publications

2023

1. The Transformative Ten: Instructional Strategies Learned from High-Growth Schools

   Nordengren, Chase

   White Paper for NWEA

   Abstract URL PDF

   This report documents ten concrete classroom strategies designed to meet two competing needs: meeting learners where they are and providing all learners access to the grade-level content they need to succeed. While this balance is tricky, it does not require teachers to choose one approach over another. These ten strategies show how small changes in instruction can support big growth for students

2. How to Use Formative Assessment to Accelerate Learning

   Nordengren, Chase

   Interview with Sarah Sparks of Education Week

   Abstract URL PDF

   Chase Nordengren, the lead researcher in effective instructional strategies at the assessment group NWEA, studies the use of formative testing in the classroom. He spoke with Education Week about how teachers can measure understanding in ways that are less stressful to students and better for accelerating learning.

3. Development and Validation of a Survey on Outcomes of Professional Learning

   Nordengren, Chase R.

   Professional Development in Education

   Abstract URL PDF

   Professional learning evaluators struggle to balance the pursuit of rigorous outcomes with the time and money that some effective measures entail. While many evaluations rely on surveys for their ease of administration and application, little research has explored how surveys can measure multiple constructs beyond participant satisfaction as part of an evaluation framework. This study validates a survey of professional learning outcomes based on Guskey’s framework of professional development evaluation. The 23-item survey was administered to 1,351 teachers in one district in the United States who receive professional learning interventions related to assessment use and assessment literacy. Using exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses, the study demonstrates the discriminatory validity of four constructs: knowledge gained from professional learning, skills used in the classroom, attitudes about professional learning, and beliefs about assessment. The study provides additional credence to the relevance of Guskey’s framework for evaluating professional learning interventions and insights regarding the utility of survey research in program evaluation activities.

4. How 2 Exceptional Illinois Schools Are Propelling Academic Growth for Students

   Nordengren, Chase

   The 74

   Abstract URL PDF

   What should instruction look like when students within a single grade level all have vastly different experiences and needs? To answer this question, I look closely at the teaching practices of four teachers in two exceptional schools in Schiller Park, Illinois’s School District 81. These schools showed academic growth on NWEA’s MAP Growth assessment for students across achievement levels six years in a row, a feat achieved by fewer than 0.5% of schools taking that assessment. There are likely many reasons they achieved that growth, but a close look at their instruction reveals something special: a set of purposeful practices that balance what students see and do.

2022

1. Theory of Action: The Care and Feeding of Your Mission

   Andres, Abby Javurek; and Nordengren, Chase

   Phi Delta Kappan

   Abstract URL PDF

   In education, we share a common commitment to supporting students’ growth and development, but we often have many different ideas about what that support looks like. What kinds of choice should students have in what and how they learn? What is the role of schools in building and supporting students’ social-emotional health? What is the cause of major disparities in achievement between groups of students, and what should we do to fix it? How we answer these questions and many others informs the theories of action or theories of learning that drive what we do in schools.

2. Step into Student Goal Setting: A Path to Growth, Motivation, and Agency

   Nordengren, Chase

   Book published through Corwin Press

   Abstract URL

   Step Into Student Goal Setting provides an action plan for answering the question: What does this student know and how do I build from it? Research-driven and practical, this guide shows teachers how to integrate formative assessment, student metacognition, and motivational strategies to make goal setting an integral instructional strategy. Author Chase Nordengren weaves research and case studies with practical strategies to demonstrate how goal setting, with clear learning intentions and plenty of scaffolded support by teachers, can lead to high learning growth and student agency. Readers will find: Actionable strategies for incorporating goal setting in instructional practice; tips for using goals as motivational strategies to drive learning growth; and guidance on how to coach students through setting their own goals – recalibrating and celebrating along the way - Vignettes and examples to demonstrate what goal setting looks like in the classroom By demonstrating how to set, monitor, and evaluate goals, this guide equips teachers with the tools they need to help students take ownership of their learning journeys.

3. Five Steps to Revolutionize Learning Using Student Goal Setting in the Workshop Classroom

   Nordengren, Chase

   Post for THE Journal

   Abstract URL PDF

   With an ocean of tools available to educators, it can be tricky to decide which tools to use and how to use them. Much of the frustration with technology in education comes down to this: With so much to pick from, it’s difficult to ensure quality, consistent experiences aligned to academic standards and learning targets. What teachers most need, then, is not another app; it’s a way of understanding and contextualizing how students use technology alongside their other learning priorities and tools.

4. How Student-Driven Goals Make Learning More Meaningful

   Nordengren, Chase

   Post for EdSource

   Abstract URL PDF

   Educators will need to bring a whole toolbox to bear to support students who come out of this pandemic with a variety of hardships, needs, and abilities. One tool in that toolbox is student goal setting.

5. GOALLLLLL! Chase Nordengren Discusses the Importance of Finding the Right Goals for Language Learners

   Nordengren, Chase

   Language Magazine

   Abstract URL PDF

   Persistence in learning a new language is key to getting from those first halting vocabulary words into true fluency. Student goal setting provides a context, vocabulary, and set of systems that can help students achieve that persistence.

6. Transform Your School’s Culture: Use Student Goal Setting to Create a New Culture of Learning

   Nordengren, Chase

   Principal Leadership

   Abstract URL PDF

   At the end of the school year when the data on student learning has been collected, it can be difficult to determine the instructional moments that lead to all those results. Inside a proficiency percentage lies the thousands of opportunities in each classroom to motivate students to grow and to provide them with the tools they need to reach their highest potential. Those moments ultimately add up to a school’s culture. Giving students the chance to set learning goals that motivate them can be a powerful tool in shaping that culture.

2021

1. Inspiring Student Ownership of Learning Is a Critical Part of COVID-19 Recovery

   Nordengren, Chase

   Post for ScholasticEDU

   Abstract URL PDF

   Effective goal setting doesn’t require teachers to buy into an expensive program or find a magic approach. Setting goals with students is an extension of an existing student-teacher relationship. The strength of the relationship is at the heart of why goal setting is successful. That relationship will also play a major part in helping students recover from the impacts of the COVID-19 disruption.

2. Climate Change Will Drive Major Changes in Student Learning Needs

   Nordengren, Chase

   Post for EdSource

   Abstract URL

   California students, like their peers around the country, see this danger clearly and have led an incredible and admirable outpouring of activism to prevent the most terrible impacts of climate change. Their voices — and ours — are critical to ensuring humans can continue to thrive on this planet. As we work for the best outcome, however, we must prepare for all outcomes, including the worst. The social disruptions predicted by climate scientists are coming into nearly every aspect of our daily lives, including how students learn.

3. Starting the Conversation about Alternative Grading Systems

   Nordengren, Chase

   Post for Edutopia

   Abstract URL PDF

   One of the most iconic elements of American schools—right up there with yellow school buses and brass bells—is the way schools grade students. Grades are everywhere in our culture, and because they are, they’re the most salient way people think about their own learning and the learning of their children. Anxiety about grades has hit new highs this spring and summer, as many districts debate new grading policies and news outlets worry about the number of students who received Fs during the pandemic. Because grades are more controversial than ever, it’s more important than ever to make sure that what grades communicate to families and students aligns with the values of educators.

4. Focusing Squarely on Students: A Theory of Change for NWEA Professional Learning

   Nordengren, Chase

   White Paper for NWEA

   Abstract URL PDF

   This document articulates our professional learning theory of change which puts focus squarely on student learning. By design, a theory of change does not and cannot focus on each and every possible impact of professional learning. Instead, the theory of change included here focuses on the key levers activated by effective professional learning that drive instructional improvement. Specifically, this theory of change connects the following elements: - Effective and classroom-relevant professional learning - The knowledge and skills that help teachers turn learning evidence into instructional action - Measures of the impact of that professional learning In detailing these connections, the theory of change looks to illuminate a model for high-quality practice that guides NWEA professional learning in its commitment to partnering to help all kids learn.

2020

1. Chart a Clear Course: Evaluation Is Key to Building Better, More Relevant Learning

   Nordengren, Chase; and Guskey, Thomas R.

   The Learning Professional

   Abstract URL PDF

   When we engage in professional learning, we do it for one big reason: to get better at supporting students. Rigorous and thoughtful program evaluations can provide the critical connection between well-designed programs or initiatives and continuous improvement that builds essential knowledge and skills for educators. Evaluation helps us examine what has been accomplished in a professional learning initiative and identify course corrections that cna help the initiative improve.

2. Making It Work: How Formative Assessment Can Supercharge Your Practice

   Nordengren, Chase; Mabry, Brooke; Underwood, Steve; Beard, Erin; Wells, Lauren; and McCoy, Vicki.

   E-book for NWEA

   Abstract URL PDF

   Formative assessment is a critical tool for addressing this rapidly changing environment. Amidst frequent interruptions to learning, formative assessment provides the tools to bring student and teacher focus back to learning, address student misconceptions, and build up students as independent learners. In this eBook, we share concrete ways to make formative assessment work for your students, knowing the need for accurate information to drive instruction has perhaps never been greater than it is now.

3. Turning a New Page: Guiding Instruction and Using MAP Growth amid COVID-19 School Closures

   Nordengren, Chase; and Jensen, Nate.

   White Paper for NWEA

   Abstract PDF

   This paper addresses specific instructional and assessment strategies for NWEA\textregistered partners preparing for the 2020–21 school year. School closures in response to the COVID-19 pandemic have contributed to historic interrupted learning, with many consequences for students’ academic, social-emotional, and community lives. We describe components of MAP\textregistered Growth™ reporting and score interpretation that, as part of a balanced assessment system, support understanding and mitigating the effects of this interrupted learning. We also recommend concrete instructional strategies to support effective use of assessment data to cultivate student ownership of learning and support goal setting during this extraordinary period. We will update this paper with relevant guidance as it becomes available to support schools as they prepare for the coming academic year.

2019

1. Goal-Setting Practices That Support a Learning Culture

   Nordengren, Chase

   Phi Delta Kappan

   Abstract URL PDF

   What can educators do to help students care about their learning and become more invested in their own success? Chase Nordengren describes how a school district created a goal-setting culture in all classrooms at all grade levels. The district began with a complex, research-based, prescriptive program that teachers found did not work well with certain students. Young students, for example, did not understand the goal-setting forms that were part of the program. As teachers adapted the program to fit their students, Nordengren was able to discern certain commonalities in teachers’ use of goal setting that made them successful. Based on these observations, he suggests that educators start their goal-setting efforts early, set short-term goals, provide visual tools, make goal setting personal, and center student choice.

2018

1. “No Fun Games”: Engagement Effects of Two Gameful Assessment Prototypes

   Guerreiro, Meg; and Nordengren, Chase

   Journal of Research on Technology in Education

   Abstract URL PDF

   Assessments with features of games propose to address student motivation deficits common in traditional assessments. This study examines the impact of two “gameful assessment” prototypes on student engagement and teacher perceptions among 391 Grades 3–7 students and 14 teachers in one Midwestern and one Northwestern school. Using mixed methods, it finds higher satisfaction for students taking gameful assessments, and conflicting attitudes from teachers regarding the impact of gameful assessments on students’ intrinsic motivation and desire to learn. The article concludes by discussing opportunities for continued iteration and innovation in gameful assessment design.

2016

1. Teaching New Dogs New Tricks: Teacher Leadership in the Performance Assessment for California Teachers (PACT)

   Nordengren, Chase

   Issues in Teacher Education

   Abstract URL PDF

   Institutions that work with teachers and teaching, from school districts to unions to preparation programs, find themselves under enormous pressure to define who teachers ought to be and what capabilities they ought hold, before outside forces define those ideas for them. Still, consensus is hard to find. While other professions "manage reform" through mandatory accreditation and licensing, teaching does not control or require its own process of accrediting preparation programs or licensing teachers (Darling-Hammond, 2010b, p. 38). Two movements in particular now wrestle in this tense space. Advocates of teacher performance assessments (TPAs), a set of formative and summative assessment tools for teacher candidates, argue the promotion of more complex instruments of evaluation can better shape and inform a public understanding of the complex nature of teaching and learning. Simultaneously, advocates and scholars of teacher leadership increasingly recognize how leadership includes a diverse set of changing skills and sets of knowledge. This article examines these movements at their intersection, exploring how a common teacher performance assessment–the Performance Assessment for California Teachers (PACT)–understands and evaluates skills for teacher leadership. Understanding the importance of training teachers to work together with and through adults, this study finds gaps in PACT’s focus on how teachers interact with one another, socially transmitting norms of professional practice. This article poses the following questions: (1) How do summative evaluation documents for the Performance Assessment for California Teachers (PACT) describe working with and through colleagues? and (2) How do those documents represent the concept of teacher leadership present in academic work on school leadership?

2015

1. Ties and Talk: Tracing the Work of Informal Teacher Leaders through Mixed Methods Social Network Research

   Nordengren, Chase R.

   Doctoral dissertation, University of Washington

   Abstract URL PDF

   While much of contemporary educational leadership scholarship focuses on formal leadership (that exercised through officially designated roles in schools and school systems), leadership exercised informally is an increasing focus of theorists in instructional leadership, distributed leadership, and teacher leadership, as well as practitioners. Research has insufficiently probed how informal leaders function in schools, particularly through interactions with colleagues. This study uses a mixed methods social network research approach, combining quantitative social network analysis with qualitative study informed by social network theory, to understand informal leadership at an elementary school. All staff were surveyed regarding whom they turned to for various types of advice, information, and support; these questions produced three network diagrams used to select informal leaders for the qualitative stage. Qualitatively, three teachers leading informally were interviewed, observed, and asked to complete logs of their conversations; key teachers connected to informal leaders were also interviewed. Network analyses reveal similar highly ranked individuals across all three networks, though their leadership is exercised through different interpersonal relationships. Qualitative data focused on the interest of informal leaders in developing solutions to specific instructional issues, rather than enforcing a broad instructional vision. I propose three prerequisites to an informal leadership interaction: the vision for improved instruction of the informal leader, the presence of an instructional variation in the informal leader’s own practice, and an invitation from a colleague to offer advice, information, or support on a specific instructional issue. These findings advance distributed leadership’s consideration of how leadership is situated by particular contexts, and suggests the importance of certain leadership tools, including modeling teaching and the use of instructional technologies. Future questions and recommendations reiterate the need for work on leadership practiced informally, and suggest consideration of the contexts in which leadership interactions take place.

2. Four Decades of Collective Leadership: The Connection between Leadership Theories of Action and Student Achievement

   Nordengren, Chase

   In Challenges and Opportunities of Educational Leadership Research and Practice (ed. Bowers, Alex J. and Shoho, Alan R. and Barnett, Bruce G., p. 17–53)

   Abstract URL PDF

   There is a paradoxical difference between evidence showing an indirect and sometimes weak relationship between leadership and student outcomes (Heck & Hallinger, 2009; Marks & Printy, 2003; Urick 8 Bowers, 2014) and the expectations of policymakers and the public that leaders can fix failing schools (Robinson, Lloyd, & Rowe, 2008). Explaining this difference has been a significant focus of leadership scholars over the last forty years, who have proposed a variety of models to understand who exercises leadership in schools, how they exercise that leadership, and how that leadership affects students (Hallinger, 2013). Models by themselves do not, however, describe the what and how of leadership practice: which practices of leadership are effective and, in particular, the link between these factors and theories of school improvement.