Acceleration VRemediation.

Outcomes: Motivating Students!!!• Compare and contrast acceleration and remediation.

Think about a class you took that posed significant challenges for you.

List 3 words or phrases that describe the experience.

How does our school serve students who arrive with significant academic gaps?

How does our approach affect those students’ motivation?

Remediation Leads to Decreased Motivation

• Remediation is based on the misconception that for students to learn new information, they must go back and master everything they missed. (p. 5)• Remediation pounds away at the past. (p. 4)

What is Acceleration?• Strategically prepares students for success in the present-this week,

this content.• Focused activities that prepare students for new learning.• Jump starts underperforming students into learning new concepts

before their classmates even begin. Levels the playing field.• Teachers (gen ed, spec ed, intervention) work collaboratively to

determine the prior knowledge/skills that will best help students grasp the upcoming standard.• Basic skills are still taught but in the context of the new material and

never in isolation.• Prior Knowledge is largely connected to vocabulary –making

introduction of new vocabulary a key step.

Why Does Acceleration Work?• Students self confidence and engagement increase• Academic progress is evident to the students• Students see real world relevance and purpose• Critical vocab, including what the words look and sound like, is

provided• Students are taught the basic skills and the new skills needed for

the learning in which they are about to be involved• Students can see the big picture of where instruction is going

Acceleration• Readies students for new learning.• A crucial aspect of the acceleration model is putting key prior

knowledge into place so that students have something to connect new information to. (p. 7)• Students in an acceleration program receive both instruction

in prior knowledge and remediation of prerequisite skills that, if missing may create barriers to the learning process. (p.7)

How Does Acceleration Work?

1. Generate thinking, purpose, relevance and curiosity–p.112. Clearly articulate the learning goal and expectations-p. 133. Scaffold and practice essential prerequisite skills-p. 134. Introduce new vocabulary and review prior vocabulary-p. 15 5. Dig into the new concept-p.166. Conduct formative assessment frequently-p.17

Step 1: Generate thinking, purpose, relevance and curiosity

• 1-2 days prior to lesson students are given a thought-provoking hands-on activity that reflects the big idea of the standard. [often in pairs or small groups]• Inquiry based approach –attempts to provide relevance.• Discussion time –what might this look like in your subject area?• Math –surface area scavenger hunt; picture book about fractions• Science –watch weather report, record vocab used;• Social Studies –use adjectives to describe images on a topic; develop their

own Bill of Rights• ELA–cartoon that uses alliteration, list examples; jigsaw the parts of an essay

Step2. Clearly articulate the learning goal and expectations

• Simply posting a standard is rarely successful because students tend not to be written in student-friendly language.• Should reflect the I Can that will be used in the core class.• Without specific goals, students can lose sight of the purpose of

learning and class becomes a blur of activities instead of a logical progression that leads to an important goal.

Step 3. Scaffold and practice essential prerequisite skills

• Students could master the new standard if they just knew_____________________. (again, dependent upon collaboration among staff)• Enable the student to access the rigor of the standard.• Take a moment to think of a way you might scaffold using the

essential skill or knowledge you identified.

Step 4. Introduce new vocabulary and review prior vocabulary

• This is where the achievement gaps begin. Gaps in prior knowledge are largely related to vocabulary. (Marzano, 2004)

• High numbers of new academic words enter their worlds daily. (about 8,000 by gr. 12, more than half in Social Studies)• Reading practice alone is not enough to develop a strong

vocabulary.• Lack of ability to use context clues• Unable to read rigorous material (importance of ZPD)• Uninterested in content area reading material

Step 5. Dig into the new concept• Guided practice with the standard –whiteboards for math,

using a rubric to score writing samples, flashcards??• Keep it achievable and engaging.• Game format? Group work?•Must include a solid process of checking for understanding.• Give kids a sense of “I know something about that”.

Step 6. Conduct formative assessment frequently

• Formative assessment helps teachers see where students are and where they need to go next.• Allows for immediate feedback to the student.• Provides students with a visual they’ve created in response

to a prompt.

What steps will we need to take to implement acceleration?

Consider:Identifying studentsMonitoring studentsScheduling

Determining Placement in Acceleration Classes• Compile data on one spreadsheet.• Administer maze passages to determine possible students that need

acceleration.• Administer running records to identified students.• Question students – Do you like school? Why or why not?

Favorite subject? Least favorite subject? Why or why not? How do you feel about yourself as a reader? Biggest problem in reading?

• Group students into acceleration classes.• Use data meetings to monitor progress in students’ regular classes.