Kainoa Hopfe, Teacher, NHIS

Marie Pineda, Teacher, NHIS

Robyn Faumuina, Teacher, NHIS

Bernice Kihara, Retired Literacy Coach

Implementing Change through Learning:

Addressing Informational Writing and Classroom Practices to Support the SLO Processes

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Outcomes

Content: Working towards sustained school improvement

Process: Integration of action research within a professional learning community

Product: Establishing a culture for teaching and learning that enables all students to learn

All leading to the SLO Processes 2

Culture for

Teaching and

Learning

Content

Process Product

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School Context

School in continuous improvement71% Native Hawaiian students

◦n=9525.9% ELL25.4% Special Education72.7 % participation in Free and Reduced Meal Program

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Message

Action research continually challenges

the researcher to reflect on the process to

determine what needs to happen next in

the researcher’s learning and in the

learning process of those who will benefit

from the research.

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Step 1: Theory of Action

Sociocultural Perspective

Vygotsky, psychologist, 1920s

People do not exist in isolation, but are constantly interacting with other and the environment to develop higher orders of thinking and being

Knowledge of an individual is constructed through the knowledge of the social group to which the individual belongs

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Theory of Action, cont.

Sociocultural Perspective

• Teacher learning and activities grow out of the participation in the social practices of the classroom;

Teacher knowledge is dependent on the knowledge of self, setting, students, curriculum, and the community.

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Step 2: Determining Participants

Teachers from the Physical Education Department

Curriculum Coordinator

School Administrators

Facilitator: Site Based Coach

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Step 3: Method

Met twice a week during regularly scheduled Professional Learning Community

Established norms for respectful inquiry, dialogue, reflections

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Step 4: Finding a Focus

Build capacity within the school site

Empower non-ELA teachers to implement literacy strategies within the scope of their professional practice

Continue to build skill and professional practice in the data-teams processes

Continuous School Improvement

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Step 5: Developing an Inquiry:

What impact will a Critical Friends Group have on the teaching and

professional growth of members of the group?

Analysis of Student Work through Data Team Process, a component of the SLO process 11

Step 6: Developing a Belief Statement

“Answer questions so that a person who

has no knowledge of the subject

understands what you know and hope to

know, and it has a flow to the development

of the knowledge and understandings.”

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Step 7: Where Are We Now?

(Formative Assessment)

What are we currently doing in our classrooms in the area of informational writing? (Baseline data)

What kind of pre-assessment data will guide our instruction and SLO development?

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Step 8:

Developing a Common Understanding of Informational Writing

Deconstruction of Informational Writing – found in Appendix A of the Common Core State Standards

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Step 9:Developing Success Criteria / Critical to the SLO Processes

Defining quality work

Aligning to the Common Core performance indicators

Developing rubrics15

Step 10:Tuning Protocol / Data Team Process

Followed Tuning Protocol

Identified strong and weak work

Established SMART goals

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Step 11:Action Planning

Developing instructional action planning to support students

Inquiry: What high leverage writing strategies can be embedded into our instruction? (Goal: to develop a notebook with high leverage writing strategies and resources)

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Evidence of the SLO Process

How did we document our journey through the lens of a critical friend?

SLO Document

Evidence Template

Teacher Evidence Portfolio

Identifying anchor papers

Developing SMART goals

Developing and implementing instructional action plans

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Step 12:Summative Assessments and Curriculum Mapping

for SY 2015-16

Inquiry: What will be the next steps for next school year?

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Step 13Data

Continuous School Improvement

1. Professional Learning2. Evidence-Based Strategies3. Application of Learning4. Use of Evidence to support the learning for teachers and students5. Evaluation of Results

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Step 13Change in Practice

Types of Writing Prior to CFG:

1. Rules2. How to writing3. Student

reflections

Types of Writing During the CFG Process:

1. Process Analysis Essay aligned to success criteria

2. Offering choice in writing prompts 3x a year

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Teacher Reflection

Reflective teaching is a cyclical process that involves asking the following:

What are your instructional practices?Why are you incorporating these instructional practices? How are students responding?What did I learn from my students?What will I do differently in the future?

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Teachers’ Perspectives

~Data is used to refine and improve implementation vs. just to evaluate~

~Get students involved in process; let them know SMART goals~

~Our initial action research supported the SLO Process.~

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Culture for

Teaching and

Learning

Content

Process Product

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Outcomes

Content: Working towards sustained school improvement

Process: Integration of action research within a professional learning community

Product: Establishing a culture for teaching and learning that enables all students to learn

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