ELD Essential Standard Deconstruction Process

The need for clarity, or collective clarity, and the precision it creates necessitates all team members share a common understanding of the meaning of each standard. When teams are clear on the meaning of the standard, there is no ambiguity around what students must learn. Thus, the purpose of unwrapping the priority standards is threefold: (1) to clearly identify what knowledge, skills, and dispositions all students must know and be able to do, (2) to ensure teachers clearly understand the level of cognitive demand (rigor) and the learning tasks the standard expresses explicitly or implicitly, and (3) to support identification of prerequisite skills, academic vocabulary, instructional practices, and assessment strategies, as well as any opportunities for intervention and extension. 

What happens if our team struggles to agree at any point in this process? 

We cannot work toward 100% agreement on every decision made within a team.  Rather, we work toward consensus.  First, though, the team must come to consensus about consensus.  

Consensus is a group discussion where everyone's opinions are heard and understood, and a solution is created that respects those opinions. Consensus is not what everyone agrees to, nor is it the preference of the majority. Consensus results in the best solution that the group can achieve at the time.

Before looking for consensus among the group, ensure that:

• ELD Team Collective Commitments have been reviewed and the team is holding each other accountable to those commitments: 

1. Start on time and end on time.

2. Be present - Ignore distractions and engage in the work.

3. Do all work based on research and evidence, not on personal preference or opinion.

4. Focus on what we can do and can control. 

5. Leave each meeting clear about action steps.  

• All members had a chance to express their point of view,a nd those views were solicited and heard (DuFour, 2015).

• The will and desire of the group is overwhelmingly evident, even to those in most opposition to the decision (DuFour, 2015). 

One method is to use the fist to five strategy.  That is, a fist represents the level 0, one finger represents level 1, and so on.

Level 0: If allowed, I would strike this proposal regardless of the will of the group.

Level 1: I am opposed to this proposal.

Level 2: I have reservations and am not ready to move forward with this proposal.

Level 3: I am okay with this proposal.  I am willing to support it, if needed.

Level 4: I strongly support this proposal.

Level 5: I will champion this proposal to others.

The team must recognize that consensus must look like all members expressing level 3 and above.

How-to Video for the Overall Learning Intention (Steps #1-2 below)

Step #1: Open the "Cycle __ Essential ELD Standard Deconstruction" slides found in the ELD Collaborative Team Shared Drive, within your team's Collaborative Team Work folder. 

Step #2: Analyze the standard: circle the verbs (what students should be able to do), underline the nouns (what students should know) in the standard itself. Then, together, reword the standard in student-friendly language that helps to clarify what the standard actually means and entails in a comprehensible way. Below is a completed example referenced in the how-to video.

• Why? Learning intentions are what we intend for students to learn. Whether it be skills or knowledge within a standard, an overall learning intention performs three functions: (1) It lays out a clear statement to help the learner be aware of what is to be gained from the sequence of lessons ahead. (2) It provides guidance to the teacher about what should be taught and at which level of rigor and detail. (3) It forms the basis for assessing what the student is expected to learn, not just be taught. The reason we phrase them in student-friendly terms is to ensure that the learning intentions are clear for students and families. Research shows that with increased clarity for teachers AND students comes increased learning for students! 

How-to Video for the Overall Success Criteria (Steps #3-4 below)

Step #3: Analyze the ELPAC examples of how your selected standard is assessed on the summative assessment.  Reference the ELPAC Sample and Practice Tests, as well as the ELD Standard Vignette Collection, and include screenshots, snips, or descriptions of the standard questions and rubrics into the Assessment Example slide(s). Below is a completed example referenced in the how-to video.

• Why? The process of analyzing assessment examples as a team is it helps to bring the standard to life, and allows every member of the team to envision what standard mastery looks like and sound like for students. In addition, seeing what students will be asked and expected to do also holds the team accountable for building rigorous instruction that leads students from where they are to where they need to be upon reaching standard mastery. 

Step #4: Discuss the standard descriptions, assessment questions, and proficiency rubrics as a team and create a bulleted list of what proficiency looks/sounds like at each proficiency level. Below is a completed example referenced in the how-to video.

• Why? This step ensures that each teacher on the team has clarity on what the learning mastery should look and sound like, and that all will expect the same level of rigor: What will students be able to do as a result of mastering this standard? John Hattie, in his book "Visible Learning", did a synthesis of over 800 meta-analyses relating to achievement found that teacher clarity had an effect size of .75 which on the scale below is high in the zone of desired effects. This ranks as the #2 contribution from the teacher (if done well) to effect student achievement. 

How-to Video for the Learning Progression (Steps #5-7 below)

Step #5: Refer back to the 'Examples of Rigor' and add each Learning Target to the Learning Progression template as a starting point. *You can also do this process on a Jamboard to more easily add ideas in step 6. Click on the button at the bottom of this section to link to completed Sample Learning Progressions. 

• Why? In this step, your goal as a team is to determine the many learning targets that a single ELD standard encapsulates - the sequential building blocks of instruction to reach the ultimate goal of the standard. You are collaboratively drilling down deeper into all of the component parts that provide the underpinning for a standard. 

Step #6: Now, examine the learning targets contained within the standard more closely: (1) Decide if any of the targets are more important than others and rearrange them as necessary for increased student success, and (2) Fill in any foundational/prerequisite skills that are also required of students to successfully build the blocks up to the overall learning intention. 

• Why? The key here is to study the standard and reach agreement on what the building blocks are to build students up to the required standard knowledge/skill. Charting the standard into a learning progression ensures all of the explicit and implicitly stated targets have been identified and are prepared to teach in a sequential order. 

Step #7: As a team, look back at the learning progression, and determine which chunks of knowledge/skills need to be assessed before moving on to the next chunk of instruction. For each chunk of learning, determine as a team what formative assessment should be administered commonly across the groups to ensure all students are on track. 

• Why? “Quick progress checks” — also known as formative assessments — serve as checkpoints along the way to the ultimate destination of overall standard mastery. Formative assessments are more diagnostic because they provide information to the team about where the learning stopped when students displayed difficulty with the learning targets.  During weekly WIG meetings and ELD collaborative team time, your team will analyze the quick progress checks, or Common Formative Assessments (CFAs) and determine how to respond when students are on track for mastery, and what to do for those that are not on track for mastery. 

How-to Video for the Common Summative Assessment (Step #8 below)

Step #8: Determine a Common Summative Assessment. Below is a completed example referenced in the how-to video.

1. Which essential learning targets will you include on the summative assessment? List them out as a team. 

2. Decide what type of assessment item to use and how many items will be necessary to ensure reliability. 

3. Decide how many questions the student must get correct or what level of the rubric the student must achieve in order to be considered proficient.

4. Finally, review the plan to consider how much time the assessment will take, when to administer, and when to report back with summative assessment data.    

• Why? The purpose of summative assessment is to look at the standard, to see if a student can put all of the smaller learning targets together to demonstrate proficiency on the standard itself. In a professional learning community, common summative assessments help the team develop common pacing for their curriculum. This common pacing is important, as they write and use common formative assessments to guide instruction. Common summative assessments also help the team agree on what proficiency for a standard will look like. (Source: Solution Tree Blog)

​Learning Walks 

Learning walks are a form of virtual peer observation and are an opportunity for teachers to learn from observing each other. A week prior to the learning walk discussion, a pre-determined teacher submits a recording of a lesson on which they would like feedback. The team watches the recording prior to the discussion and evaluates the lesson using the Learning Walk Feedback Template.  The goal of learning walks is to provide each teacher with an opportunity to observe peers, gain insight into virtual teaching strategies, and gather feedback on instruc5on to increase student achievement.

Learning Walk Process

1. Teachers volunteer or are assigned a discussion date at which the team will review and discuss a lesson submitted by the teacher.

2. One week prior to the discussion date, the teacher posts the link of a recorded session onto the Learning Walk schedule so the team can view. The teacher being observed should specify if there are any aspects they would like targeted.

3. During the week prior to the discussion, the teaching team watches the recorded lesson and completes the Learning Walk Feedback Template​, identifying areas in which the teacher excels, suggestions for improving the lesson, and what types of student interaction and instruc5onal strategies were observed.

4. At the discussion, each team member provides feedback on the lesson, reflecting on observa5ons, commenting on great strategies, and offering ideas for student engagement and instruction.

Please reference the schedule linked below for upcoming team discussion dates (typically held during team meetings), teacher responsible for submitting recordings, and due dates.