D Sellenriek Interview

Friday, November 11, 2011 Interview with Danielle S.
--Assessment Specialist Q1: How might you describe your job or role with the Willard Schools? How might you describe an average day as an assessment specialist? A: The role was not quite clear when approached for this position. It is different from our teaching specialist or instructional coaches--it is not the same job description although we work as a team. My job is more of a program and Im still trying to identify what all job responsibilities are involved. A normal day looks like a new job coming my way each day as we figure this out. I train and maintain the CAP process. As the regional facilitator I was approached by Willard to create formative assessments as the 5th cycle MSIP may require these. I am working with multiple grade levels and multiple content areas. In Novemember I had 5th and 6th grade teams for 6 days, CAP work with Common Core ELA, grade level meetings with HS content areas, text complexity training, eight instructional strategies training, worked with transitioning non-english deptartment into literacy standards, facilitated the feedback series with middle school staff, participated on the state literacy committee, states comprehensive literacy plan, and model curriculum. The key is to be highly organized--its not necessarily hard work, Im just busy all the time. The biggest challenge is being well versed in all content areas K-12 and keeping everyone in on whats going on. Q2: Tell my about your background with DESE. A: I began working for DESE in 1994 while I was still in classroom. We were moving away from the placemat standards and were looking at more specifics and Performance Based Assessments. This was my first exposure to a balanced assessment model. I worked on creating the MMAT and was a senior leader trained by the state. I wanted first hand experience, so I worked on piloting, gathering teacher feedback and presented to the state board of education. I then began working with CTB in California and started running in state scoring. I started working full time in 2004 in southwest region which included 90 school districts. Some of my job was full infusion into the district for professional development--classroom monitoring, M.A.P. police, etc.. The, the middle school in Willard came for a two year professional development experience with the GLEs in reading and writing--it was basically Stiggins work with formative assessments--Assessment for Learning. When DESE closed all offices statewideI was contracted with Nixa and had to go back in house with Nixa.
Q4: Discuss the main issues and challenges in assessment. How do you think these issues impact instruction and student achievement?
A: More than anything traditional assessments are this elephant in the room. Everyone knows where instruction is going but they dont know how to connect instruction to assessment. We are moving toward formative assess as a structure--not just learning a new strategy, which is a psychological shift for some people. Its about working smarter rather than harder. As teacher we often teach the way we were taught, but we are moving out of the industrial age and we cant continue to teach that way or we are no longer meeting those needs. And its happening quickly. My job is to train teachers to feel comfortable with the process. If you can get teachers there, you can ask them to do anything, but they ant do it if theyre not trained or dont understand it--thats the most critical piece. Its so easy to slide back into how weve always done it because were always just trying to keep our heads above water with a classroom full of kids. However, the pace at which things are changing now is very accelerated. We want to stay ahead of it with the resources we have available. Q5: What advice or knowledge would you pass on to someone seeking a position such as yours? A: Always remember how hard it is to be a classroom teacher! Never lose sight of that-balance how hard can you push teachers and always ask, is this manageable? The high school audience will be the greatest challenge because they see themselves as such a different group. They view themselves as preparing for college--all nurturing is gone. Your toughest audience will be this group because you have not been in their shoes. I moved from a position I loved in order to teach high school in an effort to to give myself credibility with this group.

D Sellenriek Interview

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

D Sellenriek Interview

Uploaded by

Document Information

Original Title

Copyright

Available Formats

Share this document

Share or Embed Document

Sharing Options

Did you find this document useful?

Is this content inappropriate?

Copyright:

Available Formats

D Sellenriek Interview

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

Friday, November 11, 2011 Interview with Danielle S.

You might also like