Multiage Programs: Meeting the Learning Needs of Students While Balancing the Budget

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Multiage ProgramsMeeting the Learning Needs of
Students While Balancing the Budget

• Mary Kane, Assistant Superintendent for
  Educational Planning
• in Curriculum, Instruction and Assessment
• Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis

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Pre- Assessment Survey
Think of a Time when you learned something
successfully
How did you learn it? Why did you learn it? What
made it possible for you to learn it?
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How Children Learn

• As a whole person
• Progress through stages of cognitive development
• Active not passive learner
• Constructs her won knowledge of the world
• Is individual
• Is a process
• Best when activity is meaningful and relevant
• Learns through play
• From social interaction
• By Imitation
• Affect (emotion) impacts learning

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Goals

• Provide a general introduction to multiage
  programs
• Share some ideas for professional development
• Introduce a three phase plan for implementation
  of a multiage program driven by differentiated
  instruction

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Defining the Multiage Classroom

• A multi-age classroom that has a heterogeneously
  mixed group of children agesClassroom activities
  are varied to involve all children in
  developmentally appropriate activities.

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Five Different Configurations
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Comparison

• Multiage
• Program fits the child
• Efficient, effective learning environment
• Activity-based
• Students are self-regulating
• Process approach has long-term benefits
• Encourages friendships and learning
• Promotes cooperation and collaboration
• Creates a caring community
• Accommodates diversity and inclusiveness

• Differentiation
• Affirms students have different learning needs,
  strengths, styles, interests
• Nurtures the students ability to make
  appropriate choices of how to learn, what has
  been learned
• Provides high levels of challenge and active
  engagement in rigorous, relevant learning
• Utilizes flexible grouping to provide
  opportunities for students to learn with others
• Recognizes the learning diversity represented in
  our classrooms

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To Be Successful

• Teacher Buy-in
• Belief in child-centered education
• Training
• Support
• Time
• Parental Support
• Resources
• Support staff

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My Resume

• Name
• Work Experience
• Education/Professional Development
• Skills/Expertise
• Hobbies/Talents
• Inspiration to be an educator
• Describe what has helped you stay in education
• List High/Low Points of Vocation/Profession
• Beliefs about Teaching an Learning

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Focused Conversation Building the Context for
Change

• Rethinking the Mission of Catholic Schools
• Overview of the Archdiocesan Planning Process -
  Fact Sheet
• 10 Principles of Vital and Viable Schools- snap
  survey
• Catholic Elementary School Review Process for
  School Sustainability
• Explore other educational programs- multiage,
  consolidation, closure

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Jigsaw

• Learning Together A Manual for Multiage Grouping
  Bacharach, N. Corwin 1995
• Research Summaries - NMSA

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Reports

• What were the key features?
• What stood out to you? Caught your attention?
• Compare and contrast to your classroom? Your
  school?
• Given the resumes, what are the gifts/gaps you
  bring?
• How would this benefit the school? Challenge the
  school?
• What are the next steps for you? Your colleagues?
  What type of help will you need? From whom?

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Survey

• How Strong is the Support System
• In Your School?

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Classroom Practice InventoryDiane Heacox, PhD
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Take a Stand!
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Personal Goal -Setting

• Something I will START doing is
• Something I will STOP doing is
• Something I will keep doing is

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Teacher Portfolio

• Implementation Strategies
• for Multiage Programs with Differentiated
  Instruction

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Competency Commitment, Confidence,
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• Concept
• Principles
• Generalizations
• Facts
• Episodes
• Vocabulary
• Standard

• Strategies
• Tactics
• Steps
• Algorithms
• Standard

Products
Skills
Knowledge
Reasoning
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Integration Matrix Unit/Theme Unit Questions
Continued á
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Competency Commitment, Confidence,
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Recommended
Excluded
Written
Different Kinds of Curriculum
Taught
Hidden
Supported
Tested
Learned
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MCAs
SAT 10/Learnia
ISTE Standards
Standards Benchmarks
Standards Benchmarks
ACRE
ISTE Benchmark
Declarative Benchmark
Differentiation
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Overview
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Commitment, Confidence, Competency
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Commitment, Confidence, Competency
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Commitment, Confidence, Competency
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Student Involvement

• Anything you do that helps students
• Understand learning targets
• Engage in self-assessment
• Watch themselves grow
• Talk about their growth
• Plan next steps

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A key premise is that for students to be able to
improve, they must have the capacity to monitor
the quality of their own work during actual
production. This in turn requires that students

• Know what high quality work looks like
• Be able to objectively compare their work to the
  standard
• Have a store of tactics to make work better based
  on their observations
• Royce Sadler, Australia, 1989

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Commitment, Confidence, Competency
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Information Night
At what age did your child begin to
crawl?______ months begin to walk? ______
months begin to talk? ______ years
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Information Night

• Share vision, obstacles, actions
• Identify the three phase plan
• Hear testimonials - panel
• Demonstrate what you are already doing- learning
  centers, tiered assignments, choice boards,
  advisor/advisee, exploratory day, tech assisted
  learning (teachers)

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Family Information Update

• Name __________________
• Two things I like about the schools new
  initiative as I understand them are
• One thing I would like to learn about it is
• One thing I would like to change about it is
• Thank you for taking the time to assist us in
  answering this survey. It will help us to tailor
  our parents meetings to meet your needs. In
  this way we are able to focus on you, the learner
  and your learning needs. This is one of the main
  intents of our re-structuring endeavor, that is,
  to personalize learning for your children
  whenever possible.

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Student-Involved Record Keeping

• Repeated self assessments over time
• Portfolios with self reflection- portfolio
  parties
• Change is apparent to the learner
• Result?
• Success is within reach

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Student-Involved Communication

• Student-led parent/teacher conferences
• Science fairs, wax museums
• Greater sense of responsibility
• Pride in accomplishment
• Result? Greater achievement

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Commitment, Confidence, Competency
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Commitment, Confidence, Competency
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Necessary Conditions

• Open staff, ready to grow
• Standards in place, embraced by all
• Assessment literate staff
• Supportive community

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An Overview of Educational Planning in the
Archdiocese
On-Line Learning
Summer School
Professional Learning Communities
Observing Dimensions of Learning
Reflective Practice
Focused Conversation
Dimensions of Learning
Sheltered Instruction for ELL
Whole School Training
Partnerships with Colleges and Universities
Train the Trainer
Data Retreats
21st Century Learning
Technology Integration
Instruction (the journey)
Staff Development (the pathway)
Networks
Differentiated Instruction
Evangelization
Curriculum Development
Multi-age Classrooms
As We Teach and Learn
Catechetical Documents
Standards-Based (the map)
Catholic Identity (the destination)
Catholic Social Teaching
Echoes of Faith
Curriculum Mapping
Assessment and Evaluation
Archdiocesan Religion Standards
The Basics
Building a Presence for Science and Math
Grading
Multi-Cultural Education
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System Benefits

• Student Confidence
• Teacher Efficacy
• Greater ACH
• Accountability

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System Costs

• Time for Curriculum Mapping
• Time for Professional Development
• Information Management System

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Thank You for Your Participation!
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Feedback
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Curriculum
Assessment
Instruction
Differentiation
Grouping for Instruction
Student Choice
Product
Product
Topic or Content
Process
Process
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How do students reach high standards?

• Align standards, curriculum, tests
• Build staff capacity
• Use resources effectively
• Develop relationship with stakeholders

Quality/trends
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Classroom Decisions
Accountability
High-Level Decisions
Assessment as Teaching
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Apply the Principles of Assessment FOR Learning

• Student-Involved Classroom Assessment
• Student-Involved Record Keeping
• Student-Involved Communication

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Self-Checklist Assessment for Learning

• I understand and can articulate in advance of
  teaching the achievement targets my students are
  to hit
• I inform my students regularly about those
  targets in terms they can understand.
• I can transform these targets into dependable
  assessments that yield accurate information
• I understand the relationship between assessment
  and student motivation and use assessment to
  build student confidence
• I consistently use classroom assessment
  information to revise instruction.
• Feedback to students is frequent and descriptive
• My students are actively involved in their own
  assessment.
• My students actively communicate with others
  about their achievement status and improvement.
• My students can describe what targets they are to
  hit and what comes next in their learning.

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More Conditions

• Assessment literate staff
• Supportive communities

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A Time for Action

• Set policy that balances assessment OF and FOR
  learning
• Develop local assessment programs that are in
  balance
• Launch learning team-based professional
  development to put assessment FOR learning
  tools in teachers hands