Supporting State Designed C3 Inquiries at the District Level

It was fantastic to read this recent article published in Social Education,  Teaching to a Better Test: Using the Inquiry Design Model to Reframe State-Mandated Assessment in Social Studies, which describes Virginia’s innovative spirit when it comes to state required testing in social studies.  My excitement flows from multiple origin points.  

First, I was happy to see that Beau Dickinson, social studies specialist for Rockingham County, Virginia, was among the authors of the article.  His narrative on how the Inquiry Design Model became part of VA’s state assessment connected dots among national, state, and local impulses regarding education. The sentiment he highlights from Governor Glenn Youngkin’s campaign regarding schools teaching students “how to think, and not what to think” is a (rare?) much appreciated point of solidarity.  Second, the article provides a case study, or plan, on how districts can support the understanding about and implementation of these assessments across multiple audiences. 

For the remainder of this blog I am going to channel Beau’s  demonstrated “spirit of sharing.”  My focus narrows in on the support we undertook from the central office level in Fairfax County Public School to scaffold and differentiate the state made C3 Inquiries.   Before doing so, I want to be explicit about what could not be modified per the state’s expectations for fidelity of implementation. Those non-negotiables are: 

1. The inquiries’ compelling question, the one students will answer, can’t be altered.
2. The assessment  type can’t be altered.  The inquiries state “Construct a written argument or explanation (a.k.a essay) that addresses the compelling question using specific claims and relevant evidence from the provided sources.”
3. The state made rubric must be unaltered and used to assess students’ work.
4. Students must write their assessments in school – not at home.

It is important to note that students do multiple essays to meet state requirements. These “curriculum embedded assessments” occur during the school year and focus on students’ skill development using social studies content.  In turn, it is imperative that “good” teaching practices be part of every students’ learning experience.  Doing so makes the teaching of VA inquiries a dynamic practice that taps into the expertise of teachers.  This insures that the state made assessments are applicable to local contexts and realities across Virginia’s 132 districts.  To that end, I worked with teachers to produce the following seven categories of resources so that teachers across all of our 25 high schools could use them with their students.  

1. Provided Background Information Options:  Developing students’ content knowledge is essential for deeper learning.  To that end, we provided overview based resources for each inquiry. 
2. Scaffolded the Content Resources:  Students must be able to access the content resources provided. So,  we used AI to modify the reading level of resources, linked to alternate (but similar) options, and used our databases that can translate content for students who would benefit from home language use.
3. Created a Vocabulary List:  These are a list of 15 or more terms related to the inquiry. Definitions are concise and include a visual so that we tap into the power of dual coding.
4. Created an Image Bank: A selection of five images relevant to the inquiry are provided on a slide deck for teachers to use as they see fit.  Multiple “ready to use” visible thinking routines are included to help structure and demonstrate student thinking.
5. Provided Essay Writing Supports: Graphics organizers, paragraph formats,  sentence stems, transition words are all provided for teachers to support the writing process.
6. Modified the Format of Formative Assessments:  The state made C3 inquiries provide formative assessments in pdf formats.  These require another step for teachers to make them usable with students.  So, we recreated the pdf versions and put them in Google slides, docs, etc. so they could be easily used.
7. Modified “Staging the Question”: This part of C3 inquiries is akin to the “hook” or “bell ringer.”  We created these activities in Google apps or designed our own as alternatives. 

Virginia’s use of state made inquiries as viable assessment approach is one that should be celebrated. The alternate option, a singular, high stakes, end of year, multiple choice exam that prioritizes content over skills through close ended answers that students could guess on and still be considered correct, provides little value to or understanding of student learning.  As of this writing, I believe Virginia is the only state that is utilizing the IDM for this purpose.  I am happy to say that it has been a successful innovation and hope that other states soon join in this approach.  We in Virginia are happy to help with any aspect of that transition.

You can include my email  cjperrier@fcps.edu