Learning Opportunities

This workshop will provide an opportunity for teachers to build a shared understanding of the standards as illustrated in sample student responses from a recent large administration of the ELA 30-1 and 30-2 Diploma Examinations. The workshop will consist of two concurrent sessions, one for ELA 30-1 and one for ELA 30-2.

The ELA 30-1 group will read and discuss illustrative problematic written responses, as well as those that demonstrate the declination between levels of performance in order to clarify the language of the examination rubric. In keeping with Wiggins and McTighe’s Understanding by Design, participants will discuss scaffolding text study and the importance of metacognition as illustrated by the choices students make when responding to both ELA 30-1 Part A assignments. In addition, participants will have a better understanding of the process of standards confirmation and marking procedures such as reliability reviews.

The ELA 30-2 group will read and discuss examples of student writing on all three assignments at the various levels of performance. In addition, participants will discuss the common features of effective approaches to the assignments. Teachers will be given the opportunity to train with the scoring rubrics and will examine and mark examples of student work. The emphasis of this session will be on supporting teachers’ assessments of the outcomes of the EnglishLanguage Arts Program of Studies.