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 ??