Twadell Eric - Proficiency-Based Instruction

PROFICIENCY-BASED

INSTRUCTION

rethinking lesson design and delivery

Copyright 2019 by Solution Tree Press

Materials appearing here are copyrighted. With one exception, all rights are reserved. Readers may reproduce only those pages marked Reproducible. Otherwise, no part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means (electronic, photocopying, recording, or otherwise) without prior written permission of the publisher.

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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Names: Twadell, Eric, author.

Title: Proficiency-based instruction : rethinking lesson design and delivery / Eric Twadell, Mark Onuscheck, Anthony R. Reibel, and Troy Gobble.

Description: Bloomington, Indiana : Solution Tree Press, [2019] | Includes bibliographical references and index.

Identifiers: LCCN 2018050760 | ISBN 9781947604179 (perfect bound)

Subjects: LCSH: Competency-based education.

Classification: LCC LC1031 .T93 2019 | DDC 371.3028--dc23 LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2018050760

Solution Tree

Jeffrey C. Jones, CEO

Edmund M. Ackerman, President

Solution Tree Press

President and Publisher: Douglas M. Rife

Associate Publisher: Sarah Payne-Mills

Art Director: Rian Anderson

Managing Production Editor: Kendra Slayton

Senior Production Editor: Christine Hood

Content Development Specialist: Amy Rubenstein

Copy Editor: Miranda Addonizio

Proofreader: Sarah Ludwig

Text and Cover Designer: Rian Anderson

Editorial Assistant: Sarah Ludwig

The authors intend to donate all of their royalties to the Stevenson High School Foundation.

Dedication

To the faculty and staff of Adlai E. Stevenson High School. We stand in awe of your relentless pursuit of our mission of Success for Every Student.

Acknowledgments

A s friends and colleagues, we often find ourselves expressing how grateful we are to work at Adlai E. Stevenson High School in Lincolnshire, Illinois. While others refer to Stevenson as the birthplace of the PLC movement, we simply refer to it as home. We are blessed to work with an administrative team that is constantly looking to improve our collective work and a board of education that includes: Steve Frost, Dave Weisberg, Terry Moons, Gary Gorson, Sunit Jain, Heena Agrawal, and Amy Neault. These remarkable leaders continue to hold us all to high expectations and push us toward our mission of Success for Every Student. They demand that we should want for all students what we would want for our own students. It is our absolute privilege to serve a community and board of education that puts students and their learning at the heart of their decision making.

While we certainly have some responsibility for leading this new model of proficiency-based instruction, none of it would be possible without the hard work and amazing dedication of the faculty of Adlai E. Stevenson High School. We continue to stand in awe of our teachers dedication to students and their constant search for new ways to improve their professional practice. The cycle of continuous improvement is deeply embedded in the culture of teaching and learning among our faculty, and we are proud to serve as their storytellers.

We are grateful for our friends at Solution Tree who continue to believe in us and the work that we are doing. Jeff Jones, Ed Ackerman, and Douglas Rife have been supportive in our efforts to continue to share the amazing work that is happening at Adlai E. Stevenson High School. We have made new friends in the Press division, including Amy Rubenstein and Christine Hood, who have helped shape our ideas and improve our writing. And, we are especially grateful for the friendships that we continue to have with Shannon Ritz, Macy Hughes, Anna Hazinski, Ali Cummins, and the rest of their team, as they have all been supportive in our efforts to share many stories of the amazing work that is happening in our school and consortium.

Solution Tree Press would like to thank the following reviewers:

Melody Apezteguia

Assistant Principal

American Fork High School

American Fork, Utah

Dustin Barrett

Principal

Meridian Academy

Meridian, Idaho

Paul Cone Jr.

Middle School Principal

Canisteo-Greenwood Central School

Canisteo, New York

Candace Jay

English Teacher

Fruita Middle School

Fruita, Colorado

Brig Leane

PLC Associate

Grand Junction, Colorado

Ryan Rydstrom

Associate Director of Access and Instructional Design

Cedar Rapids Community School District

Cedar Rapids, Iowa

Kim Zeydel

Math Teacher

Meridian Academy

Meridian, Idaho

Visit go.SolutionTree.com/instruction to download the free reproducibles in this book.

Table of Contents

About the Authors

Eric Twadell, PhD, is superintendent of Adlai E. Stevenson High School in Lincolnshire, Illinois. He has been a social studies teacher, curriculum director, and assistant superintendent for leadership and organizational development.

Stevenson High School has been described by the United States Department of Education (USDE) as one of the most recognized and celebrated schools in America and is one of only three schools to win the USDE National Blue Ribbon Schools award on four occasions. Stevenson was one of the first comprehensive schools designated a New American High School by USDE as a model of successful school reform and is repeatedly cited as one of Americas top high schools and the birthplace of the Professional Learning Communities at Work (PLC) process.

Eric is a coauthor who has also written several professional articles. As a dedicated PLC practitioner, he has worked with state departments of education and local schools and districts nationwide to achieve school improvement and reform. An accessible and articulate authority on PLC concepts, Eric brings hands-on experience to his presentations and workshops.

In addition to his teaching and leadership roles, Eric has been involved in coaching numerous athletic teams and facilitating outdoor education and adventure travel programs. He is a member of many professional organizations.

Eric earned a masters degree in curriculum and instruction and a doctorate in educational leadership and policies studies from Loyola University Chicago.

To learn more about Erics work, follow him @ELT247365 on Twitter.