LDC Core Tools

The new LDC student work rubrics for 2016-17, created by the Stanford Center for Assessment, Learning, and Equity (SCALE), are now available for any Tasks teachers build in LDC CoreTools. These innovative rubrics have been field tested and studied for validity and reliability.

For the first time, teachers can now quickly and easily create rubrics that are specifically aligned to the exact content and standards in the Tasks they are building for their students. 
This new functionality can be found in the LDC CoreTools module editor to enable users to take full advantage of these exciting, innovative rubrics, which have been field tested and studied for validity and reliability.

Check out the video below to see a demonstration of how the new rubrics work:

Key Features

• The new “base” student work rubrics are specifically designed to assess the reading and writing that students do in response to opinion/argumentation or informational/explanatory Tasks, and are aligned to appropriate reading and writing standards within the following grade-bands:
• Kindergarten
• 1st Grade
• 2nd Grade
• 3rd Grade
• 4-5th Grades
• 6-8th Grades
• 9-12th Grades

• The above rubrics come with the following default scoring dimensions:
• Controlling Idea/Topic
• Selection/Citation of Evidence
• Development/Explanation of Sources
• Organization
• Conventions

• Teachers now may remove any of the above dimensions from their rubric, if appropriate.

• Teachers may now add an “Additional Task Demands” dimension if their Task includes any additional demands that they need to assess.
• In addition to a “generic” Content Understanding dimension (the default from the old rubrics), teachers now may select one or more discipline-specific Content Understanding dimensions to their rubric as appropriate. Currently, dozens of options are available from the following sources for all base rubrics across all grade levels K-12:
• Science: built from the NGSS (1) Science & Engineering Practices; (2) Cross-Cutting Concepts; (3) Core Ideas (by assessing student work against a specific NGSS content standard that the Task is built from)
• Social Studies: built from the C3 Framework’s (1) History/Social Science Practices; (2) Disciplinary Concepts; (3) Core Ideas (by assessing student work against a specific social studies content standard that the Task is built from)
• ELA and other disciplines: Coming very soon are specific rubric dimensions aligned to each and every CCSS standard for reading informational and literary texts for grades K-12; for now, these teachers can use either the generic content understanding dimension or select a focus standard and score students against that using the option referenced above created for science/social studies “Core Idea”.

Resources

Some additional resources for support:

• SCALE rationale for new rubrics
• See screencast demo
• Screenshots of the rubrics in action:
• Rubric fragment in “edit” mode
• Rubric fragment in “view” mode
• Customized rubric exported to PDF

For any questions, comments, or feedback, please contact us at info@ldc.org.

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student work rubrics

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LDC CoreTools

Reading NonFiction

Teachers from around Delaware learned more about strategies to help students read Nonfiction material in a way that engages and excites. 

Here's a quote from the authors Beers and Probst:

“When students recognize that nonfiction ought to challenge us, ought to slow us down and make us think, then they’re more likely to become close readers.” That means we need to help them question texts, authors, and, ultimately, their own thinking. No matter the content area, with Reading Nonfiction’s classroom-tested suggestions, you’ll lead kids toward skillful and responsible disciplinary literacy.

Picking up where their smash hit Notice & Note left off, Kylene Beers and Bob Probst write: “Fiction invites us into the writer’s imagined world; nonfiction intrudes into ours and purports to tell us something about it.” This crucial difference increases the responsibility of the nonfiction reader, so Kylene and Bob have developed interlocking scaffolds that every student can use to go beyond a superficial reading:

• 3 essential questions that set students up for closer, more attentive readings of nonfiction texts
• 5 Notice & Note nonfiction signposts that cue kids to apply the skills and processes that sophisticated readers use instinctively
• 7 proven strategies readers can use to clear up confusions when the text gets tough.

We all know the value of helping students define nonfiction and understand its text structures. Reading Nonfiction goes the next crucial step—helping kids challenge the claims of nonfiction authors, be challenged by them, and skillfully and rigorously make up their mind about purported truths.

What Research Says About Cursive

Why not cursive?

It's linked to the Common Core. Read HERE from Ed Weekly what research says. 

I Never Thought of Us That Way

The German Teachers visited on Thursday. They toured Cape Henlopen High School and then had socials with the staff and their hosts.  As part of all of it, I was ready to learn and to share.

I was not ready to flip my perspective, take of my sunshades, deeply develop theories of cultural, and become so in tune with my new friends.

First, they were completely gaga over the CHHS building.  "It's just so enormous.  A beautiful building!  Nothing like this in Germany! Such friendly students. The staff was confident and so professional!"

They were amazed at the mixture of sports and academics.  Football! Soccer! Hockey! Volleyball! All in school!  They loved the choral group - sounded so finely tuned and the theater performance that was top notch. They were awed by the mixture of special needs students into the fabric of everyday life.

Susan and Rita, my German guests, opened up at dinner and explained that theirs was a system of education that was very academically driven, and testing dependent.  Their schools were held in mainly older buildings that went from grades 6-12 with large classes and an emphasis on achievement in languages, sciences, social studies, math and religion.  Teachers work long hours and often take work home on the weekend.  Parents were demanding but students generally were cooperative and respectful.  Teachers pay, not so much, was dependent upon the state government.

There are issues here, I offered.  We discussed racism, gun violence, drugs and homophobia. These are issues that touch our students and staff everyday.   To hear them talk about these very same issues in their country was provocative. We stayed up late and in the end we decided that we were so much more similar than different. Both Germany and the United States shared a high level of educated citizens, large manufacturing and business success globally, leaders in world peace and defenders of democracy.  Our friendship ignited over common beliefs and similar world views.

I never would have thought of us this way. What a difference a day makes if it is with teachers from another country who just happen to be amazed at the place that I had forgotten is so amazing.