Equal Access to Rigor: Middle School ELA BOARD PRESENTATION February 10, 2020
Teachers and Administrators Presenting Lauren Wolter, ELA 7, 7th Grade Teacher, Longfellow MS Heidi Lippe, ELA 8, Content Team Leader, 8th Grade Teacher, Whitman MS Clint Grochowski, Principal, Whitman MS Seth Larson, Ph.D., Principal, Longfellow MS Mark Carter, Director of Secondary Education Willie Garrison, Supervisor of Equity; Student and Family Services Therese Kwiatkowski, Supervisor of Special Education David Dentinger, Supervisor of Secondary Education
ELA (English Language Arts) CURRICULUM REVIEW We are in the process of a curriculum review for our K-12 ELA programming. This review began in the 2018-19 school year, supported by an audit conducted by CESA #1. Their audit culminated in a written report delivered to the School Board on June 10, 2019.
CESA #1 AUDIT PROCESS The audit conducted by CESA #1 was made up of the following work. The team: ● Examined related national standards and educational research ● Conducted classroom observations ● Sent out surveys: administrators, teachers, parents, students ● Held listening sessions: students, teachers, administrators ● Reviewed our student testing data and local assessments ● Reviewed our curricular materials and resources
DISTRICT VISION Wauwatosa School District Goals #3 1. All students are prepared for post high-school education, careers, and citizenship. 2. The Wauwatosa School District is a place where every school welcomes and supports all children, staff and families. 3. In the Wauwatosa School District, underrepresented students excel.
FIVE RECOMMENDATIONS and the DISTRICT VISION The Audit conducted by the team from CESA #1 culminated in 5 recommendations for our district. 1. Instruction - Foster high levels of student engagement, choice and rigor into authentic practices in reading, writing, speaking, and listening, and language study. (Core Principles of Teaching and Learning & Instructional Framework) 2. ELA Curriculum/Schedule - Strategically phase out ELA tracking to support a more, equitable, rigorous, and collaborative ELA curriculum for all students. (Policy 5440, Equity Plan) 3. Resources - Build, use, and maintain robust instructional materials and classroom libraries. (Curriculum Review Process) 4. Professional Learning - Develop a multi-year professional development plan that focuses on differentiation, scaffolding, and best literacy pedagogy for both teachers and students. ( Professional Learning Committee and Professional Learning Plan) 5. Assessment - Develop rigorous, valid, and reliable student assessments and rubrics aligned to standards, and implement more effective practices that promote reliability and empower students as responsive learners. (Professional Learning Communities, Common Summative Assessments)
RECOMMENDATION #2 “Strategically phase out ELA tracking … to promote equity, ensure high expectations for all students, and provide universal access to rigorous curriculum.” DD
Unpacking Recommendation #2 ● All students should be challenged with high expectations. ● All students should have access to rigor. ● All our courses should be culturally responsive.
“Culturally Responsive Course Structures” The current structure of middle school ELA courses for grades 7 and 8 does not align with our district’s vision that all students should have equitable access to high levels of learning. The two levels of ELA (Advanced and Regular) are not proportional by race, ability level, or economic status, as seen by these data from 2018. (Grade 8, Longfellow and Whitman, 2018) Students of Color Regular ELA 51% Advanced ELA 20% MS Proportional 41% Students with Disabilities Regular ELA 14% Advanced ELA 1% Proportional 13% Students Who Are Economically Challenged Regular ELA 32% Advanced ELA 10% Proportional 30%
“Challenging All Students with High Expectations”
“Challenging All Students with High Expectations”
“Access to Rigor for All Students” The gaps we see in student access to rigorous courses in middle school persist into high school. These data show the percent of students going into AP English classes their junior year (2018). A student from Advanced English is almost 3 times more likely to take an AP English class junior year than a student from Regular English 10. Students from ADV English 10 41% Students from REG English 10 15%
Forward Exam ELA Opportunity Gaps (6-8)
Forward Exam ELA Opportunity Gaps (Gr 6-8)
Special Education Services Students With Disabilities (SWD) participating in general education classes with access to general education curriculum Co-Planning and Co-Serving between General Education and Special Education teachers ● Shift co-plan/co-serve from regular ELA into advanced ELA ● Allow access to advanced ELA for SWD ● Benefits to other students--what's good for some could be beneficial to many
Environmental Scan: Tracking in MS ELA ● A survey was sent out to school districts in SE WI, asking which districts tracked middle school ELA (or who had more than one level of ELA). ● Many districts that do not track reported that they did so previously but had moved away from that practice. ● No districts report having student performance data related to detracking their programs. ● Over a third of the schools reported that they use the workshop model to support their ELA programs.
Proposal After having examined CESA #1’s recommendations and validating them with our district’s vision, and after having analyzed our students’ data and conducted an environmental scan, we propose the following: ● Currently in middle school, for grades 7 and 8, there are two levels of ELA (English Language Arts): Advanced ELA and Regular ELA. Grade 6 currently has only one level. ● The Middle Schools (ELA teachers and administrators) and the Teaching and Learning Department are recommending that, beginning 2020-21, all students receive the Advanced ELA curriculum and that there be only one level for grades 7 and 8.
Teacher Feedback In meeting with our middle school teachers over a number of sessions, we held discussions related to the proposal. These are comments that represent the feedback gathered at those meetings. ❖ “What we’re doing is morally reprehensible.” ❖ “We need to de-track yesterday.” ❖ “We can absolutely do this [have all students take the advanced level] if we work together.” ❖ “Tracking in ELA implicitly tracks kids everywhere else!” ❖ “This change can work if we (teachers) get the help we need.”
Teacher Support Middle School ELA teachers have expressed a desire for the following supports in having all students take one level of ELA. TIME Time to prepare for the change; time during the school year for planning, work and collaboration TRAINING Professional development (e.g., differentiation, universal design for learning, workshop model (a curricular model aligned with equitable achievement for all students: low floor / high ceiling), foundational literacy skills SUPPORT Co-Plan/Co-Serve Model (collaboration with Special Ed Teachers), instructional coaches, interventionists
“How We Got Here...and How We Can Change” ● Ten years ago, confronted with a wide range of students the perceived solution was tracking. ● The model we implemented has evolved into something that is not productive; it is, in fact, harmful. ● Today we know we can address a wide range of diverse learners using instructional frameworks and strategies that we weren’t aware of ten years ago--for example, Universal Design for Learning (UDL), co-planning/co-serving, scaffolding, differentiation, and the workshop model, to name a few.
Equal Access to Rigor Promotes High Levels of Student Achievement: 6th Grade ELA In our sixth grade ELA program, all students are in one level. ● The academic performance in sixth grade is higher than in seventh or eighth grade. ● There are significantly fewer referrals for discipline in sixth grade than in seventh, which has two levels.
Equal Access to Rigor Promotes High Levels of Student Achievement: AP Human Geography ● Sophomore year all students take AP Human Geography [APHG], a college level course. After the first year, approximately half of the students in APHG took the AP test in May 2019 and 70% of those test-takers received a 3 or higher--a percentage surpassing the state average. The mean score of our students also surpassed the state’s mean score. ● In tracking students’ grades in making the transition from Global Studies to AP Human Geography, there was no significant change in all students’ grades.
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