Running Head: CELEBRATING INQUIRY

Celebrating Inquiry

Week One Assignment

Nermin H. Fialkowski

National University

ATP 699- Captstone/Portfolio

Dr. Terry Bustillos

April 8th, 2019

CELEBRATING INQUIRY
Initial Practitioner Inquiry: Document the
questions you had at the end of ATP 600.
Refer to your Showcase.
Mid Specialization revision: What revision
did you make to your line of inquiry based
upon your initial 2 Specialization courses?
Refer to your Showcase.
Final Specialization revision: What was your
final line of inquiry?
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Core Specialization: Assessment Elective Specialization: Instruction
• What are the elements of an effective • What are the instructional strategies used
assessment? to foster active learning?
• How can higher Depth of Knowledge • What factors motivate students to produce
questions be used in assessment, to work?
increase rigor?
Through this specialization, I learned the My inquiry for fostering active learning and
difference between summative and formative increasing student motivation focused on the
assessment. Summative assessment verifies use of differentiated instruction in the
or judges a students’ learning, while formative
classroom. Differentiated instruction meets
assessment supports students’ learning. My the needs of all students, with various
focused was then placed on using formative readiness levels, which include: knowledge,
assessment in the classroom as a way to experiences, interests, and learning styles.
monitor and support student learning. The purpose of differentiated instruction is to
During my studies, I also discovered some provide all students with access to the content.
alarming information, more than 60% of all Tomlinson (2001) describes a differentiated
community college students in California are classroom as providing students various
placed into remedial classes (Shelton & avenues to connect with the content, make
Brown, 2010). This information then placed sense of ides, develop products, and learn
my focus on college and career readiness; effectively. “The intent is to maximize each
even though students are graduating high student's growth and individual success by
school, they are not entering higher educationmeeting each student where he or she is . . .
with the fundamentals knowledge and skills rather than expecting students to modify
needed to succeed. themselves for the curriculum” (Ariss, et al.,
2017, p. 79).
• How can I use formative assessment in the • How can students’ mathematical
classroom to produce relevant information achievement be increased through
about student learning over time? differentiated instruction?
• How can I engage students in the • How can differentiated instruction be used
assessment process? to motivate students in the classroom?
CELEBRATING INQUIRY
Share your specific findings from your line
of inquiry in your Specialization by
completing the categories below:
Background Information: Share the context
of your study, including any shifts you made
based upon course materials, mentor
discussions and/or personal experiences.
When I started my inquiry process, my focus
was on identifying the elements of an
effective assessment. I soon discovered two
forms of assessment, summative and
formative. Formative assessments are a
balanced and coherent assessment system.
They provide information that can be used as
feedback to modify teaching and learning.
Formative assessments help form and shape
student learning during the learning process.
This assessment form focuses on how students
understand material, not on what they
understand. The purpose of formative
assessment is to close the gap between
students’ current learning situation and where
they want to be with their learning and
achievement. Moving forward, I am now
curious about how to implement more
formative assessments in the classroom as a
way to shape ongoing classroom instruction,
while complying with state accountably
decisions. What methods can formative be
used to support coherent assessment levels
that align with same learning targets across
classrooms and the state?
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Early in this specialization, I learned about the
neuroscience of the brain. How the brain
works when learning and how people produce
work- brain based learning. Our brains have
the ability to mold and change over time due
to experiences. In being able to actually able
to change and influence one’s brain by
learning, genetic material is altered (Jensen,
2005)! Then in terms of motivation, I learned
about a Growth Mindset. Through the lens of
a Growth Mindset students learn that their
mathematical skills and abilities can be built.
Their focus then becomes on the progress
made by getting better, versus performance
outcomes. With the four keys being: effort,
challenges, mistakes, and feedback (Ragan,
2016). I was then introduced to the
importance of having clear learning targets.
With the use of clear learning targets in the
class, students have a clear understanding and
know the expectations of their learning.
When students know what is expected from
them and have a clear understanding of how
to demonstrate that they have learned the
content, they are more motivated to attempt
and complete their work. And lastly, in
allowing students to learn and demonstrate
their understanding, differentiated instruction
works in addressing students’ individual
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learning styles, needs, and abilities. The

Study Design: Share what you did and how
you did it.
Initially, in my first course, I learned that
more than 60% of all community college
students in California are placed into remedial
classes (Shelton & Brown, 2010). Shortly
thereafter, I learned that unfortunately, my
school site follows trend with this data.
Looking at the 2017-2018 school year, 70%
of the students at my school site met the A-G
requirements, but only 11% met or exceeded
the SBAC Mathematics Standards.
With this information, I focused my attention
on the nature of summative and formative
assessments. I also learned about the history
of the Elementary and Secondary Education
Act of 1965, in which high-stakes exams
came about. I reached, found articles, and
read about assessment results are not fully
indicative of teaching and/or student ability. I
also learned about “curriculum-teaching” and
“item-teaching” (Popham, 2001). And in
order to address the large discrepancy in
student achievement between high school
graduation rates and college/career readiness,
purpose of differentiated instruction is to
provide all students with access to the content.
Tomlinson (2001) describes a differentiated
classroom as providing students various
avenues to connect with the content, make
sense of ides, develop products, and learn
effectively.
In learning about different learning styles and
differentiated instruction, I provided my
students with various different opportunities
to interact with content and allowed them to
demonstrate their learning in a modality that
best suited their needs.
One of the first things I did in my instruction
was place students into groups based on their
learning styles and their competence level,
using a community of learners design. The
first step in building a community of learners
is to understand each individual student as a
learner. Understand their strengths and
weaknesses.
To provide structure to the community of
learners, students are given group roles to
help contribute to the learning process. There
are four main group roles, facilitator, resource
manager, recorder/reporter, and task manager.
In these groups students are able to “discuss,
share ideas, and articulate their thinking”
(“Using Team Roles,” n.d.). Additionally,
CELEBRATING INQUIRY
there needs to be a balanced assessment
system that yields useful information for a
variety of educational purposes (Trumbull &
Lash, 2013).
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students are able to “make connections to
different ideas through their communication
with [other] students who see things
differently, and are encouraged by their peers
to put their ideas into word” (“Using Team
Roles,” n.d.).
For students to demonstrate their learning, I
differentiated my modes for informally
assessing their knowledge. Including having
students orally communicate their
understanding. Another example was having
students create their own function graphs
based off various limit statements. Each
graph would be unique but maintain the same
set of criteria.
Then, in creating effective lessons that
increase student motivation, engagement, and
enhance learning experiences, through
Universal Design for Learning (UDL) I
focused on clear learning targets. The
purpose of UDL has an emphasis on
“learning” not just on teaching. It is
understood that a student has learned and
understood the content when they are able to
transfer their knowledge. The six facets of
understanding include: explain, interpret,
apply, shift perspective, empathize, and self-
assess (Wiggins & McTighe, 2011).
CELEBRATING INQUIRY
Findings: Share statements of learning and
provide the evidence for each of your
statements.
Currently high-stakes exams are not linked
closely enough to classroom instruction and
curriculum (Trumbull & Lash, 2013). The
misalignment of standardized tests, college
placement exams, and classroom assessments
deals with the invalidity of associating
educational quality to standardized
achievement test scores (Popham, 1999).
This demonstrates that assessment results are
not fully indicative of a teacher’s and/or
student’s ability.
What the educational system needs is an
assessment system that yields useful
information for a variety of educational
purposes. These educational purposes include
the ability to shape ongoing instruction in
classroom and for the state to include
accountability decisions. Additionally, this
assessment system needs to be coherent in
which levels align with same learning goals
across classrooms and state.
The best way to implement curriculum-
teaching to support student learning and
understanding is by having strong curriculum
content that is aligned with the standards
associated with the high-stakes exams. And
to do this, educators must really study and
identify their content standards in order to
identify and classify learning targets.
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Aside from different learning styles, students
also come to class with various prior
knowledge levels, which differ in three major
categories: readiness levels, interests, and
learning profile. Students’ readiness levels
are not related to their intelligence. The
teacher’s goal is fill in students’ knowledge
gaps (Castaneda, 2012). Many of students’
learning problems are not related to
intelligence, but to a gap between concrete
and abstract information (Hoffman, 2012).
The best way to address this gap is to help
train the brain to grasp abstract concepts by
improving the brain’s processing skills.
Improving student’s processing skills relates
to finding a happy medium between tasks that
maybe too difficult/easy for one student. The
Zone of Proximal Development summaries
this well, “students must reach to learn, but
not stretch” (Tomlinson, 2012).
Differentiated readiness supports students’
learning profiles which encompasses how
students process information. Through
differentiated readiness, it is the teacher’s goal
to help all students work towards the same
outcome, but with different degrees of
complexity, with different kinds of
scaffolding (Castaneda, 2012). Students’
interests contribute greatly to their motivation.
And when students’ motivation to learn is
increased, their achievement also increases.
CELEBRATING INQUIRY
Concluding Thoughts: Based on what you
learned and your findings, what ideas do you
have for moving forward? What more could
you do?
What do you wonder about now?
After reflection on both lines of inquiry,
what do you most want to make public?
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So being familiar with students’ interests and
prior knowledge is vital to their academic
success.
I have learned through this program, that I want to be best prepare my high school students for
higher education. But unfortunately, I have found data that shows that students are not
college/career ready.
Moving forward, I want to merge my knowledge about instruction and assessment to help close
the gap between high school graduation rates and college/career readiness. I will create a
presentation to share with my fellow math colleagues and PLC Planning Committee, in which I
describe and implement strategies and techniques of instruction and assessment to support
student learning and comprehension. These strategies and techniques include: having clear
learning targets, curriculum-teaching, universal design for learning, descriptive and specific
feedback, and the use of formative assessments.
• How can involving students in the • What techniques for clear learning targets
reflection process of their learning can I implement into my instruction so
increase content that I can motivate students and increase
knowledge/understanding? assessment achievement?
• How can I create an assessment
system/teaching environment that has a
strong content curriculum that is aligned
with state standards (“curriculum-
teaching”)?
• What assessment strategies can be used in
the classroom to best address the
misalignment between high school
graduation rates and college/career
readiness?
As a high school teacher, this program has helped me develop an interest in getting students
prepared for higher education. What I want to make public is the large discrepancy of student
achievement between high school graduation rates and college/career readiness. More than
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60% of all community college students in California are placed into remedial classes (Shelton
& Brown, 2010). This high rate of remediation suggests that there is a widespread lack of
college preparation among recent high school graduates. Although students are
underperforming in standardized tests, it does not mean they are not successful in their high
school career. Students are still meeting the minimum course requirements for university
admission but are placed into remedial classes.

In making this information public, I will create a presentation, for my fellow math colleagues
at my site, as well as my site’s PLC Planning Committee. I will share the alarming data about
college/career readiness. I will address this issue by identifying the misalignment of
standardized tests, college placement exams, and classroom assessments. This misalignment
happens because high-stakes exams are not linked closely enough to classroom instruction and
curriculum. I will share strategies and techniques to implement as apart of instruction and
assessment to support student learning and comprehension. These strategies and techniques
include: having clear learning targets, curriculum-teaching, universal design for learning,
descriptive and specific feedback, and the use of formative assessments.
CELEBRATING INQUIRY 9

Resources
Castaneda, R. (2012, July 10). Readiness on Differentiated Instructions. [Video file].

Retrieved from: https://youtu.be/MMvCd5Xafag

Jensen, E., (2005). Teaching with the Brain in Mind. Alexandria, VA: Aassociation for

Supervision & Curriculum Development.

Popham, W. J. (2001). Teaching to the Test? Educational Leadership, 58(6), 16-20.

Popham, W.J. (1999). Why Standardized Test Don’t Measure Educational Quality.

Educational Leadership, 56(6), 8-15.

Ragan, T. (2016, November 6). Growth Mindset Introduction: What it is, How it Works, and

Why it Matters. [Video file]. Retrieved from: https://youtu.be/75GFzikmRY0

Shelton, A., & Brown, R. (2010). Measuring the Alignment of High School and Community

College Math Assessments. Journal of Applied Research in the Community

College, 18(1), 6-15.

Tomlinson, C.A. (2001). How To Differentiate Instruction In Mixed-Ability Classrooms (2nd

Ed). Alexandria, VA: Aassociation for Supervision & Curriculum Development.

Trumbull, E., & Lash, A. (2013). Understanding Formative Assessment: Insights from Learning

Theory and Measurement Theory. San Franscisco: WestEd.

Using Team Roles. (n.d.). College Preparatory Mathematics. [PDF file]. Retrieved from:

https://pdfs.cpm.org/studyTeam/Using_Team_Roles_with_Study_Teams.pdf
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Wiggins, G., & McTighe, J. (2011). The Understanding by Design Guide to Creating High

Quality Units. Alexandria, VA: Aassociation for Supervision & Curriculum

Development.