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Foothills Middle School

Seventh Grade Teachers Presenting at State Education Conference

Three Wenatchee seventh grade English/Language Arts teachers are presenting at a state education conference on November 30. Kelsey Borst of Orchard Middle School, Betsy Strean of Pioneer Middle School and Heidi Dunn of Foothills Middle School will be presenting at the OSPI WERA Conference (Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction, Washington Educational Research Association). The Wenatchee team was selected from hundreds of applicants to be presenters. They’ll be sharing a process they created as a team to assess student learning to meet standards set by the state. 

“Their presentation is really around their assessments,” says Instructional Coach Amber Birks. “It’s about the common formative assessments that they've written as a team and how they've used those over the years to track students progress towards meeting those standards.”

Formative assessments support learning during the learning process. Since formative assessments are considered part of the process, teachers use the results to plan their next instructional moves. For example, some students may need a reteach lesson, while others need an extension lesson. “Standards” refers to The Common Core State Standards, in this instance for English Language Arts (ELA). ELA standards are established guidelines to promote the literacy skills and concepts required for college and career readiness. 

Birks says that Wenatchee’s seventh grade English Language Arts state assessment scores have risen for two years in a row. “The whole district team has shown growth. From 2015 to 2016 they had 14 percent more students meeting standard. From 2016 to 2017,  10 percent more students met standards. The results are starting to show that [the teachers] have nice alignment and their instruction is effective.”

The team developed their assessment through a professional learning community (PLC). A PLC is a group of educators who meet regularly, share expertise, and work collaboratively. The goal of the PLC is to ensure all students are meeting or exceeding the agreed upon state standards. “They're going to talk about their work of over ten years building their work around professional learning communities,” explains Birks.  

“Amber has been instrumental in bringing this presentation to fruition,” says Kelsey Borst. “She submitted the application and leads our planning sessions. She has been a huge advocate for the necessary time and space in a busy teacher schedule to revise the common formative assessments, as well as giving us materials and support.” 

Birks says that one of the most important results of the work is that students and families are getting really clear feedback where students are in relation to meeting the state standards. “It's that visibility for families and students,” says Birks. “When everyone is clear on what it takes to meet or exceed standard, we get there. It doesn't matter their background—all students can get there.”

PHOTO: Betsy Strean, Amber Birks, Kelsey Borst, and Heidi Dunn

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