ASSESSMENT
Adolescent Literacy – Professional Development
Patricia W. Newhall, M.A., M.S.Ed.
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Contents – Facilitator’s guide
Introduction to the Massachusetts Adolescent Literacy Professional Development Modules 1
Section 1: An Overview of the Content and Structure of the Modules 1
Section 2: Considerations for How to Use the Modules 6
Section 3: Sample Formats, Sequences and Use of Modules 9
In Conclusion 15
Acknowledgements 19
Context for Module 3 21
Unit 1: Assessing Assessment 27
Session 1: Assessment Foundations 33
Session 2: Balanced Assessment 43
Session 3: A Comprehensive Assessment Program 58
Unit 2: Disciplinary Literacy 69
Session 1: Enhancing Assessment Practices 70
Session 2: Formative Assessment 79
Session 3: Involving Students in the Assessment Process 87
Unit 3: Students At Risk 97
Session 1: The Role of Assessment for Students At Risk 99
Session 2: Literacy Screening and Diagnostic Assessment 111
Session 3: Progress Monitoring 128
Leadership Roles and Responsibilities for Module 3: Assessment 151
Leadership Is Key to Improving Adolescent Literacy 151
The Role of Leadership in Implementing the Four Adolescent Literacy Modules 154
Leadership Roles and Responsibilities Specific to Support of Module 3 157
Actions Literacy Leaders Can Take 160
Introduction to the Modules and Units
Introduction to the Massachusetts Adolescent Literacy Professional Development Modules
Welcome to the Massachusetts Adolescent Literacy Professional Development Modules! We hope that the information in the Modules will be a valuable resource for supporting teachers and school leaders to gain insights into how to improve adolescent literacy learning in their schools.
Section 1: An Overview of the Content and Structure of the Modules
There are four Professional Development Modules in the series. This set of resources is unique in its comprehensiveness and its specific focus on literacy improvement at the middle and high school level.
Each Module addresses a critical topic in the field:
Module 1 – Adolescent Reading, Writing and Thinking
Module 2 – Content-Area Literacy
Module 3 – Assessment
Module 4 – Tiered Instruction
Each Module is divided into three units, and each unit is further divided into 3 to 6 sessions. For each Module, we offer a Facilitator’s Guide, a Participant’s Resource Packet, and a set of PowerPoint slides with extensive notes. The Facilitator’s Guide provides a wealth of references and citations for further learning and specific suggestions for readings, guidance in facilitating conversations among participants using specific discussion protocols, links to web-based resources, and hints for how to deepen learning and understanding through application to practice and follow-up exercises. The Participant’s Resource Packet is a collection of tools the participants can use to explore the topic of each session, including materials such as surveys, samples, and discussion protocols. The set of PowerPoint slides anchor the facilitator’s presentation with data, graphs, and discussion-generating questions.
Content of the Modules
The content of each Module was developed in collaboration with the Office of Literacy at the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (MA ESE). The Modules address four key topics about which educators need greater understanding and resources to address if they seek to improve adolescent literacy learning. Each Module is divided into three units, as follows:
Module 1: Adolescent Reading, Writing and Thinking / Module 2: Content-Area Literacy / Module 3: Assessment / Module 4: Tiered InstructionText, Activity and Context / Content-based Reading and Writing Skills / Assessing Assessment / An Overview of Tiered Instruction
Understanding and Supporting Skilled Reading / Cross-content Reading and Writing Skills and Strategies / Disciplinary Literacy / Setting Up a System of Tiered Response
The State, National and International Conversation about Adolescent Literacy / Supporting Struggling Readers and Writers / Students At Risk / Key Components of Literacy Interventions
The introductions to each Module and each unit provide context for the topic at hand. The Modules also provide information for how the content is applicable for English Language Learners as well as a specific Leadership Addendum that provides targeted resources and suggestions for how school leaders can a) support the implementation of actions related to the Module at their school and b) extend teacher learning through the Modules themselves.
Module 1: Adolescent Reading, Writing, and Thinking Page 1
Introduction to the Modules and Units
The content of the Modules incorporates the recent research and practice literature in each of these important areas. The design of the learning experiences within each unit corresponds to what we know about effective adult learning and incorporates what we know about brain-based learning. Finally, explicit connections within each Module to the Common Core Standards for English Language Arts make clear for professionals the high levels of relevance and applicability in each session topic.
Together, these materials provide a comprehensive professional development resource that has been designed to be as flexible as possible for use within a wide variety of learning contexts. We anticipate that knowledgeable administrators, coaches, and professional developers will strategically select and deliver units and sessions within units across multiple Modules to effectively meet the needs of their particular school communities. Suggestions for how facilitators may want to use the Modules, including sample schedules and selection criteria, are given in Section 3 below.
Structure of Each Module
To facilitate flexible delivery of the content, each unit is divided into 3 to 6 sessions. Each session — which includes enough content to engage participants for roughly two hours — provides a menu of resources that can be used and adapted to meet a variety of needs. Depending on the instructional context and format, some of the resources provided may not be necessary or workable. For instance, if using a study group format in which participants meet for an hour or two weekly, completing the suggested readings in the preparation section of each session prior to each meeting will be an essential component of the work. Alternately, if a team were to be engaging in multi-day, lengthy professional development sessions, then the readings may be skimmed or quickly reviewed in order for participants to more quickly engage with PowerPoint slides and hands-on activities.
We mention this to acknowledge that facilitators are not expected to use every single resource or activity provided in each session; furthermore, we intentionally have provided more resources than most facilitators will likely be able to use in single sessions. It is our intention to provide enough resources for knowledgeable facilitators to choose those that are most congruent with each school’s and group’s instructional needs.
When reviewing the materials, facilitators should pay attention to the following structure:
Session Objective
The objective contains the essential knowledge and key ideas that we hope participants will know or be able to do by the end of each session.
Introduction
This section contains a brief introduction to the session for facilitators, often including references to relevant research, theory, or practice resources.
Before the Session
This section includes references to articles or resources that we suggest both facilitators and participants read before presenting/attending the professional development sessions. Some resources are labeled “for further background information.” Facilitators may wish to read and review these, in addition to any required readings, to build background knowledge and enrich the delivery of the materials and activities in a given session. This section may also include “Notes to Facilitators,” specific tips for how to prepare for the session, as well as suggestions for materials participants may need to bring to the session in order to fully engage in particular activities (e.g., content-area textbooks, examples of student writing, etc.).
During the Session
This section provides detailed descriptions of the primary activities available for each session. Typically, each session will include a warm-up, one or two core discussion or analysis activities that focus on main ideas from articles, relevant data sets, or online resources, and a concluding activity that connects the content to teacher practices or the processes of the school. All activities described in this section align with the PowerPoint slides that have been created for each session.
Note: The PowerPoint slides contain a great deal of information, on the slides themselves and in the “notes.” If facilitators choose not to use the PowerPoint slides (perhaps due to lack of technological resources, or due to small-group formats that are not conducive to using slides) then we strongly recommend making the slides available to participants as handouts.
After the Session
This section provides facilitators with suggestions for helping participants bring resources and ideas from the sessions back into their classrooms or other educational settings. We often provide additional strategies, handouts, and readings that expand upon session content. Also, in this section we provide instructions outlining any assignments (e.g., readings, data that should be collected, etc.) that participants should complete before the next session.
Common core connections
This section briefly highlights connections to the Common Core Standards and offers some thoughts on how the content within the session pertains to national expectations for College and Career Readiness.
References and Additional Resources
References are limited to those resources that are directly cited or used in the professional development sessions, while additional resources are suggested books, articles, and online resources that facilitators may wish to use in future sessions or when coaching teachers.
Development of the Modules
The Modules were developed in collaboration with staff from the Massachusetts Office of Literacy under the direction of Joshua Lawrence and Jacy Ippolito. Development was funded through a grant from the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education and occurred throughout the spring of 2010. The Modules were written by Joshua Lawrence, Jacy Ippolito, Patricia Newhall, and Keryn Kwedor. Information on English Language Learners was provided by Claire White and her colleagues. Correlations to the Common Core Standards were provided by Maura Wolk. The Leadership Addenda were developed by Julie Meltzer and Melvina Phillips. PCG Education produced the Modules for distribution.
Section 2: Considerations for How to Use the Modules
Without a doubt, facilitators will need to take into account many intersecting factors when determining how to best use the Modules to provide quality professional development, including the budget for stipending participants, where and when the professional development will take place, and whether or not to serve snacks. Depending upon the goals of the professional development being offered, as well as the group of participants, facilitators might make very different choices about which sessions and units will be most helpful to use. We recommend that facilitators think carefully about the following four issues to ensure that the use of the Modules will meet the needs of a given group of participants:
1. Student Demographics and Instructional Needs
These Modules are designed to be delivered to middle and high school teachers in schools serving a wide variety of students. Having some knowledge of a school’s particular student demographics (e.g., a large number of English-Language Learners) and particular instructional needs (e.g., lack of academic vocabulary) can productively guide the use of these Modules as well as determining which content and supporting resources will be most relevant. We suggest that outside professional developers meet with school leaders and teams of teachers (e.g., literacy leadership teams) before delivering these Modules in order to discuss the needs of students being served by the participants. Professional developers working within the districts and/or schools in which the professional development will take place are encouraged to participate in a larger needs-assessment process (for a review of how to conduct a literacy needs assessment, see Vogt & Shearer, 2007, chapter 3).
2. Teacher Demographics and Professional Development Needs
Teachers’ particular strengths and professional development needs should also be carefully considered when selecting which units and sessions to include along with which resources and learning experiences would be most helpful in conveying key ideas. While the Modules have been designed to introduce theory and practices related to adolescent literacy, tailoring can be done to adapt these materials to address the experience levels of the participating teachers. Additional factors that professional developers will want to think about when deciding how to use the resources provided in these Modules include:
n Are the teachers primarily novices, veterans, or a mixture?
n How many teachers will be attending the professional development sessions?
n Will the same group of teachers attend each session?
n Are the teachers responsible for one subject area, or multiple subject areas?
n Are the teachers responsible for one grade level, or multiple grade levels?
n How much flexibility do the teachers have when designing their curriculum?
The answers to such questions — determined with the help of a literacy leadership team, administrator, and/or literacy coach — can help professional developers strategically choose which Modules, units, and sessions to deliver, and how much adaptation will be necessary to meet particular teachers’ needs.
1. Time Constraints
While a number of logistical elements may affect the successful delivery of professional development sessions, perhaps none is as influential as time. These Modules have been designed to be delivered in a variety of sequences (see Section 3 where we offer a few potential ways the Modules might be delivered in multi-day, afterschool, or induction formats). Close attention should be paid to how much information to deliver to teachers over various stretches of time so as not to overwhelm or bore participants. If professional development is provided weekly, then Modules and individual units within Modules may be completed each semester with ease. If professional development is limited to monthly sessions, or multi-day institutes, then providers will need to consider student and teacher needs and strategically select which Modules, units, and sessions will have the greatest effect.
2. Professional Development Format
Selecting a format for professional development delivery is a critical component of the planning process. Four resources we suggest consulting when deciding on the scope, sequence, and format for professional development are:
Irvin, J. L., Meltzer, J., & Dukes, M. S. (2007). Taking action on adolescent literacy: An implementation guide for school leaders. Alexandria, VA: ASCD. Chapters 6 and 9.