Rapid City Area Schools s1

Rapid City Area Schools

Process for Developing District-wide Power Standards

Teachers’ Guide

November 2012 Teachers,

Thank you for your participation in the development of district-wide power standards. Your involvement is essential to this work, and your willingness to move this component of the PLC process forward is greatly appreciated.

The Importance of Consistent Processes Constructing district-wide power standards involves consistent processes for both team building and power standards development. These consistent processes help ensure that all voices are heard and that the power standards are uniform in scope, coherence, and understanding (Myers, 2012).

Overview of the Work Development of district-wide power standards involves representatives from all schools, with an administrator facilitating the process. In this process, teachers identify the specific skills and competencies students are expected to know and be able to do as a result of a course or grade level. These power standards serve as the foundation for designing initial instruction, developing and administering common formative assessments (CFAs), making instructional adjustments during a unit of study, and triggering the intervention system that provides for appropriate interventions and enrichments for students. Teams also use the results of CFAs to share and identify powerful instructional strategies and to improve professional practice.

Productive Group Work Three different tools/processes will support productive group work when facilitating the power standards development process. These tools, which will be discussed with groups developing district-wide power standards, are: (1) Developing norms, (2) Making decisions by consensus, and (3) Managing conflict effectively using the Styles of Conflict Model. The intent of these processes is to provide supportive structures for positive group interactions, for decision making, and for managing diverse perspectives.

Power Standards Development The process for determining power standards involves first building a shared understanding of the criteria of endurance, leverage, and readiness. The step-by-step process results in a list of power standards and a pacing guide. Teachers will begin to consider how the ELA standards can be incorporated into content area standards (secondary), and the group will set a future date to get together and finalize the incorporation of the ELA standards. Three Tools for Productive Group Work

#1 – Norms: Working Agreements  Be fully present

 Silence cell phones and avoid texting

 Forgo multi-tasking

 Start and end on time

 Avoid side conversations

 Instead use a sticky note to catch a thought; share at a break or appropriate time

 Self-monitor for habits

 Such as interrupting, taking too much air space, playing a passive role, not engaging

#2 - Making Decisions by Consensus What is consensus?

 We have arrived at consensus when all points of view have been heard, and the will of the group is evident— even to those who most oppose it. Richard DuFour

 Consensus is reached when each member has had an opportunity to express his or her opinion and all agree to accept, support, and implement the group’s decision. Consensus means that all members understand the issue and agree that they are willing to support the chosen option, even when it may not have been their first choice. Ann Delehant

 Consensus does not mean: 100% unanimity, that everyone agrees, that everyone gets his/her first choice

Guidelines for successful consensus:

 Avoid arguing rigidly for your own position. Suspend evaluation, listen to others, keep an open mind, and thoughtfully consider all points of view.

 Seek out differences of opinion. Individuals have a responsibility share the reasoning behind their perspectives. Disagreements are natural and help generate the available alternatives.

 Avoid changing your mind only to avoid conflict.

 It is the right and the responsibility of each team member to be an active part of the process.

#3 – Managing Conflict Effectively Process for Developing District-wide Power Standards The selection of power standards/essential learning outcomes helps PLC teams decide what they are going to assess. These standards are identified from the state adopted content standards. These are defined by DuFour (2010) as “the critical skills, knowledge, and dispositions each student must acquire as a result of each course, grade level, and unit of instruction.”

Teachers will still teach all of the state standards, however the power standards are “the standards they will unwrap and use to identify learning targets. Then teams will write their common formative assessment around these standards and use them to gauge the need for additional time and support with interventions when students experience difficulty. These assessments become the foundation for the work teams do together” (Bailey & Jakicic, 2012).

The following three questions indicate the criteria to be used in determining the power standards (Reeves, 2002): 1. Does the standard have ENDURANCE ? Do we really expect our students to retain the knowledge and skills over time as opposed to merely learning it for a test?

2. Does the standard have LEVERAGE? Will proficiency in this standard help students in other areas of the curriculum and other academic disciplines?

3. Does the standard develop student READINESS for the next level of learning? Is it essential for success in the nest unit, course, or grade level?

The following table lays out a process to be used by teams of teachers in determining power standards: Time Description of Activity Product 10 min The team begins by discussing the terms endurance, readiness, Shared understanding leverage in order to develop a shared understanding of the criteria to be used. 15 min Each building will chart their identified power standards. The lists are Initial list of standards combined into one list making note of duplicated standards to form identified in buildings the initial list of power standards. 60 min The team considers each standard on the combined list, by discussing List of power standards to be each one with regard to the criteria, and come to consensus on which used at all schools. standards to select as district-wide power standards (ideally approximately 1/3 of the total number of standards). 60 min Teams review how their draft list of power standards fits into the Teams might revise the list to standards chosen by the grade level or course before theirs and the reflect what they have learned. grade level or course taught after theirs. They look for gaps and Send a copy of the template to redundancies. Joann Coady/Curriculum. 60 min Working In groups of 2-3, develop drafts to pace the power standards Document that lays out which throughout the four quarters of the year. From those drafts, use power standards are to be consensus to develop a district pacing guide. taught in which quarter. Set a future The Common Core Reading and Writing Standards for History/Social The third column of the Pacing date for Studies, Science, and Technical Subjects 6-12 are tools for processing Template completed. finalizing ELA new knowledge to gain understanding of the content areas. standards Incorporating these standards will help students dig deeper into Send a copy of the template to incorporatio content, become independent learners, and transfer learning from Joann Coady in the Curriculum n topic to topic. Teachers begin to consider how to incorporate the Office. Reading and Writing standards into their instructional units.

For further guidance refer to chapter 3 and page 102 in the Common Formative Assessment book by Bailey & Jakicic. Name of Course ______

Pacing Template

Quarter Content Standards CCSS Reading and Writing Essential Learning Outcomes – Power Standards Standards 1st