Competency 1: Accountability (Teaching and Learning) 1.

1 Related Task: Ability to interpret meaning of various standardized tests to boards, teachers, and lay citizens. 1.1.3 Specific Task: Ability to use assessment data to identify weaknesses and recommend strategies for improving student performance. Narrative Description of Task: Midland Public Schools has an organized and efficient means of testing MPS students. I will focus on High School Social Studies MME testing in my analysis, identifying areas of both strength and weakness in each of the categories of the social studies. Based on my analysis, I will recommend strategies to strengthen student performance in each of the identified areas of deficiency and determine if there is a need to address deficiencies through changes in curriculum. I will share the findings with the MPS Social Studies coordinator, high school Social Studies teachers in the district, and my cooperating administrator, Ms. Greif. Process, Purpose, and Approach The rising need, focus, and desire to improve test scores at Midland High have led to an increased use of data collection and analysis as a means of achieving this goal. Each content area has been given the task of analyzing MME and ACT data in an attempt to improve the curriculum and presentation of said curriculum to advance the ability of students to demonstrate knowledge deemed essential by the State of Michigan. The wealth of data available today is a huge asset and can be instrumental in the improvement in curricular offerings to students. Analysis of various test results has already yielded a variety of strategies to improve performance. The use of Middle School test results has allowed MHS to target students entering high school who have been close to testing in the proficient range in the past. These students are provided with a staff mentor who builds a relationship, monitors grades, meets and discusses difficulties, and provides oversight that may or may not be lacking either at home or with regular classroom teachers. In a school the size of Midland High it is imperative for students to build connections and feel belonging and buy in. This program, while relatively new and not yet tested, attempts to do just this. Each content area has also done various things to improve content level performance. One issue affecting each content area is the ability to provide all relevant content before the testing date, sometime in March. I have determined after analyzing data that there are certain fundamental social studies terms and concepts that are essential and can easily be integrated throughout a students social studies career. These are things that while occasionally mentioned in World History and U.S. History, are not studied in depth until students take Government and Economics. Midland High School curriculum places Government and Economics in the junior year, leaving each student being tested lacking in roughly twelve weeks of instruction in one or the other of these two courses by the time the ACT/MME test is taken. In an effort to eliminate this deficit I have suggested the implementation of a bellringer task that will be unique to each social studies class, focus on targeted terms and concepts, and implemented by each social studies teacher. This will allow for repeated exposure to targeted terms and concepts, developing a working knowledge of core content and increasing test performance.

The data also indicates that the area in which students tend to struggle is World History. This seems logical as Midland Public Schools curriculum places World History at the ninth grade level leaving 2 years between exposure to the topics and testing. Structured bellringer activities would help keep information learned in ninth grade fresh and familiar. Another strategy to improve test scores would be to identify specific topics that could be covered in multiple classes and presented to the social studies department as a whole. These topics would fit in directly with the curriculum and aid in reinforcement of certain information (see appendix B). Lessons Learned Since becoming a teacher I have been familiar with the various tests students take throughout their high school careers, the analysis of data, and the increasing importance of the tests in regards to measuring student achievement. Effective administrators use a variety of data to make informed decisions. The use of testing data is just one example and can be used to make curriculum decisions that address the deficiencies that have been identified. The increasing importance of testing is unavoidable and schools have to find effective ways of satisfying the States requirements. A district could randomly alter curriculum, change the order in which students take classes, or make a multitude of other changes but without targeted changes using some information the success of these programs is questionable. While a district could do this and eventually develop working strategies they may have sacrificed the school careers of countless students. Schools have an obligation to provide every student with the best education possible and a haphazard approach to changes is time consuming and possibly fruitless. One of the problems Midland High School has in implementing effective programs to address issues is teachers who are often resistant to government involvement in curriculum due to the constantly changing expectations, the time that testing takes away from instruction, and the defeating news that although test scores are good for a vast majority of the students at Midland High, the school can still be labeled as a Focus school if one or more subgroups test worse than the top students. While as a principal I would be focusing on all departments, not simply Social Studies, I feel that each department is most knowledgeable and capable of addressing content specific areas for improvement. Another problem that I had when implementing my strategies was finding time to share these strategies during professional development time and then making sure they were implemented in the classrooms by all teachers on a regular basis. While having the bellringer activities completed makes it easy for teachers to implement it still takes five to ten minutes of every class period which some teachers may be reluctant to sacrifice. Professional development time is scarce and asking teachers of U.S. History to present content specific items that could be transferred to other content areas may be met with additional resistance. While all teachers want their students to be successful the desire to isolate themselves within their own classroom continues to be strong.