Writing: curriculum and instruction Demonstrator 1. Student Access All students should have equitable access to high quality curriculum and instruction. Sample evidence School writing policy/plan* Student journals/learning logs* Curriculum documents with student samples of integrated literacy instruction across content areas Needs Improvement (X 1/bullet) Proficient (X 2/bullet) Distinguished (X 3/bullet) a) Some students do not have access to comprehensive writing instruction, or writing instruction is limited in scope and/or quality for all students. b) Literacy learning opportunities are limited or inconsistent. a) All students have access to comprehensive writing instruction. b) Students engage in daily literacy learning opportunities across content areas. a) All students have access to high quality comprehensive writing instruction. b) Students engage in daily literacy learning opportunities to explore ideas and plan for products across content areas. Points 1 2 0 Rationale, including a detailed list of evidence supporting judgments Demonstrator 1. Student Access- Needs Improvement based on the following reasons: All students receive comprehensive writing instruction. (We believe this bullet is proficient but can still improve with further enhancements made to instruction.) (Evidence: school writing policies, CSIP, school’s master schedule) Many students do engage in daily literacy learning opportunities within the school. (We found examples of daily literacy learning opportunities to be prevalent in the English Department; these classes furnished examples of student work, student writing journals, lesson plans, and individual folders with written assignments) However, these opportunities are not as easily located in the content areas since they are frequently not noted on lesson plans and samples of these opportunities are not located in a central location or maintained within the classroom.(Lack of Evidence) Recommendations for improvement: Recommendations: Create literacy across the curriculum by giving all teachers a hard copy of the CSIP (which assigns students varying authentic writing tasks within each teacher’s curriculum twice a trimester) to ensure teachers are aware of our school improvements toward writing and provide a monitoring systems to ensure all teachers are complying, have notations for classroom literacy assignments made on all lesson plans, and provide a central location for literacy samples to be kept.
learning objectives and align both instruction and assessments with those objectives. b) Teachers do not engage in a systematic school-wide collaborative approach to develop or align writing and communication assessments across grade levels and content areas. c) Select teachers meet to review writing and communication assessments for alignment with standards and other teachers comply with the alignment. d) Teachers do not embed informal writing and communication skills to formatively assess content area learning across the curriculum. e) Teachers are beginning to use writing and communication skills to formatively assess content area learning across the curriculum. objectives and align both instruction and assessments with those objectives. b) Teachers collaborate to develop and /or align writing and communication assessments across grade levels and content areas. c) Teachers collaborate to review writing and communication assessments for alignment with standards. d) Teachers embed informal writing and communication skills to formatively assess content area learning across the curriculum. e) Teachers formatively assess student’s writing processes as well as products. align both multi-dimensional instruction and assessments with those objectives. b) Teachers collaborate to develop and/or align writing and communication assessments across grade levels and content areas, and monitor the impact on student learning over time. c) Teachers collaborate to review writing and communication assessments for alignment with standards and quality of task. d) Teachers embed informal writing and communication opportunities to formatively assess content area learning and provide opportunities for student reflection on their content learning. e) Teachers formatively assess student’s writing processes as well as products and use that information to inform coaching and instructional decisions. Points 4 2 0 Rationale, including a detailed list of evidence supporting judgments Demonstrator 1: Variety of Assessment- Needs Improvement due to the following reasons: All teachers were required to participate in the deconstruction of state curriculum standards by discipline to develop a curriculum document with general and specific learning goals and objectives. (Evidence: Professional development sign-in sheets and agendas) At this time, our school does not have a school-wide writing plan to address the writing policy currently in place. The completion of the contribution of writing pieces from content areas is not being monitored. (Evidence: Lack of evidence in lesson plans) English/Language Arts (ELA) teachers met to review writing and communications assessments but content area teachers currently do not incorporate planning time to incorporate writing or communication
b) Writing and communication goals are not developed, or if developed, are non-specific, or rarely addressed. c) Teacher leaders are not utilized within the school to support the professional development action plan or the writing program. d) Leadership and teacher leaders do not engage in collaborative decision-making regarding the writing program or the professional develop action plan. e) Schools rarely utilize internal or external experts and/or resources to support the professional development action plan. teaching writing and communication skills. b) Teacher leaders develop school-wide writing and communication goals and annually revisit those goals. c) Teacher leaders support the professional development action plan through facilitating learning and modeling best practices for instruction in writing and communication skills. d) Teacher leaders are engaged in collaborative decision-making, and follow up on leadership decisions to support teacher writing and communications instruction. e) Teacher leaders utilize outside experts and resources as appropriate to support the professional development action plan. initiative to build the skills and practice of colleagues through job-embedded peer coaching while addressing the learning needs of staff. b) Teacher leaders work with staff to develop school-wide writing and communication goals and revisit those goals on an ongoing basis, both formally and informally. c) Teacher leaders support the professional development action plan through facilitating learning and modeling best practices for instruction in writing and communication skills, as identified from formative and summative assessments. d) Teacher leaders collectively gather data, make decisions, and follow up to support ongoing progress in goals-driven writing and communications initiatives. e) Teacher leaders collaborate with internal and external experts to share expertise related to writing and communications. Points 5 0 0 Rationale, including a detailed list of evidence supporting judgments Demonstrator 3. Teacher Leadership- Needs Improvement based on the following reasons: There is no evidence that PLC’s are functioning in the capacity to support a systematic approach to writing and communication development. There is a component in the CSIP to develop writing or communication goals; however, no monitoring system. There are no teacher leaders in our school. We do not have Department chairs. There is a representative from the District office, but they are not on site.