School Improvement and Authentic Academic Achievement

NCLB Strategy

Authentic Academic Achievement is meaningful, significant, and worthwhile. It is the kind of achievement demonstrated by competent adults in their personal lives, at work, or as citizens. To be authentic, achievement must meet three general criteria:

Construction of Knowledge: Students construct or produce rather than merely reproduce meaning or knowledge. They express this knowledge in written and oral discourse, by making and repairing things, and in performances for audiences.

Disciplined Inquiry: Students use a prior knowledge base, strive for in-depth understanding, and express conclusions through elaborated communication.

Value Beyond School: Students’ achievements have meaning apart from documenting the competence of the learner. They have practical value beyond being an indicator of success in school.

The emphasis on authentic academic achievement is the result of the work of the School Restructuring Study conducted by the National Center on Organization and Restructuring of Schools, Fred M. Newman, and Associates, Authentic Achievement: Restructuring of Schools for Intellectual Quality, San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass, 1996. The Excellence in Teaching for Authentic Academic Achievement Manual was authored in 1997 by retired University of Michigan Professor of Education, Dr. David Harris. The manual was written for the Bloomfield Hills Schools, Bloomfield Hills, Michigan, while Dr. Harris was an educational consultant with Oakland Schools (an intermediate school district) in Waterford, Michigan. The Excellence in Teaching for Authentic Academic Achievement model for professional development was jointly conceived and developed by Dr. Harris and Paul Dain. Mr. Dain is presently an educational consultant who previously was a teacher, department chairman, and EIT/AAA instructor and coordinator for Bloomfield Hills Schools.

According to the research findings upon which this model is based, the academic achievement of students is raised when teaching meets the general criteria. Consequently, this program uses standards for curriculum, instruction, and assessment, which satisfy the three criteria of authentic achievement to gauge the quality of teaching.

School Improvement Through Excellence in Teaching for Authentic Academic Achievement (EIT/AAA)

Excellence in Teaching for Authentic Academic Achievement is for K-12 administrators and teachers of all subject areas. The professional staff that participate in EIT/AAA examine the fundamentals of the change process, the value of trust, openness, and honesty, and the positive communication skills that promote effective professional collaboration. Participants are instructed in the meaning of the authentic academic achievement concept, the supporting research, and are immersed in the process of thinking about, discussing, and understanding the research-based standards for curriculum, assessment, and instruction. Teachers and administrators deepen their understanding of the standards by reviewing and evaluating the work of other teachers. Participants are then asked to produce a curriculum plan, assessment task, and an instructional lesson that is aimed at meeting all of the standards. The first year training ends with the teachers presenting their work to fellow participants and receiving feedback from the others. EIT/AAA training emphasizes the importance of collaboration in the school improvement process. Teachers and administrators work together to develop curriculum, assessments, and instruction that is engaging and that challenges students to be successful in meeting local, state, and national standards. Trust, openness, and honesty among the professional staff and between the professional staff and students are hallmarks of the School Improvement and Authentic Academic Achievement initiative.

During the course of the professional development training participants meet periodically as a whole group with the program instructors. Between times they communicate with each other and the program instructors through the exchange of e-mail, telephone conversations, and video teleconferencing. Participants receive prompt and detailed feedback from the program instructors in regard to the various draft submissions of their work.

• The professional staff exhibits trust, openness, and honesty in collaborative school improvement activities and efforts, and use positive discussion skills in their communication.
  
  
• Student and professional staff work effectively incorporates the principles, criteria, and standards for authentic academic achievement.
  
  
• Teachers and administrators produce curriculum plans, assessment tasks, and instructional lessons that have immediate practical value to themselves, to their students, and to their colleagues.
  
  
• The academic performance of students is raised as measured by standardized testing. Teacher performance increases as measured by student achievement gains and through measurement devices located in the teacher evaluation process.
  
  

Participating teachers produce a curriculum plan for one unit of instruction they are currently assigned to teach. Participating administrators team with one of the participating teachers and produce an additional curriculum plan for that subject or class. The curriculum plans are to be implemented for instruction by both teachers and administrators during the first year of their participation. Each curriculum plan consists of:

1. One comprehensive Unit Plan that includes an overview of the course, an abstract that summaries the instructional unit, focus questions to guide instruction, appropriate state and local standards and benchmarks, key concepts, a listing of instructional resources, the assessment tasks that will be used for measuring student understanding, and summaries of the instructional lessons that are designed to meet and answer the focus questions, key concepts, and standards and benchmarks. The unit plan is designed to meet the five research based curriculum standards.
   
   
2. One elaborated Assessment Task from the list of those assessment tasks that were identified in the unit plan. The assessment task includes an abstract describing what will happen during the assessment, the prompt that will initiate student action, directions that guide students in carrying out the task, the procedures the teacher will follow in administering the assessment, the standards and benchmarks that are being targeted by the assessment, and a scoring rubric for each benchmark that is being evaluated by the assessment task. The assessment task is designed to meet the seven research based standards for assessment.
   
   
3. One elaborated Instructional Lesson Plan from the list of those lessons summarized in the unit plan. The instructional lesson plan includes an abstract of the lesson that summarizes what will happen in the lesson, a listing of the standards and benchmarks, focus questions, and key concepts that are being targeted by the lesson, and a sequence of activities that provides a step by step explanation of the teaching and learning that takes place in the lesson. The instructional lesson plan is designed to meet the four research based standards for instruction. Participants may volunteer to produce a videotape of the instructional lesson as it is taught.
   
   

The Unit Plan, Assessment Task, and the Instructional Lesson Plan are produced only after the participants have deepened their understanding of the criteria and standards for Authentic Academic Achievement through reading and discussion, and through collaborative activities where they apply the standards while evaluating sample work of teachers who are not part of the EIT/AAA school improvement team. Drafts of work are reviewed and critiqued by the program instructors before participants submit their final products. Participants receive an opportunity to revise their work to meet any unmet standards.

A Five - Year Plan for Implementing School Improvement and Excellence in Teaching for Authentic Academic Achievement

1. Select an EIT/AAA school improvement team in each school that is composed of high performing teachers and administrators in. Year 1.
   
   
2. Train each school improvement team in the fundamentals of the change process, the value and role of trust, openness, and honesty, and to work collaboratively with peers and students. Positive discussion skills are developed and used to facilitate the exchange of information and knowledge. Year 1.
   
   
3. Train each school improvement team to produce curriculum, assessment, and instruction that meet the research-based standards for Authentic Academic Achievement and that are targeted to meet local, state, and national standards. Years 1 and 2.
   
   
4. Train each school improvement team to train their colleagues in the fundamentals of the change process, the value and role of trust, openness, and honesty, and to work collaboratively with peers and students. Positive discussion skills are developed and used to facilitate the exchange of information and knowledge. Years 2 and 3.
   
   
5. Train each school improvement team to train their colleagues to produce curriculum, assessment, and instruction that meet the research-based standards for Authentic Academic Achievement and that are targeted to meet local, state, and national standards. Years 2 and 3. All district teachers trained by the end of year 5.
   
   
6. Design and implement a collaborative teacher evaluation process that incorporates devices for evaluating and measuring the achievement of teachers in designing curriculum, assessment, and instruction that meet the research-based standards for Authentic Academic Achievement. Design years 1 and 2, implement in years 4 and 5.
   
   
7. Construct a district wide online system of forums and discussion groups for teachers to exchange information about curriculum, assessment, and instruction. Year 1.
   
   
8. Design and implement an ongoing program study for measuring student achievement gains that are related to the Authentic Academic Achievement initiative. Designed year 1, implemented in year 2.
   
   
9. Design and implement an ongoing system for evaluating and revising the School Improvement and Authentic Academic Achievement initiative. Designed year 1, implemented in year 2.
   
   
10. 10. Design and implement an ongoing system for the training of new professional staff in the EIT/AAA process. Designed year 2 and implemented in year 3.