MeTA musings

In my work with our district and in consulting with several others over the years on the topics of professional learning communities and standards-based grading/reporting, the topic of aligning standards horizontally and vertically frequently comes up.  Before I share a sample process of this alignment work, I thought it might be helpful to answer two frequently asked questions:

Who should be involved in writing, creating, revising the standards we will report to students and parents?
My first response is almost always, "teachers!"  Teachers are the professionals closest to this work and I believe they should play a large role in this decision-making process.  While the district office can provide protocols and templates, we're not teaching these skills and concepts, so it doesn't make sense for us to mandate an arbitrary list without significant teacher input.

Wouldn't it be easier if we copied another district's report card or list of standards?
Sure, it might be easier in the short term.  When the standards are written in a way that doesn't make sense to those teaching them, it becomes easy to throw the standards under the bus.  When the reporting standards need revision and they were written locally, a solution becomes obvious: we can revise them!  It is also important to note that in all of the schools I have worked with, teachers report the most benefit from doing this work.  They learn more about the intent of the state/national standards.  Teachers dig deeper into the wording of the standards and pay closer attention to what a thorough understanding might look like as a result of the cognitive dissonance this process can create.

Now that we hopefully agree teachers should play a prominent role in drafting reporting standards, it only makes sense to share with you a process that seems to be gaining some traction.  It is far from perfect, but I hope it assists at least one person.  (If you find this literacy example beneficial, I'd love to hear from you in the comments).

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1. LOOK AT STATE STANDARDS

• Iowa Core Literacy Standards

2. IDENTIFY "NEED TO KNOW' STANDARDS

A possible protocol that can be used to discern the "need to know" power standards that will appear on the report card.  

i) For each standard, individually complete the following template

ii) Reach consensus on the Yes and No's through horizontal (i.e. all of the 2nd grade teachers) discussion.

iii) If a standard has 3-4 "Yes," it should strongly be considered in the "Need to Know" (Power Standard) category to be included on the report card.

iv) Depending on the number of 4s and perhaps 3s, the team will need to determine a reasonable number of standards that can be assessed and reporting in each reporting period.

v) After horizontal agreement, meet with at least one grade level above (i.e. second grade teachers meet with third grade teachers) and at least one grade level below (i.e. fourth grade teachers meet with third grade teachers) to reach vertical consensus on the list of "need to know" power standards proposed for the report card.

[IF NEEDED, RE-WRITE THESE STANDARDS INTO PARENT/STUDENT-FRIENDLY LANGUAGE]

• Example 6th grade reading parent/student-friendly language (from Waukee Middle School, Iowa)

3. IDENTIFY ASSESSMENTS THAT MATCH THE STANDARDS

• Look at the assessments you are already giving to students.  
• Match up prompts/questions that elicit students' understanding.

Sample rubric below (used with permission from Lori Davidson, Center Point - Urbana teacher)

You may find out your assessments are not as well aligned to the standards as you'd like.  This is an opportunity to revise assessments and/or create new ones that better align to the "need to know" standards. 

4. (TRY IT OUT!) GIVE STUDENTS SCORES BASED ON STANDARDS FOR ONE UNIT 

• Administer and score at least one of the assessments you identified in Step #3 to discern the coarse or fine grain-ness of the standards (see note below).

By completing the steps above, each horizontal team of teachers will begin to figure out the appropriate number of "need to know" standards for each reporting period.  When it is challenging to score the assessments based on the standards, the standards may be too vague.  When it becomes challenging to keep up with scoring and reassessments (or if it is challenging to write reassessments), the standards may be too specific.  Finally, the number of "need to know" standards must be viable enough for the majority of students to learn them in a given year.  It is more important for students to learn...than it is to merely cover the content!

Iowa Core, Common Core and Next Generation Science Standards
Information I've gathered:

• The idea of statewide standards for Iowa's high school students started in 2005.  Between 2005 and 2008, the work expanded into K-8.  (Source)
• The original Iowa Core essential concepts and skills included math, literacy, science, social studies and 21st century skills.  The skills were broken down into grade bands (K-2, 3-5, 6-8, 9-12).  

• In 2009, drafts of the common core state standards were released to the public.  These math and literacy standards were a result of a movement initiated by the National Governors Association and Council of Chief State School Officers (Source)

• The State Board of Education unanimously approved the common core state standards in fall 2010.  Math and literacy standards previously in the Iowa Core essential concepts and skills were replaced by **grade-level standards shared by forty-four other states.  

• Math: Common Core State Standards (with several additions), **grade-specific
• Literacy: Common Core State Standards (with a few additions) **grade-specific
• Science:  state-specific (however, a task force has recommended Iowa adopts the Next Generation Science Standards), grade bands
• Social Studies: state-specific, grade bands
• 21st century skills: state-specific, grade bands

• Iowa Code currently requires Iowa students to take math, science and literacy Iowa Assessments (formerly Iowa Tests of Basic Skills and Iowa Tests of Educational Development) in various grade levels for federal and state accountability requirements. 
• A task force will/may suggest requirements for a new assessment that is better aligned to state standards. 
• Iowa is a member state of the Smarter Balanced Assessment Consortium (SBAC).  The Smarter Balanced Assessments are one of two assessments (PARCC is the other) currently being created to assess the common core math and literacy standards.  
• Any new assessment(s) resulting from the task force's recommendations could be Smarter Balanced Assessments, a new form of Iowa Assessments or something totally different (or we could stick with current Iowa Assessments Form E.)  (See Twitter conversation below)
• The task force is scheduled to meet through at least August 2014.
• Smarter Balanced Assessments will be ready for 2014-15, so Iowa school districts would need to know at minimum prior to the beginning of the school year if they were required to use it.  

Thanks to UNI's Dr. Brian Townsend for inviting me into his graduate class this morning to talk about grading and assessment.



The slides were not always viewable in the video, so I've embedded them below:

The school district I work for recently approved a series of grading guidelines which will be adopted by all teachers over the next two years.  (I plan to write more about the change process we went through at a later date.) I am really excited to be a part of a district-wide standards-based grading movement.  With this excitement comes a bit of nervousness though.  Early adopters, and we have a solid core of them in my district, have already been using these grading guidelines in one way or another for a unit, a semester, a year, or in some cases love it so much they blog about it already.  


The challenge ahead of me and the early adopters is helping all of our staff understand the approved grading guidelines, what they mean, what they don't mean and how to put them into practice.  

1. Entries in the grade book that count towards the final grade will be limited to course or grade level standards.**  
2. Extra credit will not be given at any time.
3. Students will be allowed multiple opportunities to demonstrate their understanding of classroom standards in various ways.  Retakes and revisions will be allowed.  
4. Teachers will determine grade book entries by considering multiple points of data emphasizing the most recent data and provide evidence to support their determination.
5. Students will be provided multiple opportunities to practice standards independently through homework or other class work.  Practice assignments and activities will be consistent with classroom standards for the purpose  of providing feedback.  Practice assignments, including homework, will not be included as part of the final grade.  

• When creating a new entry in the grade book that counts towards the final grade, it must be a standard such as “Find the area of a regular polygon by applying trigonometric ratios” or “Understands how evolution occurs (natural selection, mutation, migration, and genetic drift).”
• Assignments or other activities that do not count towards the final grade may still be recorded in the grade book as long as they do not count towards the final grade.

• Course or grade level standards must be word-for-word from the Iowa/Common Core essentials concepts and skills list.  
• Entering “Mitosis Project” or “Unit 5 Test” in the grade book.
• No longer recording student practice.

10/25/2011 Update
The video below is designed to be used with teachers and administrators to discuss shifts in grading.

A teacher at a neighboring school district that I've consulted with previously recently emailed me a question.

"I am looking at my grades for my classes and I am a little worried that my grades for my students are maybe too good. There is no one with a C or less. I obviously don’t want my students to do bad but shouldn’t there be at least one student that isn’t doing good?..."

"...There is no one with a B or better.  I obviously want my students to do well, but shouldn't there be at least one student that is doing well?..."

• Be less concerned with the number of A's, B's, C's, etc. students are earning in your class.
• Be more concerned with ensuring the grades students are earning accurately represent their current level of understanding.
• Be more concerned that your grading system ensures students have an opportunity to demonstrate their understanding at any given time within the grading period, not just "by the test date."
• Be more concerned that you've clearly communicated the purpose of your grading system with parents and students.

I'm participating in Paul Cancellieri's Assessment digital conversation and wanted to take a minute and explain why I'm spending some of my time this week participating in it with the idea that you might decide to as well.

"...changing classroom assessment is the beginning of a revolution - a revolution in classroom practices of all kinds...Getting classroom assessment right is not a simplistic, either-or situation. It is a complex mix of challenging personal beliefs, rethinking instruction and learning new ways to assess for different purposes." (Earl, 2003, pp. 15-16)

I enjoy waking up every day and skimming through my RSS feed to read what other educators are thinking out loud via their blogs.  Here are a few of the recent highlights.


"Should the Textbook Determine the Essential Skills We Teach?" By Rick DuFour

In short, the people who contend your textbooks should determine the curriculum are wrong. Those who are arguing about what books to read are wrong. Shift your focus to the knowledge and skills your students must acquire and determine how you will assess whether or not they are acquiring the skills. Then, most importantly, use the results to get better at teaching the skills and intervening for students who struggle.

Second, I’m completely exhausted and doubtful that I can keep up this work all year long. I haven’t seen my daughter or my wife much this month simply because responsible formative assessment is an incredibly time-consuming process.
Heck, just last night I spent 3 hours grading one set of graphs because I wanted to get them back to my students in a timely way—but that required working from 5:30-8:30 and missing dinner with my family and bedtime with my little girl.
The past two weekends in a row were similar stories as I spent 5-6 hours both weekends putting exemplars together, writing remediation activities and designing new lessons to review challenging content.

The primary purpose of grades is to communicate information about content mastery to parents and students.

With this purpose in mind, it becomes clear that there is a clear distinction between the skills and knowledge dictated by our curriculum, and the habits and behaviors that lead to success in both life and school. Both are critically important. Over the past few decades, however, we have combined these two pieces of information into one grade that is displayed on report cards. Conflating content mastery with work habits causes a lot of confusion....

August 2013 Update:  A complete list of scholarly articles related to standards-based grading is available here.
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Once a month or so, I get an email or a tweet from an educator asking for help locating standards-based grading conversation starters and resources.  The question usually sounds something like,

I want to help my principal/team/colleague learn more about standards-based grading.  Where should I start?

• SBG Gala #1
• SBG Gala #2
• SBG Gala #3
• SBG Gala #4
• SBG Gala #5
• SBG Gala #6

• Scriffiny, Patricia L. "Seven Reasons for Standards-Based Grading." Educational Leadership 66.2 Oct. (2008): 70-74. 
• Colby, Susan A. "Grading in a Standards-Based System." Educational Leadership 56.6 Mar. (1999): 50-55.
• Guskey, Thomas R., and Lee Ann Jung. "Grading and Reporting in a Standards-Based Environment: Implications for Students With Special Needs." Theory Into Practice 48 Jan. (2009): 53-62. 
• Jung, Lee Ann, and Thomas Guskey. "Standards-Based Grading and Reporting: A Model for Special Education." Teaching Exceptional Children 40.2 Nov. (2007): 48-53. 
• Melograno, Vincent J. "Grading and Report Cards for Standards-Based Physical Education." The Journal of Physical Education, Recreation & Dance 78.6 Aug. (2007): 45-53. 
• Jung, Lee Ann, and Thomas R. Guskey. "Grading Exceptional Learners." Educational Leadership 67.5 Feb. (2010): 31-35.
• Guskey, Thomas R. "Helping Standards Make the Grade." Educational Leadership 59.1 Sept. (2001): 20-27.
• Scott, Shelia. "What's in a Grade?" General Music Today 14.3 Winter (2005): 17-24.
• Clymer, Jacqueline B., and Dylan Wiliam. "Improving the Way We Grade Science." Educational Leadership 64.4 Dec. (2006): 36-42.

Guskey and Bailey (2001, p. 18)

"Around the middle school years and sometimes earlier, students' perceptions of grades begin to change.  Although the reasons for this change are uncertain, it seems likely due to teachers' shifting emphasis from the formative aspects of grades to their summative functions.  As a result, students no longer see grades as a source of feedback to guide improvements in their learning.  Instead, they regard grades as the major commodity teachers and schools have to offer in exchange for their performance.  This change brings a slow but steady shift in students' focus away from learning and toward what they must do to obtain the grade commodity."  

1. Yet another reason not to grade formative assessments. 
2. Who owns the grades in a classroom?  In my earlier years of teaching, I believe that I did.  Students could dig themselves into a hole, but it was difficult to fill it back in. 
3. I tend to agree that the system creates grade craving for students.  Somewhere in school, students begin playing the "points game" and it becomes increasingly difficult, but not impossible, to undo this craving as a given student progresses through the K-12 system.

I recently finished The Principal as Assessment Leader, edited by Thomas Guskey.

Author's spin
Although Thomas Guskey edited the book, its chapters were contributed by various consultants, teachers and administrators from around North America.  With so many authors, it's hard to identify a single "spin" portrayed.  After viewing the works cited at the end of each chapter, it became evident that many of the authors have been influenced by Marzano, Guskey, O'Connor and each other, too.

Worth quoting
On why assessment reform is a touchy subject in schools today,

"It can be hard for teachers  - entrenched in an assessment culture heavy with summative assessments, normed scoring, and grades used for ensuring compliance - to recognize the flaws in a system that they themselves have respected for many years and worked to perfect" (11).  

"Common team-made formative assessments make teachers mutually accountable to each other.  These assessments result in collective responsibility for individual student learning for all students within the team and ensure high levels of learning for all students because teachers agree on a mutual proficiency standard" (38).

"Unfortunately, educational pedagogy still remains steeped in a culture where it is the role of the teacher to teach and the student to learn.  But what happens if the student does not learn or actually chooses not to learn?" (227)

"Principals occasionally get caught up in the seeming dichotomy of focusing on results or building relationships" (255).

...a term coined by my current grad class professor. 

Time, Textbooks, Tradition and Tests

Slides from this afternoon's presentation to the staff at Clear Creek Amana.




Thanks to Brad Fox and Michele Pettit for inviting me to speak today.

A really great conversation started on Twitter between @druinok and @russgoerend.  Twitter allows (encourages?!) those of us lurking on the outside to unashamedly join the conversation with a few clicks of the mouse, so I did.  It started something like this:

1. You're giving standards-based grading a try for the first time this year, OR
2. You're continuing to tweak the standards-based grading system you used last year...

1. Does it make sense to move on?  
2. Does it ever make sense to move on when students don't understand the big ideas?   
3. Should re-assessments always be optional?  In other words, if our magic number is two assessments, why not a third?

"We also know that teachers are not paid at the level they should be, especially our best teachers. The factory model we currently use supports mediocrity and encourages teachers to be paid for their experience or their level of degree, not for their ability to help kids learn."

In Ahead of the Curve, Ken O'Connor says,

"Grading as it has been done traditionally promotes a culture of point accumulation, not learning. It encourages competition rather than collaboration. It often focuses on activities instead of results. It makes all assessments summative (assessment of learning) because everything students do gets a score, and every score ends up in the grade book. " (p. 127)

It's been a great school year. Maybe even the best I've had so far in my half-decade in the profession. In the midst of finishing a graduate degree, changing the way I report student learning and realizing that examining my assessment practice is the beginning of a much bigger revolution, I feel like I've grown quite a bit over the past nine months.

Sharing this newly found knowledge with my colleagues has yielded mixed results. Several are jumping on board with the assessment revolution while others are hesitant to change. Period. I am finding that differing responses to a fill-in-the-blank sentences may be the culprit for our divided philosophies:

"High school is for..."

• teaching kids responsibility through penalizing them for late and incomplete work, and
  
• preparing them for college via lectures, sixty-minute tests and uncompromisable rules and procedures

• LEARNING

1. Exactly what is it we want all students to learn?
2. How will we know when each student has acquired the essential knowledge and skills?
3. What happens in our school when a student does not learn?

One small change in my classroom this year has yielded incredible results. In an earlier post, I mentioned a quote from a book by Lorna Earl entitled, Assessment as Learning: Using Classroom Assessment to Maximize Student Learning.

"...changing classroom assessment is the beginning of a revolution - a revolution in classroom practices of all kinds...Getting classroom assessment right is not a simplistic, either-or situation. It is a complex mix of challenging personal beliefs, rethinking instruction and learning new ways to assess for different purposes." (Earl, 2003, pp. 15-16)

"Formative assessment is a process used by teachers and students as part of instruction that provides feedback to adjust ongoing teaching and learning to improve students’ achievement of core content" (source).

I am thinking about asking my students how they would describe "effective homework." My guess is that some will think the phrase is an oxymoron!!

Over at the ASCD Inservice blog, Diana Strasser posted some interesting commentary related to this topic. She quotes Robert Marzano's book, The Art & Science of Teaching in suggesting the following guidelines for effective homework:

• Homework needs to be completed in order to produce the highest achievement gains. Design it with ease of completion in mind.
• A large amount of homework does not result in better learning.
• Homework should be academically purposeful, not a punishment or a symbol of the seriousness of study.
• Homework should be explicitly tied to the current learning goals of the class.
• Homework should be able to be completed without adult assistance.
• Parents or guardians should not be expected to act as content experts.
• Parents should, however, be provided with clear homework guidelines.
• Assignments that involve using the parents' expertise or personal experiences (such as interviews) are often successful.

1. "I didn't understand/like math in high school either so I can't help my child at home."
2. "I really use a lot of math at my __________ job. I always try to help my child with his/her math homework."
3. "I used to be able to help out with math homework, but this high school math is over my head."