• II-A-2: Student Engagement
    Unsatisfactory
    Needs Improvement
    Proficient
    Exemplary
    Uses instructional practices that leave most students uninvolved and/or passive participants. Uses instructional practices that motivate and engage some students but leave others uninvolved and/or passive participants. Consistently uses instructional practices that are likely to motivate and engage most students during the lesson. Consistently uses instructional practices that typically motivate and engage most students both during the lesson and during independent work and home work. Is able to model this element.
    Why Proficiency in this Element Matters
    • Learning is much more likely to “stick” when students are active participants in a process of discovery, facilitated by the teacher, and are expected to do the cognitive work of the assigned tasks. High cognitive engagement fosters deep level processing which stimulates and builds strong schematic networks.
    • Students who are curious and passionate about content, skills and tasks demonstrate higher levels of achievement. Students who engage in culturally and linguistically sustainable learning feel recognized for who they are and are able to access content easily.
    • Higher levels of student engagement leads to a strong sense of community and value for the learning process. Students who are highly engaged in meaningful learning activities demonstrate positive, respectful and responsible behavior in the classroom.
    Reflection Questions

    These questions may help to assess how effectively common obstacles to consistent/sustained proficiency in this element are addressed

    For Educators For Evaluators/Coaches
    How often do planned tasks allow for students (as individuals, in partnerships or as a whole class) to uncover learning, and how often is the learning presented to them? Does my class feature the “right” mix of these two? How often are students “stretched” to engage in the majority of the cognitive work, and thinking that might even make them uncomfortable or require risk-taking (in a healthy way)?

    Does the teacher utilize the right mix of intrinsic and extrinsic motivational strategies? Has the teacher used intentional approaches to equitable classroom participation?  
    Have I allowed students opportunities to explore content, skills, and tasks that are chosen by them (as individuals, in partnerships, or as a whole class), based on their curiosity and interest? Does my class feature the “right” mix of this? Have I helped my students to develop a sense of purpose for the work and how it connects to real-life problem solving? How often and how effectively does the teacher consider students’ linguistic/cultural experiences, prior knowledge, interests, or various modes of access when designing learning experiences?
    Can I identify moments when I suspect that students demonstrated positive, respectful and responsible behavior primarily because the learning activities were so engaging? Were there moments when the opposite may have been the case? How can engaging activities more often help to bolster positive, respectful and responsible behavior in my classroom? During an observation, have I tried counting how often the teacher required students to utilize listening, speaking, reading and writing (the Four Domains of Language) in the content area, both independently and collaboratively?
    Do students ask questions and make comments that reveal deep engagement with the objectives? How often did they do this during the most recent class? What can I do to increase this number for the next class?  
    What instructional practices should be observed? What student impacts should be expected?
    For TEACHERS this may look like.

    1. Teacher uses instructional practices and materials that are either too challenging for students or are not challenging enough. Teacher fails to promote the development of student intrinsic motivation and offers only extrinsic motivation or neither.

    1. Teacher uses instructional practices and materials that are either too challenging for students or are not challenging enough. Teacher may not promote the development of student intrinsic motivation and offers extrinsic motivation on a regular basis

    1. Teacher consistently uses instructional practices and materials that are developmentally sound and cognitively demanding while promoting the development of student intrinsic motivation and offers extrinsic motivation

    1. Teacher consistently uses instructional practices and materials that are developmentally sound and cognitively demanding while promoting the development of student intrinsic motivation without over-reliance on extrinsic motivation.

    1. Rather than facilitating learning experiences, teacher does most of the cognitive work of assigned tasks for students. Student participation is not equitable in the classroom.

    1. Teacher may facilitate some learning experiences so that the student, rather than the teacher does some of the cognitive work of the task. Student participation is not consistently equitable in the classroom.

    1. Teacher facilitates learning experiences so that the student, rather than the teacher does the majority of the cognitive work of the task. Student participation is equitable and typically intentional in the classroom.

    1. Teacher facilitates learning experiences so that the student, rather than the teacher does the vast majority of the cognitive work of the task. Student participation is equitable and always intentional in the classroom. Teacher models this for instructional peers.

    1. Teacher fails to support student perseverance, and opportunities are often missed to pose questions that elicit or extend student thinking and promote student efforts to make sense of the tasks.

    1. Teacher inconsistently supports student perseverance, rarely posing questions that elicit or extends student thinking and promote student efforts to make sense of the tasks.

    1. Teacher supports student perseverance, posing questions that elicits and extends student thinking and promotes student efforts to make sense of the tasks.

    1. Teacher frequently supports student perseverance, posing questions that elicits and extends  student thinking and promote student efforts to make sense of the tasks. Teacher supports students individually and collaboratively in taking initiative to develop further questions and make connections between prior knowledge and potential new learnings.

    1. Teacher does not consider students’ linguistic/cultural experiences, prior knowledge, interests, or various modes of access to co-construct new knowledge and support students in reflecting on new learning when designing learning experiences.

    1. Teacher rarely considers students’ linguistic/cultural experiences, prior knowledge, interests, or various modes of access to co-construct new knowledge and support students in reflecting on new learning when designing learning experiences.

    1. Teacher often considers students’ linguistic/cultural experiences, prior knowledge, interests, or various modes of access to co-construct new knowledge and support students in reflecting on new learning when designing learning experiences.

    1. Teacher consistently considers students’ linguistic/cultural experiences, prior knowledge, interests, and various modes of access to co-construct new knowledge and support students in reflecting on new learning when designing learning experiences. Teacher models this for instructional peers.

    1. Teacher does not design nor facilitate learning experiences that require students  to actively engage in the learning process through listening, speaking, reading and writing (the Four Domains of Language) in the content area, both independently and collaboratively.

    1. Teacher rarely designs and facilitates learning experiences that require students to actively engage in the learning process through listening, speaking, reading and writing (the Four Domains of Language) in the content area, both independently and collaboratively.

    1. Teacher often designs and facilitates learning experiences that require students to actively engage in the learning process through listening, speaking, reading and writing (the Four Domains of Language) in the content area, both independently and collaboratively.

    1. Teacher consistently designs and facilitates learning  experiences that require students to actively engage in the learning process through listening, speaking, reading and writing (the Four Domains of Language) in the content area, both independently and collaboratively. Teacher models this for instructional peers.
    As a result, the IMPACT on STUDENTS may be...

    1. Students are off-task, lack focus or fail to  display high levels of effort for most of the lesson.

    1. Only some students are on task, focused and display high levels of effort for most of the lesson.

    1. Most students are on task, focused and display high levels of effort for most of the lesson. High levels of effort may look like, but are not limited to: active listening, note-taking, academic discourse, kinesthetic learning, role-play, designing learning tasks and other 21st century skills, or modeling for peers.

    1. All students are on task, focused and display high levels of effort for the vast majority of the lesson. High levels of effort may look like, but are not limited to: active listening, note-taking, academic discourse, kinesthetic learning, role-play, designing learning tasks and other 21st century skills, or modeling for peers.

    1. Students do not ask questions or make comments that reveal deep engagement with the objectives. Students do not do the cognitive work of the task individually, in groupings or in whole class discussions by engaging in listening, speaking, reading and writing (the Four Domains of Language) in the content area.

    1. Students rarely ask questions or make comments that reveal deep engagement with the objectives. Students do not do the majority of the cognitive work of the task individually, in groupings or in whole class discussions. Students rarely engage in listening, speaking, reading and writing (the Four Domains of Language) in the content area.

    1. Students often ask questions and make comments that reveal deep engagement with the objectives. Students are doing the majority of the cognitive work of the task individually, in groupings, and in whole class discussions through listening, speaking, reading and writing (the Four Domains of Language) in the content area.

    1. Students consistently ask questions and make comments that reveal deep engagement with the objectives. Students are doing the vast majority of the cognitive work of the task individually, in groupings, and in whole class discussions through listening, speaking, reading and writing (the Four Domains of Language) in the content area.

    1. Students do not take the initiative to follow their own curiosity, take academic risks, or take alternative paths to understanding content. Students do not have choice within the framework of learning and occasional opportunities to use their creativity to further explore within a discipline.

    1. Students rarely take the initiative to follow their own curiosity, take academic risks, or take alternative paths to understanding content. Students do not typically have choice within the framework of learning and occasional opportunities to use their creativity to further explore within a discipline.

    1. Students take the initiative to follow their own curiosity, take academic risks, or take alternative paths to understanding content. Students have choice within the framework of learning and regular opportunities to use their creativity to further explore within the discipline.

    1. Students frequently take the initiative to follow their own curiosity, take academic risks, or take alternative paths to understanding content. Students often have choice within the framework of learning and frequent opportunities to use their creativity to further explore within the discipline as well as connect learning to other disciplines. Students extend learning into outside of the classroom contexts.

    1. Students do not utilize their linguistic/cultural experiences, prior knowledge, and interests, to co-construct new knowledge and reflect on new learning.

    1. Students rarely utilize their linguistic/cultural experiences, prior knowledge, and interests, to co-construct new knowledge and reflect on new learning.

    1. Students utilize their linguistic/cultural experiences, prior knowledge, and interests, to co-construct new knowledge and reflect on new learning.

    1. Students demonstrate leadership in the classroom and occasionally teach their peers by relying on linguistic/cultural experiences, prior knowledge, and interests, to co-construct new knowledge and reflect on new learning.
    Name Description Type
    new! Equitable Literacy and CLSP Resources Description... Type...
    new! Culturally Responsive Class Engagement Description... Type...
    new! Universal Design for Learning Description... Type...
    new! Productive Struggle in the Classroom Description... Type...
    Short videos on various Student Engagement and Classroom Management strategies Edweek wrote an article sharing some of the best Teaching Channel videos on Student Engagement and Classroom Management strategies. The strategies are short and easy to implement in the classroom. Video
    "Cold Calling" from the Teach Like a Champion site This video from the Teach Like a Champion site demonstrates and discusses how cold calling can be used to foster student engagement norms in all students. Video
    Coming Soon
    Resource Name Description Resource Type
    new! Equitable Literacy and CLSP Resources Boston Public Schools' Equity and CLSP Toolkit: Resources for professional learning aligned with BPS' Mission, Vision, and Theory of Action. BPS Website
    new! Culturally Responsive Class Engagement Protocols
For
Culturally
Responsive
Learning
and
Increased
Student
Engagement. Publication
    new! Universal Design for Learning Find out how the UDL framework guides the design of instructional goals, assessments, methods, and materials that can be customized and adjusted to meet individual needs. Website
    new! Productive Struggle in the Classroom When students grapple with challenging problems, their confusion and frustration can actually lead to more durable learning. Video
    Edutopia: Student Engagement Resource Roundup Along with general tips and strategies about student engagement, Edutopia has a list of resources about student engagement through projects, technology, and social-emotional learning. Website
    Ten Steps to Better Student Engagement This article describes ten ways to build a classroom culture that fosters student engagement. The author discusses each strategy and gives examples of how each could play out in the classroom. Website
    Student Engagement: 5 Ways to Get This blog post out of the Learning Sciences Marzano Center provides five practical methods to increase student engagement within your classroom. Dr. Robert Marzano is a nationally renowned education researcher and author. Website
    Strengthening Student Engagement: What Do Students Want (and what really motivates them)? From Education Leadership, this piece examines ways teachers can impact student motivation. Website
    Responsive Classroom Website This website describes the Responsive Classroom approach and provides resources for ways to create a positive classroom environment, especially at the beginning of the school year. Website
    Sound Out Guides on Meaningful Student Involvement Full of real-world examples of student involvement from around the country, these guides have innovative and thought-provoking strategies from Sound Out, one of the leading groups advocating for student voice in schools. Guides
    Reaching All by Creating Tribes Learning Communities This book by Jeanne Gibbs shows teachers how to reach students by developing a caring environment as the foundation for growth and learning. The author details how to teach essential collaborative skills, design interactive learning experiences, work with multiple learning styles, foster the development of resiliency, and support school community change. Book
    Conscious Classroom Management: Unlocking the Secrets of Great Teaching This book by Rick Smith details the ways to create a positive classroom culture where students are invested in their success. Book gives practical suggestions for how to organize the classroom environment and begin to give student autonomy. Book
    Do you have a resource that you want to recommend for this element? Email us at eval@bostonpublicschools.org with the subject line "Interactive Rubric Resource Recommendation" in the email