Student Learning Objectives (SLO) Template

(Michigan Department of Education)

Name of Teacher: Arianne Frink and Chris Trainor

Teacher Team: AP Psychology Team

Content Area: Social Studies Grade Level: 11-12 Academic Year: 2016-2017

Type of SLO: Class-level X Targeted

Course-level Leveled

Student Learning Objective:

Student uses specific and appropriate vocabulary to paraphrase psychological concepts in writing.

Interval of Instruction:
Instructional strategies and data collection will happen throughout the entire 2016-17 school year.

Initial Start Date:

The first unit test will provide our baseline data, thus beginning our interval of instruction.
Midcourse Check-in Dates:
We administer a unit test roughly every two weeks throughout the school year.
For most tests, we will do a mini-lesson before the test that focuses on language in
writing and a follow-up lesson after the test to reflect on progress.
Additionally, we will do FRQ Peer Grading where students are tasked with using a
rubric to grade an anonymous peers FRQ response.
At the end of each trimester, we will pull our data to reflect and modify instructional
strategies.
End Date:
The end date of the strategies will take place the week prior to the AP exam, which will be on
May 2nd. At this time, students will take a practice AP Free Response exam as part of their
Unit 14 test. This will serve as our summative assessment.
Student Population
AP Psychology is a year-long course for juniors and seniors. This year, there are roughly 130 students
enrolled in the course, and over the course of the school year students may or may not switch
between teachers (Frink/Trainor) between trimesters.

Although this a college level course, there are students struggling with the written expression of
psychological concepts. We are targeting 10 students from this population that have been identified
from the baseline data from the first unit test. These ten students have relatively high multiple
choice scores compared to free response scores, which we have used as an indicator that these
students struggle with communicating knowledge through written expression.

Students:
1. Jordan R.
2. Thereza C.
3. Tyler P.
4. Lisa G.
5. Chris S.
6. Micki C.
7. Jenn G.
8. Marina C.
9. Cole L.
10. Maddie K.

Learning Standards or Competencies

Text Types & Purposes:

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.11-12.2
Write informative/explanatory texts to examine and convey complex ideas, concepts, and information
clearly and accurately through the effective selection, organization, and analysis of content.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.11-12.2.D
Use precise language, domain-specific vocabulary, and techniques such as metaphor, simile, and
analogy to manage the complexity of the topic.
Range of Writing:
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.11-12.4
Produce clear and coherent writing in which the development, organization, and style are appropriate to
task, purpose, and audience.
Vocabulary Acquisition & Use:
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.L.11-12.5
Demonstrate understanding of figurative language, word relationships, and nuances in word meanings.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.L.11-12.5.B
Analyze nuances in the meaning of words with similar denotations.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.L.11-12.6
Acquire and use accurately general academic and domain-specific words and phrases, sufficient for
reading, writing, speaking, and listening at the college and career readiness level; demonstrate
independence in gathering vocabulary knowledge when considering a word or phrase important to
comprehension or expression.
Baseline Data
Based on the FRQ responses from previous years, we have noticed that we have a population of students that
seem to show mastery on a recognition test (multiple-choice) but they struggle with written expression of that
knowledge. Weve identified the cause of this, in many cases, to be lack of specificity in language and vocabulary
when it comes to paraphrasing.

To select our targeted group of students, we selected ten students who fit this learner profile. These students
have relatively high scores on the multiple-choice tests but low FRQ scores.

Assessment
1. Baseline Assessment
a. FRQ responses (Units 1-2)
2. Check-In Assessments
a. FRQ Responses (Units 3, 5, 7, 8, 9)
3. Final Assessment
a. Released AP Exam FRQ responses (Units 13-14)

Growth Targets
Using the following data spreadsheet for each student, our goal is that over the course of the trimester, 70% of
our targeted population will display growth in this areas. They will show a trend of improved scores over the
course of the year.

Rationale
In AP Psychology, the course is inherently test-driven, as we are trying to prepare our students to earn college
credit. Thus, the course involves lectures, note-taking, and tests. We want to prepare our students for both the
AP exam and their futures beyond the walls of our school, which means we want them to work on their writing
skills. Depth of understanding will be exhibited in writing, which is more authentic and reflective of what
students will be doing in future careers. No student will be asked to take a multiple choice test for a job
evaluation.
Additionally, our School Improvement Goals involve reaching the bottom 30% of our students. In this class, we
do not see this population highly represented, but there are a few students who receive special education
services and many students who simply struggle with the rigor of the course. In our own way, we are meeting
the bottom 30% of our AP Psychology students. These students wont be left behind because they will be forced
to address their writing challenges through constant practice, scaffolding of skills, and peer-grading. As a result,
we have set our goal at 70% improvement. We are hopeful that we see improvement in nearly every student in
the class, but specifically we are confident that 7 of the 10 students in our targeted population can and will
improve.

Instructional Strategies and Interventions

4. SODAS Strategy
a. This handout is given to students prior to the first unit test. (Handout)
b. It outlines expectations for use of concise and specific language when defining and explaining
psychology terms on an AP Free Response Question.
c. It also emphasizes the importance of using synonyms while paraphrasing to clarifying meaning.
5. Baseline Assessment
a. Unit 1 FRQ responses (relative to multiple choice scores) will provide our baseline assessment
data.
6. Language Mini-Lessons
a. The day before a test is usually devoted to reviewing for the test, and part of that time will be
used for a language mini-lesson.
b. Mini-lessons will vary from unit to unit, but an example might be giving students a psychology
term with definition and asking them to paraphrase the definition in three different ways while
maintaining the integrity of the definition. (Example Mini-Lesson)
7. Grading Rubrics
a. Initially, students will review their FRQs after each unit test with the guidance of a grading rubric
that follows the same format used by AP exam graders. This includes commonly missed points
due to misuse of language. It also shares sample responses with varying degrees of correctness.
(Example Rubric)
b. Midway through first trimester, we transition from reflecting on their own writing to evaluating
peer writing with a similar scoring rubric. To do this, we keep names anonymous and we shuffle
FRQs between classes so that no student has access to another students score.
8. Final Assessment
a. Released AP Exam FRQ responses will provide our final assessment data to evaluate student
growth over the course of the school year.

Student Growth and Reflection

STUDENT GROWTH
Based on the data collected, our targeted goal of 70% student improvement was achieved, meaning that 7/10
students improved from the baseline assessment (Unit 1) to the final assessment (Unit 14 - cumulative FRQ). Of
the remaining three students, two students showed scores that varied throughout the trimester.

Although our goal was met, there were many confounding variables that may have affected the results. Because
our SLO was focused on language and use of specific vocabulary, these FRQ scores may be a result of issues with
a students content knowledge, as opposed to the language and vocabulary itself. Additionally, each FRQ covers
an isolated unit, which may vary in difficulty. For example, one unit covers neuroscience while another covers
motivation and emotion. Finally, we noticed a trend that students struggled on the final two assessments. These
assessments were cumulative instead of covering a single unit. Students tend to be less motivated toward the
end of the school year when this assessment was given.

We are proud of the results we have achieved by implementing new mini-lessons and instructional strategies. In
the future, we plan to continue using these strategies with a few minor adjustments. First, we plan to implement
the strategies earlier in the year, since we only started using them second trimester. We also hope to find more
time in class to work on the strategies together since this year we often ran out of time.

PROFESSIONAL GROWTH
This process has allowed to us to experience both personal and professional growth throughout the course of
this year. As an AP Psychology team, we both feel as though this process has demonstrated our willingness to
make changes to the way this class is taught. For years, it has been a very successful AP course, so its easy to
become complacent with instructional practices. This year, though, we have challenged the way things have
been done in the past, and because of that, weve experienced a clear shift in focus away from strict
memorization to higher level thinking and skills that can translate into other areas as well as psychology.

This shift in focus has affected more than just our students FRQ scores and language abilities; it has also
affected the way we prioritize time in the classroom. We have made a strong effort to reduce the amount of
time spent on lectures and note-taking, and instead, we strive to allow more time for project-based learning
activities and other hands-on, authentic learning experiences. For example, to support their understanding of
classical conditioning, our students designed and conducted their own conditioning experiment, and they
created videos to show their process and a discussion of their results. While we still need to maintain the rigor
and needs of an AP course, we have found ways to incorporate more of the four Cs and next gen practices into
our daily lessons.

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SLO Approval

Approved Not Approved

Date: