Grading in the 21 st Century: Create a Plan for your School

1. Grading in the 21st Century: Create a Plan for your School NASSP 2011

2. For more information and conversation: Rick Wormeli rwormeli@cox.net 703-620-2447 Herndon, VA USA Patti Kinney kinneyp@nassp.org 703-860-7256 Reston, VA USA (Eastern Time Zone)

3. Mindset: With the principles well understood, we’re able to gather our own solutions.

4. [Artist Unknown] “

5. What is fair… …isn’t always equal.

6. Great book to get started: The Differentiated School: Making Revolutionary Changes in Teaching and Learning Carol Ann Tomlinson, Kay Brimijoin, Lane Narvaez ASCD 2008

7. Also, to Get Started: Transforming School Culture: How to Overcome Staff Division Anthony Muhammad, Solution Tree Press, 2009 Talk About Teaching! Leading Professional Conversations, NASSP/Corwin/NSDC, 2009 Leading Change in your School: How to Conquer Myths, Build Commitment, and Get Results, ASCD, 2009 Breaking Ranks: A Field Guide to Leading Change, NASSP, 2009 (Don’t forget BRIM – Breaking Ranks in the Middle – and new Breaking Ranks: The Comprehensive Guide to School Improvement

8. www.stenhouse.com/fiae Two new, substantial study guides for Fair Isn’t Always Equal Q&A’s - abbreviated versions of correspondence with teachers and administrators Video and audio podcasts on assessment and grading issues Testimonials from educators Articles that support the book’s main themes Announcing a New and FREE Website for Perspective and Practicality on Assessment and Grading Issues!

9. Define Each Grade A: B: C: D: E or F:

10. Until Report Card Formats catch up to pedagogy, we may have to translate into three languages: Report Card Rubric Symbol English Symbol 4 Mastery 100 3 Just below 90 mastery

11. Three Reasons to Not Refer to Average, Above Average, Below Average • Society changes its perception of what is average. • “Criterion-reference” is standards-based and more helpful to everyone involved, not “norm-reference.” • Averaging was invented in statistics to get rid of sample error, but in order to apply it, the experimental (assessment) design must be constant. Classroom assessments are not constant, and error is inherent.

12. A Perspective that Changes our Thinking: “A ‘D’ is a coward’s ‘F.’ The student failed, but you didn’t have enough guts to tell him.” -- Doug Reeves

13. A • B • C • I, IP, NE, or NTY Once we cross over into D and F(E) zones, does it really matter? We’ll do the same two things: Personally investigate and take corrective action

14. If we do not allow students to re-do work, we deny the growth mindset so vital to student maturation, and we are declaring to the student: • This assignment had no legitimate educational value. • It’s okay if you don’t do this work. • It’s okay if you don’t learn this content or skill. None of these is acceptable to the highly accomplished, professional educator.

15. Conclusions from Sample DNA Essay Grading The fact that a range of grades occurs among teachers who grade the same product suggests that: • Assessment can only be done against commonly accepted and clearly understood criteria. • Grades are relative. • Teachers have to be knowledgeable in their subject area in order to assess students properly. • Grades are subjective and can vary from teacher to teacher. • Grades are not always accurate indicators of mastery.

16. Avoid hunt-and-peck, call-on-just-a-sampling-of-students-to-indicate-the-whole-class’s-understanding assumptions: “Does everyone understand?” “Does anyone have any questions?” “These two students have it right, so the rest of you must understand it as well.” Get evidence from every individual!

17. What is Mastery? “Tim was so learned, that he could name a horse in nine languages; so ignorant, that he bought a cow to ride on.” Ben Franklin, 1750, Poor Richard’s Almanac

18. Working Definition of Mastery(Wormeli) Students have mastered content when they demonstrate a thorough understanding as evidenced by doing something substantive with the content beyond merely echoing it. Anyone can repeat information; it’s the masterful student who can break content into its component pieces, explain it and alternative perspectives regarding it cogently to others, and use it purposefully in new situations.

19. Non-mastery… • The students can match each of the following parts of speech to its definition accurately: noun, pronoun, verb, adverb, adjective, preposition, conjunction, gerund, and interjection.

20. …and Mastery • The student can point to any word in the sentence and explain its role (impact) in the sentence, and explain how the word may change its role, depending on where it’s placed in the sentence.

21. What is the standard of excellence when it comes to tying a shoe? Now describe the evaluative criteria for someone who excels beyond the standard of excellence for tying a shoe. What can they do?

22. Consider Gradations of Understanding and Performance from Introductory to Sophisticated Introductory Level Understanding: Student walks through the classroom door while wearing a heavy coat. Snow is piled on his shoulders, and he exclaims, “Brrrr!” From depiction, we can infer that it is cold outside. Sophisticated level of understanding: Ask students to analyze more abstract inferences about government propaganda made by Remarque in his wonderful book, All Quiet on the Western Front.

23. Determine the surface area of a cube. • Determine the surface area of a rectangular prism (a rectangular box) • Determine the amount of wrapping paper needed for another rectangular box, keeping in mind the need to have regular places of overlapping paper so you can tape down the corners neatly • Determine the amount of paint needed to paint an entire Chicago skyscraper, if one can of paint covers 46 square feet, and without painting the windows, doorways, or external air vents Which one qualifies for an “A” in the gradebook?

24. Standards are Positives in our Lives: • When a plane lands, it’s landing gear supports its weight. • Water flows to our homes, and it’s healthy enough to drink. • When a house is built, it withstands the wind. • When we depress a key on the keyboard, it makes the letter we wish it to make. • Locks lock and keys unlock. • Cameras take clear pictures. • Hotel beds are clean. • Thermometers indicate the correct temperature.

25. Clarifying the • Curriculum • Identify our • verbs. • Practice • making the • intrinsic, • extrinsic; the • invisible, • visible. • Divide and conquer. • Identify the standards that provide leverage. • Share our thinking. • Move from standards to evidence or outcome.

26. 21st Century Skills Sets (As taken from www.p21.org) Mastery of core subjects and 21st century themes is essential to student success. Core subjects include English, reading or language arts, world languages, arts, mathematics, economics, science, geography, history, government and civics. In addition, schools must promote an understanding of academic content at much higher levels by weaving 21st century interdisciplinary themes into core subjects: • Global Awareness • Financial, Economic, Business and Entrepreneurial Literacy • Civic Literacy • Health Literacy • Environmental Literacy

27. Learning and Innovation Skills • Creativity and Innovation • Critical Thinking and Problem Solving • Communication and Collaboration Information, Media and Technology Skills • Information Literacy • Media Literacy • ICT (Information, Communications and Technology) Literacy

28. Life and Career Skills • Flexibility and Adaptability • Initiative and Self-Direction • Social and Cross-Cultural Skills • Productivity and Accountability • Leadership and Responsibility

29. Grade 6: Write and evaluate numerical expressions involving whole-number exponents. (From the Common Core Standards) • What if they can write the expressions but can’t evaluate them? • Does the standard require students to add, subtract, multiply, and divide whole number exponents, too? • Some teachers think whole numbers includes zero and negative integers, so should we require students to demonstrate proficiency with negative exponents as well? • Does the standard mean students can recognize mistakes others make while evaluating such expressions?

30. What if they can do this by rote, but can’t explain the math behind the algorithm? • What if they can do the standard this week, but can’t do it two months from now? • How many times and over what period of time do students need to be able to do this in order to be considered proficient? • What does it mean to exceed this standard, if that’s what our “A” grade represents?

31. SIX + 1 Writing Traits Sample Rubric -- Ideas and Content [From Northwest Regional Educational Laboratory, 101 SW Main, Suite 500, Portland, OR 97204] 5 = This paper is clear and focused. It holds the reader's attention. Relevant anecdotes and details enrich the central theme or storyline. Ideas are fresh and original. The writer seems to be writing from knowledge or experience and shows insight: an understanding of life and a knack for picking out what is significant. Relevant, telling, quality details give the reader important information that goes beyond the obvious or predictable. The writer develops the topic in an enlightening, purposeful way that makes a point or tells a story. Every piece adds something to the whole.

32. Skill/Content: 4n + 16 = 5n – 8 -n = -24 n = +24 (4 x 24) + 16 = (5x24) - 8 96 + 16 = 120 - 8 112 = 112

33. What will you and your colleagues accept as evidence of full mastery and of almost mastery? • Spelling test non-example • No echoing or parroting • Regular conversations with subject-like colleagues • Other teachers grading your students’ work • Pacing Guides • Common Assessments

34. Quick Reference: Differentiated Lesson Planning Sequence A. Steps to take before designing the learning experiences: 1. Identify your essential understandings, questions, benchmarks, objectives, skills, standards, and/or learner outcomes. 2. Identify your students with unique needs, and get an early look at what they will need in order to learn and achieve. 3. Design your formative and summative assessments. 4. Design and deliver your pre-assessments based on the summative assessments and identified objectives. 5. Adjust assessments or objectives based on your further thinking discovered while designing the assessments.

35. B. Steps to take while designing the learning experiences: 1. Design the learning experiences for students based on pre-assessments, your knowledge of your students, and your expertise with the curriculum, cognitive theory, and students at this stage of human development. 2. Run a mental tape of each step in the lesson sequence to make sure things make sense for your diverse group of students and that the lesson will run smoothly. 3. Review your plans with a colleague. 4. Obtain/Create materials needed for the lesson. 5. Conduct the lesson. 6. Adjust formative and summative assessments and objectives as necessary based on observations and data collected while teaching.

36. C. Steps to take after providing the learning experiences: 1. Evaluate the lesson’s success with students. What evidence do you have that the lesson was successful? What worked and what didn’t, and why? 2. Record advice on lesson changes for yourself for when you do this lesson in future years.

37. Feedback vs Assessment Feedback: Holding up a mirror to students, showing them what they did and comparing it what they should have done – There’s no evaluative component! Assessment: Gathering data so we can make a decision Greatest Impact on Student Success:Formative feedback

38. What does our understanding of feedback mean for our use of homework? Is homework more formative or summative in nature? Whichever it is, its role in determining grades will be dramatically different.

39. “If we don’t count homework heavily, students won’t do it.” Do you agree with this? Does this sentiment cross a line?

40. Two Homework Extremes that Focus Our Thinking • If a student does none of the homework assignments, yet earns an “A” (top grade) on every formal assessment we give, does he earn anything less than an “A” on his report card? • If a student does all of the homework well yet bombs every formal assessment, isn’t that also a red flag that something is amiss, and we need to take corrective action?

41. Be clear: We mark and grade against standards/outcomes, not the routes students take or techniques teachers use to achieve those standards/outcomes. Given this premise, marks/grades for these activities can no longer be used in the academic report of what students know and can do regarding learner standards: maintaining a neat notebook, group discussion, class participation, homework, class work, reading log minutes, band practice minutes, dressing out in p.e., showing up to perform in an evening concert, covering textbooks, service to the school, group projects, signed permission slips, canned foods for canned food drive…

42. Accuracy of the Final Report Card Grade versus the Level of Use of Formative Assessment Scores in the Final Report Grade High Final Grade Accuracy Accuracy of Final Report Card Grade Low Final Grade Accuracy Low Use of Formative Scores in the Final Grade High Use of Formative Scores in the Final Grade

43. Set up your gradebook into two sections: Formative Summative Assignments and assessments Final declaration completed on the way to of mastery or mastery or proficiency proficiency

44. Assessment AS/FOR Learning • Grades rarely used, if ever • Marks and feedback are used • Share learning goals with students from the beginning • Make adjustments in teaching a result of formative assessment data • Provide descriptive feedback to students • Provide opportunities for student for self-and peer assessment -- O’Connor, p. 98, Wormeli

45. -- Marzano, CAGTW, pgs 5-6

47. The chart on the previous slide is based on an idea found in the article below: Stiggins, Rick. “Assessment Through the Student’s Eyes,” Educational Leadership, May 2007, Vol. 64, No. 8, pages 22 – 26, ASCD

48. Evaluating the Usefulnessof Assessments • What are your essential and enduring skills and content you’re trying to assess? • How does this assessment allow students to demonstrate their mastery? • Is every component of that objective accounted for in the assessment? • Can students respond another way and still satisfy the requirements of the assessment task? Would this alternative way reveal a student’s mastery more truthfully? • Is this assessment more a test of process or content? Is that what you’re after?

49. Clear and Consistent Evidence We want an accurate portrayal of a student’s mastery, not something clouded by a useless format or distorted by only one opportunity to reveal understanding. Differentiating teachers require accurate assessments in order to differentiate successfully.

50. Great differentiated assessment is never kept in the dark. “Students can hit any target they can see and which stands still for them.” -- Rick Stiggins, Educator and Assessment expert If a child ever asks, “Will this be on the test?”.….we haven’t done our job.