One of the appeals of PACT was serving a smaller student population. I struggled with balancing meaningful teaching, differentiation, data collection, and data analysis and response with 150+ students. As soon as I started teaching academic classes at PACT, it became evident that analyzing and responding to student learning in classes of 15-18 kids would be much more manageable. There were so many moments where I could see things clicking for students, and I watched their math confidence grow as they shared their new findings with their peers in that small, safe space.
An assessment piece I was lacking when I taught math at PFAA in my first six years was a solid system for tracking data. The resource that has been a huge help is iReady. In my last year at PFAA, we were experimenting with iReady for diagnostic purposes, and we continued using it as a diagnostic and instructional tool at PACT. This year at PFAA, we gave an initial diagnostic assessment in August 2022, then again in January 2023. I was going through data between August and January, and I was interested and elated to see the growth students made in that short time period, especially in our first year “back to normal” on campus. Many students not only made growth, but reached grade level targets in one semester. iReady breaks down the data into subcategories that line up directly with the topics I am teaching, so it was extremely helpful to see if students were making growth in Numbers + Operations and Algebra (main topics in semester one) and staying stagnant in Geometry and Statistics (semester 2 topics.) I appreciate that iReady offers so many report types so I can look at individual growth and whole classes or grade levels. More than anything, iReady has opened data doors and shined a light on how useful data can be in my teaching, and checking in with students and parents about individual progress.
Before teaching CPM, I used to create Resource Quizzes and Partner Quizzes before students took their final unit assessments. The idea behind these quizzes was that students could look back on their own notes and resources and collaborate as a team to make sure they were really learning and understanding the concepts. One of the benefits of CPM is that there are team tasks already created that tie directly to not only the content, but the ways in which they are learning to problem-solve. The team tasks have been successful and you can see the relief on students’ faces when they realize they don’t need to carry the weight of concept mastery all on their own. They have been doing really great work, and it allows me to see which students are participating, writing ideas down, sharing ideas verbally, solving correctly, and doing error analysis.
We also do quite a bit of mixed graded and ungraded study guides and practice tasks. Students are always allowed to retake Mastery Checks (mid-unit quizzes) and final assessments. I give written feedback on the first round of assessments, highlight where errors are made, and leave questions and comments for students to do some error analysis on their own before they take a second round of any assessment.
Students are encouraged to talk to each other and share ideas with CPM strategies during Team Tasks
Exploring concepts and making mistakes is encouraged; homework and assessments have criteria for showing work and explaining answers
iReady Diagnostics have allowed me to see individual growth and offer targeted support to small groups in WIN sessions
Using Mastery Checks more frequently
Refining systems and routines for WIN support
Refining support when students are in table groups or random groupings (as suggested by CPM)