Taking Center Stage – Act II (TCSII)

A Portal for Middle Grades Educators

Professional Learning Activities

Recommendation 1—Rigor

Implementing High Expectations for the
Success of Every Student

II. Investigate: Research the Recommendation

Now that you have completed the TCSII Evidence Checklist based on your current school practices, use the following activities to continue learning about the strategies and practices related to Recommendation 1 – Rigor.

To begin:

1. Activity: Return to the TCSII Evidence Checklist and look at the items that were not checked.
   • Identify one or more practices that you would like to improve or implement.
   • In a pair-share activity, respond to the following:
     • Why is this practice being selected for improvement or implementation?
       • What evidence/data can you provide that supports your selection?
       • Is there consensus on this choice?
         • If there is not consensus, how will you determine on which practice to focus?
     • How will selection be beneficial to you, your students, and others?
     • Does this practice allow you to explore a range of insights and findings?
     • Is this practice something that you can investigate and implement within your daily work schedule and in a manageable timeframe?
     • How does this practice currently look in your classroom?
2. Activity: Each pair will report to the team regarding the practice(s) selected. As an entire staff, discuss the following:
   • Should you focus on improving one existing practice?
   • If so, which one? —OR—
   • Should you implement one new practice to address an identified need or gap?
   • What evidence helped you determine the need for a new or revised practice or approach?
     
3. Activity: As an entire staff and based on the group discussion:
   • Finalize the selection of one practice on which you would like to focus your enhancement or implementation efforts. Consider selecting only one practice to be enhanced or implemented at a time. If more than one change is made, it will be difficult to determine which action is responsible for the outcome.
   • Next, obtain ideas and/or strategies that would assist you in implementing this new practice or enhancing one existing practice.
     
4. Activity: Explore more on TCSII–review the content sections of Recommendation 1—Rigor.
   • The following are examples of how to begin your exploration of the content sections in TCSII related to Recommendation 1 – Rigor.
   • If, for example, you want to obtain more information about developing all students’ critical thinking skills, read the TCSII content section on “Critical thinking.”
     • Did you discover any additional critical thinking activities that you could incorporate into your own classroom instruction?
     • Keep a list of practices or ideas you found.
   • If, instead, you would like to focus on how effectively your grading system supports a rigorous instructional program, begin with a review of the TCSII content section “Grades and effective standards-based reporting.”
   • Did you identify any changes that you could make to the grading system or how you use the grading system?
   • How might you implement any changes to your grading practices?
     
5. Activity: In teams, discuss the following:
   • What did you learn from your research?
   • What patterns, insights, and new understandings emerged?
   • What meaning do these patterns, insights, and new understandings have for your practice?
   • How will these findings impact your students?

Then, proceed to:

• III. Implement: Plan, Apply, and Evaluate the Results
  

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