Building Local Improvement Networks to Support Ambitious and Equitable Teaching Practice in Multilingual SchoolsJessica ThompsonUniversity of Washington

A Challenge for Building Expertise: Cycling of new teachers in the US

The modal years of experience for teachers in American schools in 1987: 15The modal years of experience for teachers in American schools today: 5The % of teachers of color in the workforce in 2011: 18% but higher rates of turnoverThe number of new teachers needed in the US between 2014 and 2020: 2,500,000

Ingersoll, Merrill, & Stuckey, 2014; Villegas, Strom & Lucas, 2012

2nd Challenge for Building Expertise: Conflicting Contexts

Differences in applying new teaching practices were explained by: 1) the communities with which teachers most closely identified, 2) the degree to which teachers’ discourses about student thinking

were developed within these communities, and 3) how teachers used tools from the communities to shape their

practice.

Thompson, Windschitl, & Braaten, AERJ 2013

SchoolContext

UniversityContext

Asystems-levelchallenge:Improvingambitiousandequitableinstruction

toengagethedecisionmakersoftomorrow…

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toengagethedecisionmakersoftomorrow…

Key ideas

1) Networks need a common vision, and set of practices and tools of ambitious and equitable science teaching practice

2) Professional learning networks can aim to adapt and improve teaching practice (not just adopt and disseminate) with the right job-embedded social structures

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Aim 1Develop an initial vision of ambitious and equitable teaching.

ambitiousscienceteaching.org

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Vision of teaching that matches what students are capable of

Patterns in classrooms

Lack of student engagement

Content presented as facts, definitions, algorithms; pressing for explanations is rare

Few connections between activity and science ideas

Student ideas not used as resources, no challenging of ideas

Questioning and discourse the weakest aspect of classroom practice

What students are capable of

Reasoning about and with abstractions (Magnussun & Palincsar, 2005)

Model-based reasoning (Lehrer & Schauble, 2005)

Defending, adapting, theories based on evidence (Hennessey et al., 2002)

Designing experiments that include sophisticated controls for external variables (Metz, 2004)

Monitoring own progress towards deep understanding (Brown & Campione, 1996)

Corcoran & Gerry, 2011; Kane & Staiger, 2012; Pasley, 2002; Roth et al., 2006; Weiss et al., 2003

Claim: 1 Claim: 3Claim: 2

https://www.teachingchannel.org/videos/scientific-argumentation-nsf

Markers of Ambitious TeachingAmbitious Teaching Status Quo Teaching

TASK

Begins with a complex and content-rich scenario and high expectations for student learning Activities are designed in service of learning about big ideas & supporting students in revising their ideas over time

“Basics first” approach or Activity-Mania

Inquiry with focus on individual activities

TALK

Purposeful talk with elaborating, questioning, and reorganizing of ideas as the goal; students’ ideas are uncompromisingly treated as intellectual resources

Talk aimed at a “right answer”, dominated by teacher-talk

TOO

LS Tools that scaffold student reasoning Materials that describe “how to proceed”

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K-12 Systems Change with Common Teaching Practices

Grade level: 4th

How can a singer shatter a glass with his voice? What can we do about noise pollution in our neighborhood?

Grade level: 7th

How can we reduce the amount of phosphorus and improve the water quality in the lake next to our school?

Grade level: 10th

Why are Henrietta Lacks’ cells immortal? What are untold ethical and racial dimensions of scientific knowledge?

Complex Scenario Modeling

Purposeful talkTools that scaffold

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Aim 2Develop networks that improve instruction by asking: Which practices work? Under which conditions? And for whom?

Bryk, Gomez, Grunow, LeMahieu, 2015

Improving teaching as well as teachers

Networked Improvement Communities:

Across school and university institutions, a commonly shared set of core practices, along with its tools, could evolve over time to improve and innovate within the work of teaching

District leadership

Teachers (Mentors, colleagues & Pre-service)

University personnel

Students

District coaches

Principals

Bryk, Gomez, & Grunow, 2011; Hiebert & Morris, 2012

Research-Practice Partnership with a Local School District

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AmericanIndian/AlaskanNative

AsianNativeHawaiian/OtherPacific

Islander

Asian/PacificIslander

Black/AfricanAmerican

Hispanic/Latino

White

TwoorMoreRaces

StudentCulturalandLinguisticDiversity

Year1CorepracticesSupportingshiftsindiscourse&scientificmodelingWindschitl,Thompson,Braaten,&Stroupe,2012;Thompson,Windschitl&Braaten,2013

Year5SupportingteamsofteachersinworkingonpracticeHorn&Little,2010;Lave&Wenger;Kazemi &Hubbard,2008;Kazemi,Franke,&Lampert 2009

Year7Namingandtesting“foothold”teachingpracticeswithinandacrossschoolsBryk, Gomez,&Grunow,2011;Hiebert &Morris,2012;Lampert,2010

Year8Pressingneedforequityacrossschools&ELLsBunch,2014;Gibbons,2007&2015

Year10SupportingprincipalsandpracticalmeasuresBryk etal.2015;Stein&Coburn,2008;Spillane&Thompson,1997

RPP & Improvement of joint work with practice

Year11Developingateacherleadercadretoshiftownership,districtpaysforstudiosandcoachesCoburn,2003

Social structures supporting the improvement of practice

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Markers of Professional Learning oriented toward improvement Status Quo PD Adopt & Disseminate

Networked Improvement Communities Adapt & Improve

Pull out of classrooms Traditional roles with an “ivory tower”

Job-embedded- in classrooms Blurring roles

Focus on what to teach (walk-throughsof lessons)

Focus on student thinking as basis of revision to teaching

Stand-alone “teacher proof” tools Tools that stabilize ambitious practices

Potpourri learning: 3 days/year Accelerated learning: 90-day inquirycycles into specific practice & principled adaptations

Individual’s tinkering Teams engaged in small tests of small changes & shared with the network

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Wei, Darling-Hammond, Andree, Richardson, Orphanos (2009); Garet et al. (2001; Desimone (2002, 2009); Kennedy (2016)

Studios: Learning in and from practice All-day job-embedded professional development where teachers collaborate to give real-time feedback in an authentic teaching & learning space.(Ball & Cohen, 1999; Borko, 2004; Grossman et al., 2009; Lampart2009)

TeacherTimeOut Collectingartifactsofstudentlearning

A4yearstory ofimprovement...

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Lincoln Douglas Alpine Sacajawea ArchRock WAState2011-12 47.5% 44.9% 60.5% 47.6% 69.6% 66.3%2012-13 42.0% 43.2% 60.0% 55.1% 68.5% 64.8%2013-14 45.0% 48.6% 50.8% 59.8% 73.5% 67.2%2014-15 38.1% 44.4% 49.8% 50.1% 59.1% 60.7%2015-16 65.0% 50.0% 55.0% 61.0% 73.6% 67.5%

JeffersonAcademy

HamiltonAcademy

ClevelandAcademy

RooseveltAcademy

WilsonAcademy

WashingtonHS

AdamsHS WAState

2011-12 32.1% 44.5% 23.8% 58.1% 43.4% 34.9% 47.3% 76.1%2012-13 25.2% 43.2% 18.0% 71.7% 67.2% 47.0% 58.1% 71.5%2013-14 50.5% 52.0% 36.0% 63.8% 61.5% 49.3% 72.6% 77.7%2014-15 30.7% 47.1% 27.8% 61.1% 49.4% 54.6% 68.1% 72.5%2015-16 49.6% 45.5% 33.7% 62.0% 64.0% 58.0% 71.0% 72.2%

ShadingindicatesyearsschoolsparticipatedintheNIC

Shift toward a network of shared expertise

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TeacherScience&ELLCoachesAdministratorUniversityresearchers(science&ELL)Redline=2waynomination

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0

20

40

60

80

100

120

140

160

180

200

Sharingexistingmaterials

Co-creatinginstructionalmaterials

Understandingsciencecontent

Discussingstudentlearning

Understandinglearningandteaching

Analyzingexamplesofstudentwork

Co-teaching Providingfeedback

Improvinginstructionfor

ELL

2015-2016

2014-2015

2013-2014

2012-2013

Strengthofinteractionsinthenetwork2012-2016

Improveallstudents’writtenandspokenscienceexplanations,arguments&modelsforallstudentsandforELstudentsinparticular

Usingevidencetoconstructand

reviseexplanations

Makingthelanguageofscienceexplicit

Equitabletalkforhow/whyexplanations

Revisingmodelswith

evidence

Revisinglistsofstudent

generatedhypotheses

withevidence

Yr 2:2schools

Sequencedshare-outofmodels

Yr 2:2schoolsYr 3:2schoolsYr 4:1 schoolsYr 5:1school

GOAL:

PRIMARYDRIVERS:

Usinglanguagefunctionsaslensforreading,

writing,andmodeling

Yr2:1schoolYr3:1schoolYr4:1school

SECONDARY(ACTIONABLE)DRIVERS:

Peerfeedbacktodeepenwritten

explanations

Yr 3:1schoolsYr 4:3 schoolsYr 5:6schools

Structuredtalkforhow/whyreasoning

Yr 1:1schoolYr 2:4schoolsYr 3:2schoolsYr 4:1schoolYr 5:2school

NICwithacommonaim&practices

Foothold Teaching Practices

• “bite size” practice that can be implemented daily

• addresses issues of equitable talk/participation & rigor

• contribute to alignment of common work of teams

• reduce variation among small tests of practice in classrooms

• spread and spark development of more complex practices (network)

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Structuredtalkforhow/whyreasoning

Yr 1:1schoolYr 2:4schoolsYr 3:2schoolsYr 4:1schoolYr 5:2school

1.#Sharing#your#ideas#

• I"think"______happened""because"________."• I"think"if"_______,"then"_____"because"__________________."• Evidence"that"supports"my"idea"is"_________."• My"idea"is"__________________."• I’m"not"sure,"but"I"think"____________."• My"ques=on"about"this"is"_________________.

2.#Revoice#(paraphrase)"

• I"thought"I"heard"you"say"____________."• Is"this"what"you"mean:""________________?"• Would"you"clarify"what"you"mean"by"_______________?"• Could"you"explain"____________"that"again?

3.#Responding#to#Revoice##

• Yes,"_______________"is"what"I"meant."• No,"what"I"meant"was"_________________."• That’s"close"but"________________."• That’s"par=ally"correct,"however"___________."• Yes,"that’s"right.""I"agree"that"______________."• Would"you"clarify"what"you"meant"by"_______?

4.#Compare/contrast#Ideas#• We"agree"about"______________."• ___________________"(partner’s"name)"and"I"agree"about"_____________."• We"both"thought"________________."• We"disagreed"about"______________."• ________________"(partner’s"name)"said"____________,"but"I"was"thinking"__________.

B "A

"A

B

"A

B

Partner"A"and"B"switch"roles

A B

Footholdintothework…

1

2

3

4

5

0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7

Mod

el-I

mpl

ied

Rat

ing

(5-

poin

t)

Time (in Months) since Sep/Oct

Science Teaching Practice 2 Teacher Variation at Riverside

1

2

3

4

5

0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7

Mod

el-I

mpl

ied

Rat

ing

(5-

poin

t)

Time (in Months) since Sep/Oct

Science Teaching Practice 4 Teacher Variation at Riverside

Eliciting & Responding Depth of explanation EL participation

WashingtonHS

1

2

3

4

5

0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7

Mod

el-I

mpl

ied

Rat

ing

(5

-poi

nt)

Time (in Months) since Sep/Oct

EL Teaching Practice 1 Teacher Variation at Riverside

Footholdpractice:Structuredtalkforhowandwhyreasoning

Improving science teaching practices

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Peerfeedbacktodeepenwritten

explanations

Yr 3:1schoolsYr 4:3 schoolsYr 5:6schools

JeffersonHS

KennedyHS

DouglasMS

LincolnMS

WashingtonHS

AdamsHS

AlpineMS

SacajaweaMS

Footholdpractice:StructuredtalkforhowandwhyreasoningAdvancedpractice:Peerfeedbacktodeepenwrittenexplanations

ArchRockMS

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Workingtheoryofstudentlearning

Practicalmeasurements

TeachingPractice

Learning Loops: How are practices tested and shared in schools?

TeachingPractice

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Practicalmeasures:Exittickets

Structuredtalkforhow/whyreasoning

Yr 1:1schoolYr 2:4schoolsYr 3:2schoolsYr 4:1schoolYr 5:2school

NICwithcommontoolsforpractice&inquiry

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0

0.1

0.2

0.3

0.4

0.5

0.6

0.7

2015-16 2014-15 2013-14 2012-13

%ofinteractionsinthenetworkusingtools

Modeltemplatesforstudentuse

Summarytable/charts

Bigideatool

Exittickets

Concluding thoughts…

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We can not wait 10 years…

• Build improvement networks using RPPs• Start small, fail fast• Stay with it for 4 years minimum • Design for multi-literate, engaged citizens

& scientists• Design for inquiry and equity• Create shared practices and tools &

distribute expertise horizontally (Engeström, 2003) with new social positioning of role-actors in the system

InpartnershipwithDr.JenRichards,Dr.KarinLohwasser,Dr.ChristineChew,Soo-YeanShim,Dr.MarkWindschitl,Dr.MinSun,Dr.LizSanders,Dr.SaraHaganah,CarolynColley,KatLaxton

Dr.KerrySooVonEsch,Dr.Manka Varghese,AnnaVanWindekens,BethanySjoberg,DanaDyer,RamonaGrove,AnnMorris&AllysonKemp

Website:http://ambitiousscienceteaching.org/

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Emerald Studio Year 1, Day 2(3 hours 8 minutes video)

Practice

Theory Measure-ment

Content

ClassroomData

Emerald Studio Year 2, Day 7(3 hours 50 minutes video)

ClassroomData

Practice

Theory

Measurement

Content

ExternalInitiatives

EmeraldHS

SalmonMS

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RiversideHS

ClassroomData

Practice

Riverside Studio Year 7, Day 1(3 hrs 15 min of video)

Riverside Studio Year 9, Day 9(4 hrs 12 min of video)

ClassroomData

Practice

ExternalInitiatives

Measure-ment

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SalmonMS

ScienceContent

ClassroomData

Practice

Theory

ExternalInitiatives

Measure-ment

ScienceContent

ClassroomData

Practice

Theory

ExternalInitiatives

Salmon Studio Year 1, Day 1(3 hrs 15 min of video)

Salmon Studio Year 2, Day 7(2 hrs 52 min of video)

Emerald

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41

42

y=0.2833x+1.3833R²=0.87048

y=0.2833x+1.8167R²=0.76053

y=0.3167x+1.85R²=0.73975

y=0.25x+1.4833R²=0.77055

0

0.5

1

1.5

2

2.5

3

3.5

4

1 2 3 4 5

ObservedScore

Observation

Improvementinpractice

SCIIDEAS CHGTHINK EBE ELICIT

Linear(SCIIDEAS) Linear(CHGTHINK) Linear(EBE) Linear(ELICIT)

November January Feb/March April May

Shift toward a network of shared expertise

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TeacherScience&ELLCoachesAdministratorUWfaculty/staffRedline=2waynomination