Before beginning this task, read the complete directions provided in the CTC TPA Candidate Handbook.

Step 1 Assessment Selection and Planning for the Whole Class Directions

To plan classroom assessment, a teacher determines his or her current point within the instructional sequence of a unit of study and identifies the student academic learning goals to measure.

"Ideally, assessment and instruction are linked inextricably within any curriculum. The key to using assessment effectively and efficiently in a program of instruction is to recognize above all that different types of assessment tools must be used for different purposes. " (Reading/Language Arts Framework for California Public Schools, 1999, page 215)

Select one class, a content area, and a unit of study to work with as you complete this performance task. Respond to the prompts below about the unit of study and its assessment.

A. Academic Content Selection

Grade level

High school 9th to 12th grade. The majority of students in my class are 10th graders (sophomores)

Content area

The unit being studied has been termed in biology as "The Central Dogma" which is the pathway from the information contained in DNA (inside the nucleus of cell) to transcription (mRNA from inside to outside of nucleus) to translation (outside nucleus) into proteins.

Subject matter

Biology

1. List the state-adopted academic content standards or state-adopted framework you will cover in this unit.

The state-adopted academic content standards are as follows:

CALIFORNIA CONTENT STANDARDS: BIOLOGY/LIFE SCIENCES

2A) Students know meiosis is an early step in sexual reproduction in which the paris of chromosomes

separate and segregate randomly during cell division to produce gamnetes containing one chromosome of each type

2B) Students know ony certain cells in a multicellular organism undergo meiosis

1D. Students know the central dogma of molecular biology outlines the flow of information from transcription of ribonucleic acid (RNA) in the nucleus to translation of proteins on ribosomes in the cytoplasm.

4. Genes are a set of instructions encoded in the DNA sequence of each organism that specify the sequence of amino acids in proteins characteristic of that organism. As a basis for understanding this concept:

a. 4A. Students know the general pathway by which ribosomes synthesize proteins, using tRNAs to translate genetic information in mRNA

b 4B. Students know how to apply the genetic coding rules to predict the sequence of amino acids from a sequence of codons in RNA.

c. 4C. Students know how mutations in the DNA sequence of a gene may or may not affect the expression of the gene or the sequence of amino acids in an encoded protein.

d. 4D. tudents know specialization of cells in multicellular organisms is usually due to different patterns of gene expression rather than to differences of the genes themselves.

e. 4E. tudents know proteins can differ from one another in the number and sequence of amino acids.

f.S 4F. tudents know why proteins having different amino acid sequences typically have different shapes and chemical properties.

5A. Students know the general structures and functions of DNA, RNA, and protein.

5B. Students know how to apply base-pairing rules to explain precise copying of DNA during semiconservative replicatinscription of information from DNA into mRNA.

Through labs and activities the students will also cover the following standards:

1E.1.k Recognize the cumulative nature of scientific evidence

1E.1.g Recognize the usefulness and limitations of models and theories as scientific representations of reality

2. Describe the unit of study that addresses those standards.

The unit of study will start with reviewing the differences between meiosis and mitosis as this information is needed to further understand the concepts in the following unit. And this is the assessment that has been downloaded to taskstream along with the 5 student assessment results.

Once the subject of meiosis and mitosis has reached a satisfacotry understanding amongst the majority of the students, the curriculum will continue on with "The Central Dogma" which is how message from DNA is ultimately turned into proteins.

The unit "The Central Dogma" will start with the history of how DNA became identified as the genetic material (in the nucleus of cells). The structure of DNA will then be described (DNA is composed of four types of nucleotides and always pair in the same way). DNA replication will then be described (replication is the fast and accurate copy of the genetic information which proteins help to carry out). Then the process of transcription will be descriped (converting a gene into a single-stranded RNA molecule- which leaves the nucleus). The process of translation will then be described (converting an mRNA message which left the nucleus into a protein outside the nucleus). Gene expression will be shown to be carefully regulated, Finally mutations will be described. Mutations are changes in DNA that may or may not affect the phenotype (notable characteristic) of an organism.

Formative assessments as well as summative assessments will be given periodically throughout the unit and a Culminating Performance Task will conclude the unit as the students will explain the outcome of sickle cell anemia and then go backwards in the Central Dogma process (from proteins to mRNA to DNA) explaining what parts of the genetic pathway went wrong and what would be the possible corrective measures at those points.

3. What is (are) the academic learning goal(s) for this unit of study?

By the end of this unit of study the students will be able to:

Describe the similarities and differences between mitosis and meiosis

Explain that mitosis and meiosis are two different and unique types of cell division of different specific parent cells and resulting in different offspring

*Describe the semi-conservative nature of DNA replication

*Use the terms DNA, RNA, protein, gene, nucleotide, and codon to accurately describe the role of the genetic code in protein synthesis

*Explain how transcription and translation serve the process of protein synthesis

*Use the genetic code table to translate an RNA sequence into an amino acid sequence

*Explain how a change in DNA sequence can alter the function of a protein

*Relate dominance and recessiveness to the functional state of a protein through

*Demonstrate a working knowledge of the Central Dogma, from DNA transcription to protein synthesis by completing a Culminating Project Test with a rubric based score of 6 or higher (passing).

4. At what point in the sequence of the unit are you teaching? Check one:

At the beginning of the unit of study

B.Assessment Planning

If you are at the beginning of your unit, you will give your students an entry-level assessment. If you are moving through the unit of study, you will use progress-monitoring assessments. If you are at the end of the unit of study, you will use a summative assessment. (For more information about these three kinds of assessment, see Frameworks for California Public Schools, published by the California Department of Education.)

5. For what purpose will your assessment be used within this unit of study? Chose one:

Entry-level

6. Identify and describe the type of assessment. (verbal response, multiple choice, short essay, oral

presentation, performance task, and the like)

I will be giving an entry-level assessment since we are at the very beginning of the "Central Dogma" unit and one must be pretty familiar with the standards studied in the previous "Genetics" units mainly meiosis/mitosis and Mendellian genetics which covers things like heredity, traits, genes and how they are passed on. What I am wanting to learn about the students in this assessment is their current knowledge of what they already know concerning the processes of meiosis and mitosis (two different cell division processes). This is knowledge which should have been learned to be able to fully understand and grasp the content which is to be learned in this upcoming unit of "The Central Dogma," from DNA to proteins. This entry level assessment will also enable to me gauge each student's knowledge and mastery of the Enlgish language as there are many English language learners in my new classroom (I just started to teach this class at the beginning of the semester).

Basically I had written the question I had wanted answered on the whiteboard. It was as follows: "List all the similarities and differences that you can between the processes of mitosis and meiosis."

So a written answer was what was intended to be the appropriate mainstream student response however, depending upon the ELL level of each student, I also allowed for accomodations in the way of expressing their current understanding in a variety of ways including verbal responses with cues pointing to representations of either "meiosis" and/or "mitosis", inputing the answer on the computer with an online translator, and using Venn Diagrams which is a graphic organizer helping with the visual aid for ELL students. I also used a lot of questioning techniques as an accommodation to the special education and ELL students.

7. What will your students need to know and/or be able to do to complete the assessment?

To complete this assessment the students need to have a good understanding of the Genetics standards. The standards below are what the students need to have a good understanding of in order to complete my entry-level assessment with a satisfactory score (at least 6 points out of the maximum possible 12 on a rubric based scoring system))

Genetic standards students need to know:

2A) Students know meiossis is an early step in sexual reproduction in which the pairs of chromosomes separate and segregate randomly during cell division to produce gametes containing one chromosome of each type.

2B) Students know only certain cells in a multicellular organism undergo meiosis

The students will need to know basic vocabulary terms such as haploid, dipoloid, mitosis, and meiosis but the more vocabulary they can show that they know the better. Additional vocabulary that could be included in their answer would be somatic, gamete, sperm, egg, polar body, cell division, prophase, metaphase, anaphase, telophase, , chromosomes, homologous chromosomes, chromatids, spindle fibers, autosomes, genes, fertilization, organelles, embryos, etc... the more vocabulary they can include

in their answer the better (as will be clarified on the rubric) Their knowledge of the Venn

So one can see that even though it is a one sentence question a whole range of answers can be come up with. For example I would be loooking for something like this: "Mitosis produces genetically identical cells while meiosis produces unique cells. Mitosis results in diploid cells (46 chromosomes) after "one" division while meiosis results in haploid (23 chromosomes)cells after "two" divisions. Mitosis takes place in "somatic" cells throughout the individual's lifetime (examples of somatic cells are hair cells, skin cells, liver cell and muscle cells) while meiosis takes place during certain times in an individual's lifetime and in "germ" cells which results in "gametes (egg and sperm) which are located in the ovaries and testes. . Mitosis is involved in asexual reproduction while meiosis is involved in sexual reproduction which creates genetic diversity by halfing chromosome number (explain)

More room is left open for further exapansion so that I can use this assessment to really differentiate between individual student knowledge. For example the students can go on to say "Interphase gets the cell ready for division by duplicating DNA. During propohase of mitosis the chromosomes condense and spindle fibers form (then one could go on to describe the other phases for yet additional points). Sexual reproduction (as seen in meiosis) is advantageous in changing conditions." Your body has 23 pairs of homologous chromosomes (one from each parent) of which 22 are autosomes and one pair are the X and Y sex chromosomes which determine gender in mammals. Even if a statement does not entirely fit in to the "similarities" and "differences" categories there is another category in the rubric where a student can gain extra credit and this gives extra points to those throwing in and demonstrating a higher understanding of this subject.

Examples of going on and on in demonstrating knowledge would be as follows: "Pairs of homologous chromosomes separate in meiosis one while sister chromatids are what separates in meiosis two. In mitosis, homologoues chromosomes never pair up."

For even more advanced demonstration of knowledge students could describe gametogenesis during meiosis which results in four mature sperm cell (from each germ cell) and one egg (from one germ cell) with the 3 other forming polar bodies instead of other eggs.

8. What evidence of student learning will you collect?

If the question here is asking for what kind of evidence in general throughout the unit that I will be collecting there is a variety of evidence of student learning that I would collect. One would be from student portfolios which would include past work, projects, essays and other personal data displayed along with current work and works in progress. I would use the whiteboard for guided practice daily during classroom preparation. This is a good current check for understanding as is the responses to the guided questions that I give them. Many formative assessments in the way of study guides and worksheets are also evidence of student learning and enable me to give progress checks here and there in preparation for the more summative exams such as the Culminating Performance Tasks and other standardized tests which are evidence of student learning as well. All these learning assessments will

enable me to know whether or not further learning is needed in certain areas and, if so, what kind of workshops may be needed. Other evidence of student learning would be reflective journal entries, their notes, student homework, and even quizzes.

If the question here instead is only asking for what type of evidence of student learning will I collect for the specific entry-level assessment I had made for question number six then the evidence collected would be a written response from the mainstream students. However i would also collect more open responses for ELL learners such as a vocal response with cues and drawings and also the filling in of a Venn diagram as stated before in question number six. But after reading question #9 I am assuming that this question is asking for evidence of student learning taken throughout the whole unit because in #9 they are evidence which documents student achievement of the learning goals and this is not documented by an entry-level assessment which I described in question number six here on the TPA.

9. In what ways will the evidence document student achievement of the academic learning goal(s)?

The academic learning goals being demonstrated in my entry-level assessment regarding the similarities and differences of meiosis will be 1) to be able to describe the similarities and differences between mitosis and meiosis and 2) to be able to explain that mitosis and meiosis are two different and unique types of cell division of different specific parent cells and resulting in different offspring

Just the entry-level question itself is almost an exact replica verbatim of the first learning goal listed above "to be able to describe the similarities and differences between mitosis and meiosis." To be able to score a 6 or better on the rubric would be my opinion of what would be a "satisfactory" understanding of the similarities and differences. Of course there is a lot of material to be looked and and certain students will be able to come up with more answers than others but for "satisfactory" achievement a score of 6 or higher will demonstrate sufficient evidence demonstrated. The same scoring goes for students being able to demonstrate their understanding of the second learning goal listed above "to be able to explain that mitosis and meiosis are two different and unique types of cell division with different parent cells and which result in different offspring".

As mentioned previously, the learning goals for the rest of the unit is as as follows:

to describe the semi-conservative nature of DNA replication, Use the terms DNA, RNA, protein, gene, nucleotide, and codon to accurately describe the role of the genetic code in protein synthesis, explain how transcription and translation serve the process of protein synthesis, use the genetic code table to translate an RNA sequence into an amino acid sequence, explain how a change in DNA sequence can alter the function of a protein, relate dominance and recessiveness to the functional state of a protein, and demonstrate a working knowledge of the Central Dogma, from DNA transcription to protein synthesis... by completing a CPT with a passing rubric score.

So first of all in a students portfolio there will be collections of his/her CPTs (Culminating Performance

Tasks) which is evidence in itself alone having completing all the above learning goals (objectives). Besides just the CPT there will be homework assignments and quizzes which each will contain more evidence of the student achieving his/her desired learning goals. Semic onsdervative nature of DNA replication will be explained in numerous different places (quizzes, homework, CPT, etc...) basically stating that one of the strands of DNA is newly made while the other is an original parent copy, hence "semi" conservative. The CPT itself will show how nucleotides make up DNA which codes for RNA which codes for genes coding for proteins through codons, how the coversion of DNA to RNA is done through the process of "transcription," how RNA to protein is done through "translation" which involved an amino acid sequence using codons. The CPT involving the sickle cell anemia shows that just a small change in one base pair nucleotide in DNA can change the shape and hence alter the function of a protein which in the case of sickle cell anemia is the "sickle" shaped red blood cell.

10. How will the student assessment evidence be measured or scored?

Student assessment evident will be measured and/or scored in a variety of ways depending on the assessment that was given. For the entry-level assessment gauging student knowledge of the similarities and differences in meiosis and mitosis I would have a rubric to score it. The rubric would be as follows:

4 3 2 1

Similarities Four or more similarities between mitosis and meiosis are given

Three similarities between mitosis and meiosis are given

Two similarities between mitosis and meiosis are given.

One similarity between both mitosis and meiosis is given.

differences Four or more differences between mitosis and meiosis are given

Three differences between mitosis and meiosis are given

Two differences between mitosis and meiosis are given

One difference between mitosis and meiosis is given

vocabulary Eight or more vocabulary words were used in the response.

Five to seven vocabulary words were used in the response.

Three or four vocabulary words were used in the response.

One or two vocabulary words were used in the response.

There is also an "Extra Credit" category which could not be listed up above due to taking up too much memory space as in the "word count" so I will have to explain it here instead of including it in another row on the rubric (the actual rubric with the extra credit column has been downloaded and sent in along with the student assessments). So for the extra credit category a score of 4 would be " There was a considerable amount of extra information that explored more the processes of meiosis and mitosis. " A score of 3 would be "A good amount of extra information that were relevant to the question were included in the response. " A score of 2 would be: "Some information from personal, past and other learning experiences were included that were relative to the question." And anything lower than a 2 would be: "No attempt to demonstrate anything extra beyond what was asked in the question."

Therefore a student could get a maximum score of 20 if he/she achieves 4 points on each of the three measured areas (vocabulary, similarities, differences and 4 points extra credit). Although I did not include the grade of 0 it is possible for a student to obtain scores of zero in all measured areas for a total minimum score of 0.

For other assessments I would use checklists, answer keys, and different rubrics. Quizzes can be done using percentages. For example for quizzes worth 10 points then 9 or 10 correct would result in an "A" grade, an 8 for "B", 7 for "C", 6 for "D" and 5 and below the grade of "F."

11. Think about how you will sequence your implementation of the assessment. Describe your plan for implementing the assessment in the order in which it will occur.

Address each of the following and provide a rationale for each of your decisions:

Teaching strategies including communicating the purpose of the assessment, the scoring criteria, and the procedures for completing the assessment

Student activities

Student grouping

Materials, technology, and/or resources, including the use of instructional aides, parents, or other adults in the room

Responses

Assessment Implementation Plan Rationale

I will start off with an entry-level assessment which measures prior knowledge from the previous chapter. I will tell the students that they are taking this assessment in order for me to "find out what they know". I need to find out where each student is at individually not only in prior subjment matter knowledge but also in English comprehension level because this information will allow me to know what kind of groupings I can make for this upcoming unit as well as what kind of workshops I should make to help with the differentiation in the upcoming unit.

I will then give the students an overview of the upcoming unit and list the standard/objective goals and how they will be assessed by a culminating performance task (CPT). A rubric will be given out to clarify what is expected of this CPT.

In addition to the above assessments there will be periodic formative assessments given to "check for understanding". Some of these will be given by the way of a "quiz" and others will be given just by observation and orally discussing with the students their understanding of the concepts being studied.

Because students will be working in groups I will have them continuously perform self and peer assessments using the social group rubric that has been posted on the wall and that they should already be familiar with. Part of their CPT will be based upon these social skills being assessed.

Daily warm ups will be given consisting of a question that requires deeper thought processes. Resources, if needed, will be provided. Examples of needed resources would be pages to be

To clarify misunderstandings about why students are taking an entry-level assessment I have explained to them that it is to "find out what they know" and the results of this assessment would be to provide me with the proper information in planning future instruction and differentiation accordingly.

An overview of the upcoming unit will be given along with the rubric I am using to grade their CPT which will be the main summative assessment for the unit.

The students will be made aware of periodic quizzes and other "checking for understanding". The rationale here is to keep them on their toes and to know that they will be expected to communicate their understanding of current learning frequently. Knowing this I hope would keep them studying and asking questions about what they do not understand.

The rationale for continuing self and peer assessments is to encourage healthy group interactions (since many social traits are assessed with my social group interaction rubric) and to implement it regularly in real-life situations.

My rationale for having a daily warm of would be to set some kind of classroom routine encouraging the kids to immediately sit down at the beginning of class and to start on expected procedures. It is also a way to provide something that will engage them and to make them start thinking about things and how they relate to real life experiences.

By having each day's agenda posted online students will have more clarity on what is expected of them and also when things are due

reffered to in the textbook, uploaded articles and/or a direct modelling of how to perform a certain type of problem which has not been taught before (such as a Punnet square).

Copies of the rubrics that I use will be handed out to all students to provide them with clarity and expectations as to what I am looking for in my assessments. Providing them with copies of my rubrics will also let them know why I am assessing them the way that I am.

I will give the students every possible way I can to help them do well and encourage them to ask questions. I will provide them with answers to quizzes so they know the correct answers to what they got wrong. Referring them to the rubrics will help with know how they could improve in the future.

Accommodations to ELL and other eligible students would be to let them take tests with their notes, Spanish-version of textbook, and reviewing and going over directions prior to taking any kind of assessment.

Objectives and standards to be learned will be written on the whiteboard each day of the unit.

In addition all rubrics and agenda for each day will be posted online at terryland.org

and this also helps parents to understand what their children are studying.

12. In what ways will you use the assessment results?

I will use the assessment results mainly in planning instruction. Formative assessments will give me insight as to what areas I could provide focus in and what time extensions I should allow for further study. It will help me in assigning grades. My assessments would also be used to help me self reflect in my teaching performance in what areas I need to work on and what areas are satisfactory. It will help me assess the questions "how long do the students need to understand certain concepts?" "how well do certain combinations of students work together?" and "How much time should I devote to individual vs group work?" Assessments similarities and differences between different class periods and students would also help me in determining variables in areas I was not originally setting out to find out but come

upon by chance such as those that relate to behavior problems.

In general, modification of my own instruction is based on the performance of my students, is ongoing with results influencing future lessons and, after long enough, a giving me a greater understanding about what strategies in particular work for me.

Specifics of each class will also be understood better such as which students respond better to group work, which students work better together, and which students need to be assessed differently and in what way? What kind of feedback is each student more responsive towards? These are all questions that assessment results will shine light upon, helping my future teaching practice.

Additionally I will Use quizzes more as a “check for understanding”. I will use more formative assessments, use more of rubric scaled assessments, and I would like to give more formative assessments throughout the unit, The use of the students assessing themselves in the assessment process via self and peer assessments would lead to better self aware for all of the students. More progress monitoring, assess critical thinking and creativity, learning logs and online assessments are also thoughts I have planned for my future pedagogy.

13. In what ways will you share the assessment results with students, families, and other colleagues and support personnel, when appropriate?

Depending upon the type of assessment there will usually be a grade given or a rubric score along with commentary pointing to where improvements could be made. Scores are inputed into the Jupitergrades system which tabulizes and makes a statistical score report of all of the students in the class. Each student has their own pass code to enter jupitergrades.com and access their scores in class as well as to find out what homework assignments and other assessments they have missed. At the beginning of the year each parent was also assigned a code to get into jupitergrades in order to have access to their childrens' grades.

Besides the jupiter grading system scores, progress, areas of improvements and areas for praise will be shared with students and also with their parents on back to school nights as well as open house. At our school we have an event called "museum of intolerance" where the theme is for students to write about an area of injustice that they see in the world and make projects based on this theme. As an example for biology we have the students being genetic counselors and video taping them tell the probablities that couples will have certain offspring with particular disorders. This was related to how the Nazis used eugenics and science to try and eliminate a certain select group of people based on their genetics. So, back to the point, an evening with this theme brings in more parents than the usual "back to school" or "open house" night and it is at events like these where I could share assessment results with students, families, and other colleagues meaning other teachers, teacher aides, resource aides and specialists.

Assessments will also be shared with other resource specialists and aides in events like the above in that all different teachers can see the projects of all of their students in all different subjects. Sharing could also be done during IEPs, preparing students for standardized testing like the CSTs, and maintaining student portfolios for teacher-student and teacher-parent conferences.

14. Is your assessment one that you developed, you adopted, or you adapted from another source such as a district, publisher, Internet, or another teacher?

Developed by you

15. Submit a copy of the assessment and, if available, submit the assessment directions, answer key, rubric, scoring guide, and the like.

Step 2: Learning about Students: Whole Class and Two Focus Students

Directions:An important step in planning assessment is to learn about your students. Provide information about the whole class in the boxes below.

Class Information

Age range of students

The students vary in age from 15 to 17 years old.

Number of male students

18

Number of female students

11

Total number of students

29

Directions:

Select two students from the class you described above. Select one student who is an English learner and one student who has an identified special need. Consider your selected content area when describing what you learned about the two focus students. In each of the boxed areas below, provide:

a description of what you learned for each of the students

an explanation of how the information will influence your academic instructional planning, including assessment

Note: Single subject candidates for a credential in Languages Other Than English who are delivering instruction entirely in the target language may choose another student with a different instructional challenge rather than an English learner.

Student 1: An English Learner

Gender

Female

Age

16

1. Why did you select this student?

I have spoken previously with Sudent #1 about issues besides purely academics, in particular, the topic of immigration. We had a conversation about students that are citizens of the United States but take the fact for granted while others with non-resident status try their hardest to make a good and noble life for themselves and their families but still have to deal with being treated like aliens (which is one of her dislikes) and live with the daily overshadowing threat of being deported. So since Student #1 was classified as an English Learner (information obtained from my mentor teacher) when Student #1 had asked me if I could help her with some tutoring after class I felt it the perfect time to ask her if she would like to help me by being a participant in this case study for the reasons I just mentioned. Student #1 is also very easy to get along with and I like her as an individual. She is also very mature for her age and I would honesty consider her as one having the same maturity level as someone of my age (two decades older than student #1). I have spoken previously with Sudent #1 about issues besides purely academics, in particular, the topic of immigration. We had a conversation about students that are

citizens of the United States but take the fact for granted while others with non-resident status try their hardest to make a good and noble life for themselves and their families but still have to deal with being treated like aliens (which is one of her dislikes) and live with the daily overshadowing threat of being deported. So since Student #1 was classified as an English Learner (information obtained from my mentor teacher) when Student #1 had asked me if I could help her with some tutoring after class I felt it the perfect time to ask her if she would like to help me by being a participant in this case study for the reasons I just mentioned. Student #1 is also very easy to get along with and I like her as an individual. She is also very mature for her age and I would honesty consider her as one having the same maturity level as someone of my age (two decades older than student #1).

2. What did you learn about this student's linguistic background?

I learned that even thoughy Anna seems to speak very good English as well as write very good English and in English conversation she is still an English Learner and been placed accordingly. She tests at an "Early intermediate" level and therefore although she appears to be orally fluent (high BICS) she needs to develope the academic vocabulary which most English Only students already possess and develop grade level literacy skills. Her overall CELDT scored in the early intermediate range and her listening, speaking, reading, writing and comprehension scored in this same "early intermediate range as related in her cumulative files.

I also learned that English is her second language. She is fluent in Spanish and is well read in that language. She grew up in Puebla, Mexico, speaking Spanish with her family. When her mother passed away at the age of 5 her father and aunt wanted to both come to America for the opportunity of a better life and education for their kids (she has a younger sister who is currently attending 6th grade while Anna herslef (student #1) is a junior). So at the age of 6 Anna, her sister, her father and aunt arrived in the United States and because her father did not have many educational opportunities as a youth (he did not finish elementary school) he encouraged his children to pursue an education. And it because of Anna’s attendance in a regular public school that she attributes her quicker learning of the English language than those that did not attend school in her family.

The main difference between the English skills of her and the rest of her family (her family includes her aunt’s husband, two daughters and one son- her cousins) is that the ones who went to public school (like Anna) or adult school have learned English rather quickly while the one son who didn’t attend school here in the states has more difficulty speaking the language. He can understand the English language but has more difficulty when it comes to speaking.

Anne speaks to her friends at school in the English language as well as with her former teachers.

3. What did you learn about this student's academic language abilities in relation to this academic content area?

Her CELDT scores show that she is an "Early Intermediate" English learner student. In relation to the academic content area I learned that Student #1's academic language ability needed to be developed a bit more to be equal to that of the averageI English Only student. She needs to develop the academic vocabulary which most English only students already possess and she already has much knowledge of the biology vocabulary that has already been learned in calss. She also needs to develop grade level litearacy skills to help in acquiring more vocabulary and learning the concepts in the biology class. In order for her to master the academic content needed she needs extra quiet to be able to focus and it doesn't help when students around her are inappropriately chit-chatting and she wishes that more strict rules could be enforced to keep the quiet in the classroom. Other than that her level has some grammatical as well as syntax error. She can read read most texts although with the biology text she does need some scaffolding from the teacher. She appears to be fitting in well. Her work ethic has not been compromised despite the low motivation of the other students surrounding her.

4. What did you learn about this student's content knowledge and skills in this subject matter?

Student #1's content knowledge and skills in the subject matter are of a "B" level based on witnessing her grades in the Jupitergrades system used in the classroom. This is also based on her relative self-assessment on her knowledge and achievements made in the class. Some of her activities were shown to me and I saw in them a great deal of effort and obvious knowledge, focus and skill put into them. Her interaction with other students show a more "helping" attitude rather than "leaning on and depending on another person" attitude which shows that she is above the normal demarcation line in regards to subject matter proficiency. Anna has never taken biology before and about the subject she says, “So far so good.” She doesn’t read from the text but likes the projects and the labs. All her classes are a bit hard but she is managing to keep up with her studies. Her suggestions to me as her biology teacher would be to make more comparisons with life on whatever they were learning. She also said that she would like to see teachers get more hard on disciplinary procedures as it is harder for her to learn when certain students chitter chatter more than what would be deemed “appropriate.”

5. What did you learn about this student's physical, social, and emotional development relevant to this academic content area?

Anna does not have any physical ailments which can be seen or which she has talked about. Socially she gets along well with others around her and interacts positively with all in a mature way. She does prefer working in group type environm,ents rather than working alone. However Anna does have a lot of hardships for a young girl of 16 and therefore I am surprised that her emotional hardships have not affected her outcomes in school in a greater way.

Even though Anna experiences a lot of problems (mainly family problems- social and emotional- no

physical- her mom died and her father has recently been deported after being in the states for almost a decade so now she must adjust to being the main role model for her younger sister) in addition to her schoolwork it does not distract her doing the best she can at school and in biology class in particular. Her interest in biology remains high and this may be a factor in her good school habits and attendance (the only times she is absent is when she is sick). Her interest in biology are in cells, dna and all the human physiology that they relate to.The most stressful time for her is during school finals but besides that she does her best to not let things stress her out and get in the way of school.

Anna communicated to me a quote from her cousin: “Whatever is at the house stays at the house because if you take the problems with you then you are not even going to be paying attention to other important things.” The depression is hard but after a week she is back on track. She is not going to let her life get ruined because of family problems. “In our lives there are a lot of obstacles that we have to go through,” she told me. “Whether bad or good we need to look forward because if we look back we will never get to where we want to go.” Anna (student #1) is taking this emotional attitude and applying it to her biology studies. This some pretty impressive emotional and social development in my opinion!

6. What did you learn about this student's cultural background, including family and home, relevant to this academic content area?

Anna is right now taking on a "mother" role to her younger sister in the 6th grade as Anna's mother is dead and her father has recently been deported. Currently Anna and her younger sister stay with her aunt and her aunt's boyfriend. She exhibits exceptional judgment and maturity and knows what she wants out of life. She has a definite boundaries of what is right and what is wrong and has the goal to always try and do the right thing for not only herself but for whatever influence she may have upon others.

This student came as a young girl to United States because of her parents' hopes for a better future for their children and themselves. Soon after her mother died in Mexico her father and aunt crossed the border with her (student #1) and her sister into the United States. It was hard for Anna's (student #1) father to find work at first. When I asked Anna what type of work her father did she seemed at first a bit hesitant to talk about it. Then she told me that he would sell things like fruit and elote (Mexican corn). He followed the rules. He did things the hard way and did not take shortcuts as far as crimes are concerned. Anna’s father didn’t want to lose his dignity that he felt he owed himself and his daughters. He wanted to be a role model for his kids. For all these reasons and more Anna, to this day, is very proud of her father.

7. What did you learn about this student's special considerations, including health issues relevant to this academic content area?

Anna is very grateful not to have any health issues at the moment. Socially she has adopted very well in the United States and is not afraid to speak up to tell what is on her mind but she is also cautious of

being respectful and polite to others as well.

But her mom passed away and her father is now gone (recently deported) so Anna needs to think about herself more than others because she does not have anybody to lean on. These are "special considerations" in my opinion. What happens if something happens to her aunt? She has now become the one that has to be a role model to her younger sister. Other kids have parents so they rely on them but Anna does not have this luxury and cannot afford to get off track and must maintain her focus on priorities, one of which is getting resident status before she turns 17 (Anna is applying for special juvenile immigration status. She must be 17 or younger and the whole process takes between 8 months to a year). Because her father is no longer here she needs to have all her paperwork, keep track of her paperwork and do all her paperwork now. She must do everything now. Although she has her aunt and uncle things are just not the same

8. What did you learn about this student's interests and aspirations relevant to this academic content area?

Outside of school Anna is part of a mentor program on Tuesdays where she helps out freshman girls at the community center with life situations and guidance in areas such as note getting pregnant. She also does community service at other schools like her sister’s school Malabor Elementary. As one can clearly see, Anna is a role model all ready not only to her younger sister but also to younger females in the community. To study and get schooling done with privacy and concentration Anna often goes to the Malabor branch library.

Only if she is done with chores and studies Anna will sometimes watches the news. Other than that she does not really watch too much television. With her free time she likes to dance, paint and help other people out with their problems.

On a positive note, Anna is grateful that she does not have any health problems. She is very appreciative of having been on a trip to visit the University of California at the Santa Barbara campus. I can tell that this trip meant a lot to her in that she mentions to me in person and on paper (survey) how proud she is about being the first person in her family to have ever been to a University of California school and she desires to achieve high grades in order to attend UC Santa Barbara in the future. She is the first one to have the doors open up for her in regards to schooling and academics. She wants to be a pediatrician in addition to learning about different languages and cultures. Recently, however, during our interview, she has also been considering attending Mt. St Mary’s college in the future and in addition to becoming a doctor she is also considering the options of being involved in professional design or a social work.

9. Describe other information relevant to the academic content area that you learned about the student (e.g., attendance, extracurricular activities, and the like.).

Anna is a very mature person for her age, probably a combination of all the things that she has been through in her young life as well as how she reacts to those hardships that she has faced. Her interests include "dance" and watching movies, of which her favorites just happen to be about "dance." So being a a Performing Arts school has worked out good fo0r her. However, being without parents has lead her to focus more upon doing the "right" things in life because she cannot afford to make mistakes as she has nobody to lean upon. Just as her father was to her, she plans to be an exceptional role model for her younger sister who is currently in the 6th grade. This type of mentality is probably a major factor in why she performs so well in class. Like she said, she cannot afford to do otherwise. She has not been given the luxuries to do so. Anna faces life realistically and has her priorities in order, school positive behavior, all of which go hand in hand with accomplishing her primary goals, have all been demonstrated in a positive light. In addition to being a mentor to her younger sister Anna also chooses to involve herself as a "mentor" role in extracuricullar activities. Outside of school Anna is part of a mentor program on Tuesdays where she helps out freshman girls at the community center with life situations and guidance in areas such as note getting pregnant. She also does community service at other schools like her sister’s school Malabor Elementary. As one can clearly see, Anna is a role model all ready not only to her younger sister but also to younger females in the community. Anna is an extraordinary and exceptional young girl of 16 with the wisdom of one much older and I am glad to have had this opportunity to get to know Anna in more detail.being a primary one. Therefore things like attendance, attitude and

Student 2: A Student with an Identified Special Need

Gender

Female

Age

15

1. Why did you select this student?

I have chosen Connie for this case study to understand her individual needs and how her needs affect her learning process. I also selected this student based on survey questions responses that she had provided me with earlier as we both had some common childhood dilemmas of being raised by a single mother. Also I am already comfortable with communicating with Connie as from the beginning of the school year she would never fail to say "Hello, Mr so-and-so," whenever our paths would cross. Observations in class and interactions both inside and outside the classroom, have not only allowed her to share her story with me but has also given me the opportunity to share a bit of myself with Connie as well. So when I asked my mentor teacher who had IEPs and found out that Connie (Student #2) was one I already was interested in asking her if she would mind being a case study for me.

2. How is the instructional challenge that he or she presents different from that of the other student?

Connie (student #2) presents an instructional challenge that is different from that of the other students in the class in that she is an ELD student with auditory processing deficits, has and currently takes medication for hyperthyroidism and has had a recent attempt at suicide. But I am also interested in Connie's Attention Deficit Hyperactive Disorder as she seems to lose focus a lot although many times she is very participative she often goes off on another tangent. She wears glasses but she often forgets to bring them and she attributes this to her ADHD.

3. What did you learn about this student's linguistic background?

I learned that this student was an ELD student with auditory processing deficits. I learned that her whole family spoke English fluently and both her mother and father both speak Spanish fluently as well. Connie (a sophomore) and her older sister Lucy (a senior) also both speak fluent English however their Spanish, although good, would not be correct as being defined as “fluent.” Her mother came from Guatamala but Connie and her sister are both natives in the United States.

4. What did you learn about this student's academic language abilities in relation to this academic content area?

In 7th and 8th grade Connie attended a school in Santa Monica which she said was better for her academically in that she felt there was more help offered there. The social aspect between her Santa Monica school and ELAPPA were the same. She does remember taking biology in 7th grade and doing real good in it, getting an A. She related that high school biology was much harder. In middle school she attended a school that had a type of farm on it where there were a lot of animals like geese, snakes, fish, frogs and guinea pigs so it was a lot more interesting and more hands on than high school. She remembers using microscopes a lot more and she prefers this hands on way of learning for everything, not just biology. Due to transportation problems (public transportation) Connie stopped going to her school in Santa Monica and switched to ELAPAA which is in the community of East Los Angeles where she resides in. From this I know how hands on activities will help her motivation levels in my biology class. The Santa Monica school learning environment was probably more conducive to having natural visual aids in learning having been right in the middle of nature

5. What did you learn about this student's content knowledge and skills in this subject matter?

Besides her experiences of being taught biology in 7th grade on a farm-type of environment I had asked

her elser sister Lucy what would be something that her (Lucy) and her mother would both want to let me, as her biology teacher, know about Connie (student #2) in regards to her learning at school? Lucy responded that both her and her mother realize that Connie needs extra help from the teachers. When asked to expand upon this Lucy said that by “extra help” she had meant “more time” spent with Connie by the teachers. This is when Connie added that although she does learn during class her main problem is retaining the information and that she constantly needs instruction to be reinforced so that she does not forget what she has learned.

Connie desires a project-based/ hands-on type of learning environment (described when her school was located on the farm-type environment). Just sitting and listening is very boring. She likes learning new things at school but fears tests and quizzes because of the realistic chance that she could fail. And getting a low score or failing a test has always made her feel like a loser. Her goal is to become better at studying and to obtain good test/quiz scores in the future.

6. What did you learn about this student's physical, social, and emotional development relevant to this academic content area?

Connie tends to frequently be very talkative when placed around just about anybody and this is attributed to her ADHD. Also eight years ago this student witnessed her father getting cuffed and taken away and this was the last time that she has seen him. She says that he has tried to write her but that she really doesn’t want to have anything to do with him (father had also beat up her mother- another similarity that Connie and I share regarding our parents). Connie tries to deal with how she can be strong when people bring up the subject of her father. He (Connie’s father) will be getting released in about a year but she does admit some mixed feelings for her father in that she does miss him at the same time. “He needs to learn from his mistakes,” she stated. So Connie does have a sensitive emotional development and there has been a suicide attempt in the near past. Therefore I will have to approach certain subjects such as with her with more regard specifically for those involving domestic issues, violence and abuse. Her social sitaution is one in which a single mother has been the sole provider and moral support for the family. Physically this student currently takes medication for hyperthyroidism and as long as she takes themn she is okay. However there are times when she will forget and that is when she will have to miss school as she will not feel good enough to attend. Her symptoms are further described in question #8. But relevant to this is knowing that if in the future I see Connie acting tired and/or confused I am now more aware of her medical diagnoses and because so I can act more appropriately and with proper precautions. I also share the common bond of having been brought up by a single mother who was physically abused by her husband and that bond enables me to interact on a more personal level with Connie.

7. What did you learn about this student's cultural background, including family and home, relevant to this academic content area?

As stated before Connie’s immediate family is her mother Wendy (originally from Guatemala) and sister Lucy (who was at the interview). Her father Robert was last seen by Connie 8 years ago and that was behind a glass plate (visiting him in custody). Besides the immediate family of her, her sister and her mother (and Connie admires her big ‘sis’ and mom), her mother’s parents (Connie’s grandparents) are alive and all of the mother’s side of the family is very close. Her mother has six sisters and from them Connie has 4 cousins and two more on the way. Her family doesn't place much emphasis on family culture regarding holicdays and customs and so forth. Her mother is busy just trying to support the kids and currently does clerical work with the police department as her employment.

8. What did you learn about this student's special considerations, including health issues relevant to this academic content area?

Connie has an IEP because she is an ELD with audio learning deficiencies of which visual aids had been recommended in her IEP. She also has a suicide attempt and Attention Deficit Hyperactive Disorder. Her hyperthyroidism was diagnosed near the ending of her elementary school years when she had a large bump on her throat and with it some eating disorders. As long as she is taking her medications her symptoms are controlled but once and while she will forget and that is when she gets nauseous and that would be times when she is absent from school (once or twice a month) because at these times she needs to lie down and try to sleep. It also helps for her to be in a cool area. The only other reason that Connie has been absent from school this year was because of a funeral that she attended.

9. What did you learn about this student's interests and aspirations relevant to this academic content area?

Becoming a veterinarian, marine biologist, working at the zoo or at Sea World are some of her aspirations for a future career, in addition to becoming successful and wealthy. She would love to be able to swim and interact with the dolphins and to be paid for it would make it all the sweeter. She has also thought about becoming a Navy nurse or navy doctor (remembers all the navy commercials taking place upon the ocean and always thinking that that was where she wants to be when she grows up), medical school, or even becoming a famous artist, singer or dancer. Her friends tell her that she is a good dancer and should try out for a dance team (and I agreed) and she thinks that she sings best with slow songs. Recently her sister had given her an application to a film school where she would be able to create music videos. Other career possibilities were expressed here and there throughout the entire case study which included

FBI agent, UFC competitor (she related her “tough” interactions which I could totally see), detective and famous super model! As one can see Connie has many aspects which all color her life bright and beautiful.

Connie loves to watch America’s best dance crew (TV show) and other dance and music award shows. She listens to anything but country and thinks that a good way to express herself would be to sing to others with the purpose of her audience knowing that they aren’t alone. By this she means that she

would sing about the hard times that she has struggled with and hopefully reach people going through the same situations. The song “Beautiful” by Eminem, she related to me, would be an example of singing about past hardships.

10. Describe other information relevant to the academic content area that you learned about the student (e.g., attendance, extracurricular activities, and the like).

Extracurricular activities for Connie include volunteering at a child development center where she helps special educational students of high school age. She helps to bring them their meals and also plays and remains active with them (boys and girls) in their activities. She values this experience as she has learned a lot about how to deal with this population and it has been quite enjoyable. She hopes to again be paid for doing this rather than just volunteering.

As for the present Connie wishes to keep busy, working, dancing, building up a sweat by dancing, and watching intense things such as football games. She loves Tim Burton and dance movies. Other favorite movies are “Transformers” and “Pocahontas.” Her favorite book is “The Giving Tree” and her favorite show is “1000 Ways to Die.”

Connie concluded our meeting with this: “I have a big fat heart. I’m supportive and caring. My family is my everything. We have all gone through a lot but we help each other on putting things and each other back on our feet.”

Step 3: Assessment Adaptations for Two Focus Students

Directions:Consider your plan for assessment in Step 1 and what you learned about the two focus students, and the implications for instruction and assessment that you identified in Step 2. Respond to the questions below about the two students.

1. What will Student 1 need to know and be able to do to complete this assessment?

Student #1 needs to know standards 2A) Students know meiossis is an early step in sexual reproduction in which the pairs of chromosomes separate and segregate randomly during cell division to produce gametes containing one chromosome of each type. And 2B) Students know only certain cells in a multicellular organism undergo meiosis, very well. Student #1 also needs to know the learning goals to "Describe the similarities and differences between mitosis and meiosis" and to "Explain that mitosis and meiosis are two different and unique types of cell division of different specific parent cells and resulting in different offspring"

So student #1 should know that mitosis and meiosis both result in cell devision and both involve a whole "cell cycle" which consists of either mitosis or meiosis both of which are followed by an interphase which consists of Gap 1, Synthesis and Gap 2 phases (which consists of cell growth, DNA replication and

cell division) . And both mitosis and meisis are divided into different stages of prophase, metaphase, anaphase and telophase. During prophase (of mitosis) the chromosomes condense and spindle fibers form. During metaphase (of mitosis) chromosomes line up in the middle of the cell. During anaphase (of mitosis) sister chromatids seprate towards opposite sides of the cell. During telophase (of mitosis) the new nuclei forms and chromosomes begin to uncoil. During meiosis the four stages of prophase, metaphase, anaphase and telophase are the same except it is the "homologous chromosomes" that are being talked about in meiosis one while it is the "sister chromatids" that are being talked about during meiosis 2.

The differences between meiosis and mitosis is that asexual reproduction is similar to mitosis which is advantageous during consistent conditions while sexual reproduction is analagous to meiosis which is advantageous during changing conditions. Meiosis involves germ cells which develop into gametes (eggs and sperm) and takes place in the testes and the ovaries. It is only DNA from the gametes that can be passed on to the offpsring. Mitosis involves somatic cells which are all the other cell sin the body besides the sex cells. Mitosis occurs in body cells (somatic) which are diploid (46 chromosomes) while gametes are produced by meiosis and are haploid (23 chromosomes). Mitosis produces genetically identical cells while meiosis results in unique offspring. Mitosis takes place throughout an organism's lifetime while meiosis only takes place during certain time period. Mitosis undergoes one cell division producing a diploid cell while meiosis undergoes two cell divisions resulting in haploid products.

Vocabulary:

sister chromatids are copies of the same chromosome gametogenesis is the production of gametes

other vocabulary which I am looking for to see are genes, traits, polar bodies, sperm, egg, testes, ovaries, homologous chromosomes, spindle fibers, prophase, anaphase, metaphase, telophase, and all others used above in defining the similarities and differences between meiosis and mitosis.

So student #1 should be able to demonstrate her knowledge of the above by written demonstration but will also be given visual graphic organizer of a venn diagram to be used as an accommodation to visually see the similarities where meiosis and mitosis overlap and the differences in the areas where they do not overlap. (Venn Diagram is to circles drawn side by side with the overlapping circule resulting in the middle representing the similarites and the other two areas (one to the left and one to the right) representing the differences between the two processes.

The words "similarities" and "differences" will be underlined in Anna's assessment as to emphasize key words that I have been having her work with.

Cues and questioning techniques are strategies and also accommodations that can be given during assessments when things are unclear.

2. What will Student 2 need to know and be able to do to complete this assessment?

Student #2 also needs to know standards 2A) Students know meiossis is an early step in sexual reproduction in which the pairs of chromosomes separate and segregate randomly during cell division to produce gametes containing one chromosome of each type. And 2B) Students know only certain cells in a multicellular organism undergo meiosis, very well. Student #1 also needs to know the learning goals to "Describe the similarities and differences between mitosis and meiosis" and to "Explain that mitosis and meiosis are two different and unique types of cell division of different specific parent cells and resulting in different offspring"

So student #2 should know that mitosis and meiosis both result in cell devision and both involve a whole "cell cycle" which consists of either mitosis or meiosis both of which are followed by an interphase which consists of Gap 1, Synthesis and Gap 2 phases (which consists of cell growth, DNA replication and cell division) . And both mitosis and meisis are divided into different stages of prophase, metaphase, anaphase and telophase. During prophase (of mitosis) the chromosomes condense and spindle fibers form. During metaphase (of mitosis) chromosomes line up in the middle of the cell. During anaphase (of mitosis) sister chromatids seprate towards opposite sides of the cell. During telophase (of mitosis) the new nuclei forms and chromosomes begin to uncoil. During meiosis the four stages of prophase, metaphase, anaphase and telophase are the same except it is the "homologous chromosomes" that are being talked about in meiosis one while it is the "sister chromatids" that are being talked about during meiosis 2.

The differences between meiosis and mitosis is that asexual reproduction is similar to mitosis which is advantageous during consistent conditions while sexual reproduction is analagous to meiosis which is advantageous during changing conditions. Meiosis involves germ cells which develop into gametes (eggs and sperm) and takes place in the testes and the ovaries. It is only DNA from the gametes that can be passed on to the offpsring. Mitosis involves somatic cells which are all the other cell sin the body besides the sex cells. Mitosis occurs in body cells (somatic) which are diploid (46 chromosomes) while gametes are produced by meiosis and are haploid (23 chromosomes). Mitosis produces genetically identical cells while meiosis results in unique offspring. Mitosis takes place throughout an organism's lifetime while meiosis only takes place during certain time period. Mitosis undergoes one cell division producing a diploid cell while meiosis undergoes two cell divisions resulting in haploid products.

Vocabulary that student #2 should know would be:

sister chromatids are copies of the same chromosome gametogenesis is the production of gametes, as well as other vocabulary which I am looking for to see are genes, traits, polar bodies, sperm, egg, testes, ovaries, homologous chromosomes, spindle fibers, prophase, anaphase, metaphase, telophase, and all others used above in defining the similarities and differences between meiosis and mitosis.

So student #2 should be able to demonstrate her knowledge of the above by written demonstration

Student #2 would also be given an accommodation of being seated away from other people as her ADHD keeps her unfocused and all the distraction that can be eliminated is best for testing situations. Larger writing size (font) would also be given as an accommodation. Extra time will also be given as Connie has a noticeble problem with concentration due to her ADHD. Cues and questioning techniques are also strategies which help Connie and also accommodations to be given when unfocused and unclear during assessments.

For the two students, determine what adaptations you will make to this assessment that you have planned for the whole class.

Describe those adaptations for each of the two focus students. If you determine that no adaptations are needed for a part of the plan for assessment, explain that decision. Respond to the prompts below. For each include:

Your decisions about assessment adaptations

A rationale for those decisions

A. Adaptations for Student 1: An English Learner

1. Evidence of student learning you will collect

Decision Rationale

Evidence of student learning that I will collect will be work found in portfolio, seeing Anna work problems out on the whiteboard, guided practice during preparation for the assessments via worksheets and even quizzes. I will observe her during her groupwork and check her reflective journal entries. Other evidence of student learning will be from formative and summative assessments and also Anna's peer and self assessments.

All evidence of learning (assessments) can be done with the accomodations of spanish textbook and with on-line translator.

Assessment of prior knowledge will always be

All the evidence of learning listed will be used to assess Anna's strengths and weaknesses in conetent knowledge. Formative assessments help me focus on what areas I need to work to help Anna in her academic goals and mainly to adjust my pedagogy.

The use of the Spanish textbook version evens the playing field when scoring assessments.

done at the beginning of each unit. Cultural affirmation and acknowledgment will be given in all possible ways by allowing the student to bring their own experiences and cultural background into the content area.

2. How the student assessment evidence will be measured or scored?

Decision Rationale

I will alter my rubric on the "vocabulary" trait making the grading scale more applicable to Anna's ELL level and thus lowering the amount of vocabulary words needed to attain the same score for mainstream students. Example for this would be in my entry-level assessment under the vocabulary trait instead of "one or two vocabulary words" to get a 1 Anna's rubric will be "one vocabulary word. Instead of "three or four vocabulary words" to receive a 2 Anna's rubric would be "two vocabulary words. Instead of "five or six vocabulary words" to obtain a score of 3 Anna's rubric would say "three vocabulary words" and instead of "seven or eight vocabulary words" to achieve a score of 4 Anna's rubric would say "four vocabulary words" to result in a score of 4.

Other rubrics will be modified in similar fashion. Less word problems because they are much harder for ELL.

Anna's limited English vocabulary must be accommodated for by change in rubric scoring. Less word problems will be given on all of her assesssments. Scaffolding should be given when it comes to reading of the biology text.

3. The implementation of the assessment, including:

Teaching strategies for communicating the purpose of the assessment, the scoring criteria, and the procedures for completing the assessment

Student activities

Student grouping

Materials, technology, and/or resources, including the use of instructional aides, parents, or other adults in the room

Responses

Decision Rationale

Each day will start out with a warm up preceeded by going over the daily agenda. This will help in clarification of what is expected. Also each day the standards and objectives for the day will be put on the whiteboard to be looked upon at any time during the class. Rubrics will be given out for scoring criteria and dirctions will be read allowed and modelled by instructor (me) so that procedures, activities an purpose are clear.

A copy of everything gone over will also be posted online on terryland.org for the students to look up at any time when they are unclear about something.

Students will be grouped in pairs of three as that has been found to be the number that works best in our classroom as there are enough laptops to be given out for each group with three people and any more than that would leave room for a student not having as much to do than the other two and therefore being more prone to being off-task and off-focus. Three is a good number for grouping and this comes from years of teaching in a purely project based learning school of whom my mentor teacher has been with since its opening about 8 years ago.

IN each group pairng there will be ELL students grouped with bilingual students who can help each other in learning the unit contents. (This is

Students have a routine that they are familiar with which brings clarity along with the going over every day of the daily agenda and the online postings every day.

The day to day repetition of routine provides fast transition from warm up to activity to closing.

Collaborative grouping allows students to help each other attain information that they were not getting otherwise. So the students are used as assets.

Students are prepared more for real life experience by learning to work well with other by constantly going over social group collaboration rubric and self and peer assessments.

Accommodation for Ell students are given by pairing them up in groups with bilingual students.

Vocabulary terms, pictures and diagrams all help as different ways of clarifying and emphasizing what is important.

A variety of different strategies and expression will be used to reach all different learning styles in the classroom.

Early Intermediate language students need direct instruction in language development and reading through activities such as repeated exposure to stories and having vocabulary and concepts

also an accommodation)

The many laptops (15) made available in this classroom is a huge asset in that the students can do many things and continue working on big projects that the regular school children cannot do. Other schools can borrow laptops for maybe a day or two but to do long term projects requires permanent laptops to be made available daily for these students. So they are always provided with laptops, rubrics for group social collaboration, things to upload, archives to look back upon, google searches to find out data other than given in the text and from direct teaching and the variety of instructional aides that come with online learning (such as graphic organizers, bigger fonts, etc... all of which can be brought up with a click of a finger by the "links" that are set up on the teacher's personal classroom website that is used daily in the class.

Another asset to the classroom is myself, a resident-teacher who helps to facilitate during these project based learning activities and provide reinforcement and extra assessment to gauge where students are at and what help they should focus on.

Other resources include Spanish based textbooks placed around the room as well as links to other foreign language translators located on each laptop connected to the website for the class which is, again, terryland.org.

Vocabulary terms to be learned will be listed. Pictures/diagrams will be used for Anna's accommodation.

A variety of different strategies will be used including planned discovery, direct teaching, collaborative group environments and project based learning. Audio, video and other

conveyed through pictures and other visuals. Also they need questioning strategies that prompt longer oral responses and that is the rationale for asking my who, what and where questions.

A key role of the teacher is to model positive behaviors, especially verbal for ELL students.

Graphic organizers help students master new academic vocabulary and content before the lesson even begins.

multimedia will be used for instruction.

I will ask who, what and where questions as a strategy to help bring out the knowledge that Anna has within her. I will ask questions requiring responses of lists of words. I will develop story frames and use content based ELD and phonics (all early intermediate strategies)

I will model and demonstrate all behaviors to be learned.

I will use graphic organizers whenever possible such as the venn diagram when comparing meiosis and mitosis.

4. Ways you will use the assessment results.

Decision Rationale

Through formative assessments I will find out if the strategy that I used with student #1 was effective and if it was not then I will try a different strategy.

The student may even find out more about him/herself through the use of rubrics in self-assessment as well as peer and self-assessment opportunities. The different social interactions allow for a broader base of feedback and catching specificities that narrower interactions may have missed.

Formative assessment benefits my classroom is it provides a way to assess where each student is at in relation to the standards being addressed. It lets me know each students’ strong and weak areas and as a result will help me in grouping individuals together more productively.

It helps me change my own pedagogy to adopt to the needs of the students in the classroom.

Formative assessments will help me determine if a certain strategy worked or not with student #1.

I need to know whether or not I need to slow down my pace so that students are getting what I am delivering to them. I also will learn which delivering strategies work the best. These are done by frequent formative assessments

The students themselvesd will be more aware of their strengths and weaknesses through peer and self assessments.

The students are made more accountable by summative assessments in the assignment of grades and this becomes a big motivator in learning. For example, no student wants to take home a grade of "F" to show to their parents.

Assessment results should be shared with everyone involved in Anna's learning experience.

The assessment results will also be used to inform other staff, resource specialists, and families and parents of the students as well as the students themselvs as to their strengths and weaknesses and possible ways to adjust for positive outcome.

Ongoing student-teacher conferences will be done to find out the specific problems or issues that a student may have.

Using assessments helps to assign a final grade.

Assessment results will also be shared with student #1 bilingual helper in the class to help with her learning experience.

Formative assessment benefits my classroom is it provides a way to assess where each student is at in relation to the standards being addressed. It lets me know each students’ strong and weak areas and as a result will help me in grouping individuals together more productively.

5. Ways you will share the assessment results with students, families, and other colleagues and support personnel, when appropriate.

Decision Rationale

Corrected quizes and tests will be given back to the student to go over again and ask questions about. If an assessment had a rubric then I would highlight the rubric areas that needed to be improved.

All assessments will be shared through the Jupitergrades system online where the student and their parents are able to access all homework assignment and grades.

Teacher-parent conferences can be used to share assessment results with the families of the students and I will have an online translator or

Students have an opportunity to see where they went wrong and therefore how they can improve.

Jupitergrades is an online system for sharing information with parents.

Translators can be used with parent-teacher conferences.

Learning is a "team" approach as everyone is involved in a greater learning experience.

bilingual helper with me to help with the translation for non-English speaking parents.

All assessments will be placed in student #1's portfolio where it can be reviewed by his family and other team members at any time in the future.

I will share the information with student #1's bilingual peer and other helpers.

B. Adaptations for Student 2: A Student with an Identified Special Need

1. Evidence of student learning you will collect.

Decision Rationale

Evidence of student learning that I will collect will be work found in portfolio, seeing Connie work problems out on the whiteboard, guided practice during preparation for the assessments via worksheets and even quizzes. I will observe her during her groupwork and check her reflective journal entries. Other evidence of student learning will be from formative and summative assessments and also Anna's peer and self assessments.

All the evidence of learning listed will be used to assess Connie's strengths and weaknesses in conetent knowledge. Formative assessments help me focus on what areas I need to work to help Connie in her academic goals and mainly to adjust my pedagogy.

2. How the student assessment evidence will be measured or scored.

Decision Rationale

For Connie assessment evident will be measured with some accommodations in mind. The first accommodation would be to place Connie somewhere away from disturbances as she easily can lose focus. Connie will also be given larger font sizes if she is not wearing her glasses. Any emotiona passages or anything that can remind her of any traumatic events will be altered appropriately. All and all there will be more sensitivity when it comes to measuring the

Because Connie has special needs then special accommodations will be made during her assessments to account for them. The scored outcome should be of the same scale and precion as that of other students if the needed accommodations are supplied.

assessment that Connie takes although her scores will be graded the same as the mainstream student and her rubric will be the same one as other students use.

Other than the above Connie's assessments will consist of the same type and content (journals, portfolio, observations, formative assessment, summative assessments) that everyone is given in the classroom.

3. The implementation of the assessment including:

Teaching strategies for communicating the purpose of the assessment, the scoring criteria, and the procedures for completing the assessment

Student activities

Student grouping

Materials, technology, and/or resources, including the use of instructional aides, parents, or other adults in the room

Responses

Decision Rationale

Connie must be constantly giving me evidence of learning as she has mentioned that she needs a lot of reinforcement or she forgets. Also a lot of visuals and bigger fonts should be used to fit with her learning style better. New knowledge will always be built upon a reinforcement of recently acquired knowledge as a reinforcement strategy. Connie needs a well planned collaborative group setting where she gets along well with her teammates and with whom do not put her in stressful situations. She also needs to be observed and removed from her group when it becomes evident that she may not be taking her medication for her hyperthyroidism and/or ADHD. Questioning techniques to help Connie get

As a special educational student I am aware of Connie's individualistic needs including reinforcement, hyperthyroidism, vision without glasses and sensitivity with certain groupings of individuals. Also her ADHD must be observed for her getting off focus and off track.

Students have a routine that they are familiar with which brings clarity along with the going over every day of the daily agenda and the online postings every day.

The day to day repetition of routine provides fast transition from warm up to activity to closing.

involved with active learning will provide more evidence of her knowledge.

Each day will start out with a warm up preceeded by going over the daily agenda. This will help in clarification of what is expected. Also each day the standards and objectives for the day will be put on the whiteboard to be looked upon at any time during the class. Rubrics will be given out for scoring criteria and dirctions will be read allowed and modelled by instructor (me) so that procedures, activities an purpose are clear.

A copy of everything gone over will also be posted online on terryland.org for the students to look up at any time when they are unclear about something.

Students will be grouped in pairs of three as that has been found to be the number that works best in our classroom as there are enough laptops to be given out for each group with three people and any more than that would leave room for a student not having as much to do than the other two and therefore being more prone to being off-task and off-focus. Three is a good number for grouping and this comes from years of teaching in a purely project based learning school of whom my mentor teacher has been with since its opening about 8 years ago.

IN each group pairng there will be ELL students grouped with bilingual students who can help each other in learning the unit contents. (This is also an accommodation)

The many laptops (15) made available in this classroom is a huge asset in that the students can do many things and continue working on big projects that the regular school children cannot do. Other schools can borrow laptops for maybe a

Collaborative grouping allows students to help each other attain information that they were not getting otherwise. So the students are used as assets.

Students are prepared more for real life experience by learning to work well with other by constantly going over social group collaboration rubric and self and peer assessments.

day or two but to do long term projects requires permanent laptops to be made available daily for these students. So they are always provided with laptops, rubrics for group social collaboration, things to upload, archives to look back upon, google searches to find out data other than given in the text and from direct teaching and the variety of instructional aides that come with online learning (such as graphic organizers, bigger fonts, etc... all of which can be brought up with a click of a finger by the "links" that are set up on the teacher's personal classroom website that is used daily in the class.

Another asset to the classroom is myself, a resident-teacher who helps to facilitate during these project based learning activities and provide reinforcement and extra assessment to gauge where students are at and what help they should focus on.

Other resources include Spanish based textbooks placed around the room as well as links to other foreign language translators located on each laptop connected to the website for the class which is, again, terryland.org.

4. Ways you will use the assessment results.

Decision Rationale

Through formative assessments I will find out if the strategy that I used with student #1 was effective and if it was not then I will try a different strategy.

The student may even find out more about him/herself through the use of rubrics in self-assessment as well as peer and self-assessment opportunities. The different social interactions allow for a broader base of feedback and catching

Formative assessments will help me determine if a certain strategy worked or not with student #2.

I need to know whether or not I need to slow down my pace so that students are getting what I am delivering to them. I also will learn which delivering strategies work the best. These are done by frequent formative assessments

The students themselvesd will be more aware of

specificities that narrower interactions may have missed.

Formative assessment benefits my classroom is it provides a way to assess where each student is at in relation to the standards being addressed. It lets me know each students’ strong and weak areas and as a result will help me in grouping individuals together more productively.

It helps me change my own pedagogy to adopt to the needs of the students in the classroom.

The assessment results will also be used to inform other staff, resource specialists, and families and parents of the students as well as the students themselvs as to their strengths and weaknesses and possible ways to adjust for positive outcome.

Ongoing student-teacher conferences will be done to find out the specific problems or issues that a student may have.

Using assessments helps to assign a final grade.

their strengths and weaknesses through peer and self assessments.

The students are made more accountable by summative assessments in the assignment of grades and this becomes a big motivator in learning. For example, no student wants to take home a grade of "F" to show to their parents.

Assessment results should be shared with everyone involved in Connie's learning experience.

5. Ways you will share the assessment results with students, families, and other colleagues and support personnel, when appropriate.

Decision Rationale

Corrected quizes and tests will be given back to the student to go over again and ask questions about. If an assessment had a rubric then I would highlight the rubric areas that needed to be improved.

All assessments will be shared through the Jupitergrades system online where the student and their parents are able to access all homework assignment and grades.

Teacher-parent conferences can be used to share

Students have an opportunity to see where they went wrong and therefore how they can improve.

Jupitergrades is an online system for sharing information with parents.

Translators can be used with parent-teacher conferences.

Learning is a "team" approach as everyone is involved in a greater learning experience.

assessment results with the families of the students

All assessments will be placed in student #2's portfolio where it can be reviewed by his family and other team members at any time in the future.

I will share the information with student #2 IEP team

Step 4: Giving the Assessment to the Whole Class, Including Two Focus Students

Directions:Give the assessment to your class. Collect and score all the evidence of student learning from the assessment. Consider all the assessment responses and select three responses of students other than your two focus students that represent the range of achievement within the class. Label these responses as Student 3, Student 4, and Student 5. Label the two focus students’ assessment responses as Student 1 and Student 2.

Submit all five assessment responses. Review carefully the evidence of student learning you are submitting.

Briefly, explain why you selected each of the following responses to represent the range of responses in the class:

Note: If the assessment is oral or represents a student performance, provide your description of the students’ responses and your written assessment of those responses, including the class as a whole, the three responses that represent the range of achievement in the class, and the two focus student responses.

Student 1 (EL focus student)

This is Student #1 evidence of learning as per results of my entry-level assessment concerning meiosis and mitosis. Despite being labelled as an "Early Intermediate" language learner Student #1 started the assessment better prepared than most of the mainstream studets. She even started off rewriting the questions that was wirtten on the whiteboard: "Write down all the similarities and differences between meiosis and mitosis that you can think of." This shows good use of the ELL strategies that I have been giving to her and shows that she has taken suggestion in the fact that she repeats phrases of what she deems important, which is showed by her retelling important things like the direction itself.

She acquired a 4 out of 4 in the "similarities" category which the accommodation of my questioning techniques. For example I had said "so you listed prophase, metaphase, anaphase and telophase under both meiosis and mitosis so what are you getting at when you list these terms under both?" Her answer "That they are "similar in that they both have the same 4 stages but the only difference is that meiosis II there is another meiosis cycle" The same can be said of the differences where with the proper questioning we were able to get a 3 out of 4 under the category of "differences" of which was to be demonstrated more orally rather than by written. With her modified rubric for the "vocabulary" trait she was able to list keywords such as haploid, homologous chromosomes, diploid, interphase, prophase, metaphase, anaphase, telophase which gave her a 4 out of 4 and for the extra knowledge I did give her an extra point for her written answer of the separation of homologous chromoes in diploid cells. Therefore she got a 12 out of 12 on this assessment and she was very pleased.

I selected this student Anna because she is my Student 1 focus student.

Student 2 (SN focus student)

I selected Connie for no other reason than she is my original special needs focus 2 student. She exhibits hyperthyroidism, ADHD, near sightedness without her glasses and other sensitive emotional issues.

Her written answer was "Meiosis and mitosis are similarity because they are both cell division. they are different because one of them makes unique cells and the other one makes identical cells.

So basically with this answer all I could do would be to give her 2 points for differences as one does make identical (mitosis) and the other process creates unique cells (meiosis) and 1 point for the similarity of they both are processes of cell division. I could not even give her any points for vocabulary because I do not include "meiosis" and "mitosis" as extra vocabulary keywords as they are both words mentioned in the question. So her score would have been a 3 which would not have even been passing.

As Connie gets off track a lot due to ADHD and other issues she is allowed to use visual aids in assessments and so when I drew her a Venn Diagram and reminded her that she needed to focus and come up with more ideas she started to become motivated again like she does sometimes in our "reinforcement" teacher-student conferences. So I would ask her "so what else here do you see that is different between them. You mention unique vs identical well what is involved in uniqueness.... " basically these questioning techniques lead her to realize that uniqueness was because of sexual reproduction as opposed to replication and then she started to think "what are things involved in sexual reproductions" hence she was able to come up with terms like "gametes" and then become more specfic and mention sperm and eggs and even the word haploid which all counted as 3 more points under the "difference category as well as another 2 points for vocabulary. In the end Connie, having made use of her accommodations did more than was needed to demonstrate a satisfactory understanding of the subject being studied which was meiosis and mitosis.

Student 3

Student #3 represents a "Beginning" English learner student and therefore requiring of the most accommodations compared to the other ELL students in the class. He is always grouped with another bilingual student and spanish version of the textbook and I am alway pay special attention to make sure that his accommodations are met. When he is provided with his accommodations there is a big difference with assessment outcome.

Taking a look at his original written response to the entry level assessment would have resulted in a score of 1 because the only thing that this student did was list one similarity. His entire response to the assessment was: "The similarities and differences between meiosis and mitosis is they both divide cells"

When allowing student #3 his accommodations I was able to use visuals, gestures and questioning techniques to guide him in bringing out the knowledge that I knew he had concerning meiosis and mitosis. Nonverbal responses were allowed by watching what he pointed to in places like the textbook.

As a result of this and with help of his bilingual peer this student was able to come up with a score of 8 on the entry level assessment which made it a "satisfactory" result and thus enabled him to further go on to study the "Central Dogma" with the rest of his peers.

I will continue to Use Sentence Starters with this student to encourage him to take notes and reflect on his learning. To guide him through self-reflection after passing the entry level assessment with satisfaction scoring I guided him to start his journal entry by starting the first sentence off with "After completeting the __ today, I feel ___ because___... "

Student 4

Student number 4 is representative of the the low achievement range of the students in the class and he performed accordingly on this assessment. I had chosed him based on assessment scores from previous assessments and who seems to be unmotivated not only at this particular time but overall throughout the whole year. He is often tardy and absent from class and exhibits lower motivation levels than most of his peers. He does not pay much attention in class and never does his homework.

His response to the entry level assessment was this: "Meiosis is only in the **** (unreadable). Mitosis is only in the DNA"

With a response like this I can do nothing else but give a 0. Whether this student really knows nothing of the subject or whatever the reason it shows clearly at least that this student has clearly not passed the entry level assessment and should not be progressed into the further unit untill further is known about his situation. If things can be turned around and worked out that would be the best scenario but if things continue to show no progression then repeating this course in the future is a realistic thing to consider.

Student 5

I picked student number 5 because this student usually has a higher range of assessment scores as

compared with the rest of the class and is therefore a good representation of the higher student achiever in this classroom. This student has good attendance, is punctual, and is usually the leader of his group. There has not been an assignment of which he has failed to turn in.

His written response to the entry level assessment question is:

"Mitosis makes 2 daughter cells. Meiosis makes 4. Mitosis daughter cells are identical to parent cell. In meiosis they are not. In meiosis the cell splits twice. In mitosis it is only once. Mitosis has interphase, G1, S, and G2. They are both a type of cell division. The order goes prophase, metaphase, anaphase, and telophase. They make haploid and diploid cells. Meiosis makes gamnete cells."

So I will break this answer down by category. For "differences" this student as listed 1) 2 daughter cells compared with 4, 2) identical vs. unique, 3) splits twice in meiosis compared to once in mitosis and 4) One makes haploid while the other diploid.... so this student obtained a 4 out of 4 in this category.

When looking at similarities this student has stated: "1) they are both a type of cell division. 2) the order goes prophase, metaphase, anaphase and telophase" so this student has obtained 2 out of 4 in the "similarities" category.

For the "vocabulary" category he has mentioned the keywords "interphase, prophase, metaphase, anaphase, telophase, haploid, diploid and gamete" That is a total of 8 which just qualifies him for the 4 out of 4 in this category.

And for "extra credit he did mention the phases involved in interphase which are G1, S, and G2 scoring him 1 extra point.

The total score for this student #5 would then be 11 out of 12 which is above average and was as expected of him due to his average performance level.

What sticks out is that there were a couple ELL students who surpassed this score and I believe it is because of the accommodations that were used and therefore a more detailed study about how these modifications are delivered are recommended to create a more even playing field in the future and more importantly as how to incorporate some of these strategies that are involved in accommodation into mainstream strategies so that students such as this one can increase his demonstration of knowledge consistently. I need to have more understanding of this topic to be a better teacher overall.

Step 5: Analyzing Evidence of Student Academic Learning and the Assessment

Directions: Consider your responses in Steps 1 through 4. Think about the evidence of student academic learning from the assessment. Answer the questions below for the whole class and for the two focus students. Remember to cite specific evidence from the five responses that you have submitted. (This includes responses from the two focus students and from the three students you selected to represent the range

of achievement with the class).

A. For the Class as a Whole

1. What did you learn overall about the students' progress toward achievement of the academic learning goal(s) for this part of the unit?

I learned that overall the students' progress toward achievement of the academic learning objective/goal(s) for this part of the unit (the entry pre-test) were satisfactory although the precise progress is omewhat unclear as I had left my assessment directions to "open" and lacking in clarity.

Most of the class had a satisfactory understanding of the processes of meiosis and mitosis. Although most students were able to list simililarities, differences and much vocabulary/keywords associated with meiosis and mitosis there was a lack of organization with the three and scoring was based on myself having to distinguish for myself, based on the contents of their answers, their knowledge of the similarities and differences in mitosis.

Most were not able to follow the directions as proficiently as I would have expected. I learned that the accommodation of using questioning techniques to the ELL students drastically improved their performance and in fact proved that they indeed had the knowledge necessary to result in a good score for this assessment.

2. Describe the extent to which the assessment that you planned allowed students to demonstrate achievement of the academic learning goal(s) for this part of the unit.

I believe that although my assessment lacked in "clarity" because of being too open-ended it is for this same reason that it did in fact allow for a large extent of demonstration of the achievement level towards the academic learning goals. The directions asked to list all the similarities and differences between mitosis and meiosis and therefore I felt that the high achieving students could go on and on even saying things like "both begin with the letter 'm'" and "both end with the letter 's'" which would actually be a correct answer that I can not argue with. However the question here is the clarity of understanding the question especially for non-english learners who have a more literal perception of what is written. Therefore the confusion involved when viewing the questions as an ELL student this could have actually limited demonstration of knowledge. An ELL student may be afraid to put down something fearing that he/she may only be taking more chances of putting down things that are wrong and so, in summary, I must say that the way this assessment was worded limited the demonstration of knowledge specifically for ELL students.

I tried to phrase the question in a way that would allow for a greater level of Bloom's taxomony shown

in the answers. But I believe that the way I set up the question challenged the students to go beyond a low blooms level by just answering question but use a more wholistic knowledge and organize it into high blooms product of demonstration. Unfortunately I did not see the intended results and I will improve my future pedagogy by scaffolding my directions more in the future.

3. Would you make any changes to the directions or to the format of the assessment? Why?

I would definitely make changes to the directions of my entry-level assessment concerning the similarities and differences of mitosis and meiosis due to the problems narrated in question #2 up above. It could definitely lead to confusion and thus limit an ELL student's extent of demonstration of knowledge.

I would scaffold the directions and make it clearer. In this case the ELL students had an advantage because I was able to cue them into providing what I was looking for but not at all effecting their knowledge in any way. I was just able to bring it out. This coul be done with mainstream students by clarifying and rewording the original directions. All students had a hard time understanding the question and how their answers were to be organized.

4. Would you collect different or more evidence if you were to do this assessment again? Why?

I would go over the directions more completely with all of the students in the classroom before even starting with the entry-level assessment concerning meiosis and mitosis that I did. A better way of phrasing the question would be: "Describe all that you know about mitosis and meiosis. Then I would make different graded categories such as "organization" where students would get maximum amount of points for being able to categorize meiosis/mitosis concepts under categories such as similarities and differences. The first student that comes up and turns in a well completed assessment I would show in front of the whole class as an example of what I was looking for to recieve an "A" grade. I would definitely make it very clear exactly what I was looking for to get a good grade in the class and give a copy of the rubric to each student.

the evidence that was collected was sufficient. There is a problem if I feel that the ELL students had an advantage in this case with their accommodations.

Evidence taken from student journals and porfolios could be considered.

5. Was the implementation and timing of this assessment appropriate for this class? Why?

The implementation and timing of this assessment was appropriate for this class especially since I am a new teacher to this class since the beginning of the semester and I do not know too much about the academic knowledge of each individual student. Therefore before moving on too quickly in the next unit

this gave me an opportunity to gauge how well students were able to create a permanent memory of content just previously learned in class and based on this know whether or not to slow down instruction and even change instruction. I did learn that I needed to slow down instruction if I wanted my students to go away with better comprehension and understanding of the material delivered to them. I was also made aware of the fact that there needed to be much more clarity on the instructor's part in what was expected in everything that the students do in addition to the directions of my entry-level assessment.

As most of the students gave satisfactory scoring results I could say it was appropriate but then since I am a teacher that is all about pefecting my practice I will definitely say that there is need for improvement.

Connie had an accommodation of extra time listed in her IEP however she chose not to use it as she finished on time however I did make sure and reminded her that if she needed more time she would be allowed it.

6.

In what ways would a different type of assessment (e.g., verbal response, multiple choice, short essay, oral presentation, performance task) than what you used allow students to demonstrate their achievement of the academic learning goal(s) for this unit?

A verbal response assessment would have allowed more immediate feedback on my part either encouraging things to keep going as shown by the ELL accommodations. When I knew that the students knew the knowledge but were not actually saying the right words I was able to scaffold them by fill in the black and ques and questioning techniques which lead them into saying the similarities and differences. So I was able to bring out of them what I was looking for in the original question. So all in all with the proper scaffolding techniques and clues i was able to gauge what each individual student knew. But as for the mainstream students I know that I would have to reword the directions based on the results of this assessment. I would have to do something different and maybe give instead of one broad question maybe more specific questions.

I was looking to give room for a high blooms level demonstration of knowledge and I believe that the way I set up this assessment would conducive to this. The other methods like multiple choice and true false could have more accurately differentiated the students but on a smaller level. A truer and more specific understanding could be gained from the more "open ended" question I had given.

I could have used a multiple choice or true/false type of assessment instead but I do not believe it would have allowed for a greater demonstration of knowledge.

I also could have included the topic of mendellian genetics as this was the other main factor studied in the previous unit that should be well understood before moving on with the current unit.

B. For Student 1: An English Learner

1. To what extent were the assessment directions and format clear and easy to follow for the student? How do you know?

Although the assessment directions may not have been too clear as demonstrated with the mainstream students, the accommodations provided to her made it easy to make it become more clarified and easier to follow and I know this based on the results of the assessment. She was able to get a perfect 12 out of 12 after allowing her acccommodations to lower the rigour level of the "vocabulary" section and allowing for the ELL strategic benefits of questioning techniques and cues. So a perfect 12 out of 12 score was attained rather than just the passing 6 out of 12 points given to"satisfactory" level of achievement if purely based upon her written assessment.

I also tried to limit the amount of words used in this assessment. A one sentence question I thought was very appropriate.

2. To what extent did the student achieve the academic learning goals for this part of the unit?

Studnet #1 achieved the academic learning goals for this part of the unit by scoring a perfect score. However since the perfect score was a result of "extra credit" being included and the use of her accommodation of lowering the rubric rigour level for the "vocabulary" section then I know there is also room for improvement and this was in the three out of 4 in the area of "differences" between meiosis and mitosis. So this is an area that she could use futher help in. Tutoring and follow up help would be recommended in this case.

3. How well did the student's assessment response correspond to the work the student does on a daily basis?

(Was the response that you expected from the student?)

The student's assessment response correspended accofdingly, appropriately and as expected with the work that she does on a daily basis. She is able to grasp most of the concepts although there are a few things that she needs to be reminded of and things that need to be reinforced.

What helped is the daily vocabulary given to the ELL students prior to the lessons. The clarity I usually give them on a regular basis would done in the assessment via my cues and questioning techniques.

This is also reflecive of the student's positive demeanor in the classroom, the regular turning in of homework and the use of her questioning whenever she doesn't understand something.

4. What different or additional type of evidence might you need to collect for the student?

I could have him label and manipulate pictures and objects and for level 2: give answers to who, what,

where questions, give them a chance to produce olangauge in situations where they are comfortable and allow short answers, ask questions requiring simple comparisons and descriptions, provide activities designed to encourage students to produce simple sentences.

No additional evidence is needed from this student in the form of prior entry-level knowledge assessed from this assessment. However there may be things that she can be helped with that I do not know about so teacher-student conferences are always encouraged and I would ask her to request them from me anytime that she had any problems that she wanted clarified.

Since she was lacking in the area of "differences" in meiosis and mitosis I would have her look up in the text and provide a more detailed answer for this area and perhaps substitute the higher score (if this assignment was done with detail, accuracy and turned in on time) for her lower score. Then she would have a perfect score for this assessment which i do not mind doing for her since she has shown an extreme amount of effort in the classroom.

I could also collect inforation from her portfolio and student journal. But as Anna is doing very well in her studeies perhaps I will just keep things as it is and think about this question more for those students who are performing at a lower than average level.

5. What does the student's response tell you about his or her academic strengths and/or needs?

Anna's written reponse tells me there is a general comprehension of contextualized information and of the question on the assessment.

The students responses tell me that with the right cues and questioning techniques she is able to demonstrate a large understanding about content being studied. Anna does demonstrate a good understanding of the concepts but there is room for learning more as she could have scored an additional point in the "differences" between meiosis and mitosis and well as score extra points in the extra credit section. She scored the maximum points in the vocabulary section however this was because it was based on a modified rubric score as her "early intermediate" ELL status was taken into consideration so I would like to see her achieve top scoring even in this area without any accommodation. I believe that Anna can soon transition to the "advanced" ELL level and even into the mainstream society of students very shortly.

It demonstrates her positive attitude, demeanor and willingness to take suggestion and complete all assignments to her in the classroom.

Her needs could be met by focusing on gaining vocabulary.

6. Based on the student's response, describe next steps you would take with the student to further his or her academic achievement in the content area?

I would for (CELDT level 2) continue to expand student's understanding of concrete words and have them learn vocabulary and sentecne structure from patterned picture books. i would expand their

responses by asking who, what where questions (literal questions). I would give them a chance to produce language in situations where they are comfortable and expect short answers. i would ask questions requiring simple comparisons and discriptions. i would provide activities designed to encourage students to produce simple sentences. I would assign her a homeword assignment of the areas which she could have done better in for example "differences" of meiosis and mitosis and substitute the scoring of her assignment (based on the same rubric as the assessment) than for the same area given in her scored assessment. I would continue to give formative assessments and focus on her learning more and more vocabulary and give her my authentic praise that it is my belief that she is pretty much functioning at mainstream level and I would encourage her to keep doing what she is doing to excel in all of her subjects and especially in her ELL category.

I could have her start collecting her notes and make journal entries.

This helps me to know what kind of workstations I could create to help students with similar needs. I could also direct her to the website classzone.com where there are numerous biologal vocabulary games, simulations and videos and concept maps which could be done by students. They come as an accompanionment to the textbook and so they have games and activities that go with each section being studied.

7. Describe the ways in which specific adaptations you made to your assessment plan did or did not work.

Actually all the adaptations made to the assessment plan ended up working to create a better outcome than all the mainstream students which leads then to conclude that there were problems not with the mainstream students but with the actual assessment. In this case it was the assessment "directions" that lacked clarity and left it too "open" in the case of deciding into how much depth a student should partake in the current assessment.

When Anna was given questioning techniques and cues it helped her to organize the information into the specific categories of "similar" and "different" in which I was looking for.

Vocabulary list I had given did not really achieve the desired results.

Questioning cues and techniques worked way better than expected.

8. In what ways did the assessment support this student's language abilities?

The assessment supported the student's language abilities in that the student was able to use the Spanish based version of the text in addition to online translation. I was able to open up the text to her and show her a digram of the "similarities" between mitosis and meiosis however I used a diagram which contained the knowledge that she had already demonstrated by writing on her assessment paper as I blocked out the other examples given in the diagram. This let her understand the definition of the word "similarity" as well as its opposite which I typed into the online translator which gave me the word

in spanish. Similar was "simular" and different is "differente". Questioning techniques allowed the student to expand upon her answers and contribute to expressing a greater demonstration of her total knowledge upon the subject.

I used a lot of SDAIE strategies which helped (questioning techniques and cues did the most help). It showed that my day to day strategies dealing specifically with ELL students were achieving desired results and the assessment supported this idea.

9. If you were to give the assessment to the student again, what changes, if any, would you make? Why?

I would not change anything because of the fact that with her accommodations Anna recieved a very good score on the assessment. She was able to demonstrate a huge detail of knowledge with this assessment.

I have also given it a little thought that perhaps letting the students use their notes taken in class for this assessment would reward effort for those that try and take notes.

I would give cues to the ELL student about the "extra credit" and point to what she had written so far and ask if she can see anything there that would count under the "extra credit" category and I would want her to see that that was the area that she was lacking and so I would want to convey to her that she should just list everything that she can think of whether or not she is sure if it relates to meiosis and mitosis because there are a lot of concepts that may have a connection with those processes of cell division that she may be unaware of now, but in fact, they do have connections with them as many things have many connections with each other in the big scheme of things.

10. What would be your next steps in planning to facilitate this student's English Language Development?

I would continue to frequently make formative assessments and to involve Anna with peer and self assessments. The results of my observations and formative assessments would be shared frequently with her other teachers and bilingual supporters and her family. It needs to be a whole team effort to bring the best out of Anna. I would continue to give her vocabulary to focus on before each lesson which would develop the use of, and proficiency, in the content area being studied. I would communicate with her collaborate groupings and matching her with students that need the same specific purposes. I would give her cultural affirmation and opportunity to make contributions based on her cultural background. I would demonstrate and model what I am teaching her and use graphic organizers such as venn diagrams whever possible. More teacher-student conferences are always good and even communication with her parents and bilingual peers and collaborative group partners. I would act as a teacher as facilitator during collaboration group activities where I could help to guide her into practicing the academic language while they are trying to acquire biology concepts. Higher order thinking skills will always be tried to be implemented into my activities.

The use of a thesaurus will aid her in developing vocabulary. I will try and relate content knowledge to her life more. I will give her more adequate time to prepare a response when asking heras question in front of the rest of the class.

I would continue to keep using the SDAIE strategies as this assessment shows a positive correlation. I would focus more on vocabulary. I would try to incorporate something like this to the whole class (mainstream) as well.

C. Student 2: A Student with an Identified Special Need

1. To what extent were the assessment directions and format clear and easy to follow for the student? How do you know?

I know that even though the directions appeared clear to me they weren't that clear to this student because of the overall responses given to me from both this student as well as students from the rest of the class. They knew what I was looking for but lacked specific structural organizational descriptions/directions of how the answers were to be written. I had left this question open as such as to provide more freedom in the way of expression and, in my intention, to provide a means for the student to demonstrate higher thinking levels.

I could have provided more clear instructions in the way of true/fale and multiple choice testing based on recall, remembering just having me tell me the answer but this would be at a lower level of thought processing whereas I was looking for processes that included interpretation, formulation, organization, planing... give examples.

The manipulative that I showed her (Venn diagram) helped her in understanding what I meant between "similarities" and "differences" because she was able to group them together orally afterwards plus she told me after the test that the Venn diagram helped to make things more clear to her.

I would remind Connie of some of our reinforcement sessions about what we had gone over and try to encourage her to just let out on paper everything that she knows because there are many connections that relate to biological process even though she may not see an immediate connection. I would encourage her to brainstorm. I had to reinstate this fact to her again during the assessment and she was then able to perform better while demonstrating her knowledge "orally" rather than with written language.

2. To what extent did the student achieve the academic learning goals for this part of the unit?

IBy just looking at the written assessment I would have given Connie the score of 3. This is not good. However I was able to draw a Venn Diagram for her privately (since she was alone in the conference room per IEP accommodation) and when I pointed to the areas that did not overlap and asked for something that only "one of the other" could do it finally clicked in to her and she was able to tell me

more knowledge and in fact raise her original score from 3 to the 6 that accounts for a "satisfactory" understanding of this subject

Her oral answers resulted from my questioning techniques and cues and this is what brought up her overall score level to that of "satisfactory"

3. How well did the student's assessment response correspond to the work the student does on a daily basis?

(Was the response that you expected from the student?)

Very similar. Her score on this assessment was.... which is a little above or below her current grad of.... and her last summative grade of last semester which was....

But this is consistent with her not turning in homework all the time and therefore not keeping up with the material. It is only because I remind her to come in to go over some "reinforcement" that she is able to retain a lot of the information that she has demonstrated even in this assessment.

I know that Connie knows a lot of content knowledge but she feel insecure and therefore unwilling to participate often in class and I often have to use these questioning techniques and cues to remind her that in fact she knows and is capable of more than she is aware of and she gets real happy after this and participates more for a little bit but then her general feelings of "feeling like a loser" when she doesn't know something comes back and so we consistently have to reinforce positive habits.

4. What different or additional type of evidence might you need to collect for the student?

Additional evidence could be journal and portfolio contents, her notes and worksheets completed from "hands-on" lab work. All homework and notes. Observations on Connie can be done daily. I would take notes mentally and/or on paper and over time this will give me a better understanding of her. More parent-student conferences can be done formally and informally with Connie and would go over areas of strengths and weaknesses found in observations, self-assessments, teacher assessments and peer assessments. During the formal conferences journals and student portfolios can be looked at and discussed.

5. What does the student's response tell you about his or her academic strengths and/or needs?

it tells me that graphic organizers help her to understand concepts and definitions of words such as "similar" and "different" as made clear by the venn diagram. It showed her where to place the information that she had already written down and how to organzie it. This is because Connie is a visual learner. So I need to give her sufficient time to brainstorm cluster and orgnzing the information and that she needs manipulatives in order to do this.

I think that Connie should keep all of her homework in her portfolio so that when she meets with me we can periodically go back and chronologically go through the content that she remembers and what she does not remember I could remind her of the important concepts and frequently doing so may help to achieve long term benefits psychologically as well as academically.

It tells me that I should conduct more teacher-student meetings with her and also with her sister as well because her sister did good in biology and perhaps her sister would be able to help her in a "team" effort. She could use more practice.

6. Based on the student's response, describe next steps you would take with the student to further his or her academic achievement in the content area?

I will spend more time grading her homework and give more suggestions on how each paper could be improved. I will encourage her to be a creative thinker by asking her "what do she think that I mean when I say this or that?" instead of just answering all of her questions. I will praise her more every time that she is right and therefore build her self-esteem when it comes to personal traits that require self-starting skills such as initiating things. I will try to implement in her that she should not be embarrassed about being wrong and it is more important to try rather than letting the fact that you could be wrong prevent you from trying. I will try to make more teacher-student conferences as well as encourage her to share the results of her peer and self assessments. I will try to make things more hands on for her as she specifically told me she learns the most from this. I will try and reinforce newly learned material as she had revealed to me that this is what she feels would help her and as a teacher that "listens" I will follow up on her suggestion.

conduct a meeting with her and her sister. start having her collect homework to go over. Have her ask me questions. more contact with the special education teacher. a vocabulary focus would be good for conie as well. more highering of self esteem as shown from lack of extra credit chances taken.

7. Describe the ways in which specific adaptations you made to your assessment plan did or did not work.

The Ven diagram helped greatly as did increasing the font size as Connie did not wear her glasses this day. The process would have been less efficient and more time consuming had I not brought a larger font-sized version of her assessment as per her IEP accommodation. The extra time accommodation was not an issue in this assessment as she did not need that extra time even though she was reminded that her accommodation allowed her more time. Placing Connie in a separate room (my conference room) during the assessment really nelped to keep Connie focused and she did not become distracted the whole time and it removed any possible sensitive issues that may have mentally frustrated her as well.

I need to talk more with the special education instructor and rest of her IEP team.

8. In what ways did the assessment support this student's language abilities?

The increased font size and the Venn Diagram graphic organizer/visual really helped to accommodate the learning style of this student. The environment of being separated from the rest of the students also provided a good environment that was condusive to avoiding distractions. Based on her answers it is clear that she comprehends the directions and content matter of the subject.

The reinforcement I have been giving her helped.

When I want Connie to organize information visually I would have her use graphic organizers. For example, when I want her to relate to me their knowledge of the similarities and differences between the processes of meiosis and mitosis I could have her draw Venn Diagrams with the similarities being inclusive within the circle with which both the processes share (both meiosis and mitosis) and the differences being outside the circle and included in only one of the processes (either mitosis or meiosis).

9. If you were to give the assessment to the student again, what changes, if any, would you make? Why?

I would remind Connie that she should concentrate on being as specific as possible and the more things that she can say even if she is not sure if it relates to mitosis and/or meiosis can only help her and not hurt her score and to therefore take advantage of all the extra additional time that is provided to her because of her IEP.

I could also verbally go over the instructions with the whole class as well. And make sure if anyone had any questions prior to beginning the assessment.

I would let her use her notes since she is at a loss when it comes up to initiating things and letting things flow. Maybe she could work with her notes better in that fashion.

In the whole process before Connie even takes the assessment I would have gauged her needs better, encouraged collaboration and self direction, monitored her progress, encouraged metacognition, and always give her more ways to demonstrate her understanding. I would ask her if there were any specific ways that she could think of that would enable her to demonstrate her understanding of meiosis and mitosis any better than this entry level assessment I had just given her.

Step 6: Reflection on Assessment Implementation and Student Learning

Directions:Read your response for Steps 1 to 5. Consider what you have learned through the Assessing Learning task about your students, what you wanted them to learn, their responses to the assessment, and your analysis of the evidence of student learning. Respond to the prompts below.

1. If you were given an opportunity to use the assessment again, what part(s) would you keep and what part(s) might you change? Why?

I would definitely make the assessment question more specific and concrete.

The direction of the assessment clearly needs to be re-worded to: "Please explain everything that you know about the processes of mitosis and meiosis. Use organization skills to categorize your answer. The more vocabulary/keywords that we have studied that you can use in your answer will be incorporated in the scoring of your assessment. The more knowledge that you can demonstrate about these processes the better. Good organization is looked for and well-organized and grouped similarities and differences should be used."

I may consider letting the students see the rubric. But I purposely did not let the students see the rubric for the fact that I wanted to gauge their higher bloom thought processing and the rubric basically takes this away from gauging as everything from organization to writing anything for extra credit is brought to the front of thought process for them and this is what I specifically also wanted to engage. What kind of initiative and self-starting abilities does each student have. But since there was a broad lack of high bloom skills given then maybe I am thinking that this is hard for the demographic of students that I am currently assessing and perhaps providing them with the rubric will be better. I will not be able to gauge who functions at higher thought processes but in return I could more accurately gauge "remembered" knowledge which is reflection of lower thought processing. so no, I would not give out the rubric. There are other ways (quizzes and tests) I could gauge for lower thought processes and specific remembered knowledge.

2. If you were given an opportunity to implement the assessment again, what would you do the same and what would you do differently? Why?

Actually I did not give the rubric out with the assessment and instead only provided the question. I did this because I wanted to be able to have more contrast in student answers and see which ones had higher bloom thought processing. But now that the assessment is complete I feel that now I could use rubrics in a way that the students can revise their work and at the same time receive feedback. I can do this by returning their assessments with a copy of the rubric and having them re do the entire assessment.

I would also develop a web-based system where students can submit their assessments/projects online.

I would involve students more in the assessment process. Let them create their own rubric and also perform student to student assessments.

I would focus on differentiation of assessing English Language Learners and allow for more ways to demonstrate their cognitive understanding of the standards being addressed.

3. What additional information about your students did you learn as a result of this assessment experience?

I learned that in general the most students were able to reach a "satisfactory" level of understanding of

the concepts of mitosis and meiosis based on the score of 6 or higher on the rubric. however I also learned that the majority of students were not funcitoning with a high level of bloom processing.

I did learn that the most thing that stuck out was that the students as a whole had problems with organizing their thoughts and as a result I think I would have a specific assignment where the focus would be on organization. For instance I would select a story and then have the students select two different categories from it. Using Romero and Juliet for example I could have them come up by brainstorming with a list of possible categories. Some that would come up could be things like "Things specific to Romeo's family" and "Things specific to Juliet's family" and "things similar between both Romeo and juliet" Listed under "things similar between romero and juliet would be: they both loved each other, they were both young, they both died tragically, etc... listed under things specific to romeo's family would be: his family did not like juliet's and he was the one that did the pursuing of juliet, etc... hopefully this project would provide an analogy to get them used to organizing concepts especially those of "similarities" and "differences" which were used in their entry-level assessment.

ultimately i learned who functions at higher level processing. I learned what students ask qeustions and who obviously does not. i learned what strategies work better for what students. I learned how I can improve my overall pedagogy. I learned that even though written responses may at first give the impression that a student lacks knowledge further inquiry and other means of expressing knowledge will show that students know more than they can portray from just writing.

4. How will you use what you have learned from this assessment experience when you plan instruction and assessment in the future?

I need to desseminate the information and directions of an assessment and everything else in a way that the kids get it. I have learned that one has to be much more precise and clear when it comes to giving directions about how you would like an acitivty/assessment to be performed. Just becaseu I have in my mind the exact idea of what I am looking for in a good assessment it doesn't mean that the students share this same mental picture as I. The transfer of knowledge from myself to the student ,must therefore by transferred by a more structured and specific way. Secondary students are more literal and cannot be expected to understand what seems common sense for adults to understand.

I have learned that I need to Incorporate a lot more visuals because there are probably a lot of mainstream students besides just Connie and Anna who are visual leaners and could be helped in their comprehension of concept and vocabulary by the use of videos, graphic organizers and other multimedia.

I would also have more communication with the resourse specialist (special education teacher) as well as bilungual coach and students who are bilingual to get feedback.

I learned that acocommodations are very very important and in this case actually drastically improved perormance greatert than to mainstream in comparison. Therefore I must change my pedagogy to incorporate some of the same kind of things that I use for accommodations to use with mainstream

students although in different ways. In this way I would have to learn to phrase directions more clearly to be able to draw out the knowledge of what i want to the mainstream students who do not have the accommodations of "cues" and leading questions as do some of the ELL students.

I now know what students are afriad to ask questions or are embarrassed to. I know to use a variety of different strategies other than just writing. I know that I really have to emphasize vocabulary and encourage the students to use it more than necessaryt to engrain it into their classroom conversations.

I learned that many accommodations that work for special education and ELL students will also work with mainstream students.

5. What are your goals for increasing your knowledge and skill in assessment? How will achieving these goals help you become a more effective teacher?

To increase my knowledge and skill in the area of assessment I am currently taking an assessment class and my goal is to finish that class with the grade of A. In addition to this class I have other goals to increase my assessment knowledge and that is to look at veteran teachers and how they use their assessments and find out what they use the results for and if overall they are satisfied with their assessment results in making better their pedagogy. I will keep taking courses until I finish and receive my masters degree. I will take professional development that the district offers in addition to attending all the professional courses that my high school itself partakes in. I will subscribe to teaching journals to find out what is new in the field. I will attend all the conferences that I can to gain a glimpse of new methods being used and seeing what other teachers are doing. Teaching is a lifelong endeavour and I will keep asking questions the whole time as a means to keep bettering my practice.

I need to be able to differentiate among the different ELL students better as well as take the advantages from certain "accommodations" and bring them in a way that does not alter the playing field to the mainstream students. I learned that we can even alter the playing field in favor of the ELL with accommodations if assessments are not set up in a clear enough and scaffolded fashion to bring out desired high organizational bloom results from mainstream students as well.

I will continue to ask different teachers for suggestions and follow the ones that seem to work. I will continue to read teaching publications. The LAUTR frequently sends me the latest publications associated with the field of education. I will keep trying different thing and continue the process of self reflection. Most important oo I think would be to consistently seek feedback from the most important group of people, the students in my classroom themselves, as each class is different and each individual is different as well. The more personal relationships and classroom closeness with the students that i can develop will enable me to use my students as assets in the context of assessing.