The Curriculum Topic Study Leader’s Guide

Designs, Tools, and Resources for PLC’s

Collaborative Inquiry into Examining Student

Thinking- CIEST

CIEST INTRODUCTION

Three Goals• To learn about a CTS professional

development strategy for collaboratively examining student thinking.

• To practice using the CIEST protocol with a scaffold and sample of student work.

• To consider how you might use the CIEST PD strategy and probes to examine student thinking in your PLC work.

Examining Student WorkLooking at Formative AssessmentsPurpose: To learn more about students’ thinking for the purpose of informing instruction

Example: CIEST

Resources: CTS and formative assessment probes

Looking at Summative AssessmentsPurpose: To examine the extent to which students have achieved levels of proficiency

Example: Scoring Student Work

Resources: School or district common assessments or state released assessment items

Collaborative Inquiry

…is a process by which all relevant groups construct their understanding of important problems and potential solutions through asking questions, carefully analyzing all relevant data, and engaging in constructive dialogue with colleagues.

Wagner, 1998

Table Talk: The Power of Protocols

• What is a protocol?• When have you used

a protocol? What was it used for?

• How can a protocol enhance the work of a learning community?

What Are PD Protocols?They are:• agreed upon structures and guidelines for

professional conversation.• vehicles for building the skills and culture

necessary for teachers to engage in collaborative work.

Why Do We Use Protocols?• Protocols help guide teachers’ exploration

of important ideas related to teaching and learning.

• Using a protocol balances the opportunities for everyone in a group to listen, think, examine, question, and respond.

• Protocols help us ground our discussions in evidence, not opinion.

Data Driven Dialogue

Assessment Probes and

Student Work

Curriculum Topic Study

CIEST

CIEST PROTOCOL

CIEST Tools and Resources• Curriculum Topic Study Guide (CTS)

• National and State Standards and Research on Student Learning

• Two-tiered Assessment Probes (ready made probes or teacher-developed CTS probes)

• Student Work

• CIEST Scaffold

CTS Collective Resources

Indicates the resource is online

Indicates parts of the resource are online

CTS and Probes Teacher Notes

• Explanation (CTS Section I)• Curricular and Instructional Considerations

(CTS Section II and V)• Related Ideas in the Standards (CTS

Section III)• Related Research (CTS Section IV)• Suggestions for Instruction and

Assessment (CTS Section II)

Establish Group Norms- Step 1

Generate norms or “ground rules” for conducting the CIEST protocol

* Include sticking to the protocol!

Examine and Complete the Probe- Step 2

Jot down any notes about:

Prior knowledge you accessed (formal or informal knowledge)

Any difficulties you encountered with the content How and when your students might have

encountered (or will encounter) the concept targeted in this probe

Probe Clarification and Standards Groundwork- Step 3

• Which concept(s) or key idea(s) is this probe trying to “uncover”?

• What is the “best” answer choice?• How would you explain the answer?• Which CTS guide is related to this probe?• Which specific ideas from national and state

standards are related to this probe? (Use CTS Section III and VI)?

CTS- Heat and Temperature• Group conducts CTS on topic Heat and

Temperature to ground themselves in the specific ideas from national standards as well as related learning goals from their state standards.

• CTS Sections III and VI. (or- use Related National Standards in the Probes Teacher Notes)

Targeted Learning Goals

• Gr. 3-5: When warmer things are put with cooler ones, the warm ones lose heat and the cool ones gain it until they are all at the same temperature.

• Gr 5-8: Heat moves in predictable ways, flowing from warmer objects to cooler ones until both reach the same temperature.

Anticipate Student Thinking Step 4

What assumptions does your PLC have about how a heterogeneous class of grade 8 students might respond to the Mixing Water probe?

Each group member share one assumption

Organizing Data- STEP 5

Task 1-Sorting and Organizing Responses:

Sort papers by selected response. Tally the responses. Go Visual! Create a bar graph of students’

responses.

Grade 8 Results (30 students)

-1

1

3

5

7

9

11

13

15

Num

ber o

f Stu

dent

s

A B C D ESelected Response

Organizing and Displaying DataSTEP 5 (Cont’d)

Task 2: Organizing Reasoning Examine the students’ reasoning for each selected

response. Form categories of reasoning (e.g., Additive Reasoning or A+B= C)

Match the student responses with the reasoning category.

• Go Visual!- Create a graph, chart, or other type of display that will help others understand students’ thinking related to the answers they selected.

Analyzing the Data- Step 6 What commonly held student ideas pop out at

you from looking at the data? What facts can you state from looking at the

data? What patterns or trends emerge from the data? What are some surprising or interesting

findings? Do the correct responses show evidence of the

specific key ideas identified from CTS Sections III or VI?

“Just the Facts, Ma’am”, Jack Webb

Targeted Learning Goals

• Gr. 3-5: When warmer things are put with cooler ones, the warm ones lose heat and the cool ones gain it until they are all at the same temperature.

• Gr 5-8: Heat moves in predictable ways, flowing from warmer objects to cooler ones until both reach the same temperature.

Examine Cognitive Research -Step 7 Use CTS Section IV (or Related Research from the

probe notes) to examine the research on student learning.

Jot down notes or highlight sections of the research that are related to the commonly held ideas in the student work.

Share research findings that appear to match findings from your data.

Note any common ideas not described in the research that you found in your student work.

Note any idiosyncratic ideas worth considering.

CTS Section IV Discussion

How did CTS Section IV, Research on Student Learning, help you better understand the 8th graders’ thinking about heat transfer in the Mixing Water probe?

Examining Curricular and Instructional Considerations- Step 8

Are there suggestions for curriculum and instruction that you should take into account with these students? (CTS Section II or Curricular and Instructional Considerations in the Probes Notes )

Examining K-12 Coherence- Step 8

Are there any ideas in the “steps along the way” that students’ may have missed? (CTS Section V)

Integrating the Data- Step 9

What inferences, explanations, or conclusions can you draw from the data?

What additional data would you like to collect? How has your understanding of students and

student thinking been changed or enhanced from the CIEST?

How has your understanding of curriculum and/or instruction been changed or enhanced from the CIEST?

Next Steps and Reflection- STEP 10

Next Steps for Your PLC What will we do (action steps) as a result

of what we have learned?

What are the implications of our findings for ensuring all of our students learn the ideas necessary for science literacy?

Individual Reflection

What will you do with the new knowledge you gained from the CIEST?

How did interacting with your colleagues enhance the learning experience?

What would you like to try differently in your classroom or in your professional learning communities as a result of this experience?

How might you use the CIEST protocol in your own PLC work?

“The impact of professional development is inverse to the square of its distance from the classroom.”

- Richard Elmore

CIEST Is a PD Strategy that...• Deepens teachers’ science content and

pedagogical content knowledge.• Links CTS to a real classroom context.• Engages teachers in evidence-based dialogue

about student learning and teaching practice.• Uses a structured data collection, organization,

and analysis approach.• Encourages reflection and promotes action.• Places high value on formative assessment.• Can be used with a variety of PD structures

(e.g., workshops, co-mentoring, action research, and professional learning communities.)

Ch 1: Intro to the Leader’s Guide

• Advice for Using the Guide• Underlying Beliefs• Developing a Common Knowledge Base• Building Professional Community• Voices from the Field• Use by Different Types of Leaders• The Language of CTS

Ch 2: Intro to CTS for Leaders• What Is CTS?• CTS and Science Literacy• Key Points about Standards and Research

on Learning• Leading Professional Learning with CTS• What Leaders Need to Know about the

CTS Resources and Tools

Ch 3 – Considerations for Designing and Leading CTS

• CTS and the Principles of Effective Professional Development

• Using the CTS Learning Cycle• Facilitation Tips and Strategies• Acquiring and Managing Materials• Developing Norms for Collaborative Work• CTS Recommended Reading and Summarizing

Strategies • Reporting Out, Reflection, and Next Steps Strategies • Addressing Issues of Time and Difficulty

Ch 4- Designs for Introducing CTS

• Module A1—Introduction to CTS Using K-12 Snapshots

• Module A1—Introduction to CTS Using K-12 Resource Scenarios

• Module A3- Combined Snapshots and Resources Scenarios

• Tools and Templates for Creating Your Own Snapshots and Resource Scenarios

• Options for Introducing the CTS Resources

Ch 4- Designs for Introducing CTS

• Module A1—Introduction to CTS Using K-12 Snapshots

• Module A1—Introduction to CTS Using K-12 Resource Scenarios

• Module A3- Combined Snapshots and Resources Scenarios

• Tools and Templates for Creating Your Own Snapshots and Resource Scenarios

• Options for Introducing the CTS Resources

Ch 5- Full Topic Studies• B1: Experimental design• B2: Evidence and Explanation• B3: Earth, Moon, Sun System• B4: Particulate Nature of Matter• B5: Conservation of Matter• B6: Photosynthesis and Respiration• B7: Life Cycles (K-4)• Tools and Templates for Designing Your Own Full

CTS

Ch 6: CTS Applications• Content Knowledge• Curriculum Scope and Sequence• Curriculum Selection• Curriculum Implementation• Instructional Design• Formative Assessment• Performance Assessment

Ch 7- Embedding CTS into Professional Development

• Overview of PD Strategies• CTS Study Groups• Collaborative Inquiry into Examining Student Thinking

(CIEST)• CTS VDL- Video Demonstration Lessons• Content Immersion• Lesson Study• CTS Mentoring and Coaching• CTS Seminars• CTS Action Research