I was able to meet with her once for quite some time and she and I were able to come up with the topic of 5th grade Science STAAR scores of the district relative to the state scores and the reasons as to why our scores were lower than the state. We will be looking at time spent in the science classrooms (going from a 45 minute period to a 65 minute period) and having a vertically aligned curriculum from K through 6. After I emailed her my original plan, she wanted to add a piece to the project: teaming. She believes that bringing teaming back to the intermediate grades will allow us as a team of teachers to create interdisciplinary units that will support the science classes.
Action Planning Template
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Goal:
To improve the district science STAAR scores of fifth grade students relative
to the state scores from 2012 to 2014.
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Action Steps(s):
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Person(s) Responsible:
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Timeline: Start/End
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Needed Resources
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Evaluation
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Increase the amount of
time fifth grade students spend in science class from 45 minutes to 65
minutes daily.
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All fifth grade teachers
will plan according to the new schedule.
Assistant Principals
Principal
District Elementary
Science Coordinator
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New schedule: August
2013 – 2014
First Survey: November 2013
Second Survey:
March 2013
District will
determine the benchmark dates for the 2013-2014 school year.
Classroom
Observations: August 2013 – May 2014
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Surveys given to fifth
grade science teachers to see if they see improvement in student achievement
in their own classrooms. How often?
School and
District-wide Benchmark assessments given to the students to check for
improvement of grades from the 2012-2013 school year to the current 2013-2014
school year.
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I will gather the
survey results given to the teachers and determine if time is a factor in
student achievement.
I will compare the benchmark
assessments given during varied times of the year to look for improvement of
scores. I will also compare the
benchmark assessment scores from 2012-2013 school year to the current
2013-2014 school year.
Classroom observations
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Reintroduce teams at
the fifth grade level so interdisciplinary units that support science are
possible.
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Fifth grade teams and
their science teachers to aid in the creation and implementation of
science-based interdisciplinary units.
Team Leaders
Principal
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August 2013 - February
2014
Unit Test: February
2014
Survey: February 2014
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I will work
collaboratively with the team teachers to create an interdisciplinary unit
that will support the science curriculum and create the assessment to measure
the learning objectives presented to the students.
Survey given to the
team teachers after the unit takes place to evaluate student performance and
the academic outcomes provided in the unit.
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I will collect date
from the assessments given to the students and will gather the survey results
given to the teachers.
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Use vertically aligned
Science Curriculum (grades K-6)
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Fifth grade Science
teachers
Principal
District Elementary
Science Coordinator
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Stemscopes and
Curriculum: August 2013 – May 2014
District will
determine the benchmark dates for the 2013-2014 school year.
First Survey: November 2013
Second Survey:
March 2013
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Stemscopes Science
Curriculum
Stemscopes
Representative – Gloria Chatelain
District Scope and
Sequence
Collaboration on
lesson plans for fifth grade science
Survey to teachers
over use of new curriculum
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Calibration of
assessments based on Stemscopes and the new curriculum.
I will use
District-wide Benchmark assessment results to see if the curriculum is being
used successfully in grades K-5.
I will gather the
survey results from the teachers to compare the amount of time using the new
curriculum to the assessment scores.
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Analysis of
Science STAAR scores
from 2012 through 2014.
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Principal
District Elementary
Science Coordinator
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May 2014
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Texas Education Agency
District and state
fifth grade Science STAAR results from 2012, 2013, and 2014
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I will compare the
scores given the original 45 minute classes, no teams, and not having a
vertically aligned curriculum with the 2014 Science STAAR results after an
increase in class time, having teams at the fifth grade level, and a
vertically aligned curriculum grades K-6.
I will compare
district versus state scores to look for an improvement over the state
scores.
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Sheryl, I love that you are looking at the science time given and the vertical alignment. I think your action plan will definitely give you a chance to find the gaps in grade level curriculum. I have found that sometimes the gaps in vertical alignment on my campus include teachers who are not comfortable teaching a certain concept, or don't understand the actual verb in the student expectation being taught. For example, a grade teacher was spending extensive time teaching the planets in detail, when it is an expectation for 3rd grade teachers. It is good for a little time to be given in 4th, but not weeks. I love that you are looking to increase the amount of instructional time given to science. I think you will see great results in science. Good luck, and I look forward to following your journey!
ReplyDeleteSheryl, I agree with Vicki! Vertical alignment is very important specially across the district. Our kinder teachers recently had a meeting with teachers from pre-k levels. The pre-k teachers asked kider teachers what they would like for them to focus on so, us, the kinder teachers could just take off once those pre-k students became kindergartners. This meeting was very helpful for all the teachers. We also this year started an aligned curriculum for science throughout the district this year. We will see from future STAAR data if this was a good change or not. My guess is that the district will see a growth in the STAAR scores. It will be a lot of work on your part to do this, but you are definitely going to be praised for this. Good luck!
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DeleteOur 5th grade on our campus does a science lab during their specials time one day a week to help support the science TEKS and that extra time helps dramatically. I think your plan is going to have very positive results that will benefit both the teachers and the students.
ReplyDeleteOur campus also uses stemscopes for our science curriculum and overall I really like it. Can't wait to read more on how your research is going.
The district I work in is falling behind in the area of vertical alignment, and with the TEKS changing frequently it is an ongoing problem. I love that your research is addressing this need and will be collaborative in that manner. I also think it is great your campus is willing to increase the time from 45 to 65 minutes. Think about the depth the kiddos can dive into with the added instruction time! Best of luck!
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Vertical alignment is a must in science and other subjects. At least you know what TEKS/Skills the students may have missed so that you may better plan and prepare labs/lessons. Increasing instructional time to 65 minutes is a great idea. When I taught science, I only had 50 minutes and always seemed to run out of time. Your plan is definitely a need to research. I hope that your team meetings are productive and that all are willing to analyze the curriculum in order to work toward better results. Also, with 65 minutes of instructional time you should be able to include warm ups, vocabulary drills, lesson and possible have a closure; in other words you should be able to get through the 5E lesson cycle within that time on most days. Best wishes.
ReplyDelete