Read more about Student Artifact Analysis<\/span><\/h3>![\"\"](\"https:\/\/curriculumsolutions.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/shutterstock_1086016088-e1530819332886.jpg\")
This is not a training<\/span>,<\/strong> but a stand-alone service that CMSi offers to districts so they can maximize the alignment of the written, taught, and tested curriculum and ensure that the high expectations the district has for its students are being faithfully carried out in district classrooms.<\/p>\nDistricts collect a large sample of their own student artifacts and CMSi provides a thorough written analysis that includes:<\/p>\n
\n- Cognitive demand: how complex is the thinking required to complete the work?<\/li>\n
- Cognitive engagement: do artifacts utilize contexts which promote engagement and retention of material? Do they match the way mastery is demonstrated on external tests like AP exams or\u00a0 ACT\/SAT?<\/li>\n
- Content: are there gaps? Are there overlaps between grades?\u00a0 Does the content align with curricular objectives?<\/li>\n
- Average grade level:\u00a0 does the work students are asked to do fall on, above or below its purported grade level?<\/li>\n
- Equity: do the artifacts reflect an inclusive curriculum that includes multiple perspectives and diverse voices?\u00a0 Do students have opportunities to make and express meaning of content?\u00a0 Do the artifacts require critical thinking and problem solving?\u00a0 Are there differences in artifacts between campuses or student sub-groups?<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
No improvement plan in the world will work if the changes don't impact what's happening in classrooms.\u00a0 Schedule your artifact analysis to find out what's happening on your front line.<\/p>\n
Contact Us\u00a0<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\nCognitively Complex Instruction<\/h2>\n
Instructional rigor in the classroom benefits students across the spectrum, producing flexible, critical thinkers who are engaged in the activities they are asked to do.\u00a0 This one- or two-day training for teachers offers a view of instruction with the aim of increasing student engagement and enhancing student cognition, and provides practical, hands-on experience both evaluating and creating activities to increase rigor in their own classrooms.<\/p>\n
Read more about Cognitively Complex Instruction<\/span><\/h3>![\"\"](\"https:\/\/curriculumsolutions.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/board.jpg\")
Research demonstrates that giving children a curriculum that is both cognitively engaging and <\/em>cognitively rigorous produces improved performance. This holds true for both high and low-achieving students.\u00a0 Unfortunately, low-achieving students are sometimes the recipients of the least cognitively challenging and engaging activities in the interest of ensuring that they \u201cget the basics\u201d before the high stakes test. This one- or two-day training provides:<\/p>\n\n- An overview of the most recent and relevant research surrounding engagement and rigor;<\/li>\n
- Extensive work with Bloom\u2019s Revised Taxonomy to accurately identify and tailor the cognitive levels of activities;<\/li>\n
- Information about the major types of contexts of activities \u2013 how<\/em> mastery will be demonstrated \u2013 and an understanding of how context increases or decreases engagement for students;<\/li>\n
- Hands-on example activities in a variety of content areas that will enable teachers to practically apply context information and see the many pedagogical opportunities hands-on, engaging activities can produce;<\/li>\n
- An understanding of the importance of writing in adding both intrinsic engagement and cognitive rigor to activities;<\/li>\n
- Information on how rubrics can help clarify context and cognitive demand and assist students in demonstrating mastery;<\/li>\n
- Opportunity to work on their own activities with others in their content area to increase engagement and rigor.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
Contact Us<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\nResource Alignment and Examining Student Work<\/h2>\n
In this one- or two-day hands-on seminar, participants will examine student work artifacts \u2013 the activities teachers give to students in the classroom — and calibrate those artifacts with state standards and tested objectives. Participants will be given over a dozen artifacts of materials used with students to analyze and calibrate, and the calibration process itself provides educators with feedback regarding the grade level of student work.<\/p>\n
Read more about Resource Alignment and Examining Student Work<\/span><\/h3>![\"\"](\"https:\/\/curriculumsolutions.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/ipadbooks.jpg\")
Participants will also examine resources used in the classroom to determine if they are aligned to district curriculum and to external assessments such as PARCC, Smarter Balanced, or STARR. Part of the training enables teachers and principals to modify existing resources to address student needs and to allow for better alignment to the contexts and cognitive types students will encounter on external exams.<\/p>\n
The seminar has been designed for school-based administrators and teacher participants, as well as for those who coach or mentor principals. The second day of the seminar is for participants to analyze any proposed student work they have collected in their own school or district, and the teacher protocol for examining student artifacts will also be discussed.<\/p>\n
Train-the-Trainer:<\/strong>\u00a0 This seminar, as one of the Cutting-Edge Classroom series for improving student achievement, offers an additional half-day of training for participants to acquire licensure to train others in-district. This additional seminar includes a trainer\u2019s kit.<\/p>\nContact Us<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\nELL\/Dual Language: Effective Strategies for Success<\/h2>\n
Districts are being asked to serve more and more diverse populations, which creates challenges for teachers as they seek to be culturally sensitive while promoting success among their students.\u00a0 This one-day training provides strategies and best-practices for teachers and principals to ensure ELL and bilingual students are successful both in classroom curriculum and high-stakes tests in use.<\/p>\n
Read more about ELL\/Dual Language<\/span><\/h3>![\"\"](\"https:\/\/curriculumsolutions.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/handraised.jpg\")
The number of students whose primary language is not English has steadily risen over the last few decades in school districts across the country. These students pose a special challenge to teachers and administrators, especially in the \u201cno excuses\u201d culture created by No Child Left Behind Legislation. Weak English vocabulary or literacy skills can translate into poor test performance, and strategies not specifically designed to meet the special needs of non-English speakers can actually hinder the ELL student\u2019s learning.<\/p>\n
This one-day seminar is designed to equip teachers and administrators with those strategies and instructional principles proven successful with English language learners. Not only will the strategies be modeled, but teachers will also be provided with opportunities to practice them in a supportive, collegial setting. This seminar is for teachers of all grade levels and content areas; the strategies presented in this training are for districts with ELL, bilingual, or partial immersion programs; and are based on the philosophy that bilingualism is a strength in any classroom at any age.<\/p>\n
The strategies include, but are not limited to:<\/p>\n
\n- Methods for ensuring student comprehension of new concepts and knowledge without translation<\/li>\n
- Developing assignments that support ELL students' ability to complete them without compromising the challenge level<\/li>\n
- Ways to diagnose a students' linguistic needs to facilitate greater comprehension of content<\/li>\n
- Methods for challenging ELL students at just the right level so curriculum is neither \"dumbed down\" nor overwhelmingly difficult.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
Train-the-Trainer:<\/strong>\u00a0 This seminar, as one of the Cutting-Edge Classroom series for improving student achievement, offers an additional half-day of training for participants to acquire licensure to train others in-district. This additional seminar includes a trainer\u2019s kit.<\/p>\nContact Us<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\nGifted and Talented Students:\u00a0 Rigor, Engagement and Effective Differentiation<\/h2>\n
A hands-on, interactive training that takes teachers from the theory of gifted education, including the major characteristics of giftedness and how they can be misinterpreted, to the assessment of activities for engagement and cognitive rigor, and the application of these concepts in their classrooms. Teachers will participate in models of engaging, rigorous activities that they can use in their own lesson planning and will understand how to differentiate activities for students to more effectively meet their needs.<\/p>\n
Read more about Gifted and Talented Students<\/span><\/h3>![\"\"](\"https:\/\/curriculumsolutions.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/shutterstock_151718360-1024x681.jpg\")
Three modules, intended to be provided in sequence over three days, but may be offered in a variety of time configurations:\u00a0 three consecutive days or three separate days, or even half days or a combination of the two.<\/p>\n
Module I: \u00a0 \u00a0Theory base and modeling of engagement and rigor<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\nModule I focuses on an overview of the research concerning giftedness, cognitive complexity, and effective student engagement while engaging participants in activities that model the same.\u00a0 This module is critical in helping teachers see the difference between being high achieving and giftedness, and the unique socio-emotional needs gifted children have.\u00a0 Participants also learn to recognize cognitive complexity and distinguish it from engagement, and they will take part in activities that are designed to model both.\u00a0 The objectives include involving participants in:<\/p>\n
\n- A review of the research on giftedness, the socio-emotional needs of gifted children, cognitive complexity, and engagement, and discussion\/reflection on each;<\/em><\/li>\n
- Reviewing research on the importance of writing across the curriculum as a means of achieving both cognitive demand and engagement.<\/em><\/li>\n
- Hands-on activities to assist teachers in understanding and applying the concepts of engagement and rigor from the inside out;<\/em><\/li>\n
- Models of well-designed activities that are cognitively challenging; <\/em><\/li>\n
- Models of the process for assuring effective student engagement; and<\/em><\/li>\n
- Models of activities designed to support socio-emotional needs.<\/em><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
Module I concludes with an assignment for participants to complete before Module II. This assignment involves planning and implementing at least one lesson in their classroom that is both cognitively complex and engaging.<\/p>\n
Module II: \u00a0 Analyzing lesson activities and instructional planning <\/span><\/strong><\/p>\nIn Module II, the focus is on implementing the insights and concepts gained from Module I.\u00a0 Participants will engage in analyzing the cognitive demand and engagement of an activity and will design modifications to maximize each.\u00a0 Participants also review samples of student work and activities from a variety of sources, including samples of activities from their own and their colleagues\u2019 classrooms, to determine their cognitive complexity, engagement, and suitability for certain types of giftedness and to improve them.\u00a0 The emphasis is on increasing the level of student engagement and cognitive demand in the classroom setting every day, for every student, in a way that is responsive to individual student needs and interests.\u00a0 The objectives for participants include:<\/p>\n
\n- Evaluating the cognitive demand (using Bloom\u2019s Revised Taxonomy) and engagement of any activity, as well as its suitability for gifted students;<\/em><\/li>\n
- Opportunities to analyze poorly designed activities and compare and contrast them with models of effective activities;<\/em><\/li>\n
- Steps to follow to maximize the cognitive demand of almost any learning activity (and to differentiate both the learning process and learning product);<\/em><\/li>\n
- The process of revising activities to improve their cognitive demand and engagement.<\/em><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
After Module II, participants will be given an assignment for application in their classroom, designed to help them practice their new learning and reflect on it.<\/p>\n
Module III: \u00a0 How to differentiate instruction effectively<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\nIn this module, participants will build on the learnings from prior modules, but with an emphasis on delivering selected activities to different groups of students, based on their academic needs, type of giftedness and learning styles.\u00a0 In this module, participants will focus on planning lessons using flexible student groupings, to facilitate the effective differentiation of content (delivering objectives to groups of students at the appropriate level).\u00a0 They will also focus on building in flexibility of choice into activities to facilitate differentiation of process (how students practice the content) and product (how students demonstrate their learning).\u00a0 Differentiation is absolutely essential to provide effective instruction to gifted students that are in regular classrooms, either alone or in clusters, even if they are in a pull-out program.\u00a0 Gifted students\u2019 needs must be met all the time, not just during a pull-out program.<\/p>\n
The main objectives for participants during this module include:<\/p>\n
\n- Reviewing the research on flexible learning arrangements and cooperative approaches;<\/em><\/li>\n
- Structuring the classroom to facilitate small group instruction;<\/em><\/li>\n
- Planning lessons with specific, different objectives for different groups of students;<\/em><\/li>\n
- Designing activities with flexibility and choice to meet students\u2019 learning styles and allow for personal preferences (for relevance).<\/em><\/li>\n
- Discussing the frequency with which activities and lessons can or should be differentiated;<\/em><\/li>\n
- Setting goals for personal application of the learning.<\/em><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
After Module III, participants will again be given an assignment for application in their classroom and a reflection on their learning.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Districts collect a large sample of their own student artifacts and CMSi provides a thorough written analysis that includes:<\/p>\n No improvement plan in the world will work if the changes don't impact what's happening in classrooms.\u00a0 Schedule your artifact analysis to find out what's happening on your front line.<\/p>\n Contact Us\u00a0<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n Instructional rigor in the classroom benefits students across the spectrum, producing flexible, critical thinkers who are engaged in the activities they are asked to do.\u00a0 This one- or two-day training for teachers offers a view of instruction with the aim of increasing student engagement and enhancing student cognition, and provides practical, hands-on experience both evaluating and creating activities to increase rigor in their own classrooms.<\/p>\n Contact Us<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n In this one- or two-day hands-on seminar, participants will examine student work artifacts \u2013 the activities teachers give to students in the classroom — and calibrate those artifacts with state standards and tested objectives. Participants will be given over a dozen artifacts of materials used with students to analyze and calibrate, and the calibration process itself provides educators with feedback regarding the grade level of student work.<\/p>\n The seminar has been designed for school-based administrators and teacher participants, as well as for those who coach or mentor principals. The second day of the seminar is for participants to analyze any proposed student work they have collected in their own school or district, and the teacher protocol for examining student artifacts will also be discussed.<\/p>\n Train-the-Trainer:<\/strong>\u00a0 This seminar, as one of the Cutting-Edge Classroom series for improving student achievement, offers an additional half-day of training for participants to acquire licensure to train others in-district. This additional seminar includes a trainer\u2019s kit.<\/p>\n Contact Us<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n Districts are being asked to serve more and more diverse populations, which creates challenges for teachers as they seek to be culturally sensitive while promoting success among their students.\u00a0 This one-day training provides strategies and best-practices for teachers and principals to ensure ELL and bilingual students are successful both in classroom curriculum and high-stakes tests in use.<\/p>\n This one-day seminar is designed to equip teachers and administrators with those strategies and instructional principles proven successful with English language learners. Not only will the strategies be modeled, but teachers will also be provided with opportunities to practice them in a supportive, collegial setting. This seminar is for teachers of all grade levels and content areas; the strategies presented in this training are for districts with ELL, bilingual, or partial immersion programs; and are based on the philosophy that bilingualism is a strength in any classroom at any age.<\/p>\n The strategies include, but are not limited to:<\/p>\n Train-the-Trainer:<\/strong>\u00a0 This seminar, as one of the Cutting-Edge Classroom series for improving student achievement, offers an additional half-day of training for participants to acquire licensure to train others in-district. This additional seminar includes a trainer\u2019s kit.<\/p>\n Contact Us<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n A hands-on, interactive training that takes teachers from the theory of gifted education, including the major characteristics of giftedness and how they can be misinterpreted, to the assessment of activities for engagement and cognitive rigor, and the application of these concepts in their classrooms. Teachers will participate in models of engaging, rigorous activities that they can use in their own lesson planning and will understand how to differentiate activities for students to more effectively meet their needs.<\/p>\n Module I: \u00a0 \u00a0Theory base and modeling of engagement and rigor<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n Module I focuses on an overview of the research concerning giftedness, cognitive complexity, and effective student engagement while engaging participants in activities that model the same.\u00a0 This module is critical in helping teachers see the difference between being high achieving and giftedness, and the unique socio-emotional needs gifted children have.\u00a0 Participants also learn to recognize cognitive complexity and distinguish it from engagement, and they will take part in activities that are designed to model both.\u00a0 The objectives include involving participants in:<\/p>\n Module I concludes with an assignment for participants to complete before Module II. This assignment involves planning and implementing at least one lesson in their classroom that is both cognitively complex and engaging.<\/p>\n Module II: \u00a0 Analyzing lesson activities and instructional planning <\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n In Module II, the focus is on implementing the insights and concepts gained from Module I.\u00a0 Participants will engage in analyzing the cognitive demand and engagement of an activity and will design modifications to maximize each.\u00a0 Participants also review samples of student work and activities from a variety of sources, including samples of activities from their own and their colleagues\u2019 classrooms, to determine their cognitive complexity, engagement, and suitability for certain types of giftedness and to improve them.\u00a0 The emphasis is on increasing the level of student engagement and cognitive demand in the classroom setting every day, for every student, in a way that is responsive to individual student needs and interests.\u00a0 The objectives for participants include:<\/p>\n After Module II, participants will be given an assignment for application in their classroom, designed to help them practice their new learning and reflect on it.<\/p>\n Module III: \u00a0 How to differentiate instruction effectively<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n In this module, participants will build on the learnings from prior modules, but with an emphasis on delivering selected activities to different groups of students, based on their academic needs, type of giftedness and learning styles.\u00a0 In this module, participants will focus on planning lessons using flexible student groupings, to facilitate the effective differentiation of content (delivering objectives to groups of students at the appropriate level).\u00a0 They will also focus on building in flexibility of choice into activities to facilitate differentiation of process (how students practice the content) and product (how students demonstrate their learning).\u00a0 Differentiation is absolutely essential to provide effective instruction to gifted students that are in regular classrooms, either alone or in clusters, even if they are in a pull-out program.\u00a0 Gifted students\u2019 needs must be met all the time, not just during a pull-out program.<\/p>\n The main objectives for participants during this module include:<\/p>\n After Module III, participants will again be given an assignment for application in their classroom and a reflection on their learning.<\/p>\n <\/p>\nThis is not a training<\/span>,<\/strong> but a stand-alone service that CMSi offers to districts so they can maximize the alignment of the written, taught, and tested curriculum and ensure that the high expectations the district has for its students are being faithfully carried out in district classrooms.<\/p>\n\n
Cognitively Complex Instruction<\/h2>\n
Read more about Cognitively Complex Instruction<\/span><\/h3>
Research demonstrates that giving children a curriculum that is both cognitively engaging and <\/em>cognitively rigorous produces improved performance. This holds true for both high and low-achieving students.\u00a0 Unfortunately, low-achieving students are sometimes the recipients of the least cognitively challenging and engaging activities in the interest of ensuring that they \u201cget the basics\u201d before the high stakes test. This one- or two-day training provides:<\/p>\n\n
Resource Alignment and Examining Student Work<\/h2>\n
Read more about Resource Alignment and Examining Student Work<\/span><\/h3>
Participants will also examine resources used in the classroom to determine if they are aligned to district curriculum and to external assessments such as PARCC, Smarter Balanced, or STARR. Part of the training enables teachers and principals to modify existing resources to address student needs and to allow for better alignment to the contexts and cognitive types students will encounter on external exams.<\/p>\nELL\/Dual Language: Effective Strategies for Success<\/h2>\n
Read more about ELL\/Dual Language<\/span><\/h3>
The number of students whose primary language is not English has steadily risen over the last few decades in school districts across the country. These students pose a special challenge to teachers and administrators, especially in the \u201cno excuses\u201d culture created by No Child Left Behind Legislation. Weak English vocabulary or literacy skills can translate into poor test performance, and strategies not specifically designed to meet the special needs of non-English speakers can actually hinder the ELL student\u2019s learning.<\/p>\n\n
Gifted and Talented Students:\u00a0 Rigor, Engagement and Effective Differentiation<\/h2>\n
Read more about Gifted and Talented Students<\/span><\/h3>
Three modules, intended to be provided in sequence over three days, but may be offered in a variety of time configurations:\u00a0 three consecutive days or three separate days, or even half days or a combination of the two.<\/p>\n\n
\n
\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/curriculumsolutions.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/shutterstock_705276859-1024x711.jpg\")
Participants will also learn\u00a0how to plan lessons with specific, different objectives for different groups of students and how to design activities with flexibility and choice to meet students\u2019 learning styles and allow for greater relevance and engagement. The training will discuss how often activities and lessons can or should be differentiated and help participants set goals for personal application of the learning in their classrooms.<\/p>\n