Implementation and Benefits of Vertical Alignment
How your role will make a difference!
Fall 2018 - Staff Development
By Fjola Unnarsdottir
Implementation and Benefits of Vertical Alignment
How your role will make a difference!
Fall 2018 - Staff Development
By Fjola Unnarsdottir
AGENDA
STAAR score data for grades 3 - 5
The gap between grade levels
Agenda 2
How vertical alignment will benefit the students at BES
Tools and practices to help facilitate success
Agenda 3
Continuing vertical alignment throughout all grade levels in the future
Thoughts, comments and concerns
Agenda 4
What is vertical alignment?
How vertical alignment will be utilized at BES
Agenda 1
What Teachers Make
We will develop a PLC for vertical alignment to ensure student success!
Teachers Make a Difference
Brazos Elementary has the ability to make our academic readiness stable and consistent throughout third through fifth grade.
WHAT IS VERTICAL ALIGNMENT??
Vertical Alignment
Great Schools Partnership (2014) states: When a curriculum is vertically aligned or vertically coherent, what students learn in one lesson, course, or grade level prepares them for the next lesson, course, or grade level. Teaching is purposefully structured and logically sequenced so that students are learning the knowledge and skills that will progressively prepare them for more challenging, higher-level work.
"In the end, data-driven instruction is not about teaching to the test: it is about testing the teaching. That makes all the difference." (Bambrick-Santoyo & Peiser, 2012, p. 34).
STEPS TO SUCCESS Alignment Great Schools Partnership (2014) states: When a curriculum is vertically aligned or vertically coherent, what students learn in one lesson, course, or grade level prepares them for the next lesson, course, or grade level. Teaching is purposefully structured and logically sequenced so that students are learning the knowledge and skills that will progressively prepare them for more challenging, higher-level work. "In the end, data-driven instruction is not about teaching to the test: it is about testing the teaching. That makes all the difference." (Bambrick-Santoyo & Peiser, 2012, p.
Take this moment to use your district calendar to collaborate the dates and times PLCs will be held.
We will resume in 10 minutes.
With your grade level group, please choose 3 weekdays which would work best, then morning or afternoon for each day chosen. You will then compare and contrast your days with the other grade levels and determine the most common amongst the grade levels for your PLC meetings.
Spring 2015
76% of students reached "satisfactory"
STAAR 3rd Grade
Percent of students on grade level between 2015 and 2017
Spring 2016
73% of students reached "satisfactory"
Spring 2017
63% of the students reached "approaches" while only 25% reached "meets"
3rd
2015
3rd Grade Students As They Progress In Grade Levels
The 2015 grade level third graders as they move to 4th (2016) and 5th (2017)
4th
2016
5th
STAAR scoring "meets". This means the student percentage is at grade level. 2017
2015
4th Grade STAAR "satisfactory" percentage
STAAR 4th Grade
4th Grade STAAR results from 2015 to 2018
2016
4th Grade STAAR "satisfactory" percentage
2017
4th Grade STAAR "approaches" percentage
4th Grade STAAR "approaches" percentage
2018
THOUGHTS???
PLC Teams
"It’s called a vertical “team,” which means, just like its name implies, it’s a team. When teachers come together to maximize student success, they work towards the same goal and collaborate to ensure seamless transitions for students from year to year." (Catapano, n.d.).
A curriculum that is coherently organized and sequenced, on the other hand, avoids these potential issues—at least in theory. What students are learning builds on what they have learned previously, and lessons are not unnecessarily repetitious or redundant across courses, subject areas, and grade levels (Great Schools Partnership, 2014). Teachers generally know what is being taught by other teachers, particularly teachers in the same subject area, including the subject-area material and standards that are taught in both previous and subsequent grade levels (Great Schools Partnership, 2014). All learning materials—from textbooks and reading materials to quizzes and tests—are based on the same consistent and coherent set of learning expectations (Great Schools Partnership, 2014).
Vertical Alignment Goals
To create a smaller deficit between the grade level STAAR scores. We will also ensure that students maintain high performance levels as they continue throughout grade levels.
How???
3-STEPS PROCESS MODEL
Steps to success with our vertical alignment
Grade level collaboration on TEKS and assessments
Collaboration
Implementing effective teaching strategies within the classroom.
Implementation
Students performance on STAAR will reach or maintain "Meets" or "Masters" level
Output
Collaboration
IMPLEMENTATION
Teachers will take the collected data and collaboration from their teammates and implement an effective teaching strategy within their classrooms. In order for teacher ownership for our vertical alignment strategy, teachers will have observations from the administration committee.
This committee is working towards our vertical alignment goal with you.
Administration
Here to see you SUCCEED!!!!
Principal
Fjola Unnarsdottir
Vice Principal
Carrie Abbey
Curriculum Superintendent
Sue Attwood
Vertical Alignment Observation Committee
Violetta Cisotto
Curriculum Specialist
With implementation of school wide instructional practices and research based instructional practices which align with the weakness within the current lessons, we can have a higher student success rate.
Let Us Continue
To put BRAZOS on the MAP
2018-2019
OUTCOME
Our PLC will create a smaller deficit between grade level STAAR percentages for the "meets" category within our mathematics department.
QUESTIONS?
The Future
Once we have effectively implemented our vertical alignment team, we shall revise our data for the 2018-2019 STAAR test results. With that we can determine the best practice to add second grade to align with third grade in our PLC.
References
Bambrick-Santoyo, P., & Peiser, B. M. (2012). Leverage leadership: A practical guide to building exceptional schools. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
Catapano, J. (n.d.). Vertical teaming is essential. Retrieved from http://www.teachhub.com/vertical- teaming-essential
DuFour, R. (2008, December 23). Blog | All Things PLC | Powered by Solution Tree. Retrieved from http://www.allthingsplc.info/blog/view/41/working-in-vertical-teams
Great Schools Partnership. (2014, March 3). Coherent Curriculum Definition. Retrieved from https://www.edglossary.org/coherent-curriculum/
Make An Impact - Inspirational Video [Video file]. (2015, October 21). Retrieved from https://youtu.be/pb7_YJp9bVA
References Cont.
Mali, T. (2006, October 24). What teachers make [Video file]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RxsOVK4syxUhttps://youtu.be/RxsOVK4syxU