DAY 1 (June 28)
UNDERSTANDING THE TESTS:
What is their purpose, and how can you
use them to inform instruction?
CHECK IN ( 8:15 – 8:30 , Science Library Atrium)
BREAKFAST ( 8:30 – 9:00 , Standish Room)
KEYNOTE ( 9:00 – 11:00 , Standish Room)
The Comprehensive Assessment System in New York State
David Abrams , Asst. Commissioner for Standards, Assessment and Reporting, New York State Education Department. In depth discussion of the New York State Testing System and the various uses for these tests. Abrams will also offer an updated report on New York State ’s response to the new testing requirements imposed by the federal No Child Left Behind legislation.
David M. Abrams is in the senior management team in the New York State Education Department, in the Office of Elementary, Middle, Secondary, and Continuing Education. He provides leadership for the Department’s programs for elementary, middle, and secondary school pupils in areas of testing and assessment and data collection and analysis. Mr. Abrams manages programs that design, implement, and certify the New York State Testing Program and its attendant data collection processes. As Assistant Commissioner, Mr. Abrams works closely with the Commissioner of Education, the Deputy Commissioner, and the Board of Regents in formulating and implementing assessment policy.
Prior to his appointment as Assistant Commissioner, Mr. Abrams served as Director of Instruction for the City School District of Albany, Learning Standards Coordinator for the Capital Region Board of Cooperative Educational Services, and was a former high school English teacher. Mr. Abrams holds a Bachelor of Arts in English and history from the University of Delaware , a Masters of Arts in English from the College of Saint Rose , and a Masters of Science in Educational Administration and Policy Studies from the University at Albany . He has presented at numerous conferences on topics pertaining curriculum, instruction, and assessment.
BREAKOUT SESSION 1 ( 11:15 – 12:15 )
Greater Expectations: Learning from other nations in the quest for world-class standards in school mathematics and science
Gilbert Valverde , Assoc. Professor, UAlbany Dept. of Educational Administration & Policy Studies
Dr. Valverde highlights the findings from his ongoing work with the US National Research Center for the Third International Mathematics and Science Study, and discusses options for improving U.S. international rankings with changes to curriculum and instruction of math and science.
Gilbert A. Valverde, Ph.D. U. of Chicago , specializes in the cross-national study of curriculum policies, focusing on the role of educational standards, indicator systems, textbook and assessment policy in the configuration of educational opportunity structures. In addition to his ongoing work with the US National Research Center for the Third International Mathematics and Science Study, he is also conducting research on evaluation, standards, indicator systems and other aspects of curricular policies in the context of education reforms underway in Latin America.
The ELA Core Curriculum as a Window into the ELA Assessments
(Offered again during Session 2)
Trudy Walp , Instructor, UAlbany Dept of Reading
In this workshop, participants will examine the recently revised performance indicators of the ELA Core Curriculum in order to develop insight and understanding about the ELA assessments. Some of the many ELA resources available to the field will also be examined in order to inform and support our efforts.
Trudy Walp , M.S. UAlbany, was a Reading Specialist in the elementary grades at North Warren Central School , Chestertown , New York where she taught for 24 years. She has taught literacy-related graduate courses as an adjunct instructor at The College of Saint Rose and the University at Albany for a number of years and she recently chaired the NY State Education Department’s Grade 3-5 ELA Core Curriculum Committee .
WORKING LUNCH WITH SMALL GROUP DISCUSSIONS BY GRADE LEVEL
( 12:15 – 1:45 , Parent’s Fountain Garden Area)
BREAKOUT SESSION 2 ( 2 – 3 pm )
Social Studies: Assessment, Instruction, and Literacy Connections
Virginia Goatley, Assoc. Professor, UAlbany Dept. of Reading and Associate Dean for Professional Studies
In this session, Dr. Goatley will provide a brief overview of the New York State Social Studies assessment and then discuss a range of instructional practices for social studies, such as information about developing units, integrating primary sources into classroom instruction, and selecting literature to support the implementation of the New York State social studies curriculum.
Virginia Goatley, Ph.D. Michigan State University . In work wit h the National Research Center for English Learning and Achievement, she is studying the integration of literacy and social studies across the elementary grades. In this project, she has traced the literacy/social studies learning of several students as they moved through each grade from second to seventh. In her role as Assoc. Dean of Professional Studies, she is the leader for the School of Education ’s review for national accreditation by the Teacher Education Accreditation Council.
The ELA Core Curriculum as a Window into the ELA Assessments
(Also offered during Session 1)
Trudy Walp , Instructor, UAlbany Dept of Reading
In this workshop, participants will examine the recently revised performance indicators of the ELA Core Curriculum in order to develop insight and understanding about the ELA assessments. Some of the many ELA resources available to the field will also be examined in order to inform and support our efforts.
DAY 2 (June 29)
BEATING THE ODDS
Using testing in positive ways
CHECK IN ( 8:15 – 8:30 , Science Library Atrium)
BREAKFAST ( 8:30 – 9:00 , Standish Room)
KEYNOTE ( 9:00 – 11:00 , Standish Room)
Using testing in positive ways
BEATING THE ODDS: How schools use high stakes testing mandates in positive rather than negative ways
Judith Langer , Distinguished Professor, UAlbany Dept. of Educational Theory and Practice and Director, Center on English Learning & Achievement (CELA). In her keynote address, Langer will highlight some of the findings from her recent large-scale "Beating the Odds" study, which took place in 88 diverse middle and high school classes in 4 states. Langer will explain particular ways in which more successful schools respond to high stakes tests, enact professionalism, interact with community, and conduct instruction. Sh e w ill also offer a framework that teachers and administrators can use for self-reflection and growth.
Judith A. Langer is distinguished professor at UAlbany where she is a faculty member in the Department of Educational Theory and Practice and director of the National Research Center on English Learning and Achievement. She is also founder and director of the Albany Institute for Research in Education. Langer is an internationally recognized scholar who specializes in literacy, language learning and what schools can do to help students do well. On the one hand she is a theory builder, developing and testing out concepts such as how the literate mind works that can underlie how we target educational needs and educational reform. She also does research in schools to develop pedagogy that can improve education at the national, state and local levels, including what gets done on a daily basis in classrooms.
Her studies have had a tremendous effect on instruction as well as testing both across the United States and in other countries. She is consultant to many educational improvement efforts and many groups use her findings. Recently, the Annenberg/CPB Channel produced three separate television program series based on her work on literature. (One series has already been aired.) She has also been a long-term consultant to the National Assessment of Educational Progress and is former editor of Research in the Teaching of English.
She has won 18 awards and honors, including: Distinguished Professor, State University of New York (2002); State University of New York Chancellor’s Award for Exemplary Contributions to Research (2001); Distinguished Benton Fellow, University of Chicago (1999); Excellence in Research Award, University at Albany (1997); Fellow and Scholar in Residence, Rockefeller Foundation, Bellagio, Italy (1994); and Presidential Award for Lifetime Career Achievement, Hofstra (1992). Sh e w as recently inducted into the Reading Hall Of Fame and awarded honoris causis (honorary doctorate) by Uppsala University , Sweden .
Langer has published 10 books among them Language, Literacy, and Culture: Issues of Society and Schooling; How Writing Shapes Thinking: Studies of Teaching and Learning; Envisioning Literature: Literary Understanding and Literature Instruction; and Effective Literacy Instruction. Getting to Excellent: How to Create Better Schools was recently released.
BREAKOUT SESSION 3 ( 11:15 – 12:15 )
Making “Test-Prep” an Integral and Meaningful Part of the Literacy Curriculum (Part 1 of 2)
Eija Rougle , Senior Instructional & Professional Development Facilitator, School of Education’s Center on English Learning & Achievement (CELA)
Work with an experienced teacher and facilitator in CELA’s Partnership for Literacy to learn how to make current units and assignments serve the purpose of preparing students for the assessments -- not by stopping what you are doing but by strengthening it.
Eija Rougle , Ph.D. UAlbany, has been working with teachers of various subjects and at all levels, from kindergarten to high school, to help them improve instruction to foster higher literacy achievement for their students. Her specialty is using discussion to aid all learners in thinking deeply, making better sense of texts and th e w orld around them, and articulating their thinking in talk and in writing.
Classroom-Based Assessment in Grades K-6
Linda Carr, UAlbany Dept. of Reading
While the NYSED assessments provide an understanding of students' literacy and subject area development at one point in the school year, there are many other assessments that inform instructional decision-making. In this session, Linda Carr will share a range of assessments for instructional purposes and discuss the advantages and disadvantages of various forms of assessment.
WORKING LUNCH WITH SMALL GROUP DISCUSSIONS BY TEACHING EXPERIENCE ( 12:15 – 1:45 , Parent’s Fountain Garden Area)
BREAKOUT SESSION 4 ( 2 – 3 pm )
Making “Test-Prep” an Integral and Meaningful Part of the Literacy Curriculum (Part 2, Part 1 is in Session 3)
How to Know It When You See It: What Administrators Should Be Looking For?
Aosta Edelman , ELA Supervisor, Bethlehem Central Middle School
A session for building administrators and others with responsibility for classroom observation. An introduction to some of the essential elements of effective literacy instruction and a simple to use tool to us e w hen observing instruction. The tool, available for different grade levels, helps focus on how/whether instruction surfaces student thinking as well as th e w ork students are doing.
Aosta Edelman , M.S. UAlbany, was a reading teacher in grades 1-8 before becoming an English Language Arts Supervisor and she has taught English methods & elementary teaching methodology on the college-level. Ms. Edelman is also a Chapter Member Liaison for the upstate New York chapters of Phi Delta Kappa and a Steering Committee Member of the Capital District Association of Women Administrators.
The Arts and Literacy: Making Connections
Donna Beaudry & Leigh Strimbeck , Capital Region Center for Arts in Education
Learn how the Arts can help meet the NYS Learning Standards for English Language Arts. Elements of drama, dance, music, and visual arts can be successfully woven into Language Arts teaching and learning. Explore and discuss the use of authentic arts experiences and the creative process to build literacy in a meaningful way. Presenters will model activities and share examples of integrated units developed around specific works of art and various texts.
DAY 3 (June 30)
USING ASSESSMENT TO INFORM INSTRUCTION
Keeping track of what's important in student's
literacy development across the grades
CHECK IN ( 8:15 – 8:30 , Science Library Atrium)
BREAKFAST ( 8:30 – 9:00 , Standish Room)
KEYNOTE ( 9:00 – 11:00 , Standish Room)
Lessons Learned From University-School Collaborations
Sean Walmsley , Professor and Chair, UAlbany Dept. of Reading. In this talk, Dr. Walmsley will draw on two decades of experienc e w orking with New York State public schools to focus their assessment on what matters for students' literacy growth both for school and for life.
A native of Great Britain , Sean Walmsley , graduated from Trinity College Dublin with his BA and MA in History, and from Harvard University with his Ed.D in Reading . He has several years teaching experience in elementary and secondary schools in both England and the U.S. Since joining the UAlbany faculty, he has assumed a major role in broadening the department's mission to encompass all the language arts, and has made the integration of language arts a primary teaching and research focus. Dr. Walmsley became Chair of the Reading Department in 2001.
He is co-author of Teaching Kindergarten: A Developmentally-Appropriate Approach (Heinemann, 1992), author of Children Exploring Their World: Theme Teaching in Elementary School (Heinemann, 1994), co-editor of No Quick Fix: Rethinking Literacy Programs in America's Elementary Schools (TC Press/IRA, 1995), co-author of Kindergarten: Ready or Not? (Heinemann, 1996) and Teaching with Favorite Marc Brown Books (Scholastic, 1998). He is currently completing a book about reforming language arts, K-12, based on two decades working with school districts primarily in New York State, helping them to rethink their K-12 approach to language arts. His latest research project involves examining all the literacy assessments used with children from birth to kindergarten
BREAKOUT SESSION 5 ( 11:15 – 12:15 )
Classroom Assessments That Inform Instruction and Foster Literacy Learning and Achievement at all grade levels. (Part 1 of 2)
Eija Rougle , Senior Instructional & Professional Development Facilitator, School of Education’s Center on English Learning & Achievement (CELA)
The most effective teachers find out what their students are thinking and devise or select activities that will further develop that thinking. CELA’s Partnership for Literacy has developed a number of strategies and classroom activities that help teachers perform these essential tasks. These activities engage students, improve reading comprehension and classroom discussion, and foster student thinking and writing. They are effective on all grade levels as well as in the English language arts and other content area classes .
Assessment of Adolescent and Adult English Language Learners (Part 1 of 2)
George Kamberelis , Assoc. Professor, UAlbany Dept of Reading and Lenora de la Luna, Asst. Professor, Skidmore Dept. of Educational Studies
Hands –on workshop focusing on both initial assessments and placement, as well as ongoing assessment in the context of the learning-teaching-assessment cycles.
WORKING LUNCH WITH SMALL GROUP DISCUSSIONS BY GRADE LEVEL
( 12:15 – 1:45 , Parent’s Fountain Garden Area)
BREAKOUT SESSION 6 ( 2 – 3 pm )
Classroom Assessments That Inform Instruction and Foster Literacy Learning and Achievement at all grade levels. (Part 2, Part 1 is in Session 5)
Assessment of Adolescent and Adult English Language Learners
(Part 2, Part 1 is in Session 5)
