forcing the issue · formative assessment vs summative assessment, trending vs averaging, etc. ......
TRANSCRIPT
FORCING THE ISSUE: HOW A NEW GRADING AND REPORTING TOOL IS TRANSFORMING INSTRUCTIONAL PRACTICE
South Portland School Department
Agenda
• Introductions • Background & Context • Implementation of the Tool • Outcomes / Next Steps • Q&A
Introductions
Suzanne Godin, Superintendent
Becky Brown, Director C-I-A
Ryan Caron, High School Principal
Background • Standards-based report card at elementary (9 years
ago) • SBG Committee (8 years ago) ▫ Comprised of MS and HS administrators and MS and
HS teachers ▫ Met monthly ▫ Researched/read problems with grading practices,
formative assessment vs summative assessment, trending vs averaging, etc. ▫ invited people to speak to the group, visited schools ▫ Some teachers were shifting their practices but
reporting traditionally
Background
• SBG Committee Spring 2012 • 4 agreements ▫ Report out on targets from the MLR/Common
Core ▫ Separate behaviors from content learning ▫ Use a 4* pt scale (1= does not meet; 2=partially
meets; 3=meets; 4= exceeds) ▫ Use trending to honor that students do not all
learn things at the same time
Background
• School year 2012-13 ▫ Adopted a leveled progression of learning targets
– Essential Learning Targets (ELTs) ▫ Created a Habits of Work rubric ▫ Committee members had been “dabbling” with
common rubrics, formative assessment
Context
Stall …
• Staff couldn’t visualize how they would be tracking data ▫ What does a trend look like … ▫ Where do formative tasks fit …
• Staff had big questions about how you really keep track of behaviors separate from content
Field Test • All grade 6 teachers would implement these
practices • Found a tool that would allow us to implement
the 4 agreements ▫ Report out on targets from the MLR/Common
Core ▫ Separate behaviors from content learning ▫ Use a 4* pt scale (1= does not meet; 2=partially
meets; 3=meets; 4= exceeds) ▫ Use trending to honor that students do not all
learn things at the same time
SPSD’s ELTs in the Standards Bank
Teachers Select ELTs for their Class
Link Student Work to Content
Conversation: Clarity of purpose
• Making sure tasks have a learning purpose that clearly connects to a target
• Not able to retro-fit
Link Student Work to HOW
Link Student Work to Both
Score them separately
Report them separately
Conversation: Grades as Punishment
• Not removing “points” for late work • Not entering a zero for content
Conversation: Relevance of HW • If it is worth doing then it is worthy of being
looked at for content as well as completion
Objectives • Understands (Comparing/ Differentiate) the
geographic features that are common and unique to certain parts of the U.S. (B) • Knows geographical definitions for rivers, mountains, ocean
borders, lakes, deserts • Can identify the major geographic features of the United States
(rivers, mountains, ocean borders, lakes, deserts) • Know and locates US regions: NE, Mid Atlantic, South, Mid-
West, Plains, Pacific NW, SW, Pacific Coast, Southern Border, Northern Border
• Sort regions according to features they have the same, no features alike
Objectives & Formative Data • Objectives become the formative assessment
points.
Conversation: formative assessment
• Clarity of the pathway to the target • Forethought about what objectives are worth
formatively assessing and providing feedback to students about
• Reaffirmation of utility of backward design
Objectives • Understands (Describe the
relationship between) print and pictures in terms of the story convey meaning. ▫ I know where the pictures
are that are telling the story. ▫ I can point to the parts of the
picture that I am hearing about in the story.
▫ I know which parts of the picture are “extra”
▫ I can point to words that are telling about the picture.
▫ I can identify words or phrases in the story that tell me something more than the pictures and I can find parts of the pictures that aren’t described by the words but that still tell me something.
Conversation: clear intervention goals
Activities
Conversation: broader view of assessment
• Anything, any task or activity, a teacher asks students to engage in with content for the purpose of learning is worthy of a data point.
Perspective
Outcomes and Next Steps
• Most of our next steps are a direct result of the lessons we have learned about how to prepare teachers
• Teachers feel it is training on the use of the tool and what we have learned is that the tool is a concrete, manipulative if you will, that furthers the learning for staff.
Lesson: types of assessment
• Formative as it relates to objectives and data points
• Broader view of summative assessment • Student self-assessment
Next step: types of assessment
• PD in all 3 areas offered during the school year
Lesson: planning
• Outlining objectives to reach targets • Purposeful forethought of what needs to be
formatively looked at and feedback given to students
Next Step: Backward design
• Paid, guided support in unit planning during the summer
• Detailed outlines of existing curricular program materials in terms of what activities align to which objectives
Questions ??