OUTCOMES

OUTCOMESReceive a general overview of Curriculum 2.0Hear how your child will learn the new Thinking and Academic Success SkillsHear about math upgrades in Curriculum 2.0 Learn more about Standards Based Grading & Reporting (new Report Cards)DFCP1CONSENSOGRAMPLEASE PLACE THE DOT (FOUND IN YOUR FOLDER) ON THE CONSENSOGRAM INDICATING YOUR LEVEL OF KNOWLEDGE ABOUT CURRICULUM 2.0.Also, in your folder you will find several notecards. Please use these to write down any questions you have during the presentation. We will collect and address them throughout the meeting. We need to prepare students for their future, not our past. Ian Jukes

Schools in our Past

TEACHER CENTERED

SHIFT TO STUDENT CENTERED

WHY CHANGE THE CURRICULUM?Many students have excelled in reading and math since 2001. We noticed that students who had the most success in advanced reading and math had certain characteristics as students Successful students are critical thinkers.Successful students are creative.Successful students know how to learn.Marty6What is MCPS Curriculum 2.0?New Internationally-driven standards in math, reading, and writing.Renewed focus on teaching the whole child.Integrates thinking, reasoning, and creativity for a lifetime of learning.Marty

7What is better in Curriculum 2.0?Staying The SameUpgradeStrong focus on reading and mathInternationally-driven standards in math, reading, and writingSeparate times for art, music, and physical education and other specialsClassroom teachers providing instruction in science and social studiesIntegration of content areas through Thinking and Academic Success SkillsThinking skills included in content areasSpecific instruction on Thinking and Academic Success skills across content areasClearly defined critical thinking, creative thinking, and academic success skillsMarty

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Slide Credit: EdTrust.orgData Source: Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), PISA 2006 Results, http://www.oecd.org/ Why internationally-driven standards?U.S.A.OECD AverageMarty

For visual learners heres what the U.S. ranking on the PISA looked like in 2003.

IF YOU GET QUESTIONS LIKE:Isnt the US more culturally diverse? Or Dont we have more poverty? See the data from the last four slides of this presentation.9Most U.S. standardized tests are designed to assess whether students learned what they were taught in school, focusing on recall and recognition of facts.

Assessments in high-achieving nations increasingly emphasize learning designed to assess if students can apply what theyve learned to new problems and situations, focusing on inquiry and explanations of ideas.

Differences Among Assessments

10Marty

Discuss fundamental difference in focus of tests.

(U.S. Assessment) National Assessment of Educational Progress 8th- and 12th-Grade Science

1. What two gases make up most of the Earth's atmosphere?A) Hydrogen and oxygen B) Hydrogen and nitrogenC) Oxygen and carbon dioxideD) Oxygen and nitrogen

2. Is a hamburger an example of stored energy? Explain why, or why not. ____________________________________________________________________________

11MartySlide # 3 from Lindas pp(International Assessment) A PISA Task: Science

FLIES Read the following information and answer the questions which follow.A farmer was working with dairy cattle at an agricultural experiment station. The population of flies in the barn where the cattle lived was so large that the animals' health was affected. So the farmer sprayed the barn and the cattle with a solution of insecticide A. The insecticide killed nearly all the flies. Some time later, however, the number of flies was again large. The farmer again sprayed with the insecticide. The result was similar to that of the first spraying. Most, but not all, of the flies were killed. Again, within a short time the population of flies increased, and they were again sprayed with the insecticide. This sequence of events was repeated five times: then it became apparent that insecticide A was becoming less and less effective in killing the flies. The farmer noted that one large batch of the insecticide solution had been made and used in all the sprayings. Therefore he suggested the possibility that the insecticide solution decomposed with age.Source: Teaching About Evolution and the Nature of Science, National Academy Press, Washington, DC, 1998, p. 75.

The farmer's suggestion is that the insecticide decomposed with age. Briefly explain how this suggestion could be tested.The farmer's suggestion is that the insecticide decomposed with age. Give two alternative explanations as to why "insecticide A was becoming less and less effective ..."12Marty

How the Demand for Skills Has ChangedEconomy-wide measures of routine and nonroutine task input (U.S.) (Frank Levy and Richard Murnane, 2005)Mean task input as percentiles of the 1960 task distributionThe dilemma of schools:The skills that are easiest to teach and test are also the ones that are easiest to digitize, automate, and outsource13Marty

Renewed focus on teaching the whole The Thinking and Academic Success Skills are the common thread that integrate content areas.Content areas still maintain their separate goals and objectives. Students learn more when making connections across content areas natural areas for connections are provided.

ArtMathMusicHealthInformation LiteracyReadingScienceSocial StudiesWriting

Marty

14Thinking and Academic Success Skills (TASS)Quarter OneAnalysisCollaborationFluencyGrade 1XXGrade 2XXGrade 3XXEach grade level will focus on 2 TASS for each quarter.

Students will be evaluated on each TASS across all content areas.

Report cards will indicate student progress on each TASS as Demonstrating, Progressing or Not Yet Evident.What is Analysis?Breaking a whole into parts that may not be immediately obvious and examining the parts so that the structure of the whole is understood.

What will Analysis look like in a 3rd grade classroom?Science: Find the relationship between a surface and the motion of an object.Math: Describe patterns on a multiplication table to understand multiplication facts with 0 and 1.Writing: Understand how different verb tenses change writing.What is Collaboration?Working together to achieve a shared goal or carry out a plan of action.

What will Collaboration look like in a 1st grade classroom?Reading: Participating in a discussion with a guided reading group.Math: Working together to determine how to measure given objects in non-standard units.Science: Working with a group to design and carry out a plan to demonstrate how humans impact plants in the environment.Do you consider yourself a reader?Do you consider yourself a math person?

HOW DO YOU THINK OF YOURSELF?MartyConsider using this icebreaker Ask for a show of hands for each question.

Almost all American audiences will say they are readers but only a few will say they are math people. This is due to cultural stigma against math in the U.S. The researchers who developed the recommendations for the new Internationally-driven standards this presentation is about found that the nations that were top performers on assessments in the world not only had a more coherent curriculum than the U.S. but they also found that people in the top countries love math the way Americans love reading. Much of what we will be talking about is how MCPS replacing the old Maryland Standards with new Internationally-driven standards to create a stronger foundation at the elementary level before accessing advanced math at the secondary level. But the focus for MCPS goes beyond that. MCPS wants students to love math and be able to use it to help students solve problems and make sense of the world. We want out students to wear proudly the I heart math hat!22Building a Stronger FoundationMCPS 2001 Curriculum FrameworkCurriculum 2.0 / Internationally-driven standardsSpiral Curriculum concepts introduced and mastered over several grade levels Concept introduced and mastered in one grade levelGrade level standards not sufficiently challenging for most studentsMany standards are pulled down from upper grades.Language of standards was general and not specific resulting in teaching to test.Fewer, higher, clearer standards provide direction for teaching and learning not testing.Curriculum developed independently of all other subjectsCurriculum integrated with other content areas and thinking and academic skillsWhat Makes The Curriculum 2.0 Foundation Stronger?

MartyIn review UCARE is one of the Major Features that make the math program stronger.

The are also behind the scenes parts of the standards that make them much stronger. These are things teachers and curriculum developers would see but have a large impact on the curriculum.

Specifically, more indicators are pulled down from higher grade levels and the switch from a spiralled curriculum to a one that expects full mastery is a big change.

There is also more specific language in the standards for example (see next slide)23Goals of the MCPS Mathematics ProgramDevelop students who love math and see it as sensible and useful to solving problems and making sense of the world.All students will reach proficiency in math Understanding, Computing, Applying, Reasoning, and Engaging (UCARE).

MartyThe goals of the MCPS Math Program reflect the need to develop students who see math sensible; not a series of tricks to replicate to get to the next step.

We want our students to love math and have the confidence and competence to choose to take AP Calculus in high school. Not that they have to but we want them to have the option.

The UCARE definition of proficiency will be explained in this presentation and is the basis for what we mean by building a stronger foundation.24What is going deeper in math?

MathematicalProficiencyUnderstandingComprehending Concepts, Operations, & RelationsComputingCarrying out proceduresApplyingFormulating and solving mathematical problemsReasoningUsing logic to explain a solutionEngagingSeeing math as sensible, useful, and doable25Building a stronger foundation

MathematicalProficiencyUnderstandingComprehending Concepts, Operations, & RelationsComputingCarrying out proceduresApplyingFormulating and solving mathematical problemsReasoningUsing logic to explain a solutionEngagingSeeing math as sensible, useful, and doable26

1 =

3 1

Write this problemas a questionusing words and not symbols.

How many halves are in one and one half?MathematicAL Proficiency: Learning A Concept in DepthCOMPUTINGUNDERSTANDINGREASONINGMartyWhen most of us learned a procedure to divide fractions, we learned to invert and multiply. This yields a correct answerbut one that doesnt mean much to most of us.

Getting a simple correct answer is the Computing portion of UCARE. But it does not address the other four strands because a student can learn the trick flip and multiply and mimic it on a test without ever really understanding the concepts behind why you would flip and multiply.

ADVANCE TO NEXT GRAPHIC

However, if a student could re-write the problem in her own words that would show understanding and reasoning of the UCARE Continued on next slide1 = 3

Describe a situation requiring use of this concept.

You have a yard and a half of ribbon to make bows. Each bow requires yard. How many bows can you make?

MathematicAL Proficiency: Learning A Concept in DepthAPPLYING REASONING

MartyBetter yet - if a student can describe a situation when they would need to use this knowledge that would show application and understanding and engagement.

Of course with much good instruction we would expect the teacher to begin with the engagement so the student can move from the familiar and concrete to the abstract.2829Understanding the Relationship Between Multiplication and Division

How would you solve or interpret this division problem?

TERRYIn Grade 3, students develop an understanding of multiplication and division, and the relationship between multiplication and division. Lets look at another division problem, this time from Grade 6, as students extend and apply their understanding of division. How would you solve or interpret this division problem? (provide 1 min for individual consideration)Making connections: Did you think about the steps you were taught in school? Did the process you used make sense to you? Could you explain why it worked? Whats another way to ask this division problem without the division symbol?(How many fourths are in 2 ? or of what number is 2 ? )Lets consider some instruction students have received that would help them approach this problem.2911/4/11

How many fourths are in ?

of what number is ?

30Why does the algorithm work?

TERRY

Building Unit Fractions: How many of you tuned out as soon as a fraction problem was displayed? When students have a deep understanding of fractions, of place value, and of operations, this will not happen.

Once students understand how to build unit fractions and they have developed a deep understanding the unit fraction (Grade 3), it is easy to extend and apply this learning to determine how many fourths are in 2 .

Students also recognize that 2 is of some larger number, and they have strategies to apply in determining the value of this larger number. 3011/4/11Complete the number sentence with , or =

360

114 113

MathematicAL Proficiency: Learning A Concept in Depth

COMPUTING

Same Problems, but requiring Understanding, Computing, Application, and ReasoningMartyAnother example from the Second Grade level

Must of us know this cold its obvious that 352 is less than 360, but many students struggle with the meaning of place value.

So they are taught the trick compare the place value on each number. For the first problem the threes are the same, but the 6 is higher than the five, so the number on the left must be less than the number on the right. NOTE that a student can do this without really understanding what place values mean.

Advance to next graphic.Look at the same problems, but from an activity in the new EIC. You will see that students cannot hide behind a trick to show what they know.

This way measures Understanding Computing Application and Reasoning.

Students have to apply their understanding of the value in each place to compose the numbers before determining which is greater or less than. This also requires computing as they compose the numbers and reasoning as they assess the best strategy to attack the problem.

What does going deeper mean?

I understand not only how and when to use an algorithm; I know why the algorithm is the most efficient way to solve a problem and I can explain why!32

Terry

3211/4/11GRADING & REPORTINGStandards-based gradinginvolves measuring students' proficiency on well-defined standards.

Standards-based grading reports tell us how students are performing on a set of clearly defined learning outcomes.

EXAMPLECONTENT: GRADE 3 MATH MEASUREMENT TOPIC: OPERATIONS AND ALGEBRAIC THINKINGPROFICIENCY STATEMENT: A student has demonstrated proficiency by: (Understanding) Representing and interpreting multiplication and division problems. Understanding the relationship between multiplication and division; (Computing) Fluently multiplying and dividing within 100; (Applying) Using multiplication and division within 100 to solve word problems. Applying properties of operations as strategies to multiply and divide. Applying strategies to solve two-step word problems using the four operations; (Reasoning) Explaining patterns in an addition or multiplication table. Explaining and justifying a solution to a problem or extending from something known to something not yet known; (Engaging) Seeing mathematics as sensible, useful, and doable-if you work at it-and being willing to do the work.

How will students be assessed?ReadingMathAnecdotal Records from reading groupsGraphic OrganizersDuring Reading Assignment Tasks (post-its, organizers, questions)Written responses

Anecdotal records within small group instructionMCPS created formativesInteractive TasksOpen-ended word problems

Where can I learn more?http://www.montgomeryschoolsmd.org/curriculum/2.0/Definitions and examples of Thinking and Academic Success SkillsParent Guides for the content in each grade level K-2 (what will my student learn?); National PTA Parent guides - http://www.pta.org/5307.htmVideo examples of integrationVideo on Math changesShare your feedback with MCPSDetailed curriculum framework (philosophy, research, content area learning objectives)Marty

38Questions To Ask Your Childs TeacherIs my child reading at grade level? Can you show me books that are the right level for my child?How is my child doing in math? How can I help my child at home?How will you determine my childs grade?How much time should my child be spending on homework?Aside from report cards, what are the best ways to keep up to date on my childs progress? Niki39