MSAD #6 Curriculum, Instruction & Assessment: High Impact

What a day yesterday at the MSAD 6 Central Office! There were 60 teachers and administrators, representing our 8 buildings and grades K-12, participating in the second of three scheduled sessions of "Assessment for Learning." Session 1 was in late August, and session 3 will be in March. The focus is on proven, research-based, high impact strategies to foster student engagement and learning. One of the most pivotal quotes of the day was, "This isn't more on the plate, this IS the plate."

The facilitators of this series of trainings are Dr. Jeff Beaudry and Dr. Anita Stewart McCafferty from the University of Maine. They are both professors at USM in the School of Education and Human Development, and have partnered with MSAD 6 for two years in this work. Jeff and Anita are joined by Kirsten Gould, a first grade teacher at Buxton Center Elementary School who has been immersed in the work at the state-level. The 65 participants are charged with training their full staffs at our high school, middle school, and 6 elementary schools, over the next few months.

Teachers have so far learned about the following:

Providing clear learning targets--giving students the target (I can...) and clearly what it looks like (This means...)
Student self-assessment and goal setting--helping students look at where they are in relation to a standard or target and then knowing exactly what the next steps are toward becoming proficient
Helping students track their progression of learning--making a visual for students so they can see the steps in reaching their goal, and providing them a way to track their progress
Concept Mapping--helping students tap into what they already know, then make sense and connections between of key terms and vocabulary and concepts scattered through text

The professional development opportunity that has come out of this partnership with USM is so valuable for our teachers, but most of all valuable for our STUDENTS! Thanks so much to Jeff, Anita, Kirsten, administrators, and teachers who've attended, especially those who shared their work with the large group. And thanks to all of our teaching staff, committed to the implementation of these high impact strategies! There is no doubt that these will make a difference for our kids.