MAED/Early Childhood Teacher Work Sample

MAED/Early Childhood Teacher Work Sample 1 ECH/598 Version 1

University of Phoenix Material

Performance Prompt Teaching Processes Standards and Indicators

Developed by members of the Title II Renaissance Partnership for Improving Teacher Quality. These materials may be not reproduced and used without citing the Title II Renaissance Partnership for Improving Teacher Quality Project http://www.uni.edu/itq/

PROMPT FOR TEACHER WORK SAMPLE FOR EARLY CHILDHOOD EDUCATION

The Vision Successful early childhood teacher candidates support learning by designing a Teacher Work Sample that employs a range of developmentally appropriate teaching strategies designed to teach children birth- eight years old. The work samples build on each student’s strengths, needs, and prior experiences. Through this performance assessment, Early Childhood teacher candidates provide credible evidence of their ability to facilitate the learning of young children by meeting the following standards:  The teacher uses Contextual Factor information about the unique learning/teaching context appropriate to the developing child and adjusts content according to student individual differences to establish developmentally effective learning goals and objectives, plan an interactive instructional plan, and assess learning.  The teacher sets significant, challenging, varied, and developmentally effective learning goals and objectives.  The teacher uses multiple assessment modes and approaches aligned with developmentally effective learning goals and objectives to assess student learning before, during, and after instruction.  The teacher designs instruction for specific learning goals and objectives, student characteristics and needs, and learning contexts.  The teacher uses on-going analysis of student learning to make instructional decisions.  The teacher uses assessment data to profile student learning and communicate information about student progress and achievement.  The teacher analyzes the relationship between his or her instruction and student learning in order to improve teaching practice.

Your Assignment You are required to teach a unit, based on developmentally effective instructional goals and objectives utilizing the five NAEYC Standards. You will also need to create an assessment plan designed to measure student performance before (pre-assessment), during (formative assessment), and after (summative assessment) instruction. Finally, you need to analyze and reflect on the developmental appropriateness of your instructional design, the age level educational context, the NAEYC Standards that were applied, and the individual learning gains demonstrated by your students while referring to the cognitive, socio-emotional, and physical domains of development. The unit may take the form of one of the following, depending on the population of students in your early childhood classroom.  Unit Work Sample: This is the traditional Teacher Work Sample, based on academic content that is appropriate to the age of the children in the early childhood setting you are teaching with consideration for the children’s individual characteristics and needs.

 Functional Work Sample: A “unit” based on teaching practical skills (e.g., tying shoes, stimulus- response activity) that serve to support the empowering of the young child toward self-sufficiency.  Social/Behavioral Work Samples: A “unit” developed when teaching social skills within a variety of social contexts that may include family and community and others in the class. Lessons should represent the value and importance of the interactions among home, community, and school. Note that early childhood student groups may be smaller (2-6 students) than the traditional Teacher Work Sample indicates. Overall, the Early Childhood Education Teacher Work Sample should follow the guidelines of the traditional Teacher Work Sample. Adjustments to goals and objectives, instructional design, and data analysis may be required to address the needs of young students and group size. Note: An overall rating of 2.5 is required on the Teacher Work Sample.

STANDARD 1: CONTEXTUAL FACTORS

Standard: The teacher uses information about the learning/teaching context and student individual differences to set learning goals and objectives, plan instruction, and assess learning.

NAEYC Standard(s): Standard 1: Promoting Child Development and Learning Standard 3: Observing, Documenting, and Assessing to Support Young Children and Families Standard 4: Teaching and Learning

Task: Discuss relevant characteristics and needs of your young learners (i.e. age, culture, language) and how they may affect the teaching/learning process in your classroom. Include any supports and challenges present in the classroom environment that affect instruction and student learning such as cultural or special learning needs of individual students, support teachers, and other resources.

Prompt: In your discussion, include:  Community, District, and School Factors Address geographic location, community and school population, socio-economic profile, and race/ethnicity. You might also address such things as stability of community, political climate, community support for education, and other environmental factors that interact and influence the development and learning of the early childhood learner. Include in your discussion, parental support programs and the influence of parent groups on curriculum. Discuss how these factors work together to impact the diverse student learning environment in your classroom.

 Classroom Factors Address physical features such as the appropriate seating arrangement for young children, availability of equipment and resources and how they are organized in the classroom to best accommodate the social, physical and cognitive needs of the students. Consider resources and elements in the classroom that support children’s interests such as fish tanks, plants, etc. Identify early childhood learning theories that support your decisions. Many young children’s classrooms are supported by parental involvement as volunteers. Discuss the extent of parental involvement and the impact on your lesson planning and delivery. In the very young classes, paraprofessional aides may be involved in the classroom; consider their effect on your planning if appropriate. Include any other external or internal factors that might exist which influence your teaching.

 Student Characteristics

Describe the number of students in your classroom and the overall make-up of the student population in the class. Address age, gender, race/ethnicity, special needs, achievement/developmental levels, and students’ skills and prior knowledge relevant to your learning goals. Explain how you have made initial student learning assessments that will be used to develop your lessons. You should also include relevant factors such as culture, language, interests, and learning styles/modalities of the students in your classroom. Discuss how you will use development knowledge to create appropriate learning environments. Include in your discussion an understanding of the students’ individual characteristics and needs that you will take into consideration when planning and delivering your lessons.

 Implications for Instructional Planning and Assessment Consider how the above factors and the specific characteristics of the students in your classroom will influence your instructional planning and assessment, including instructional strategies, teaching style, making accommodations for diverse learners, use of available resources, content, grouping patterns, classroom routines, that would all or singularly impact on the effectiveness of the lesson delivery. How is the whole child given consideration with respect to meeting his/her individual needs. How are the values and traditions of diverse groups managed so that respectful and reciprocal relationships are evidenced?

Suggested Page Length: 2-3 pages

STANDARD 2: LEARNING GOALS AND OBJECTIVES

Standard: The teacher sets significant, challenging, varied, and appropriate learning goals and objectives that are appropriate to the special characteristics and needs of the young child. *Adapted from Dohrn E., in Girod, G. (Ed.). (2002). Connecting teaching and learning: A handbook for teacher educators on Teacher Work Sample methodology. Monmouth, OR: Western Oregon University.

NAEYC Standard(s): Standard 1: Promoting Child Development and Learning Standard 4: Teaching and Learning

Task: Provide and justify the learning goals and objectives for a unit of study or appropriate work sample that supports the growth and development of the age group taught.

Prompt: List the learning goals and objectives (not the activities) that will guide the planning, delivery, and assessment of your unit/work sample. Goals should be significant, yet reasonable, and present developmentally appropriate challenges to each of the development/learning domains (physical, cognitive, social, emotional, language and aesthetic) that support the diverse learning needs of the students. Evidence of the skill expectation of the group to be taught should be presented in terms of their anticipated prior knowledge or skill base. These goals and objectives should be defined in behavioral terms that define what behavioral outcome is anticipated by the end of the unit. Goals are to be aligned with NAEYC and state standards and articulated in the plan. To help you do this, number or code each learning goal and objective so that you can reference them later. Provide justification for your choice of learning goals and objectives and state the particular NAEYC and state standard addressed. Elements of your justification should include at least the type and level of early childhood learning with particular reference to the developmental needs of the group, appropriateness of the content to the age and culture of the class, and how the needs of the individual will be met. Relate learning goals and objectives specifically to your state’s curriculum goals, content standards, and grade- level benchmarks as appropriate. Include age appropriate, focused literacy instruction as applicable for the content requirements, grade or authorization level, and contextual factors in your student teaching placement.

Suggested Page Length: 2-3

STANDARD 3: ASSESSMENT PLAN

Standard: The teacher uses multiple assessment modes and approaches aligned with learning goals and objectives to assess the Early Childhood student’s learning before, during, and after instruction with consistent regard for the developmental level and cognitive, socio-emotional and physical characteristics of the student.

Task: Design an assessment plan to monitor student progress toward the learning goal(s) and objective(s) as stated in behavioral terms. Use multiple assessment modes and approaches and indicate the alignment and appropriateness with each approach to the specific age group you are teaching and to the specific NAEYC and state standard you are addressing. Include an assessment of the current developmental levels of your students, how this lesson will scaffold their learning, and an explanation of the anticipated behavioral change that is expected. Explain how each teaching approach is intended to effect change in various types of students and why they are important to that child’s learning. These assessments should authentically measure student learning and may include performance-based tasks, paper-and-pencil tasks, already published instruments, direct observation, or personal communication. Describe why your assessments are appropriate for measuring learning. Include whether the use of technology is an appropriate approach for this group. Be sure that your assessment is an appropriate match to the learning objective and explain why.

Prompt: Include a description of pre- and post-assessments that are aligned with the learning goals and objectives of your lesson. Clearly explain how you will consistently and clearly evaluate or score pre- and post- assessments. Explain what other methods of assessment you plan to incorporate. Clearly explain the type of assessments used and why they are appropriate to your students. State what criteria you will use to determine if the students’ performance levels meet the learning goals and objectives. Ensure the assessment is developmentally appropriate, takes into consideration prior learning, differentiates assessment according to the learning characteristics of various students, and establishes a clear line of reference to the appropriate NAEYC, local, and state curricular standards. Include evidence of pre- and post-assessments (copies of the assessments or prompts and student directions for the prompts) and criteria for judging student performance in a responsible way, in partnership with families and other professionals, to positively influence children’s development and learning.  Discuss your plan for formative assessment that will help you determine student progress during the unit/work sample. Indicate the level of progress each student is making toward the end goal inclusive of terms such as beginning, developing, capable, mastery. Although formative assessments may change as you are teaching the unit/work sample, your task here is to predict at what points in your teaching it will be important to assess students’ progress toward the learning goals and objectives and discuss your expectancy for approaching mastery.  Construct a table that lists each learning goal and objective, assessments used to judge student performance relative to the learning goals and objectives, and description of how you have modified the curriculum and made adaptations to the assessments for the individual needs of the early childhood students. The primary purpose of this table is to depict the alignment between the learning goals and objectives and assessments. The table also provides opportunities to show where adaptations are going to be implemented to meet the individual needs of students on developmental factors.

LEARNING LEARNING ASSESSMENTS FORMAT OF ADAPTATIONS GOALS OBJECTIVES ASSESSMENT

Goal 1 Objective 1 Pre-Assessment Performance-based, How will you adapt Formative paper-and-pencil, each assessment for Assessment(s) personal individual needs of communication, students on Post-Assessment already published developmental factors. instruments

Goal 2

Goal 3, etc.

 After administering the pre-assessment, analyze each student’s performance relative to the learning goals and objectives and relative to his prior learning assessment in partnership with families and professionals. Depict the results of the pre-assessment in a graph or chart, indicating students’ progress toward each learning goal and objective. Discuss how this analysis will guide your instruction or modification of the learning goals and objectives before you proceed to the end of the unit/work sample assessments.

Suggested Page Length: 2-3 + pre- and post-assessment instruments.

STANDARD 4: DESIGN FOR INSTRUCTION

Standard: The teacher designs instruction for specific learning goals and objectives, student characteristics and needs, and learning contexts. Instructional design should include literacy instruction as appropriate for the content requirements, age and developmental level.

NAEYC Standard(s): Standard 1: Promoting Child Development and Learning Standard 2: Building Family and Community Relationships Standard 4: Teaching and Learning

Task: Describe how you will design your unit instruction related to goals and objectives, students’ characteristics and needs, and the specific learning context.

Prompt: Use the block plan format below to provide an overview of your entire learning unit. Include the topic or activity you are planning for each day. Clearly indicate NAEYC and state standards that frame your lesson, the goal(s) and objective(s) (coded from your Learning Goals and Learning Objectives sections) that you are addressing in each topic/activity. Make sure that every goal and objective is addressed by at least one activity and that every activity relates to at least one goal and objective. Document how contextual information can be integrated within other curricular areas and how the contextual information complements the values and needs of the community of learners in your class.

Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday

 Choose three or four unit activities that reflect a variety of instructional strategies/techniques and explain why you are planning those specific activities. In your explanation for each activity, include .a Examples of how its content relates to NAEYC and state standards, with consistent instructional goal(s) and objective(s), .b Explanations of how the activity stems from your pre-assessment information and instructional context to support teaching strategies, .c What materials/technology you will need to implement the activity, .d Explanation of how you plan to assess student learning during and/or following the activity (i.e., formative assessment). .e Constructivist learning theories used to create hands-on activities that are appropriate to the individual needs of the students.

Suggested Page Length: 3 + block plan

STANDARD 5: INSTRUCTIONAL DECISION-MAKING

Standard: The teacher uses on-going analysis of student learning to make instructional decisions by continual use of formative assessment measures applied to each child throughout the lesson.

Task: Provide two examples of instructional decision-making based on students’ learning or responses. Note that early childhood student groups may be smaller (2-6 students) than the traditional Teacher Work Sample indicates. In these cases, adjust your analysis accordingly and detail decision-making at this level on an individual basis.

Prompt:  Think of a time during your unit when a student’s learning or response caused you to modify your original design for instruction. (The resulting modification may affect other students as well.) Cite specific evidence to support your answers to the following: a. Describe the student’s learning or response that caused you to rethink your plans to move forward. The student’s learning or response may come from a planned formative assessment or another source. Identify the assessment that caused you to rethink your lesson and whether or not the decision to modify your direction affected all or parts of the class. b. How did your analysis and interpretation of this student’s learning or response inform your decision regarding what you did next? What caused you to pause and reflect on what was happening or not happening? Describe what you did, and explain why you thought this would improve student progress toward the learning goal and objective. Discuss what happened and explain why. Incorporate a rationale for your decision supported by child development theory.  Now, think of one more time during your unit when another student’s learning or response caused you to modify a different portion of your original design for instruction. (The resulting modification may affect other students as well.) Cite specific evidence to support your answers to the following: a. Describe the student’s learning or response that caused you to rethink your plans. What signs were there to inform you of a need for change in pedagogy? The student’s learning or response may come from a planned formative assessment or another source. Describe its nature. b. How did your analysis and interpretation of this student’s learning or response inform your decision regarding what you did next? Describe what you did, and explain why you thought this would improve student progress toward the learning goal and objective. Discuss what happened and explain why.

Suggested Page Length: 3-4

STANDARD 6: ANALYSIS OF LEARNING RESULTS

Standard: The teacher uses assessment data to profile student learning and communicate information about student progress and achievement. Note that early childhood student groups may be smaller (2-6 students) than the traditional Teacher Work Sample indicates. In these cases, adjust your analysis accordingly.

NAEYC Standard(s): Standard 3: Observing, Documenting, and Assessing to Support Young Children and Families Standard 4: Teaching and Learning

Task: Analyze your assessment data to report the performance of the students. Use visual representations and narrative to profile student performance which can be used to communicate results to parents, and other professionals.

Prompt:  Whole group Use aggregated data to draw conclusions about the extent to which the whole group attained the learning goals and objectives. Provide a graphic representation to compare pre- and post- assessment results for each goal and objective. Explain what the graph illustrates and why you think students performed this way. Discuss any discrepancies in terms of child developmental learning theory.  Subgroups Select a group characteristic to analyze (e.g., gender, performance level, socio-economic status, language proficiency, or other attributes of diversity). Form a subgroup based on that distinguishing characteristic (e.g., male, low performance, free or reduced lunch, ESL). Explain why it is important to understand the learning of this particular subgroup in relation to two significant learning goals and objectives, one of which must represent higher level thinking. Use disaggregated data to draw conclusions about the extent to which the subgroup attained the two learning goals and objectives. Provide a graphic representation to compare pre- and post-assessment results for the two goals and objectives. Explain what the graph illustrates and why you think students in the subgroup performed this way. Integrate the knowledge gained from the data, and your reflective and critical perspectives to offer an explanation of possible causes for the results.  Individuals Select two students who represent different levels of performance and require different teaching strategies to accommodate their specialized learning needs. Explain why it is important to understand the learning of these particular students in relation to two significant learning goals and objectives, one of which must represent learning at the developmental level of each child. Draw conclusions about the extent to which these students attained the two learning goals and objectives and provide examples of student work to support your response.

Suggested Page Length: 4 + charts and student work

STANDARD 7: REFLECTION AND SELF-EVALUATION

Standard: The teacher analyzes the relationship between his or her instruction and student learning in order to improve teaching practice.

NAEYC Standard(s): Standard 1: Promoting Student Learning Standard 3: Observing, Documenting, and Assessing to Support Young Children and Families Standard 4: Teaching and Learning Standard 5: Becoming a Professional

Task: Reflect on your performance as a teacher in guiding the instructional process of this unit/work sample and link your performance to student learning results. Include a discussion of the relationship of your goals and objectives, the child appropriateness of your instructional strategies, and the assessment results from the early childhood unit of study/work sample. Evaluate your performance relative to the seven standards of the work sample to identify future actions for improved practice and professional growth as a child advocate who is dedicated to promoting meaningful learning experiences for young children birth to eight yrs old some of whom may be from diverse socio-economic environments and cultures.

Prompt:  Write a narrative reflecting on instruction and student learning in which you: a. Describe the instructional strategies or activities, including technology and media, that influenced student learning in the most significant and least significant ways when viewed through the lenses of the early childhood teacher and advocate b. Explain the greatest barriers to achieving learning results of diverse groups of young children giving special attention to their past learning experiences both positive and negative and how what they bring to class influences the way you teach. Incorporate a discussion of how you can facilitate their learning by drawing on community and school resources and parent volunteers. c. Discuss what you would do differently to improve student learning. What programs and supportive information would you provide as relevant to parental engagement in their child’s learning.  Write a second narrative evaluating your effectiveness as an instructor in which you: a. Assess the extent to which you met the work sample standards, focusing specifically on your key areas of strengths and weaknesses to meet the specialized needs of the young child. Analyze how your performance on these standards impacted the learning of your students and how you will incorporate professional development sources to improve or enhance your skill level at the early childhood level. b. Reflect on your own abilities and identify what professional knowledge, skills, or dispositions (e.g., attitudes, values, and beliefs) your currently have and present a research based plan on how you would improve your performance in teaching this unit. Identify specific professional goals and a plan to meet those goals that would improve your overall performance as an early childhood teacher who is knowledgeable of NAEYC standards and how they impact the teaching of young children. c. Select and discuss your most significant learning insight from teaching this unit/work sample.

d. Discuss the reasons why you believe that the early childhood classroom is an appropriate fit or is not an appropriate fit for your teaching goals, instructional style, and personality.

Suggested Page Length: 2

THE FORMAT Your Teacher Work Sample must include all of the elements listed above and must follow APA format (current edition). The sample should be approximately 20 pages of narrative not counting required charts, graphs, and attachments. Provide a Table of Contents that lists the sections of your paper with the page numbers correlating to the respective sections. Include an APA- formatted cover page. (Refer to the most current APA Manual for appropriate formatting details.) In order to ensure the anonymity of students included in the Teacher Work Sample, do not include any student names or identification in any part of the TWS. The unit may take the form of one of the following, depending on the population of students in your classroom.  Unit Work Sample: This is the traditional Teacher Work Sample, based on academic content  Functional Work Sample: A “unit” based on teaching practical skills (e.g., shoe tying, stimulus- response activity)  Social/Behavioral Work Samples: A “unit” developed when teaching social skills within a variety of social contexts. Note that early childhood student groups may be smaller (2-6 students) than the traditional Teacher Work Sample indicates. Adjustments to goals and objectives, instructional design, and data analysis may be required to address the needs of students and group size. Note: An overall rating of 2.5 is required on the Teacher Work Sample.

Teaching Processes Assessed by the Renaissance Teacher Work Sample

Teaching Processes, Standards, and Indicators

Contextual Factors The teacher uses information about the learning/teaching context and student individual differences to set learning goals and objectives, plan instruction, and assess learning.  Knowledge of community, district, school, and classroom factors and supports that influence teaching  Knowledge of developmental characteristics and needs of students  Knowledge of students’ varied developmental levels in all three domains: cognitive, socio-emotional and physical.  Knowledge of students’ skills and prior learning  Implications the young child’s characteristics and needs for instructional planning and assessment

Learning Goals and Objectives The teacher sets significant, challenging, varied, and appropriate learning goals and objectives that take into consideration the age and skill levels of the students that are aligned to the curricular standards set forth by NAEYC, the local DOE, and state DOE.  Significance, challenge, and variety demonstrate how the plan will align to curricular standards.  Clarity of objectives will include stated behavioral outcomes for the end of the unit/work sample.  Appropriateness for early childhood students who are between the ages of birth-8 yrs old and will demonstrate by defining the skill set or preceding knowledge that the lesson is anticipated to extend growth and development while differentiating learning outcomes for diverse learners.  Alignment of goals and objectives, and national, state, and/or local standards is clearly stated. Students should refer specifically to their state’s curriculum goals, content standards, and grade-level benchmarks as appropriate.

Assessment Plan

The teacher uses multiple assessment modes and approaches aligned with learning goals and objectives appropriate to students birth – eight years old, to assess student learning before, during, and after instruction.  Alignment with learning goals and objectives and instruction taking into consideration the learning characteristics and differences among students  Clarity of criteria and standards for performance for special groups within the class.  Multiple modes and approaches consistent with a partnership between the teacher ,families and other  Technical soundness and appropriateness of the use of technology to conduct assessments for this group.  Adaptations based on the individual needs of students and modifications to differentiate and meet the learning styles and needs of each type of student in the class.

Design for Instruction The teacher designs instruction for specific learning goals and objectives, the student characteristics and needs of the young child, and learning contexts.  Alignment with learning goals and objectives that are consistent with NAEYC standards and exhibit an understanding of the age and developmental stages of the students.  Accurate representation of cross-content material and use of appropriate resources within the classroom that incorporates parental and community values.  Lesson and unit structure demonstrate content area knowledge and an understanding of subject area integration with an infusion of early literacy throughout.  Use of a variety of instruction, activities, assignments, and resources to meet the individual needs of each student to achieve the learning goal.  Use of contextual information and data to select appropriate and relevant activities, assignments, and resources that accurately address the diverse needs of individual students and the contextual factors of the community, school, and class.  Use of technology and media to directly enhance the lesson goals.

Instructional Decision-Making The teacher uses on-going analysis of student learning to make instructional decisions.  Sound professional practice is used to mediate learning when a change in pedagogy is warranted for the whole class or for the individual/s.  Adjustments based on analysis of student learning are clearly evidenced.  Congruence between modifications and learning goals and objectives is explained with the possibility that the modifications may result in a more appropriate goal and objective

Analysis of Learning Results The teacher uses assessment data to profile student learning and communicate information about student progress and achievement to parents, professionals and community resources where applicable.  Clarity and accuracy of presentation with accurate representation of the data.  Alignment with learning goals and objectives and indications where re-teaching or modifications may be appropriate.  Presentation of aggregated and disaggregated data so that whole group data is displayed as well as sub groups and individuals.  Accuracy of analysis of data  Evidence of impact on student learning with specific remediation plans and pedagogical methods are needed.

Reflection and Self-Evaluation The teacher analyzes the relationship between his or her instruction and student learning in order to improve teaching practice and to determine if the early childhood classroom is a good fit for their repertoire of skills and their individual personality traits, likes and dislikes.  Interpretation of student learning through the lenses of early childhood practitioners and organizations such as NAEYC.  Insights on effective instruction and assessment and how assessment can drive instructional appropriateness.  Successful use of assistive technology to augment learning in a multimodal fashion.  Alignment among goals and objectives, instruction, and assessment to NAEYC, local, and state curricular standards.

 Implications for future teaching as a result of self-assessing the “goodness of fit” between self and students at this age group.  Implications for professional development that will provide knowledge and support effectiveness as an early childhood teacher and advocate.