COMPETENCY 1: ACCOUNTABILITY

Competency 1: Accountability (Teaching and Learning)

1.1 Ability to interpret meaning of various standardized tests to boards, teachers
and lay citizens
Related Tasks:
1.1.3 Ability to use assessment data to identify weaknesses and recommend
strategies for improving student performance.
Narrative Description: Analyze NWEA scores from Fall 2014 to Winter 2015 for
grades 3-5. By doing so, identify areas of progress and areas of deficiency in both
reading and math. Using this data, create a presentation for 3-5 PLC along with
suggested strategies for student improvement.
Smart Goal: By April of 2015, do an analysis of the 3-5 NWEA data that identifies
the top two particular areas of deficiency for students in these grades for both
reading and math. Present this information to 3-5 PLC .

I.

Description and Rationale of the Project:

As education reform continues, there has been a considerable amount of emphasis
placed on standardized test results and the connection with instruction. Woodland
Park Academy, like many schools, has newly added a data component to teacher
evaluation. NWEA is a test that is implemented three times and year and reports
student growth within a week. These data reports will show the proficiency level of
students in the classroom, projection goals for each student, and whether or not the
student has met his or her projection goal.
After reviewing data, teachers are to then create instruction that helps to close the
gaps in student achievement. Using the learning continuum from the NWEA
resources, a teacher is able to clearly identify which standards a student needs to
be working on. However, this is a time-consuming process which may be
overwhelming for teachers. Also, there are several new teachers to Woodland Park
Academy that may not have the working knowledge of this resource in order to
compile this data.
For these reasons, it was my goal to focus on students that show progression
deficiencies in grades 3 through 5. In order to identify these students, tests scores
were compared from fall to winter of 2014. Then, the results were reviewed to
determine if the student had met his or her projection goal for winter. A file was
created for each student in both reading and math; the file included each tested
standard and what individual processes that students needed to master to progress
in each standard.
II. Project Outcomes

COMPETENCY 1: ACCOUNTABILITY

Once these files were created, they were then shared with the homeroom teachers
of the students as well as the response to intervention (RTI) teachers. Both math
and reading RTI teachers have planned to incorporate these learning continuums
into their after school programs as well as their daily scheduled intervention focus.
Furthermore, homeroom teachers are able to easily access and create learning
targets for students that are not meeting his or her goal. By being aware of these
targets, it becomes easier to identify places in the curriculum where these
objectives are introduced and provide students with more support at these times.
Teachers are also able to provide parents with a comprehensive guide to objectives
that students could continue to work on at home.
III. Lessons Learned
Analyzing test data and using results to guide instruction is a key component to any
classroom. By being able to create a database that identifies specific learning
targets for students that demonstrate learning gaps, teachers are able to more
effectively provide instruction that helps to support all students learning in the
classroom. Also, identifying learning targets helps to create a dialogue between
teachers, students and parents about the specific goals of the student.
One major difficulty in the process is the amount of time required to identify each of
the students and their individual learning goals. Specifically, creating a template
and isolated location for each student standard consumed multiple hours on
multiple days. For this reason, I feel that requiring a teacher to do this in a timely
manner as well as continue other daily teaching tasks may be unreasonable.
Moving forward, if I were a principal I would open a dialogue about the role of
testing data in teacher evaluation. By doing so, I would hope that the instructional
staff would consider data analysis important and become invested in using data to
drive instruction. I would ask that teachers set goals after assessments and create
objectives that mimic the testing language when applicable (reading and math
classes). For example, I can analyze how setting affects mood in a literary text. By
making this connection, teachers are able to easily demonstrate the consideration
of testing objectives in reference to his or her teaching. Also, if there were a data
committee in place, I would recommend that the committee create these objectives
and targets for teachers. These would be presented to teachers along with
suggestions for using the continuums.
Michigan Administrative Standard 1.2 states, Candidates understand and can
collect and use data with continually identifying school goals, assess organizational
effectiveness, and implement plans to achieve school goals. By analyzing testing
data and creating individualized learning goals for students, I have gained
considerable experience reviewing learning gaps that exist and creating dialogue to
close these learning gaps.