Using DesCartes Instructional Ladders to Plan for Differentiated Instruction

Using DesCartes Instructional
Ladders to Plan for
Differentiated Instruction
Sara Reiter, Kansas City Kansas Public Schools
Jan Brunell, Central Minnesota Educational Research and
Development Council

Fusion NWEA Summer Conference June 27-29, 2012

DesCart es St at us
To what degree have you utilized the DesCartes in your
instructional planning?

“ENGAGED”
“IT’S “IN A
COMPLICATED” RELATIONSHIP”
I regularly use
the DesCartes
I know how to I understand
to plan
access the what the three
differentiated
DesCartes, but I columns of the
lessons that
rarely do. DesCartes
include flexible
represent.
grouping.

Purpose & Outcomes

• Purpose: To enrich differentiated lesson planning
through the use of the DesCartes and multiple data
points
• Outcomes:

• Recognize how MAP ladders are transformed from
DesCartes and how to interpret a MAP ladder
• Use a MAP ladder to differentiate a lesson plan

• Identify other data that can inform lesson planning

Kansas Cit y KS Public Schools

•45 schools; 20,000 students

•42% Hispanic, 37% African American,
14% White, 5% Asian

•32% ELL, 16% SPED

•86% free or reduced lunch

•60+ different languages spoken

•6 years of MAP implementation (4
yrs. Primary MAP, 1 yr. Web-Based
MAP, next yr. Common Core MAP)

•4 years of Viewpoint implementation

cmERDC

• Central Minnesota Educational Research and
Development Council
• Non-profit, educational cooperative established in
1965
• Design, development and delivery of cost-effective,
innovative software solutions for school districts
across the country
• Customer districts ranging in size from under 100
students to more than 200,000 students

* Figure 3.1 from Taking the Lead by Killion & Harrison (2006)

The DesCartes to Ladder Transformation

Each sub-goal Learning statements transform
represents one from a horizontal continuum to
ladder. a vertical ladder.

MAP Ladder Interpretation

• Three columns of the DesCartes (pg. 2)
• enhance, develop, introduce
• Three rungs of the MAP Ladder
• refresh, meet, push
• How might the vertical perspective
influence instructional planning?

MAP Ladders as a Springboard
to Differentiation

• Differentiation -- what it is, what it is not

• Differentiation by Readiness:

• Content - what a student should know, understand,
and be able to do as a result of the lesson
• Process - Activities designed to help the student
come to make sense of or “own” the content
• Product - How the student will demonstrate and
extend what she has come to know, understand, and
be able to do

Using a Ladder to Create a Differentiated
Lesson Plan -- Formulating the Plan

• Looking at the example of the math MAP ladder
(pg. 5):
• What do you notice about the student scores?
• How are the concepts changing as you climb the
ladder from the bottom to the top?
• Lesson Objective: Solve one- and two-step real
world problems.
• How might teachers plan to differentiate process
for students in 191-200 and 231-240? (pg. 3-4)

Using a Ladder to Create a Differentiated
Lesson Plan -- Setting the Stage

• Professional development will have to be differentiated as
well, based on prior knowledge of differentiation
• Working smarter, not harder
• It is best to begin differentiation work as a grade level or
content team (PLC) -- include SPED & ELL support staff
• Narrow focus:
• One content or one class period
• One mode of differentiation (content, process, or product)
• Differentiate for three groups of students

Follow-Through and Support

• Once teachers have completed their
differentiated lesson plan (pg. 4), a member of
the leadership team observes the lesson.
• Teachers should have the opportunity to reflect
on the lesson with the observer (pg. 3).
• Maintain the data cycle so that teachers are
able to connect changes in practice to changes
in student achievement.

Additional Benefits of MAP Ladders

• Other data can be used to help pinpoint an
appropriate ladder to focus on (district or state
data) (pg. 6)
• Ladders can be used across multiple contents
• ELL and SPED support staff use ladders to
write individual student plans
• Students use ladders to set academic goals
(pg. 7)

What Other Data Might Be Useful?

• MAP Growth Data - use to set goals and
check in on goals (pg. 7)
• Test Performance - college readiness,
district goals, state performance (pg. 8)
• Student Performance - trend data,
multiple measures (pg. 9-12)

Viewpoint Features

• User-friendly and flexible data warehousing and reporting

• Nightly updates on teacher/student schedules and other data

• Ability to easily group/regroup students

• Comparisons to other data (national, state, local
assessments, attendance, discipline, grades, interventions,
etc.)

• Electronic instructional ladders report

• Ability to run reports (growth, norms, ladders and more) on
any size population – district, school, grade, classroom, etc.

Avoid Getting Stuck on the Escalator

• Equip teachers with multiple ways of looking at
their data (class, groups, student)
• Assist teachers in understanding how to look at
multiple data points
• Transition teachers from analyzing data to
making instructional decisions based on data
• Share a takeaway from today that will help your
teachers get “unstuck”

Contact

• Sara Reiter, Project Manager, Kansas
City Kansas Public Schools,
sareite@kckps.org, 913-627-2422
• Jan Brunell, Viewpoint Senior Product
Manager, cmERDC,
jbrunell@erdc.k12.mn.us,
651-286-8952 or 651-334-9672

Using DesCartes Instructional Ladders to Plan for Differentiated Instruction

Recommended

Recommended

More Related Content

Viewers also liked

Viewers also liked (7)

Similar to Using DesCartes Instructional Ladders to Plan for Differentiated Instruction

Similar to Using DesCartes Instructional Ladders to Plan for Differentiated Instruction (20)

More from NWEA

More from NWEA (20)

Recently uploaded

Recently uploaded (20)

Using DesCartes Instructional Ladders to Plan for Differentiated Instruction

Editor's Notes