NEA Teacher Ambassadors Training #1

  • Learning Goals (the purposes of the project)
  • Teacher Ambassadors will understand the Smarter Balanced formative assessment process.
  • Teacher Ambassadors will understand the knowledge, skills, abilities, and learning progressions that students need to acquire to make progress toward college and career readiness.
  • Teacher Ambassadors will understand the instructional shifts in the Common Core State Standards (CCSS) for English Language Arts/Literacy (ELA) or Mathematics, and associated changes in instructional practice.
  • Teacher Ambassadors will understand how the three components of the Smarter Balanced Assessment System (summative and interim assessments and formative assessment process) provide coherent information aligned with standards for college and career readiness.
  • Success Criteria (the evidence that indicates that the Learning Goals have been accomplished during Training #1)
  • Teacher Ambassadors will participate in the evaluation of an instructional resource that demonstrates the conceptual rigor of the CCSS and the Smarter Balanced formative assessment process. Teacher Ambassadors will compare the completeness and quality of the instructional resource to the Digital Library Quality Criteria for Instructional Resources and will provide descriptive feedback.
  • Teacher Ambassadors will use the resources from the Smarter Balanced website (content specifications and itemspecifications), the CCSS website (CCSS and descriptions of college-ready performance) and materials from the training to plan a conceptual flow for instructional units that implement the instructional shifts of focus, coherence, and rigor of the CCSS (in Mathematics) orto plan real-world tasks with complex text for source-based writing (in ELA).
  • Teacher Ambassadors will use the resources from the Smarter Balanced website, the CCSS website, and materials from the training to develop CCSS-aligned Learning Goals, Success Criteria, and sources of evidence for classroom instruction, so that students can demonstrate their understanding of the standard(s) with evidence aligned with the expected rigor of the standard (i.e., DOK level).
  • Teacher Ambassadors will develop questions that reflect common misconceptions of colleagues in schools and districts about the Smarter Balanced Assessment System and Theory of Action. In response to these questions, participantswill recommend revisionsto turnkey training materials designed to increase the understanding of their colleagues in schools and districts.

Agenda--February 19, 2014

Time / Topic
8:00–8:30 a.m. / Breakfast
8:30–10:00 a.m.
Whole Group / Introductions/Goals of the Training
  • Goals of the Helmsley Trust Grant
  • Role of the Teacher Ambassadors
  • Purpose and Audience for Communications

10:00 a.m.–12:00 p.m.
Whole Group / Overview of the Components of the Smarter Balanced Assessment System (summative and interim assessment and formative assessment process)
  • Background/Approach
  • Accessibility/Technology
  • Item and Test Design
  • Content Specifications
  • Item Specifications

12:00–1:00 p.m. / Lunch
1:00–5:00 p.m.
Breakout Sessions / Mathematics
Deep Diveinto CCSS and Evidence-Based Assessment / ELA
Deep Dive into CCSS and Evidence-Based Assessment

Agenda--February 20, 2014

Time / Topic
8:00–8:30 a.m. / Breakfast
8:30–9:30 a.m.
Whole Group / Lingering Questions
9:30 a.m.–12:00 p.m.
Whole Group / Digital Library and the Formative Assessment Process Attributes
  • Quality Criteria
  • Evaluating Instructional Resources

12:00–1:00 p.m. / Lunch
1:00–4:00 p.m.
Breakout Sessions / Mathematics
Conceptual Flow to Implement Coherence, Rigor, and Focus in Unit Planning / ELA
Planning Real World Tasks with Source-Based Writing and Complex Text
4:00 p.m. / EvaluationSurvey

Teacher Ambassadors Training Program

Grant funding provided by the Leona M. and Harry B.HelmsleyCharitable Trust