100% Proficiency of all RI fourth graders: What will it
take?
A Statewide Analysis
II. Responsive, Effective, Exciting Schools
»Teacher Professional Development in Standards
»Certificate of Initial Mastery
»RI Needs More Opportunities to Coordinate Curriculum
»Students Could Make Better Use of After School Time
»Teacher Expectations
Standards-based instruction
Succeeding in a "standards, assessment and accountability" environment requires an investment in standards-based instruction to help children develop stronger literacy and numeracy skills. The process starts by teachers focusing their lesson planning on what students need to know and be able to do. Teachers then select learning activities consistent with these goals and use classroom assignment standards, sometimes called ‘rubrics,’ so that students can see exactly what is expected of them. When the standard is not met, standards help to identify the specific problem(s) in the work. Students gain experience meeting standards by revising their work until it achieves at least the minimum goals set by the teacher. Revising work gives both students and teachers the chance to recognize and strengthen academic weaknesses. Challenged learners have more opportunities to bring their work up to standard and learn the material in the process.
Teacher Professional Development in Standards
On the plus side, some RI districts and schools have made significant progress in focusing on standards since they were introduced to schools over the past three or four years. Working with the National Center on Education and the Economy (which also developed the New Standards Reference Exams), RI has developed a course, called ‘Course One,’ to train teachers and administrators in standards-based instruction. Certain districts have committed to training every single teacher.
Certificate of Initial Mastery
Several districts have committed to awarding the Certificate of Initial Mastery (CIM) which is a standards-based endorsement of the high school diploma. The CIM is, in effect, a guarantee to higher education and to business that the student has met certain academic standards. Rhode Island has five subject matter curriculum frameworks which set high standards for all RI students. These standards are available in hardcopy through the RI Department of Education (RIDE) website.
RI Needs More Opportunities to Coordinate Curriculum
However, taken together, a number of survey responses to questions paint a picture of a lack of common standards in our schools and a lack of adequate preparation to teach to standards. Teachers, students and parents need to discuss the expectations for students’ work with one another in order to arrive at common standards which all parties understand well. Rhode Island teachers report that they do not coordinate their curricula with their colleagues very often, and in every instance, the level of coordination drops as you move up elementary, middle to high school. Elementary and middle school teachers report coordinating curriculum less than quarterly, and high school teachers report doing so only once a year.
Many Rhode Island teachers have little familiarity with state and/or national standards and do not feel prepared to teach using them.
See SALT Survey Teacher chart #2
- Only 36% of all teachers report being well-prepared to teach using Rhode Island’s curriculum frameworks ("much" or "very much" on the survey scale). 27% report having little to no preparation to teach using the frameworks.
There is evidence of a lack of common standards, interdisciplinary learning and curriculum coordination in our schools.
See SALT Survey Teacher chart #10A
- Teachers at all levels set goals related to student learning less than quarterly across their teams or grade levels.
- Elementary and middle school teachers work together in the presentation of lessons less than several times a year; and high school teachers less than once a year.
- Elementary teachers teach interdisciplinary units less than quarterly. High school teachers do so less than once a year.
- Elementary teachers coordinate or integrate curricula across subjects almost quarterly. High school teachers do it less than once a year.
See SALT Survey Teacher chart #10
Teachers report little coordination of student assignments, assessments and feedback within their interdisciplinary teams or grade levels (dimension score). Elementary and middle school teachers report doing this kind of coordination less than quarterly, and high school teachers report doing it just over once a year.
Students need more opportunities and assistance to bring their work up to standard.
See SALT Survey Teacher chart #17C, #17E and #17H
- Examining a number of survey items together reveals that students have greater opportunities to receive additional assistance and revise their work at the elementary level. These opportunities diminish in middle school and are lowest at the high school level.
- Once students reach middle school, schools appear to assume increasingly that instruction no longer has to be differentiated. Both students who are falling behind and those ready to move on are often given the same instruction without reference to their individual needs. Remediation and challenge do not appear to be readily available to those students who need the extra attention at any level. It is important to note that the number of students whom teachers teach grows significantly in the course of middle school, and there is a critical number – Education Week’s Quality Counts put it at 80 students per English teacher – which is too large for teachers to be able to differentiate instruction.
Clearly, efforts to educate all teachers about standards – both state and local – must increase. Teachers need to develop common and consistent expectations for what all students should know and be able to do. This will require more time in the regular school day for planning and sharing activities, ideas and insights with their colleagues. Schools will need to re-think their use of time, space and the use of school and district resources. The state professional development money allocated by Article 31 will be an important ingredient in changing teacher planning practices. Also, technology will help forward the agenda as more teachers go on line through the RI Teachers in Technology Program.
Students Could Make Better Use of After School Time
See SALT Survey Student charts #19 and #23Students spend too little of their out-of-school time, specifically homework time, in activities that develop their literacy and numeracy skills.
- 79% of elementary students (4th and 5th graders) spend one hour or less on homework each week night and 89% spend one hour or less on weekends.
- 63% of middle school students (grades 6-8) spend one hour or less on homework each week night and 76% spend one hour or less on weekends.
- At the high school level (grades 9-12), 63% of students spend one hour or less on homework each week night and 68% spend one hour or less on weekends.
- 38% of elementary students reported that over the last year they had read two or fewer books outside of regular school work. The comparable statistics were 60% for middle school students, and 77% for high school students.
Learning and applying complex literacy and numeracy skills requires practice over time. There is time available for such practice both during and beyond the school day. Literacy and numeracy could be supported outside of class with more homework, leisure time reading, and going to the library. Rhode Island students spend relatively little time doing homework or reading outside of school. Often schools assign more homework than students actually do (especially at secondary levels). Better use of the time out of school requires more sustained partnerships and interchange of information between the home and the schools regarding assignments, expectations and penalties for student non-performance. Spending more time on well-designed homework would increase the students’ chances of meeting the standards.
Teachers have alarmingly low expectations of students with certain characteristics.
See TSRS#5 – grades 3 or below – Academic potential by ethnicity;
TSRS#4 – grades 4 and above – Academic potential by ethnicity;
TSRS#4 – grades 4 and above – Academic potential by lunch status
- Teachers of children in grades 3 or below perceive that nearly half of their Black and Hispanic elementary students do not have the ability to succeed in higher education.
- Teachers’ expectations improve only very slightly for students in grades 4 and above.
Without denying the existence or presence of racism, the low expectations that teachers report for some children with certain characteristics speaks volumes about the effects of poverty and the other forces at work mentioned in the following section of this report. The students identified by the teachers as having low academic potential are the ones who most need the extra support that the agencies and communities outside school can provide. On the one hand it is critical that teachers examine their expectations of students with certain characteristics because their expectations can easily become a self-fulfilling prophecy. But it is also the case that the teachers are responding to economic and social impacts on children which are very real.
Note that the numbers of children not expected to graduate from high school is not hugely different from RI’s drop-out rate. Indeed, if anything, the teachers’ expectations are somewhat higher than the actual number of high school graduates. The schools can not possibly handle the socio-economic challenges of many of the children by themselves.
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