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Overview of Teacher Work Sample (TWS) The VisionSuccessful teacher candidates support learning by designing a Teacher Work Sample that employs a range of strategies and builds on each student’s strengths, needs, and prior experiences. Through this performance assessment, teacher candidates provide credible evidence of their ability to facilitate learning by meeting the following TWS standards: • The teacher uses information about the learning-teaching context and student individual differences to set learning goals and plan instruction and assessment. • The teacher sets significant, challenging, varied, and appropriate learning goals. • The teacher uses multiple assessment modes and approaches aligned with learning goals to assess student learning before, during, and after instruction. • The teacher designs instruction for specific learning goals, student characteristics and needs, and learning contexts. • The teacher uses regular and systematic evaluations of student learning to make instructional decisions. • The teacher uses assessment data to profile student learning and communicate information about student progress and achievement. • The teacher reflects on his or her instruction and student learning in order to improve teaching practice.
Your AssignmentThe TWS contains seven teaching processes identified by research and best practice as fundamental to improving student learning. Each Teaching Process is followed by a TWS Standard, the Task, a Prompt, and a Rubric that defines various levels of performance on the standard. The Standards and Rubrics will be used to evaluate your TWS. The Prompts (or directions) help you document the extent to which you have met each the standard. The underlined words in the Rubric and Prompts are defined in the Glossary.
You are required to teach a comprehensive unit. Before you teach the unit, you will describe contextual factors, identify learning goals based on your state or district content standards, create an assessment plan designed to measure student performance before (pre-assessment), during (formative assessment) and after (post-assessment), and plan for your instruction. After you teach the unit, you will analyze student learning and then reflect upon and evaluate your teaching as related to student learning.
Format• Ownership. Complete a cover page that includes (a) your name, (b) date submitted, (c) grade level taught, (d) subject taught, (d) your university, (e) course number and title. Write a three-letter university code plus a four-digit student identification code on each page of the entire document. • Table of Contents. Provide a Table of Contents that lists the sections and attachments in your TWS document with page numbers. • Charts, graphs and attachments. Charts, graphs and assessment instruments are required as part of the
TWS document. You may also want to provide other attachments, such as student work. However, you should be very selective and make sure your attachments provide clear, concise evidence of your performance related to TWS standards and your students’ learning progress. • Narrative length. A suggested page length for your narrative is given at the end of each component section. You have some flexibility of length across components, but the total length of your written narrative (excluding charts, graphs, attachments and references) should not exceed twenty (20) word-processed pages, double-spaced in 12-point font, with 1-inch margins. • References and Credits (not included in total page length). If you referred to another person’s ideas or material in your narrative, you should cite these in a separate section at the end of your narrative under References and Credits. You may use any standard form for references; however, the American Psychological Association (APA) style is a recommended format (explained in the manual entitled “Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association”). • Anonymity. In order to insure the anonymity of students in your class, do not include any student names or identification in any part of your TWS.
Contextual Factors
TWS Standard The teacher uses information about the learning-teaching context and student individual differences to set learning goals and plan instruction and assessment.
Task Discuss relevant factors and how they may affect the teaching-learning process. Include any supports and challenges that affect instruction and student learning.
Prompt In your discussion, include: • Community, district and school factors. Address geographic location, community and school population, socio-economic profile and race/ethnicity. You might also address such things as stability of community, political climate, community support for education, and other environmental factors. • Classroom factors. Address physical features, availability of technology equipment and resources and the extent of parental involvement. You might also discuss other relevant factors such as classroom rules and routines, grouping patterns, scheduling and classroom arrangement. • Student characteristics. Address student characteristics you must consider as you design instruction and assess learning. Include factors such as age, gender, race/ethnicity, special needs, achievement/developmental levels, culture, language, interests, learning styles/modalities or students’ skill levels. In your narrative, make sure you address student’s skills and prior learning that may influence the development of your learning goals, instruction and assessment. • Instructional implications. Address how contextual characteristics of the community, classroom and students have implications for instructional planning and assessment. Include specific instructional implications for at least two characteristics and any other factors that will influence how you plan and implement your unit.
Suggested Page Length: 1-2
Learning Goals
TWS Standard The teacher sets significant, challenging, varied and appropriate learning goals.
Task Provide and justify the learning goals for the unit.
Prompt • List the learning goals (not the activities) that will guide the planning, delivery and assessment of your unit. These goals should define what you expect students to know and be able to do at the end of the unit. The goals should be significant (reflect the big ideas or structure of the discipline) challenging, varied and appropriate. Number or code each learning goal so you can reference it later. • Show how the goals are aligned with local, state, or national standards. (identify the source of the standards). • Describe the types and levels of your learning goals. • Discuss why your learning goals are appropriate in terms of development; pre-requisite knowledge, skills; and other student needs.
Suggested Page Length: 1-2
Assessment Plan TWS Standard The teacher uses multiple assessment modes and approaches aligned with learning goals to assess student learning before, during and after instruction.
Task Design an assessment plan to monitor student progress toward learning goal(s). Use multiple assessment modes and approaches aligned with learning goals to assess student learning before, during, and after instruction. These assessments should authentically measure student learning and may include performance-based tasks, paper-and-pencil tasks, or personal communication. Describe why your assessments are appropriate for measuring learning.
Prompt • Provide an overview of the assessment plan. For each learning goal include: assessments used to judge student performance, format of each assessment, and adaptations of the assessments for the individual needs of students based on pre-assessment and contextual factors. The purpose of this overview is to depict the alignment between learning goals and assessments and to show adaptations to meet the individual needs of students or contextual factors. You may use a visual organizer such as a table, outline or other means to make your plan clear. • Describe the pre- and post-assessments that are aligned with your learning goals. Clearly explain how you will evaluate or score pre- and post-assessments, including criteria you will use to determine if the students’ performance meets the learning goals. Include copies of assessments, prompts, and/or student directions and criteria for judging student performance (e.g., scoring rubrics, observation checklist, rating scales, item weights, test blueprint, answer key). • Discuss your plan for formative assessment that will help you determine student progress during the unit. Describe the assessments you plan to use to check on student progress and comment on the importance of collecting that particular evidence. Although formative assessment may change as you are teaching the unit, your task here is to predict at what points in your teaching it will be important to assess students’ progress toward learning goals.
Design for Instruction TWS Standard The teacher designs instruction for specific learning goals, student characteristics and needs, and learning contexts.
Task Describe how you will design your unit instruction related to unit goals, students’ characteristics and needs, and the specific learning context.
Prompt • Results of pre-assessment. After administering the pre-assessment, analyze student performance relative to the learning goals. Depict the results of the pre-assessment in a format that allows you to find patterns of student performance relative to each earning goal. You may use a table, graph, or chart. Describe the pattern you find that will guide your instruction or modification of the learning goals. • Unit overview. Provide an overview of your unit. Use a visual organizer such as a block plan or outline to make your unit plan clear. Include the topic or activity you are planning for each day/period. Also indicate the goal or goals (coded from your Learning Goals section) that you are addressing in each activity. Make sure that every goal is addressed by at least one activity and that every activity relates to at least one goal. • Activities. Describe at least three unit activities that reflect a variety of instructional strategies/techniques and explain why you are planning those specific activities. In your explanation for each activity, include:
- how the content relates to your instructional goal(s), - how the activity stems from your pre-assessment information and contextual factors, - what materials/technology you will need to implement the activity, and - how you plan to assess student learning during and/or following the activity (i.e., formative assessment).
• Technology. Describe how you will use technology in your planning and/or instruction. If you do not plan to use any form of technology, provide your clear rationale for its omission.
Suggested Page Length: 3 + visual organizer
Instructional Decision-Making TWS Standard The teacher uses on-going analysis of student learning to make instructional decisions.
Task Provide two examples of instructional decision-making based on students’ learning or responses.
Prompt • Think of a time during your unit when a student’s learning or response caused you to modify your original design for instruction. (The resulting modification may affect other students as well.) Cite specific evidence to support your answers to the following: • Describe the student’s learning or response that caused you to rethink your plans. The student’s learning or response may come from a planned formative assessment or another source (not the pre-assessment). • Describe what you did next and explain why you thought this would improve student progress toward the learning goal. • Now, think of one more time during your unit when another student’s learning or response caused you to modify a different portion of your original design for instruction. (The resulting modification may affect other students as well.) Cite specific evidence to support your answers to the following: - Describe the student’s learning or response that caused you to rethink your plans. The student’s learning or response may come from a planned formative assessment or another source (not the pre-assessment). - Describe what you did next and explain why you thought this would improve student progress toward the learning goal.
Suggested Page Length: 3-4
Analysis of Student Learning TWS Standard The teacher uses assessment data to profile student learning and communicate information about student progress and achievement.
Task Analyze your assessment data, including pre/post assessments and formative assessments to determine students’ progress related to the unit learning goals. Use visual representations and narrative to communicate the performance of the whole class, subgroups, and two individual students. Conclusions drawn from this analysis should be provided in the “Reflection and Self-Evaluation” section.
Prompt In this section, you will analyze data to explain progress and achievement toward learning goals demonstrated by your whole class, subgroups of students, and individual students. • Whole class. To analyze the progress of your whole class, create a table that shows pre- and post-assessment data on every student on every learning goal. Then, create a graphic summary that shows the extent to which your students made progress (from pre- to post-) toward the learning criterion that you identified for each learning goal (identified in your Assessment Plan section). Summarize what the graph tells you about your students' learning in this unit (i.e., the number of students met the criterion). • Subgroups. Select a group characteristic (e.g., gender, performance level, socio-economic status, language proficiency) to analyze in terms of one learning goal. Provide a rationale for your selection of this characteristic to form subgroups (e.g., girls vs. boys; high- vs. middle- vs. low-performers). Create a graphic representation that compares pre- and post-assessment results for the subgroups on this learning goal. Summarize what these data show about student learning. • Individuals. Select two students that demonstrated different levels of performance. Explain why it is important to understand the learning of these particular students. Use pre-, formative, and post-assessment data with examples of the students’ work to draw conclusions about the extent to which these students attained the two learning goals. Graphic representations are not necessary for this subsection.
Note: You will provide possible reasons for why your students learned (or did not learn) in the next section, “Reflection and Response.”
Suggested Page Length: 4 + charts and student work examples
Reflection and Response
TWS Standard The teacher analyzes the relationship between his or her instruction and student learning in order to improve teaching practice.
Task Reflect on your performance as a teacher and link your performance to student learning results. Evaluate your performance and identify future actions for improved practice and professional growth.
Prompt • Select the learning goal where your students were most successful. Provide two or more possible reasons for this success. Consider your goals, instruction, and assessment along with student characteristics and other contextual factors under your control. • Select the learning goal where your students were least successful. Provide two or more possible reasons for this lack of success. Consider your goals, instruction, and assessment along with student characteristics and other contextual factors under your control. Discuss what you could do differently or better in the future to improve your students’ performance. • Reflection on possibilities for professional development. Describe at least two professional learning goals that emerged from your insights and experiences with the TWS. Identify two specific steps you will take to improve your performance in the critical area(s) you identified.
Suggested Page Length: 2
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