The Learning Gains by Teacher by Standard tool is a valuable tool in today's climate of accountability, and "raising the bar" to show increases in student achievement. This document will help school planners, whether Principal, Assistant Principal or other Leadership Team members, target specific areas to monitor and provide adequate assistance and reinforcement.The FCAT Learning Gains Teacher Report creates a visual for individual teachers to see student achievement levels in each Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) subgroup. It will also enable teachers to reflect on instructional practices from the current/past year and set a path toward increasing student achievement in various AYP subgroups.
The Personal Learning Gains Plan provides an instrument for teachers to use when conducting data chats with individual students. This document will enable students to see area(s) of strength and area(s) needing improvement. A plan for future improvement will be created and be made available for review at later dates to check for progress.
The Learning Gains documents described above are available for download in the column to the right.
What strategies are you implementing to raise student achievement in these targeted areas? Post a comment below describing a strategy so others may benefit.
20 comments:
The Learning Gains chart is extremely valuable in looking at two year trends for your Math, Reading, and Language Arts teachers.
The unfortunate piece is that ALL content areas cannot be displayed since there is not official FCAT test over two year for Science or Social Studies. Many schools have teaching Reading in the content areas, so they must be held accountable as well.
HRD has done a great job in bringing these data tools to us with the vision of Sherry Rose, Director of Leadership.
HRD Leadership has done a great job in providing us these data sheets from the vision of Sherry Rose, Director of Leadership.
This tool enables Administrators to look at two year trends with their Math, Reading and Language Arts teachers.
It would be great to also have Social Studies, Science, and Elective teachers on the report, however there are no FCAT assessments over a two year period for those content areas.
We are conducting data chats that require teachers to discuss specific issues associated with student achievement as well as AYP subgroups. These chats open up discussions about program implementation. Teachers are able to share their fears and successes with administration as well as with the reading coach. PLCs play a large role in ensuring that we are allowing teachers to share their best practices while having meaning ful collaboration between grade levels. This is in my opinion the sure way to improving student achievement.
Some strategies that I have witnessed include: (1) Identifying "bubble students" who can be moved from Level 2 to proficiency. Then setting up bi-monthly data chats with students (and parents) to keep them focused on skills that need additional practice, and maintenance of skills that have been mastered. (2) Ongoing monitoring of teaching and learning for continuous improvement. Teachers have regular opportunities to meet, plan, and share student data and create lessons and mini-assessments. The focus calendar is monitored as evidenced by teachers lesson plans and ongoing classroom observations. (3) Tutorials and enrichments are part of the regular school day where tutorials reteach the benchmark in different ways to address individual student learning style. (4) Short frequent assessments with items that resemble FCAT questions are given on targeted benchmarks needing remediation. (5) Alternative instructional delivery methods are offered providing remdiation, acceleration, and enrichment to improve student levels to mastery, and maintain students at mastery level. (6) Administration is frequently monitoring teacher and student success through observation and data analysis, and now through these Learning Gains reports.
The data is shared with teachers during meetings. The school has allotted time during each quarter for teachers to meet and discuss individual student performance and share best practices as well as monitor the progress of students.
The school which I visit has allotted one day per quarter for teachers in each grade level to meet. During this time the teachers discuss individual student performance and share best practices which are successful with the students. They also monitor the progress of students and develop individualized plans as needed.
I have several strategies that I have implemented to raise student achievement in targeted subgroups. Specifically, I create the data chat sheets that fellow administrators use in their data discussions with their teachers. The discussion centers on student testing data, attendance, discipline infractions, and grades. The data is differentiated by the following sub groups: White, Black, Hispanic, Economically Disadvantaged, Students with Disabilities, and English Language Learners. In addition to discussing the data, the administrators and teachers discuss strategies and suggested activities to assist the struggling students.
In addition to the administrator and teacher data chat, the teachers meet with their students individually for a data chat. Each student has a data sheet that lists their scores on the previous FCAT, current BAT assessments, Mini-BAT assessments, and monthly writing assessments. For each assessment, the students create a goal score and list activities they plan to do to meet the goal.
I also created a Pull-Out Plan for certain sub groups that are not performing well on the current assessments. The pull-out groups are for English Language Learners, Students with Disabilities, and Economically Disadvantaged Students.
Lastly, our English Language Learners have not made AYP in Reading for the past five years and this sub group has not done well in Writing. This year, I have created a Lesson Study Group and Professional Learning Community that consists of teachers of sheltered ELL courses.
We have implemented a school-wide reading plan that involves weekly targeted benchmark practices. Student/Teacher data chats also focus on identifying students in each subgroup and emphasizing the strategies that will be employed to move these students academically. The focus on professional development this year is also on Differentiated Instruction based on the needs of the different subgroups.
joIn postsecondary education, learning gains in reading, math and language are measured by attainment of Literacy Completion Points (LCPs). In order for a student to be considered a Vocational Completer (graduate) the student must have attained a miniumum level of scores on the Test of Adult Basic Education (TABE)at levels identified in the specific FLDOE curriculum frameworks. Each quarter,we conduct data chats by department to recognize teachers and programs with the greatest attainment, identify and share best practices across curriculum areas. We compare performance from one year to the next to identify trends, professional development needs and student supports to increase student achievement.
Our school believes in utilizing data for decision making. I have provided staff development for the teachers related to looking at and understanding student data. With this knowledge, I conduct data chats with my teachers focused on identifying the different AYP subgroup categories and their impact on the school based on the number of categories that each individual student falls within. I go further to have PGP reviews with my teachers where they are required to focus on AYP progress. The school as a whole already has identified needs and the teachers match up with those depending on their student population. I require my teachers to have data chats with the students so that the students are aware of their strengths and weaknesses and are able to set an academic goal with the teacher. To me, this provides a focus for success. Through our chats and needs assessments, several PLC's have developed that focus specifically on increasing student achievement with a big focus on the economically disadvantaged subgroup this school year. Beyond this, there is constant monitoring and I constantly question students about their goals. These are just a few things that I do and the forms provided would be very helpful in me modifying my documents for next school year.
We are conducting school wide data chats. We meet during Intervention Central to discuss students' progress based on FCAT and most recently our BAT I scores. We refer to the data for each student in all AYP subgroups and identify how we are servicing each of these students in Math, Reading and Science. The team discusses how the interventions are progressing and the results of mini assessments to progress monitor key benchmarks.
Additionally, we are planning to begin FCAT Science Saturdays with our 5th graders in order to target key students and areas needing improvement & enrichment. Our goal is to focus on key concepts by teaching reading through Science and providing hands on experiments.
The "FCAT Learning Gains" data is very helpful in allowing teachers to see how they are moving students to proficiency. At Coral Glades, we continue to discuss with faculty all and every issues that deal with student achievement. We continue to hold departmental data chats (each grading period) to gain insight into different trending tendencies. In addition, we meet with each faculty member through individual data chats and discuss all matters pertaining to ensuring that the teachers are aware of their students’ scores and making sure that each student is being serviced accordingly. In other words, we require teachers to know whom their students are, what subgroups the students fall into, and whether or not they fall into the lowest 30% percentile in reading and/or math. Each teacher is then required to meet with his/her student in student data chats. We encourage all students to understand and focus on their own data. We build individual learning plans for the students and monitor the progression.
We continue to add staff development trainings during our Professional Study Days to train teachers on how to accurately read data pulled from Virtual Counselor, how to incorporate differentiated instruction in the classroom, and how to understand each student in the classroom as individuals, among other workshops. Moreover, we are in the process of recruiting our students to our after-school and Saturday FCAT camps (Jag 9) which will begin after Thanksgiving break. This year, we are focusing on many of our lowest 30% percentile students and those on the bubble needing enrichment and improvement in test scores. While there are a myriad of other opportunities for our staff to gain insight into student data, administration and leadership are continuously monitoring both teacher and student successes and to ensure that the data pulled is used appropriately and accurately!!
The Learning Gains report is a very useful tool to help plan for staff development and curriculum needs. However there are some short falls in that not all teachers can be tracked, and it does not take into account the learning gains of the students at the beginning of the year from the prior year.
However, as mentioned this is a great tool to assist with data analysis and chats with our instructional personnel. I have used this information to provide a staff development to teach how AYP and Safe Harbor is determined, for one would be surprised how few instructional personnel know how to do those calculations. Then we have our teachers do a beginning of the year Learning Gains, Levels of Proficiency, and AYP chart to determine what/who they have sitting in front of them currently. From this they also look at the Lower 30 report, 4 year trend, and our Power 3's (those that meet at least 3 of the AYP subgroups and will give us additional points).
As this data and information is gather and throughout the year we meet in our PLC's, departments, Teams, Rti, and as a faculty to collaborate and share best practices while unpacking the Benchmarks and Strands.
Furthermore, those instructional personnel identified in the "red" and/or "yellow" are conferenced with and provided with additional assistance as needed and as available.
By everyone knowing, understanding, and sharing the data it is hope that each will work towards the common goal of achieving AYP if not Safe Harbor.
The teacher and student Learning Gains reports are valuable data for administrators and teachers. We are reviewing the data with teachers, first by class and then by individual student. Discussion about strengths, weaknesses, and professional development are started with these reports.
Additionally, teachers can review the data from their current students (as available) and focus instruction and intensity of interventions more specifically. BAT data can also be compared to help monitor progress.
We conduct quarterly data chats with teams of teachers who share students for departmentalizing. The ESE Specialist and Reading Coach also attend these meetings so that individual student performance can be discussed as well as suggestions made as to how to better reach those students in need. Sometimes changes need to be made to IEPs or additional assistance or modeling offered in the classroom by the Reading Coach.
The learning gains teacher reports have helped us in placing teachers on the departmentalized grade levels by their areas of strength. During pre-planning this year, teachers identified which and how many subgroups students fell into and also identified whether students were more likely to make gains by moving up to the next achievement level or through developmental scale score points. This information is also shared with students through teacher conferences so that they see their goals of FCAT success are attainable when discussing points needed to make a learning gain. Administration conferences individually with each intermediate student during "crunch time" in the Spring as well. The personal learning gains plan provided will be useful in these student data chats.
Data! Data! Give me a break- some of you may say as you analyze, crunch and disaggregate the many types of data we now use to make instructional decisions impacting student achievement. I used to believe that looking at student performance data was the greatest way to increase student achievement or demonstrate learning gains. I was inherently wrong, because I now see how the classroom teacher’s data is more beneficial as it helps teachers refine their instructional toolboxes.
In looking at the teacher learning gains report from data warehouse I was able to look at how students in each AYP subgroup performed for the past 3 years with each of my reading and math teachers. Through data chats and curriculum conversations teachers were able to look at their individual learning gains report and reflect on their instructional strategies, academic strengths and weaknesses.
From their reflective conversations and collegial collaborations we were able to develop an action plan geared to increasing the number of students in the black, free/reduced lunch and total AYP subgroups making learning gains for the 2010-11 school year. Our action plan consists of the following: 1. Meet with each grade level on Fridays to develop hands-on activities that promote critical thinking. 2. Each teacher will identify the areas of strengths and/or weaknesses on the BAT 1 Assessment and group the students according to proficiency to provide remediation, re-teach, or enrichment. Students will work on building stamina activities, skill/drill practice and computer assisted instructional programs such as: Riverdeep, FCAT Explorer, Odyssey, EasyCBM, and FOCUS Achieves. Students will receive assistance before or after school and during the performing arts period. 3. Teachers who demonstrated strength in a particular standard, benchmark or subject will share best practices with their colleagues to ensure an effective instructional delivery model. As students rotate through the 3 learning environments with different teachers they will become more proficient. 4. Progress will be monitored through the use of FCAT test maker-pro which will be given bi-weekly.
The FCAT Learning Gains by Teacher and by Subgroup is an essential tool for administrators and teachers to monitor student achievement in all applicable AYP subgroups. At our school, we implement the following strategies every year to help teachers increase student achievement:
-Review data with teacher(s) showing less than 65% learning gains and identify the reasons for low student performance (programs, lesson delivery, discipline, attendance).
-Monitor the teaching and learning in the classroom and provide assistance through a mentor teacher and/or Curriculum Specialist.
-Ongoing student-by-student data chats for progress monitoring purposes.
-Monitor teacher use of the RTI process to ensure there is ongoing communication between the RTI point person and the teacher.
-Align Learning Gains data to PGP and provide job-embedded staff development.
-Teacher placement in a different grade level.
I found the Learning Gains data very useful and relevant to today's needs for increasing student achievement. I conducted data chats with each teacher. For our 4th and 5th grade teachers, the learning gains data gave them information that they would go back and use to plan for instruction. Administratively, we examined the data to determine professional development and coaching needs at our school.
Looking at trends to determine levels of weakness is good practice in assisting administration, teachers, and students. Every decision should be based on data.
We recently completed our data chats with our teachers and most felt comfortable about the expectations that we have placed on our school. This year we decided to do our data chats in each content area relating to their specific grade so we could generate deeper discussion. During our chats, new teachers were paired with veteran teachers. This process allowed teachers to be assisted in the process of determining the scores of students last year, the current level students, and what expectations they had in the future towards individual learning gains.
We focused on having teachers create seating charts that included the AYP subgroups of every student in their classes. Last year we focused on the bubble students and they did well, however, our lowest 30% dropped. During our chats, we discussed the importance of reaching every child in our school and how it is important not to forget to focus on our level 4 and 5 students. Everyone agreed this was a critical step in the attempt to making AYP.
Several strategies were implemented to raise student achievement in targeted subgroups. Specifically, I create data chat sheets that were utilized to guide the discussions during data chats. The discussions centered on student testing data, AYP subgroups, attendance, and grades.
Teaching strategies, suggested enrichment, and interventions activities were planned to meet the needs of individual students.
Students who were retained or identified in the lowest 30th percentile were targeted through the Response to Intervention (RTI) process.
The Teacher Learning Gain Report was another set of data points that assisted with teacher and pupil placement.
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