities for summer and fall of 2012

Evanston Township High School | District 202 2

Big Ideas in Curriculum Renewal

EXCELLENCE RIGORRaise the achievement expectations for all students

EQUITY RELEVANCEMake the content accessible to all students

ACCOUNTABILITYRESPONSIBILITY

Provide a clear assessment process that encourages students to learn what they need in order to earn Honors credit

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Teacher teams are developing…

• Semester exams aligned to College Readiness Standards

• First semester assessments for earned honors credit

• Second semester assessment for earned honors credit

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Winter 2010:

•PD on curriculum mapping

•All Biology teachers attended Dr. Tomlinson’s Differentiated Instruction (DI) presentation

•Cadre of teachers attended a one-day DI Workshop

What has been accomplished to date:

Spring 2011:

• Aligned Biology Curriculum Map to revised AP Biology standards and learning objectives

• Vetted map with all Biology teachers

• DI Follow up Workshop with Biology teachers

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What has been accomplished to date:

Summer 2011:

• All Biology teachers attended a two-day DI Conference. • Five Biology teachers and the department chair attended a

three-day DI Train the Trainer Workshop.

• Biology Curriculum Map was revised, connected to text, and uploaded to Performance Pathways.

• DI model lessons were developed and edited by curriculum group.

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What has been accomplished to date:

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Winter/Spring 2011/12:

• Continue work with DI lessons in classes

• Draft earned honors assessment

• Draft rubrics for earned honors assessments

• Determine common grade book structure

What is being worked on:

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Spring/Summer 2012:

• Finalize assessments for earned honors credit

• Pilot Semester 2 examination

• Create formative assessments to support earned honors assessments

What is being worked on:

• Scientific Literacy: understand and recognize the different parts of the scientific process.

• Data Representation: construction and analysis of charts and graphs.

• Data Evaluation: Is the data helping to answer the original question? Does it agree with the conclusion?

• Scientific Investigations: Putting together all the pieces of the scientific process using data from the REEL Lab.

First Semester AEHC Scientific Process

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• Drawing conclusions from one data source: multiple data representations from one source

• Drawing conclusions from multiple data sources: different sources, different representations of data

• Evaluating conflicting viewpoints: using multiple data sets and evaluating conflicting viewpoints

• Authoring an opinion: evaluate multiple data sets and form opinion

Second Semester AEHC

Evaluation of Experiments, Models, Assertions,

Interpretation of Data, & Scientific Investigation

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Thank you!Questions & Comments