These work samples were produced by students for a virtual oral math assessment. Students shared this work with their teacher virtually and explained their thinking orally to demonstrate mastery.
This is a question that eighth-grade students were assessed on for their virtual oral assessment. The rubric provides more in-depth details on how students were assessed.
Attendance looks dramatically different in the COVID-19 era. Many states and districts have sent us requests to support the alignment of policy with a more innovative imagining of attendance that moves away from the old-fangled definition based on seat-time. We’ve responded with a new offering for the field, Determining Attendance and Alternatives to Seat-Time.
While COVID-19 offers numerous opportunities to advance systems change and free K-12 of its limiting factory-model structures, schools and districts are grappling with very real and present issues in ensuring students can access learning and progress along their learning journey. Our analysis shows that states can best remedy this issue by allowing the flexibility of districts and schools to develop an attendance policy using a combination of options. These options include, but are not limited to:
Time on task (can include engagement);
The issue brief contains 10 examples for creating attendance policies for learning remotely, including competency-based attainment. In addition, we offer policies from four states using seat-time alternatives as one of many policies to advance toward personalized, competency-based education.
This executive summary highlights key findings from research conducted by TLA to understand if learning facilitators’ participation in LUSD’s Guided Reading Learning Academies and Micro-Credentials professional development helps ensure all learners read at content level. Early results from the 2018-19 Academic Year show a positive relationship between learning facilitators’ participation in Guided Reading professional learning and learners’ reading growth. Certification is also a potentially powerful mechanism for converting professional learning experiences into visible instructional and achievement-related changes in the classrooms. The full report can be found online; an accessible version of this report is also available for download.
This interim research brief examines the keystone of LUSD’s Adult Learning Curriculum, known as Instructional Look Fors. The brief begins to explore if the Instructional Look Fors are a sound way of understanding the relationship between professional learning and learner achievement at LUSD. The initial data indicate that the majority of Instructional Look Fors are a measurable, reliable, and valid way for LUSD to understand the behaviors that are happening in learning environments and the relationships between professional learning, those behaviors, and learner outcomes. Download the executive summary or read the full report online; an accessible version of this report is also available for downloading.
This initial analysis of the impact of personalized professional learning on learner growth at LUSD addresses three primary research questions: (1) how did engaging in professional learning affect learner achievement?, (2) which combinations of professional learning emerged in terms of type and dose?, and (3) which combinations had the greatest effect on learner outcomes? The initial data confirm the need for multiple types of high-quality professional learning, the need for breadth and depth of those opportunities, and that there is no single pathway for all learners. Download the executive summary or read the full report online; an accessible version of this report is also available for downloading.
This research report examines the experiences of learners in a remote environment, investigating data collected on personalized learning following the shift to remote-only learning as a result of COVID-19 school closures. Researchers ascertained which learner and learning facilitator actions occurred most frequently in the context of personalized, remote learning and how these actions appeared across content levels. The report also provides implications and suggestions for district leadership to best prepare for future remote learning scenarios, with a focus on learner support and relationships, technology support, home learning environment support, and sustaining momentum for learning over time. Download the executive summary or read the full report online; an accessible version of this report is also available for download.
This cluster analysis employs a modular approach in presenting an in-depth analysis of the three-year Empower Teacher and School Leader (TSL) Grant, based on the findings from previous examinations of the professional learning program in LUSD. This research builds towards a broader examination of the personalized professional learning program and the performance-based compensation system (PBCS) implemented within the district. Download the full report, or view an accessible version online.
This tool, built off of Principle 8 from the Readiness for Reopening Guide, is intended to help teachers prepare their classrooms, taking into account cleaning and distancing procedures. It provides a daily guidance checklist identifying items that need to be cleaned regularly and the frequency of cleaning.
How do I develop mask-wearing as a cultural norm in my classroom? Mask-wearing is an important and evidence-based practice for reducing the risks of COVID-19 infection associated with the return to socially distanced, in-person learning. Teachers and leaders should build classroom and school-level cultural norms that support, reinforce, and celebrate mask-wearing as a critical habit for health as well as a commitment to caring for all school community members.
