Taking Center Stage – Act II (TCSII)

A Portal for Middle Grades Educators

Professional Learning Activities

Recommendation Two

A Continuous Cycle of Teaching and Learning: Assessment, Instruction, and Intervention

II. Investigate: Research the Recommendation

Now that you have reviewed the TCSII Evidence Checklist and completed it based on your current school practices, use the following activities to continue learning about the strategies and practices related to Recommendation 2—Instruction, Assessment, and Intervention.

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 implementation or improvement of this practice be beneficial to you, your students, and others?
     • Will work on 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 2 —Instruction, Assessment, and Intervention.
   • The following are examples of how to begin your exploration of the content sections in TCSII related to Recommendation 2 —Instruction, Assessment, and Intervention.
     • If, for example, your identified practice is teaching students how to be effective learners, explore more on TCSII in the following content section: Study skills—Teaching students how to learn.
     • If, instead, you would like to focus on knowing when each student has acquired the intended knowledge and skills, begin with a review of the TCSII content section: How to Know When Each Student Has Acquired the Knowledge and Skills.
     • To gain additional information regarding common benchmark assessments, review the “In the Spotlight” article in TCSII that focuses on teachers at Rio Norte Junior High School scoring benchmark assessments and working with others in the district to ensure that assessments also help to guide articulation.
     • To obtain more information about differentiated Instruction:
       • Review the following content section on TCSII:
         • Differentiated instruction
       • Watch the following videos on TCSII:
         • Kinesthetic Learning, Part I (WMV; 5:36) | MOV
         • Kinesthetic Learning, Part II (WMV; 5:04) | MOV
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 professional practice?
   • How will these findings impact your students?

Then, proceed to:

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

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