Weekly Coaching Communication
Make it a great day -- every day!
14 - 25 November 2016
On the Standards Front . . .
Ken O'connor's 15 Fixes
Wendesday, 09 November 2016, Mr. Libolt, Ms. Talbott, Mr. Burke, and I traveled to AEA 267 for the Standards-Based Grading Conference. The Keynote speaker was Mr. Ken O'Connor, who is known for his expertise of how to grade in a standards system. In his keynote PowerPoint, O'Connor offered the 15 fixes to different issues with standards-based grading.
Without detailing all 15 "fixes," it is my hope that from the list you will see that some of our plan of action is already "fixed" in that we "don't do . . ." certain things. Also, note that O'Connor's use of the term "grade" in these "fixes" is to mean the letter or number at the end of a reporting period; he uses the term "marks" to indicate the levels of learning on an assessment or practice.
Fixes for ingredients that distort achievement:
1. Don’t include student behaviors (effort, participation, adherence to class rules, etc.) in grades; include only achievement.2. Don’t reduce marks on ‘work’ submitted late; provide support for the learner.
3. Don’t give points for extra credit or use bonus points; seek only evidence that more work has resulted in a higher level of achievement.
4. Don’t punish academic dishonesty with reduced grades; apply other consequences and reassess to determine actual level of achievement.
5. Don’t consider attendance in grade determination; report absences separately.
6. Don’t include group scores in grades; use only individual achievement evidence.
Fixes for low quality or poorly organized evidence:
7. Don’t organize information in grading records by assessment methods or simply summarize into a single grade; organize and report evidence by standards/
learning goals.
8. Don’t assign grades using inappropriate or unclear performance standards; provide clear descriptions of achievement expectations.
9. Don’t assign grades based on student’s achievement compared to other students; compare each student’s performance to preset standards.
10. Don’t rely on evidence gathered from assessments that fail to meet standards of quality; rely only on quality assessments.
Fixes for inappropriate number crunching:
11. Don’t rely on the mean; consider other measures of central tendency and use professional judgment.
12. Don’t include zeros in grade determination when evidence is missing or as punishment; use alternatives, such as reassessing to determine real achievement or use “I” for Incomplete or Insufficient evidence.
Fixes to support the learning process:
13. Don’t use information from formative assessments and practice to determine [summative] grades; use only summative evidence.
14. Don’t summarize evidence accumulated over time when learning is developmental and will grow with time and repeated opportunities; in those instances emphasize more recent achievement.
15. Don’t leave students out of the grading process. Involve students - they can - and should - play key roles in assessment and grading that promote achievement.
Growth Mindset -- What (REAL) Learning Looks Like
From Trevor Ragan and TrainUgly.com:
Sometimes when we see a great performer we throw out the “wow – she’s a natural’ tag.
What a sham.
This doesn’t pay tribute to all of her effort, the mistakes and crashes that were made behind the scenes. The truth is she is great because of her effort and because of her process.
We need to recognize that and we need to acknowledge that.
Real learning is ugly. Real learning is really hard. And we need to understand that everyone that’s good at something was bad first…
This is what it looks like (see video below):
**There is some adult language dropped**
Pope's Reflection:
Educating the body into muscle memory or the mind to function and think in a certain way takes more than one attempt at practice before performing on the assessment. Granted, some of the skills we are asking students to complete have been in practice for years and from class to class, but that doesn't mean that all students have that same practice and quality of performance.
The perseverance and commitment to learning is a long road of development through trial and error, not to mention the facing of fears and working outside of our comfort zone. When success comes along, confidence in the PROCESS of learning is bolstered.
As a teacher, what is one thing you can do in your classroom for your students to continue to bolster their confidence and provide them multiple opportunities to commit and persevere?
Coaching Schedule -- see Google Calendar for specific "Busy" times **schedule subject to change**
LINK to Mr. Libolt's Weekly Calendar & Communication
Monday, 14 November
- Serve Teachers & Students
- Research & Resources
Tuesday, 15 November
- 12:00 - 1:00 PM Webinar: Six Steps to Creating a Comprehensive Balanced Assessment Program
- Serve Teachers & Students
- Research & Resources
Wednesday, 16 November -- Data Team Meetings 7:30 -- 9:00 AM START
- Serve Teachers & Students
- Research & Resources
- 12:30-1:30 PM Libolt/Pope Weekly Meeting @ HS
Thursday, 17 November
- Serve Teachers & Students
- Research & Resources
- Spanish Meeting 3:30 PM
Friday, 18 November
- 7:30 - 8:30 AM TRIAD Mtg w/ Program Lead/ Principal/ IC (rescheduled from 04 Nov)
- Serve Teachers & Students
- Research & Resources
- 12:00 PM IC Team Learning/Data Meeting
Monday, 21 November
- Serve Teachers & Students
- Research & Resources
Tuesday, 22 November
- Serve Teachers & Students
- Research & Resources
Wednesday, 23 November - Friday, 25 November
Thanksgiving Break -- enjoy your family and friends
ARCHIVE LINKS
Click on the link to access 2015-16 prior weekly communications.
Pope's IC Weekly Communication Archive & Index 2016-17
Click on the link to access 2016-17 prior weekly communications.
IC/Principal Weekly Meeting Notes
Click on the link to view the Friday notes.
Contact Information
Center Point - Urbana CSD
Email: epopenhagen@cpuschools.org
Phone: 319-849-1102+91015
Twitter: @Epopenhagen