1 provides the teacher education candidates the opportunity to demonstrate their

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RATIONALE – WHAT IS A TEACHER WORK SAMPLE?
A.
Purpose of the Teacher Work Sample: The Teacher Work Sample
provides the teacher education candidates the opportunity to demonstrate their
ability to plan, implement, and evaluate a standards-based unit of instruction
for a specific class of students and to facilitate learning for all students (West,
Rudden, n.d.). Candidates should be aware that when they are teachers, they
will be expected to do long-range planning, develop units of instruction,
including detailed lesson plans, and to provide data showing that their students
were able to reach the unit goals. Teaching involves a continuous process of
setting goals, pre-assessing, revising goals based on assessments,
planning, teaching, post-assessing, and reflecting. As you student teach,
you will perform each step in the process.
B.
What is a Teacher Work Sample?
The Teacher Work Sample is a culminating experience in the Millikin
University School of Education program that will requires you to synthesize
what you have learned in your classes and internships and to provide evidence
of that learning. The knowledge and skills that you developed prior to student
teaching are put into practice as you actually prepare and teach a
developmentally appropriate unit of study for students in your student
teaching classroom. You will then analyze data from your pre- and postassessments to provide concrete evidence of student learning. Further, you
will collect examples of the work your students did as they learned the skills
and concepts you planned and taught, and you will reflect on their progress to
self-evaluate the planning and teaching of the unit.
C.
Steps to Complete the TWS
The TWS requires successful completion of the following steps:
1. Identify a developmentally appropriate topic for a unit of instruction (1-2
weeks in length with five to ten lessons), which you will teach in your
student teaching classroom.
2. Analyze the context for learning and examine the implications of the context
for instruction.
3. Identify 4 to 6 measurable unit learner outcomes, aligning them with
standards and explaining your rationale for selecting each learner outcome.
4. Develop a unit pre-assessment and post-assessment that can be used to
measure student progress toward ALL learner outcomes.
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5. Plan a series of five to ten lessons, inclusive of pre- and post-tests, that will
facilitate student learning of the learner outcomes. Collectively the lessons
that you teach must relate to the learner outcomes. Each lesson must contain
lesson objectives, materials, instructional procedures, accommodations for
special needs learners, and formative or summative assessments.
Incorporation of authentic assessments is strongly encouraged.
6. Pre-assess unit learner outcomes and modify lesson plans, based on the
results of the pre-assessments.
7. Teach the lessons, keeping a daily log of instructional decision-making
that occurred as you taught the lesson.
8. Post-assess the unit learner outcomes.
9. Analyze the data from the pre- and post-assessments, examining wholegroup data, sub-group data, and data on selected individual students.
10. Reflect on the TWS experience and consider the evidence that supports the
success of your teaching. Reflect also on how your TWS demonstrates your
ability to fulfill MTS and organizing themes.
D. Phase I and II, Teacher Work Sample (CA10)
Phase I and II, shown below, shows how the workload for the TWS is spread across two
semesters.
Phase 1: Designing and Planning the Unit of Instruction [ED406 or ED425]
Write a description of the community, school district,
school, learning space, and students that comprise the
context for learning and teaching. Examine
implications
2. UNIT LEARNER GOALS Select a topic for the unit, identify unit learner goals,
align them with the Il Learning Standards and write a
justification for each unit learning goals.
Develop a plan for pre- and post-assessing each unit
3. ASSESSMENT PLAN
learning goal, as well as daily lesson objectives; use a
variety of assessments, including authentic
assessments.
Create daily lesson plans that address the unit learner
4. DESIGN FOR
goals; prepare a chart or table that represents the unit
INSTRUCTION
learner goals, standards, lesson objectives, lesson
activities, accommodations, and assessments.
Phase 2: Teaching the Unit of Instruction and Reflecting on the Process
1. CONTEXT OF
LEARNING
(Education 488 and ED476, 477, or 478)
Pre-assess unit learner goals, modify lessons and unit
5. INSTRUCTIONAL
based on pre-assessment; teach the lessons to your
DECISION MAKING
students; maintain a log of instructional decisions
including modifications for individual students or the
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whole class; post-assess; reteach when needed.
Select representative samples of student work as
6. SELECTION OF
related to analyze, discuss, and use in your
STUDENT
WORK
presentation.
7. ANALYSIS OF STUDENT Analyze all assessment data (pre-, post-, and
formative) and report in y9our paper and peer
LEARNING
presentation the extent to which students reached
learner goals and standards. Analyze individual
students and subgroups’ progress. Determine which
unit learner outcomes were met .
Reflect on the effectiveness of planning and teaching
8. REFLECTION AND
in relation to the standards and learner goals. Make
SELF- EVALUATION
suggestions for improving your teaching. Plan for
continued professional growth.
Reflect on how the assignment assisted you to
9. REFLECTION ON
demonstrate the organizing themes; reflect, in addition,
ORGANIZING THEMES
on relevant standards, providing specific examples of
AND STANDARDS
how your unit illustrates the standards.
It is important that the planning of your TWS be completed in consultation with
your cooperating teacher. Your choice of the topic for your unit, as well as the
learning activities, must be made with your cooperating teacher's approval. You
will prepare Steps 1 through 5 above as part of ED425 or ED406. Steps 6 through
10, the actual teaching of the unit, analysis of data, and reflection on your student
learning will be completed while you are student teaching. The TWS is the
culminating project of ED488, Education Seminar.
In Appendix A, there is a chart that shows the collaborative process for ED425/406
and for ED488. Each member of the senior level TWS/Student Teaching Team has
a role o play in CA10, TWS.
CONTEXT OF LEARNING
All instructional planning should begin with a solid understanding of the context in which
the unit is being taught. You should write the context before selecting learner outcomes
and selecting daily lessons. It will be helpful, though, to talk with your teacher about the
curriculum for your grade level so that you have some idea of what is being taught during
the semester that you will be student teaching.
The Context section is essentially a research paper in which you use available
sources to describe the community, school district, school, classroom, and students
in your class. You will then use your research to consider its implications for you
instructional planning,. It is important that you summarize the research in your
own words and that you use in-text citations and include a list of references of all
sources used. Follow the same guidelines you would use for any other research
paper. Your style of writing should be objective, scientific, and business-like. Your
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context provides a foundation and a justification for your future planning of your
unit.
A. What is included in the context?
―Context‖ refers to aspects of the setting in which you are teaching that will directly
affect your decision-making about teaching. The context involves social, economic,
intellectual, and physical aspects of the setting. You will first describe the characteristics
of the city or town, the school district, the school, the students, and the curriculum. Then
you will identify specific implications of these contextual characteristics for your unit and
how you will teach it.
1. Describe the characteristics of your community, school district, school,
classroom, and students.
As you can see from the chart on the following page, your TWS should provide
evidence that you have a comprehensive understanding of:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
The city/town/community
the school district
the school,
the classroom, students, and relationships within the classroom
the student characteristics and the curriculum
Of particular interest is the data on the school and district’s progress toward meeting the
requirements for No Child Left Behind. Is the school and district making Adequate
Yearly Progress? What is their present status? Are they on the watch list or on academic
warning? The decisions you and your cooperating teacher will make about your TWS
will be directly related to the school and district’s performance on the tests related to
NCLB. You should be able to speak and write about the trends in recent years in relation
to students’ performance on standardized tests.
2. Describe at least 3 to 5 IMPLICATIONS of the characteristics that are
described above?
After you have written a comprehensive summary of the community, school district,
school, classroom, and students, you will then write a few paragraphs that identify
3 to 5 implications of the context as they relate to the task of planning, teaching,
and assessing a unit of instruction. The term, ―implications,‖ refers to the
conclusions that you can draw about how/what you might teach to address the
students’ needs in the particular context.
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For example, the teaching of basic skills of reading and mathematics take on a
high level of importance if the class happens to be a third grade class in a school
that has not made AYP. If, on the other hand, you are student teaching in a school
with a history of making AYP, you may find that an implication is that you will
need to provide instruction that goes beyond the basics to a higher level of student
knowledge.
Considering the whole context, you may ask, ―What instructional needs will there
be for people in this classroom, school, and community?‖ The implication section
asks you to draw your own conclusions about what you and your teacher will
need to do. For example, if your class did not make annual yearly progress in
math, then you may conclude that there will be a need for extra work on math,
and you may want to consider doing your TWS in mathematics.
In short, when you identify the implications of the context, you are demonstrating
your ability to consider the big picture, as well as the details, and plan instruction
that is addresses both perspectives.
B. What are the Sources of Information for the Context?
Remember that when you are writing a research paper, you will want to use sources that
are reliable, and to consider the nature of the information when you draw implications.
For example, if you use a website from the Chamber of Commerce, the information you
get may be opinions, along with factual data. Please do not use Wikopedia! Also, please
be sure to cite the source that you are using for your data, and DO NOT CITE WORD
FOR WORD without using quotations and suitable attributions of the source. Reserve
direct quotations to make significant points. In most cases, it is better to use your own
words. Remember though that even paraphrasing in your own words still requires
citations in text and listings in the references.
1. On-line data about community
City and/or community data
Census data or cities.com
Chamber of commerce data
Data about the community that may be found on the Interactive
School Report Card
Websites for the city
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2. School District and School Data online
Interactive School District Report Card www.isbe.net
Interactive School Report Card www.isbe.net
District Improvement Plan and School Improvement Plan
District or School publications such as faculty handbook, parent
handbooks
3. Classroom, students and teaching style from personal observation and
informal discussion.
Classroom and student information
Observations that you make while you are observing or assisting in
the classroom
Informal discussion with your cooperating teacher and other school
staff
4. Student characteristics and curriculum
Cooperating teacher interview
Student records (with permission)
Observations that you make while you are observing or assisting in
the classroom.
Examination of textbooks and existing curriculum materials
By strategically planning your interview with your cooperating teacher, you can
gain important understandings about your teacher’s expectations, approaches to
discipline, and the characteristics of your students. However, it is important not to
use your teacher as the only source of data about the school. As a matter of fact,
you should interview your teacher after you have done the research on the
school. Your cooperating teacher will be able to help you clarify your
understanding in some cases, and can supplement your information about the
School Improvement Plan. If there are things you do not understand in the data,
be prepared with specific questions.
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C. Format of Context
Your context should be written in a narrative format. Lists and selected charts may help
to present information about the students’ performance on standardized tests, etc., but
they must be introduced and carefully labeled, explained, and presented with an in-text
citation.
After you have written the description of the context and discussed the implications, be
sure to include a bibliography of your sources of information. Use APA format and
include your bibliography or references at the end of your report. Also, cite the sources
in the text of the material.
Be sure to use the rubric that is provided to self-evaluate the context section of your
TWS. Your paper will be evaluated against the standards that the rubric establishes.
D. Chart on Content of Context On the following page is a list of suggested content for
the context session, listed by category. Select enough details to give a clear picture of
your geographic location, school, school district, classroom, and students.
SELECTING A TOPIC, WRITING UNIT LEARNING GOALS AND ALIGNING
THEM WITH THE ILLINOIS LEARNING STANDARDS
In this section you will choose a topic for your unit, select four to six Unit Learning
Goals related to the topic, align the unit learning goals with the Illinois Learning
Standards, and write a justification for each goal. Collectively, the unit learning goals
should address the major knowledge, skills and/or attitudes that are needed for students at
the age level that you are teaching to develop an understanding of the topic that you have
chosen.
A. Choosing a topic for your unit
Once you have a good understanding of the context, you must collaborate with your
cooperating teacher to select a topic for your unit. It is important that the two of you are
comfortable with the topic that you choose. There are several factors that you and your
cooperating teacher must consider.
1.
Your topic must be appropriate for the grade level and the abilities of the
students in your class. Your topic should fit within the established curriculum
for your class.
2.
Your topic should be able to be taught with four to six unit learning goals.
3.
Your TWS should not be planned to cover more than two weeks and/or five
to ten lessons, inclusive of the pre- and post- test. To be clear, you should
plan for at least 5 lessons, but not more than 10 lessons. However, if you have
just five lessons, it should be 5 lessons plus your pre- and post-testing
sessions.
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4.
Your topic must be one that can logically be taught during the fourth, fifth,
or sixth week of student teaching. It should NOT be one that must be taught
during the first three weeks of student teaching.
5.
Your topic and content area should allow some room for you to actually
plan and design instructional activities. Avoid content areas in which the texts
that are used are heavily scripted and leave no room for you to design creative
learning activities.
6.
Your topic should be motivational and interesting for your students, your
cooperating teacher, and you.
7.
You should have examined the instructional resources, including the
textbooks, and be confident that the materials are available for you to develop
effective lessons.
8.
Your topic does not have to be multidisciplinary, but it should provide
opportunities to advance literacy and/or mathematics as part of the unit.
9.
You should be able to give a strong rationale for including this topic at the
level that you plan to teach it within the context that you have described.
B. Writing the rationale for the unit
Having selected the topic, you will write a one- or two-paragraph rationale for your
unit that answers the following questions:
Why is this topic important to teach these students in this context? How is it
developmentally appropriate?
How is it related to the scope and sequence of the year-long curriculum for the
content areas that are represented?
How does the unit reflect the Illinois Learning Standards for that grade level?
What content areas are involved?
In what way does the unit provide opportunities to advance literacy and/or
mathematics?
How is this topic motivationally appealing?
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C. Selecting Unit Learning Goals
The selection of your Unit Learner Goals is very important! These Unit Learner Goals
provide the focus for your entire unit. Each unit learner goal will be pre-assessed and
post-assessed, and your analysis of data will examine the extent to which your students
met each unit learner outcome. These unit learner goals also provide the link to the state
goals, standards, and benchmarks or performance descriptors. You are strongly
encouraged to select the outcomes with your cooperating teacher's input. Also, you may
find your teacher's manuals and your textbook helpful in selecting the outcomes for your
unit.
The CA10 rubric includes the following characteristics of commendable unit learning
goals. The goals should be:
1.
Stated clearly in terms of measurable learner behaviors
a.
Names the behavior or action that the learner will be able to do.
b.
Identifies the product that relates to the action
2.
Significant, challenging, and varied enough to appeal to different students;
3.
Developmentally and contextually appropriate for your students;
4.
Representing several kinds of unit learner goals (cognitive, affective, or
psychomotor)
5.
Representing different levels of unit learner goals (See class handout;
Bloom’s taxonomy is one way of identifying levels of goals: Knowledge,
Comprehension, Application, Analysis, Evaluation, Synthesis (these
characterize higher level reasoning); or look at Gardner’s different types of
intelligence)
6.
Aligned with one or more Illinois Learning Standards.
7.
Selected with an awareness of related prior learning experiences
8.
Justifiable; you must be able to write a justification that addresses the
a.
kind and level of the goal,
b.
its relationship to state, national or local standards, and
c.
how it fits the scope and sequence of the curriculum and
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d.
how the context of the school and community relates to the
goal.
D. Aligning Unit Learning Goals with Illinois Learning Standards and writing a
justification
It is important and necessary to show that each unit learning goal aligns with the Illinois
Learning Standards. Effective teachers must show that the goals they seek to teach will
advance students’ ability to meet the Illinois Learning Standards.
After each unit learner goal, you should list one or more Illinois Learning Standards.
Your unit learner goals are likely to be from a variety of content areas (mathematics,
science, language arts, etc. You will need to familiarize yourself with the different
content areas and their respective goals. You should begin with the most relevant IL
Learning Goals, then go to the IL State Standards, and then to the IL State Benchmark
and/or the IL State Performance Descriptor.
As you know from having completed CA7, you can find the state learning goals by
going to http://www.isbe.net/ils/Default.htm. When you teach, each subject that you
teach should be addressing the Illinois Learning Standards at the grade level as identified
by the state. For each of your learner goals, you will include all of the levels listed
above.
A template for Unit Learner Goals is included below, as well as an example of an aligned
unit learner goal.
Template for Unit Learner Goals, Standards Alignment, and Justification
A
Rationale for Choice of Topic (Refer to Section B above; write a one- to twoparagraph rationale that addresses the questions provided.)
B.
Learning Goals
#1. Unit Learning Goal
#1______________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
______________________
#1. IL Learning
Goal____________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
____________________
#1. IL Learning
Standard________________________________________________________________
_
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________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
________________________
#1. IL Performance Descriptor IL
Benchmark_____________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
________
________________________________________________________________________
________
#1. Justification for
ULG#1_______________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
_______________
#2. Unit Learning Goal
#2______________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
______________________
#2. IL Learning
Goal____________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
____________________
#2. IL Learning
Standard________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
_________________________
#2. IL Performance Descriptor IL
Benchmark______________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________
#2. Justification for
ULG#2_________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
____________
#3. Unit Learning Goal
#3______________________________________________________________________
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________________________________________________________________________
______________________
#3. IL Learning
Goal____________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
____________________
#3. IL Learning
Standard________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
________________________
#3. IL Performance Descriptor IL
Benchmark______________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________
#3. Justification for
ULG#3_______________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
________________
#4. Unit Learning Goal
#4______________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
______________________
#4. IL Learning
Goal____________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
____________________
#4. IL Learning
Standard________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
_________________________
#4. IL Performance Descriptor IL
Benchmark_____________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
________________
#4. Justification for
ULG#4_______________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
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________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
________________
Example for Unit Learner Goals, Standards Alignment, and Justification
(Hypothetical Unit)
Unit Topic: Life on Old MacDonald’s Farm
Grade Level: Grade 1
A.
Rationale: The unit, ―Life on Old MacDonald’s Farm,‖ will incorporate content
from science and social science, while enabling students to develop literacy skills
through reading and/or listening to several different stories about farm life. Art
and music will be used to increase student interest as well. Since 85% of the
students at Oak Valley Elementary School are residents of the inner city, many
students know little about farm animals or farm machinery, even though much of
the industry within Soybean City is agriculturally related. A culminating
experience will be a field trip to a working farm. In their music class, a favorite
song has been ―Old MacDonald Had a Farm,‖ students have some knowledge of
animals that live on a farm, but their teacher indicates that so far this year, there
has been no direct instruction about farm life that would provide factual data. The
unit will provide ample opportunity for hands-on learning about animals and farm
products, as well as the way farm families work together on chores. The unit
learner goals are aligned with the Illinois Learning Standards in science, math,
and social science.
B.
Learning Goals
1.
Unit Learning Goal #1. The first-grade learner will name at least six
different animals that live on farms, tell what each animal eats, and
what their habitat on the farm is like.
Illinois Learning Goal 12: Understand the fundamental concepts,
principles and interconnection of the life, physical and earth/space
sciences.
Learning Standard 12B. - Students who meet the standard know
and apply concepts that describe how living things interact with
each other and with their environment.
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Performance Descriptor 12.B.1. Apply scientific
inquiries or technological designs to explore the
relationships of living things to their environment,
identifying the common characteristics of habitats,
matching the needs of organisms in local and global
habitats.
Justfication for Unit Learner Goal 1: Unit learner goal 1 involves
assisting children to name animals that live on a farm and provide
information about their habitat and their diet. This introductory goal
addresses basic farm knowledge that may be familiar to inner city
children, but adds some specific knowledge. A knowledge-level cognitive
goal, the goal will provide a foundation for exploring other aspects of life
on farm. The students will be learning to associate animals with their farm
habitat, and they will also be introduced to the fact that animals require
being fed and cared for. The goal is aligned with IL Learning Standard
12.B.. First graders are expected to relate living things to their habitat and
explain the needs of different animals.
2.
Unit Learning Goal #2. The first grade learner will describe different
grains grown on the farm and explain why they are important for
human beings and animals.
Illinois Learning Goal 12: Understand the fundamental concepts,
principles and interconnection of the life, physical and earth/space
sciences.
Learning Standard 12B. - Students who meet the standard know
and apply concepts that describe how living things interact with
each other and with their environment.
IL Performance Standard 12B.11a. Students will apply the
process of scientific inquiry to explore how living things are
dependent on one another for survival accordingly:
Justification for Unit Learner Goal 2: These urban children may
associate farm animals with life on the farm, but they may not have an
understanding of farms as places that produce food for humans and
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animals. Assisting students to understand how living things become
sources of food as sources of food for one another involves cognitive
skills at the comprehension and application level. This goal broadens
children’s understanding of farms and helps provide a more complete
awareness of the work that farmers do.
3. Unit Learning Goal #3. Through an in-class activity in which different
groups of children
make food from grains grown on farms, student will
be able to explain how grain becomes edible food for people.
IL Learning Goal
Il Learning Standards
IL Performance Descriptor or Early Learning Benchmark
Justification:
4. Unit Learning Goal #4. Having read a collection of stories about farm
animals, the first grade learner will write their own “stories” about a farm animal
of their choice.
IL Learning Goal
Il Learning Standards
IL Performance Descriptor or Early Learning Benchmark
Justification:
5. Unit Learning goal #5. After the field trip to the farm, the first grade
learners will collaborate to create a mural on newsprint that represents
life on the farm as they experienced it.
(To test your understanding, try to align goals #3, 4, and 5 with the il learning
standards and write the appropriate justifications.)
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ASSESSMENT PLAN
Your assessment plan will address how you plan to assess each of your learner goals.
Your daily lesson plans will also include assessments, and they will be included
ultimately in your plan. Since the TWS will involve analyzing pre- and post- data, you
will want to be certain that your plan for pre- and post- assessment yields measurable
outcomes for each individual student. For example, a "KWL" chart might be used on
occasion to pre-assess whole class knowledge of a topic, but for purposes of your TWS, it
would not yield individual student data and should not be used. Instead, your
assessments must be of individuals and must yield data that can be used comparatively
from pre- to post- assessment.
Your rubric indicates that your assessment plan should:
 include assessments
for each unit learner goal that are congruent with the learning
goals in content and in cognitive complexity;
 clearly written at a level appropriate for students and are explicitly linked to the
learning goals;
 include multiple assessment modes and assess student performance throughout
the instructional sequence, and include adaptations for special needs students;
 are valid for assessing the learning goals, are clearly written, and provide clear
directions for the students;
 use authentic assessments when possible; use rubrics to provide pre- and postcomparisons when needed, and includes keys for scoring;
 include clearly spelled out criteria for how the students' grades will be determined
for the unit; consider how much different aspects of the unit will count toward
the final unit grade. For example, what are the proportionate values of
homework, daily quizzes, projects, class participation, and the post-test.
Student's scores on the pre-assessment measure should never count in
students' grades!
A. Three Sections of Your Assessment Plan
Your assessment plan MUST have at least three sections:
1. Your Plan for Assessment You need to describe the way you will assess
each learner outcome. Describe the planning that went in to developing
whatever assessments that you plan to use. Describe the decision-making that
led to your choice of these major assessments. Describe the nature of some of
the formative assessments that you will use in daily lessons. Tell how they
relate to the learner outcomes. Describe how you will accommodate students
with special needs. Also, if you have a culminating project or product that
students may do in cooperative groups, or even an individual project that
cannot be initially pre-assessed, include a description of the project and a
rubric for evaluation and discuss the learner outcomes that the project will
17
illustrate. These projects are often authentic assessments, but for the TWS,
they cannot completely replace the more summative assessment.
2.
Your actual pre-test and post-test (The two instruments can/should be
very similar to one another or they can be the same test). The pre- and
post- test must be adapted to the developmental level of your students.
The pre- and post- assessment should address EACH of your
unit learning goals.
Include scoring keys or rubrics for each assessment.If you ask
open-ended questions, you need to know what criteria you will use
to score them.
include a second copy of the pre- and post- assessment that
shows which unit learning goal is being addressed by each
question or assessment method.
Not every goal will be addressed by a test question; sometimes it
may be identifying a specific portion of a picture, identifying
portions of an object, drawing a picture that includes specific
information, etc. Just be sure that the assessments that you use can
clearly show pre- and post- performance that can be measured,
whether by a pre-established rubric or a simple right/wrong
answer.
Sometimes your text may have a form of assessment that clearly
addresses your learning goals. It may be used verbatim, but you
must do two things: First, you must cite the source of the
assessment, and second, you must show in some way how the
assessment addresses the specific unit learner goals that you are
teaching.
1.
A chart that illustrates your overall plan for assessment A chart of
your assessment plan will be helpful in examining the extent to which you
are using formative and summative assessments to assess your students’
learning of each learner outcome. Your chart can list each of your learner
goals and indicate the nature of the pre- and post- assessment. It can also
identify authentic assessments. Ultimately, you will have an assessment
for each of your daily lesson objectives, and those may be included in your
chart when they relate specifically to one of your unit learner outcomes.
Table 2: An Example of a Chart /Map of An Assessment Plan
The table below shows how the summative and formative assessments might be
distributed for each standard in a hypothetical unit. If you use a chart of this type,
18
you would want to write out the learner outcomes in column #1 so that you could
more fully communicate how the various outcomes are assessed. The purpose of a
chart is to give you a visual representation of how you accomplished your task. It
will need to represent your particular unit and goals.
Learner
Outcome
Learner
outcome
#1
Learner
outcome
#2
Learner
Outcome
#3
Pre-Test
Post-Test
Questions 1, 5, 7,
8
Questions 1, 5,
7, 8
Summative
Questions 2, 3
Summative
Questions 2, 3
Summative
Questions 4, 6, 9
Summative
Questions 4, 6,
9
Summative
Authentic
Assessment
Project
Daily Lesson
Plan
Assessment
Lesson Plan 1,
2, 3
Portfolio of
Daily Writing
Lesson plans
#1, 2, 3, 4, 5)
Cooperative
Group
Response to
Case Study
Lesson Plan 4
Summative
(Formative;
Authentic)
B. Different Kinds of Assessments
Formative assessments – formative assessments occur throughout the unit; they
often check the progress along the way; they are designed to be ―developmental,‖
more than they are designed to be final or summative of total progress in the unit.
They are more qualitative and less concerned with quantitative results. Examples
of formative assessments include:
a brief quiz at the end of a daily lesson to check progress toward the lesson
objectives;
a quick observation of each student’s paper to identify where additional
help is needed;
a KWL chart may be formative, but CANNOT be used as a pre- and postassessment because KWL’s test whole-class, rather than individual progress
a brief writing assignment that can reveal individual student understanding
of a particular lesson objective
a product of a small group activity—a skit, an art project, a problem
solution that demonstrates progress toward goal
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Summative assessments—assessments that are designed to be measurable, quantitative,
and indicative of individual progress toward unit learning outcomes; they provide
cumulative results that can provide numerical evidence of individual, as well as whole
group progress toward unit learning goals.
A multiple/choice or true-false quiz
A quiz that asks for short answers, definitions, content-specific essay
questions, or student analysis or synthesis writing; these kinds of questions
can be made quantifiable by the use of rubrics
An individual performance task that is evaluated by a rubric for each
student.
Performance of a task—a presentation, a demonstration, a drawing,
performing a mathematical task such as dissecting an angle – you can make
such things measurable by establishing a range of criteria that represents a
level of performance.
Authentic assessments –this term is used to represent having a student actually
perform a task rather than doing a paper/pencil response to questions. Authentic
assessments may be used as formative or summative assessments either one.
Authentic assessments would include such things as:
having students play a soccer game rather than defining a soccer term or
explaining scoring,
having a student teacher teach a lesson, rather than telling what makes a
good lesson.
Table 3: Another Example of a Map of Assessments
Unit Learner Goals
Authentic
Assessment
#1Describe the habitat Preparation of
of different animals
―Habitat in Shoebox‖
for one zoo animal.
(Lessons 2 and 3)
Formative Assessment
#2Relate
the
characteristics
of
animals to the kind of
Paragraph in which
student reflects on the
experience of
designing the Habitat
in a Shoebox and
discusses his/her
understanding of
habitat (Lesson 2
Homework)
Coop. Learning
activity in which each
group designs a habitat
Summative
Assessment
Pre-/ PostAssessment,
Questions 1,
2, and 3.
Pre-/Post
Assessment,
Questions 4
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habitat
require.
that
they
#3 Describe the kinds
of care that are
necessary for specific
animals in a zoo to be
safe and secure.
Zoo Field Trip –
Students examine
food supply and
assist in preparation
of food portions for
animals; students
assist in cleaning
living space;
for a fictitious animal
with hypothetical
characteristics
Matching worksheet
before field trip.
Matching food and
caretaking tasks with
appropriate animals
and 5
Pre-/PostAssessment
Essay
Questions 1 –
C. Assessments or Evaluation or Grading? What is the difference?
It is important to understand the difference between assessment and evaluation and
assigning grades. It is equally important that you discuss your assessment plan and your
plan for assigning student grades with your cooperating teacher before you teach the unit,
but also as the unit progresses. Your C.T. has a clearer grasp of school policies, parental
expectations, student attitudes, and other factors. Assigning grades often raises
unexpected and sensitive issues.
Assessment is a process that teachers use to understand their students' level of
performance on learner outcomes BEFORE and AFTER instruction. Assessment
is used by teachers to gather information that will help them plan lessons at an
appropriate level and adapt their teaching to the needs of the whole class,
subgroups within the class, and individual students. Different kinds of
assessments serve different purposes, but in general, teachers must know where
their students are beginning and what their students need to know in order to
reach the unit learning goals.
 Evaluation
of students' performance is a process that uses SOME of the
assessment data, but may also use other data to determine how well the student
has performed in a given set of lessons or in a unit. For example, students may
be evaluated on class participation, attendance, daily homework preparation,
daily quizzes, authentic assessments such as cooperative group projects,
research projects, or major tests.
In order to determine a grade, a teacher must consider the relative importance of each of
the possible measures of performance, establish criteria for the performance, and
determine the level of the students' work against a predetermined standard.
Some teachers still grade "on the curve," which compares students' performance against
that of other members of the class.
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With the distinction between assessment, evaluation, and grading in mind, we want to
remind you of the following:
A pre-test should never be counted in a student's grade! The pre-test is
designed to find what students know before the unit lessons begin. It needs to be
presented as "I want to find out how much you know about Topic X." You
should encourage your students to do their best, but you should NOT try to help
them by giving hints, "spoonfeeding" them the answers, or in any way enhancing
their scores. Assure the students that there will be some questions that they don't
know and that the pre-test will not hurt their grades. It just helps them know what
they need to learn in the unit.
 Your
post-assessment MUST NOT be the sole determiner of a student's
grade! The student should have multiple opportunities to demonstrate
progress toward the unit learner goals. Daily work, major projects, class
participation, authentic assessments, daily quizzes--all of these can provide
input into students' final grades. However, it is important that you determine in
advance the relative weights of each demonstration of learning and determine
how the different measures combine to represent a total grade. Again, seek
input from your cooperating teacher. Millikin faculty are available to help as
well, but your CT can provide context-specific insights.
Some additional guidelines for your assessment plan are attached. Also attached is an
example of a chart that you might use to represent your overall assessment plan.
DESIGN FOR INSTRUCTION
By writing the context, identifying learning goals, and planning your assessments, you
are now ready to design the actual instruction. The design of instruction includes 1)
developing a broad sense of the sequence of lessons and the scope of the material that is
encompassed by the learning goals and 2) developing each daily lesson plan, including
the key components of instructional design and taking into consideration the context of
the classroom and the school and the particular students whom you will be teaching.
Your rubric provides criteria for the design for instruction, indicating that:
 all
lessons must be explicitly linked to learner goals, and all goals must be
covered in at least one lesson
 lessons must show thorough and accurate understanding of content and the
content in each lesson needs to be coherently linked to other lessons
 lessons need to be clearly structured according to the ED488 templates that are
providedlessons should have a variety of different learning activities and should
address different learning modalities
 some lessons should use technology to facilitate learning
 contextual factors should be considered in designing instruction.
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A. Content for each lesson plan
The criteria in the CA10 rubric in LiveText lists the following content for your lesson
plans:
At the top of each lesson plan, you should list the unit learner goal/s that is related to the
lesson. Each unit learner goal will already have been aligned with Illinois Learning
Standards.
 Unit Learner Goal
 Millikin Teaching Standards for Candidate
 Illinois Learning Goals for K-12 learners
 IL Learning Standards and Performance Descriptors
 Objective/s for Lesson
 Stages
 Assessment of Lesson Objectives
 Lesson Planning –list activities a step at a time(Timeline and
procedures for
teaching)
 Modifications/Accommodations for students with special needs
 Reflection
B. The Process of Lesson Planning
Your planning up until now has probably resulted in your having a good idea of what you
would like to include in your daily lessons. Your assessment plan will provide a good
sense of what has to be taught in order to prepare students to reach the goals and perform
on the post-assessment as you expect them to do.
For ED406/425, you will be designing instruction without having pre-assessed your
students. Be realistic, though! When you actually do the pre-assessment, you may
very possibly need to go back and re-design your instruction based on the students'
performance on the pre-test. That is precisely the nature of pre-assessment. It is to
assist you in planning your instruction and modifying it to meet your students'
needs.
For the Design section of your TWS, though, you will design it as though the students
show on the pre-test that they have not yet reached the learner goals that you selected.
One way to show the scope and sequence of your plan for instruction is to complete a
chart that maps the lessons in order and shows how they relate to the learner goals, what
the daily lesson objectives are and how they will be assessed. A chart such as one on
page 8 is suggested to show the scope and sequence of your unit.
You will see from the chart that you may have a lesson that relates to more than one
unit learning goal, and you are likely to have lessons that have more than one lesson
objective. You should plan some form of assessment for each day's lesson.
Formative assessments are quite common in the daily lessons, but you also can
include authentic assessments that may be part of your "big" projects or
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culminating assessments as well. Bear in mind that each lesson in some way
prepares the students for some part of the post-assessment. Although the example
above has blank spaces, your chart will have spaces for each unit learner goal and
each lesson and each assessment.
Your next step, which may be being done concurrently with the chart, is to develop
individual lesson plans for each day, using the template for ED488 lesson plans. Be
sure to use the ABCD format for daily lesson objectives. Also remember that a wellwritten lesson plan should be thorough enough that another teacher should be able
to teach the lesson from the plan.
Every plan should include modifications/accommodations for specific students in your
class. These may be special needs or gifted students whose behavior requires some form
of adaptation. You should include in each day's plan some method of adapting your
teaching to more fully address the needs of individual students. It is not a good idea to
say "For students with reading problems, I'll provide a different level of book." Focus on
the students in your class now and be prepared to describe a student briefly and suggest
modifications for the lesson.
Table 2: Sample Chart for Instructional Design
Unit Learning
Goals
ULG 1Students
will describe
correct habitats
for different
animals
Il Lng
Standards
Il 12.B.1
Lesson
#
1
Lesson Objectives
1. Students will
define and give
examples of the
word habitat.
2. Students will
describe habitats for
3 different
commonly known
animals
ULG2 Students
will construct a
habitat that
IL
12.B.1b
2
1. Using a shoebox,,
construction paper,
markers, and other
Brief Description of
Day’s Activities
Discussion of the
meaning of the word
habitat;
Formative
Assessment
Evaluation
of the group
presentation.
Summative Assessment
Pre-Post Test, Questions 14
Show the film "The
World of Animals"
Group work in which
students complete a
description of one
common animal's
habitat, and present their
description to the class.
Explanation of
information sources;
Homework
assignment
in which
students are
asked to
define
"habitat" and
give
examples of
three
different
animal
habitats.
Shoebox
habitat will
be an
Pre-/post-assessment, Essay
Question #2 and Questions
6 - 10.
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includes
climate,
vegetation, and
shelter.
available art
materials, students
will create a habitat
for a designated
animal, creating a
visual representation
of vegetation,
climate, and shelter.
Using a worksheet,
students will gather data
from information sources
to determine the habitat
to be represented.
Students will begin work
on their shoebox habitat.
ULG3
ULG3
ULG4
IL
12.C.2b
IL12C.2b
IL13.
D.2b
3
1.
4
1.
2.
authentic
assessment
that will be
worked on
throughout
the unit; it is
a
culminating
project.
FORMAT AND CONVENTIONS OF WRITTEN COMMUNICATION, AND
SELF-EVALUATION
Your TWS should be presented in good form, with a minimum of errors in punctuation,
syntax, spelling, and diction. In addition, it should be free from lapses into informal
English and slang. It is important for you to realize that you are writing in a paper that is
more scientific and less emotion-driven than reflective journals and papers that you have
written for earlier coursework. Attached to this document is a collection of "frequently
made errors." If you know that you frequently have problems with grammar, please use
this attachment and seek assistance from an editor in the writing center to be certain that
you are presenting your paper in a professional manner.
Bear in mind that this project is one that you will quite possibly want to use in your
search for a teaching position. With that in mind, you should feel doubly motivated to
proofread with care and with assistance from another writer.
Professionalism is communicated by error-free writing. If we receive a TWS that has
many errors and is not presented in a professional manner, we will require that it be
rewritten and resubmitted before your CA10 can be evaluated.
Appendix D gives a list of guidelines for written communication. These errors have been
frequently made by earlier writers of TWS.
Appendix E includes a checklist for self-evaluation. We encourage you to review your
TWS to see if you have included each of the items on the checklist. Next, we encourage
you to evaluate each section of your paper against Appendix F and G, which are Rubric
for Phase I and the cumulative rubric for the entire project that is used on Live Text.
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Appendices
Please see the attached appendices:
Appendix A: Roles of Members of the TWS and Student Teaching Team
Appendix B: Related Millikin Teaching Standards and Indicators
Appendix C: Frequently Asked Questions about TWS
Appendix D: Guidelines for Written Communication
Appendix E: Checklist for Self-Evaluation
Appendix F: Rubric for Phase I of the TWS (more specific)
Appendix G: Cumulative Rubric for TWS for Live Text
Standards
MTS.11P
P: Demonstrates positive regard for the culture, religion, gender, and sexual
orientation of individual students and their families.
MTS.2B
K: Understands that students' physical, social, emotional, ethical, and cognitive
development influences learning.
MTS.2C
K: Understands human development, learning theory, neural science, and the
ranges of individual variation within each domain.
MTS.2D
K: Understands that differences in approaches to learning and performance
interact with development.
MTS.2E
K: Understands how to include student development factors when making
instructional decisions.
MTS.2F
K: Knows the impact of cognitive, emotional, physical, and sensory disabilities on
learning and communication processes.
MTS.2G
P: Analyzes individual and group performance in order to design instruction that
meets learners' current needs in the cognitive, social, emotional, ethical, and
physical domains at the appropriate level of development.
MTS.2H
P: Stimulates student reflection on prior knowledge and links new ideas to already
familiar ideas and experiences.
MTS.2I
26
P: Introduces concepts and principles at different levels of complexity so that they
are meaningful to students at varying levels of development and to students with
diverse learning needs.
MTS.3G
P: Facilitates a learning community in which individual differences are respected.
MTS.3K
P: Uses a wide range of instructional strategies and technologies to meet and
enhance diverse student needs.
MTS.3L
P: Identifies and designs instruction appropriate to students' stages of
development, learning styles, strengths and needs.
MTS.3M
P: Identifies when and how to develop and implement strategies and interventions
within the classroom and how to access appropriate services or resources to assist
students with exceptional learning needs.
MTS.4A
K: Understands the Illinois Academic Standards, curriculum development,
content, learning theory, and student development and knows how to incorporate
this knowledge in planning instruction.
MTS.4B
K: Understands how to develop short- and long-range plans consistent with
curriculum goals, learner diversity, and learning theory.
MTS.4C
K: Understands how to take the contextual considerations of instructional
materials, individual student interests, and career needs into account in planning
instruction that creates an effective bridge between student experiences and career
and educational goals.
MTS.4D
K: Understands when and how to adjust plans based on student responses and
other contingencies.
MTS.4E
K: Understands how to integrate technology into classroom instruction.
MTS.4F
K: Understands how to review and evaluate educational technologies to determine
instructional value.
MTS.4G
K: Understands how to use various technological tools to access and manage
information.
MTS.4H
K: Understands the uses of technology to address student needs.
MTS.4I
P: Establishes expectations for student learning.
MTS.4J
P: Applies principles of scope and sequence when planning curriculum and
instruction.
MTS.4K
27
P: Creates short-range & long-term plans to achieve the expectations for student
learning.
MTS.4L
P: Creates & selects learning materials & learning experiences appropriate for the
discipline and curriculum goals, relevant to the students, and based on students'
prior knowledge & principles of effective instruction.
MTS.4M
P: Creates multiple learning activities that allow for variation in student learning
styles and performance modes.
MTS.4N
P: Incorporates experiences into instructional practices that relate to the students'
current life experiences & to future career & work experiences.
MTS.4O
P: Creates approaches to learning that are interdisciplinary and that integrate
multiple content areas.
MTS.4P
P: Develops plans based on student responses and provides for different pathways
based on student needs.
MTS.4Q
P: Uses teaching resources and materials which have been evaluated for accuracy
and usefulness.
MTS.4R
P: Accesses and uses a wide range of information and instructional technologies
to enhance student learning.
MTS.4S
P: Uses IEP goals and objectives to plan instruction for students with disabilities.
MTS.5B
K: Understands how individuals influence groups and how groups function in
society.
MTS.7E
P: Models accurate, effective communication when conveying ideas and
information and when asking questions and responding to students.
MTS.7I
P: Uses a variety of communication modes to effectively communicate with a
diverse student population.
MTS.8B
K: Understands the purposes, characteristics and limitations of different kinds of
assessments.
MTS.8C
K: Understands measurement theory and assessment-related issues, such as
validity, reliability, bias, and scoring.
MTS.8E
K: Understands how to select, construct, and use assessment strategies and
instruments for diagnosis & evaluation of learning & instruction.
MTS.8I
28
P: Uses assessment results to diagnose student learning needs, align and modify
instruction, and design teaching strategies.
MTS.8J
P: Appropriately uses a variety of formal and informal assessments to evaluate the
understanding, progress, and performance of the individual student and the class
as a whole.
MTS.8O
P: Uses various types of assessment procedures appropriately, including the
adaptation of procedures for individual students in specific contexts.
MTS.9B
K: Understands the benefits, barriers and techniques involved in parent/family
relationships.