Student Proficiency Steps  (Click on each step for a detailed explanation of this step and for guiding questions)

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By the end of the first week of school (Friday, August 25, 2017), teachers in Granite School District should at least be on Step 1 of the School Improvement Process Hierarchy. To meet this goal, teachers will need to hit SIX targets. The six targets, and rationale for those targets, are described below. The specific evidence/success criteria for hitting those targets is more fully described in the document entitled: School Improvement Process Hierarchy: Evidence of Completion.  Click on each step for a detailed explanation of this step and for guiding questions.

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Step 1: Target 1 - (Click on each step for a detailed explanation of this step and for guiding questions)

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• Teacher is aware of the District Curriculum Maps and is aware of the Utah Core Standards that are to be taught.               

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 Step 1: Target 2 - Unwrap Standards - (Click on Target 2 for power point on how to unwrap standards)              

The teacher is able to create/utilize proficiency scales; to identify and articulate levels of mastery for each learning intention.

 It is not enough for a teacher to be able to state a learning goal. A teacher must also be aware of the possible ways the stated learning goal                  could be interpreted. Target 2 demands that a teacher look beyond the fallacies of referential assumption and recognize that a spectrum of                  understanding exists with every form of dialogue. Moreover, Target 2 relies on a teacher’s understanding of both pedagogical knowledge,                      how children learn, and pedagogical content knowledge, how learning is acquired within the discipline. Simply stated, teachers need to                          demonstrate that they understand that there is a rubric for everything, and that no one’s position on that rubric needs to remain static. Once               a teacher is able to articulate this mindset, he/she is ready to move on to Target 3. 

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Step 1: Target 3 - (Click on Target 3 to see chart to prioritize standards)

 

• Ability to determine which standards will be the focus of my instruction.  

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Step 1:  Target 4 - (Click on Target 4 for detailed instructions and resources on how to make proficiency scales)

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• Ability to create and/or utilize proficiency scales; to identify and articulate levels of student mastery for each prioritized standard.

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Blank Proficiency Scale

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Step 1:  Target 5

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• ​Ability to identify my student learning goals and targets

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Foundational Skills Needed to Be in Place - (Click on Foundational Skills to take you to web page with resources to implement skills)

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• Evidence that students understand behavioral expectations.  Routines and procedures are evident so that learning can occur.  (Under foundational skills)

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Part of the mental set conducive to learning is the perception that the classroom environment is orderly and safe.  The teacher fosters this perception through well-articulated rules and procedures and has created procedures (how to steps) for them. The teacher is able to identify student learning goals and targets for behavior and procedures in class.  Whether teaching students some component of content knowledge, or a skill, or a behavior, or an attitude, or a value, or a disposition, the purpose of instruction should be clear. The teacher must demonstrated that he/she can identify what he/she wants behaviorally from students.  Remember that rules and norms suggest behaviors that occur in every situation.  Expectations teach students how to act, talk and move during all activities and transitions.  For example, the teacher models how they want all students to enter their room, sit in their assigned seat, and quietly take out paper and begin the starter (bell ringer) on the board.  Once the teacher knows they get get 100% of their students to do this skill,  the teacher knows they have the ability to get all students to learn.

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Protocol & Feedback

Focus Statement: The teacher provides rigorous learning goals and/or targets, both of which are embedded in a performance scale that includes application of knowledge.

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Desired Effect: Students understand what the goal and scale are and know what they mean.

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Example Teacher Evidence:

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• Teacher has a learning goal and/or target posted for student reference.

• The learning goal or target clearly identifies knowledge or processes aligned to the rigor of required standards.

• Teacher makes reference to the learning goal or target throughout the lesson.

• Teacher has a scale that builds a progression of knowledge from simple to complex.

• Teacher relates classroom activities to the scale throughout the lesson.

• Teacher has goals or targets at the appropriate level of rigor.

• Performance scales include application of knowledge.

 

Example Student Evidence:

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• Students can explain the learning goal or target for the lesson.

• Students can explain how their current activities relate to the learning goal or target.

• Students can explain the levels of performance, from simple to complex, in the scale.

• Student artifacts demonstrate students know the learning goal or target.

• Student artifacts demonstrate students can identify a progression of knowledge.

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                                                                                 Questions for Reflection

 What do I typically do to provide students with copies of rigorous learning goals
and performance scales?
 Are the learning goals and performance scales posted in the room for all to see
and for easy reference?
 How do I know students understand the progression of learning and how each
learning target helps them move toward mastery of the standard?
 How will I utilize the scale throughout the lesson?
 What artifacts or work samples do I have that model the expectation of the
standard at the 3.0 level?
 How do I know my students can accurately determine their level of progress on
the scale?
 How do my students articulate the areas they need support based on the
progression of the scale?
 How will I monitor all students for the desired effect?

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