I've simply freeform written a narrative of some experiences I had this past week.
For your reading "pleasure" ;-), my rambling reflection of "The Day We Made Them Cry".

With two weeks left in the grading period, our elementary teachers were reminded that they needed to have their all of their assignments and grades entered in our online gradebook by Oct. 24th in order for us to print their report cards using Skyward, our Student Information System. Now, they were told last Spring that they would be expected to use this system as an online gradebook beginning with the 2013-2014 school year. They were given the opportunity to practice using the online gradebook during second semester last year. They were reminded right before school started about this expectation, and they were provided with multiple opportunities for professional development in using this online gradebook.
Questions had come up during the initial use during the first few weeks of school, so we sent out Q&A email messages to all elementary teachers at two different times mid-way through first quarter to provide clear answers and expectations. So, very honestly, we did not expect the level of panic, anger, frustration and very bluntly, unprofessional and rude responses to our reminder email message. A handful replied to all recipients of the message, begging us to change the expectation. Some acted as if this was the first time they had been told about this expectation. Some insisted they had received absolutely no training, and when reminded of the training opportunities provided to them, some responded with ugly comments about the quality of the training. When asked whom they contacted to request additional training, there was total silence.
What became very clear through this very tense and difficult week is that some of our teachers have absolutely no idea how to effectively assign a report card grade to students. We were told “Most of what we do is observation; you can’t put that in a gradebook”.
A few told us they were so happy we were now using this gradebook, that they found it easier to use, and that it was a much more efficient system. As I reflect on the conversations I’ve had with these teachers, what I realize is that these are the teachers that have a firmer grasp on the purpose and processes of grading and grade reporting.
The purpose of using this single, online gradebook system at this point in time was to provide more open communication to parents. This tool has a feature called “Parent Access”; parents may log in at anytime and see their students’ current grade, their assignments, and all associated scores. The implementation plan is that teachers would use the program during first semester, without the parent access portion open, so they could learn the software. Then, Parent Access will open at the start of second semester.
We have implemented a technical change that has now created an urgent need for teachers to better understand grading and grade reporting.

I've been away a long time...almost a year! I've been busy...but posting here has taken a back seat.
I've completed "change plan part 1" and "change plan part 2", and am now working on "change plan final".
I'm so excited that Dr. Tom Guskey is going to be here in Harlem this week! I'm so looking forward to learning from him.

Here is my focus statement so far:

Grading and grade reporting are a way of life in schools. Using grades as a way of reporting or assessing value or progress has also become embedded into our entire society as well. Many of us have seen grades or GPA being used as a way of determining the value of a person or as a status symbol: “My daughter is an honor roll student at ABC Middle School” bumper stickers,  “My son has a 4.0 GPA”, are bragging rights of proud parents. We see this thinking occurring in television advertisements and in news articles as well; grades are assigned to something (A, B, C, D, F) as a way to let us know and understand its value. And who among us doesn’t know what “A” means? Excellence, perfection (“A+”!!), something to which we aspire in so many facets of our lives. However, do we really know what those letter grades mean when reporting academic progress to students and parents? We know that most students (and parents) want that A, but what does that A mean (or C, or F)? A 9^th grade Biology class that is taught by 5 different faculty members in one high school can have different course syllabi, different weights for grades, and different assignments, which can ultimately result in two students ending a term with the same set of knowledge and skills, and yet with very different course grades.

The goal of this change plan is to examine best practice in the areas of assessment, grading and grade reporting with a group of teacher leaders, and then to develop a longitudinal plan for changing practice and philosophy district-wide. This process is intended to build foundational knowledge and understanding of current best practice in assessment, grading and grade reporting, and will provide a more consistently applied process for evaluating and reporting student progress.

 

Will this change after meeting with Dr. Guskey this week? I know there will be LOTS to think about!

 

I am so excited about this new development in my thinking about my area of research. I have been passionate about grading practices for a few years now, so I have been doing a LOT of reading and thinking about grading and grade reporting. I've thought a LOT about it, reflected on my own practice. It's just been a big part of my life for a while now.

And now I can't stop thinking about change. What is it about changing to an infinitely better way of doing things that is so incredibly difficult for some people? I guess that's what "Change Leadership" is all about. So then how do we lead change when we have a variety of personalities that we lead? Can we differentiate how we implement change, depending on the "learning style"---or "Change Style" of our teachers? Is that going to be perceived as "unfair"? Does that really matter? We know that Fair does not mean Equal!!

What about that RtI Pyramid? Doesn't that apply to our adult learners as well? Tiered interventions for change?

Thoughts, anyone?
:-)

More thoughts about my research focus....

One of my continuing, swirling thoughts is about "dispositions". So much has research been done in the area of grading and grade reporting,  and I wonder why it's so hard to make systemic change....I do understand why it's hard for parents to grasp a new way of determining/measuring student growth. I just wonder why it is so hard for some teachers to consider something different than the punitive, "gotcha" model. ("This assignment is 1 day late, you get a zero. I'm just preparing you for the 'real world' type of approach"....so if you didn't turn in your eligibility paperwork/grades on time, did you lose a day of pay? You mean that "real world"?)

Much of what I have been reading about grading is integrally tied to assessment (as it should be); however, I don’t know which group of stakeholders actually understand this deeply, and to what extent the understanding of this helps people understand what grades really should be/mean.

So far:

High stakes testing and accountability are no longer new to public education; however, communicating student progress to parents in this age of accountability can be very challenging. Parents know and are deeply connected to the “A, B, C, D, F” grading system they experienced in school. Everyone knows what “A” means, what “C” means. This grading system is even used in many capacities outside of the school system because it is so widely understood (“Grade your website”, “Grade your Doctor”, etc.). But what does this really tell students and parents about what students really know and are able to do?  Gregory Cizek states “grades continue to be relied upon to communicate important information about [academic] performance and progress . . . they probably don’t” (1996, 104).

Assigning grades to students can be a very controversial issue; some educators have even proposed their abolition (Kohn 1999; Marzano 2000). Communicating student progress to parents (and to the students themselves) is one of the main purposes of assigning “grades” to students and GPA is used by most post-secondary institutions as part of the application and acceptance process, making abolition is unlikely in the foreseeable future. Grading is a highly volatile issue with most stakeholders. Teachers spend many hours grading papers to determine the “report card” grade.

Should a “report card” grade reflect the average of the semester’s work? Or should it reflect mastery of the course content? Or perhaps it should reflect some hybrid/combination of both? How do we inform parents and students of their ongoing progress toward course content standards and expectations?

Harlem Consolidated School District #122 serves approximately 8000 students per year. We are a Unit District, serving students in grades Pre-K-12 in 12 buildings, including a Kindergarten Center, 1 building serving 1^st-3^rd grade students, 1 serving 4^th -6^th grade students, 6 buildings serving students in grades 1-6, on 7^th-8^th grade Middle School, one 9^th Grade campus and one High School campus serving grades 10-12. In 2009, a consistent grading scale was developed and implemented for Grades 1-6. There is less consistency in grades 7-12. While Departments at the High School attempt to align their grading expectations, teachers still have flexibility in determining the weight that homework, tests, quizzes and classwork will have in grade determination. Teachers do not want to give up control of their classroom decision-making when it comes to determining student grades.

Early during the Fall of 2010 (my first year serving as Director of Accountability and School Improvement), I received a call from an agitated parent. She was very unhappy with her son’s report card. She had spoken to the teacher several times, and was not happy with the outcome of the conversation. That school was being led at that time by an interim principal, who directed the parent to call me when she contacted him after several meetings with the classroom teacher. Mom shared with me that the teacher determines a reading grade based only on one test, and that she “gives everyone a C in Social Studies since we really never have time for Social Studies anyway”. I met with this teacher to discuss the parent concerns and her grading process; she believed that she was “directed” by the District to determine reading grades this way. The “grades” this student received in reading in this class was discouraging the child; he began to believe he just wasn’t a good reader, leading to lower grades in other content areas.

Upon further investigation with other teachers in that building and others, I found that teachers had widely differing interpretations of district expectations for grading. Some were very adamant that their way of “grading” students was right and that they were not willing to change what they do. Others were dissatisfied with their process, but did not know what to do to change what they were doing, or if “The District” would let them change their grading expectations and processes.

Much research has been done that supports the use of standards-based grading as a strong process that supports and improves student learning (Guskey, 1996, 1999, 2009), Marzano (2000, 2006).(more research). If strong research exists to guide and support best practice in assessing and reporting student progress toward grade level or content goals and standards, what prevents systems from making that change? Do dispositions affect teachers’ ability and/or willingness to change how they assess and grade students?

Data-informed? Or Data-Driven?

This has especially been on my mind over the last day or so. I have used the term "data-informed" over "data-driven" for a very long time. I believe that TEACHERS are the only ones who actually "drive" the instruction in their classrooms....data informs their work, as does myriad other things that they use to make every decision for every minute of every day in their classrooms. Yes, data plays a big part in that. But does it actually "drive" it?

When I first started working here in Harlem, I made a point of talking about being data-informed rather than data-driven. I've actually worked  hard to empower teachers to know that they are the "drivers" in their classrooms, and to change the way we talk about data.

However, I recently met with a principal who really insists on using "data-driven". In fact, he uses "driven" a lot. Assessment "drives" instruction. Data "drives" instruction. He refuses to hear what I say about teachers being the drivers. It's kind of "driving" me crazy.

Maybe it is just semantics, and I'm overthinking it. But data is just data. Just numbers. They don't mean anything without context and interpretation. So a number like 67 doesn't really mean anything unless there is something else around it, providing context. If you have 67% of your students "meeting standards" on an accountability test, you are below the benchmark for this year (92.5%). However, if you had 48% "meeting standards" last year, you have made a HUGE improvement. If you had 82% "meeting standards" last year, you have made a HUGE drop. One way means keep doing what you are doing. The other means you need to make some changes. Who/what "drives" that decision? The 67? Or the interpretation of that data by people/experts?

If it's 67 degrees in Chicago in January, it's WARM!!! If it's 67 degrees in Florida in July, it's COLD!! But the air temperature is the same. You'd take off a jacket in Chicago, but you'd put on a sweatshirt in Florida. Your interpretation of the data is what drives you to make a change. You make decisions based on your context, your knowledge of the situation as well as using the data you have.

See, the NUMBERS aren't driving anything. It's the people that have the knowledge behind the numbers that are doing the driving.

So that's why I'm a stickler about the words. Teachers are the expert drivers. They take the data and make sense of it and determine the best instructional steps based on the data....and on their own knowledge and expertise.

I'd much rather have my instruction driven by an informed teacher than by a spreadsheet.



**Definition of drive, according to Merriam-Webster.com

5a: to exert inescapable or coercive pressure on : force <driven by his passions> b: to compel to undergo or suffer a change (as in situation or emotional state) <drove him crazy> <drove her out of business> c: to urge relentlessly to continuous exertion <the sergeant drove his recruits> d: to press or force into an activity, course, or direction <the drug habit drives addicts to steal> e: to project, inject, or impress incisively <drove her point home>

6: to force (a passage) by pressing or digging

8: to give shape or impulse to <factors that drive the business cycle> <the ideas that have driven history>

My initial thoughts regarding areas of research:

My initial proposal is not fleshed out yet, but this is what I have so far:

Throughout the educational system we often see an attempt to assign “blame” at a variety of factors when students are not successful. Legislators and community members blame teachers, high school can often point fingers at the middle school, middle school will point fingers at the elementary level, while elementary will look at the parents. In fact, throughout the system, fingers are often pointed at parents when children are not successful in school.

We need to engage parents more in understanding what their children are expected to learn and to help them understand how well their children are progressing toward those goals. I have seen some incredibly distressing practice in “grading” students, practices that are unfair to students, practices that parents don’t understand, that do not effectively communicate student learning to students or parents.

What methods can a district best use to effectively update grading practices that not only communicate progress to students and parents, but can also engage students in their own learning, and improve student learning?


Questions:
• What is the real purpose of grades?
• What are current perceptions of the purpose of grades?
• What is the best way to assess and communicate student progress and growth?
• How do we move practitioners to better grading practices?
• What role does the principal play in moving faculty toward better assessment and grading practices?

I continue to ponder how to focus this large, emotional area.
One of my swirling thoughts is about "dispositions". So much has research been done in this area and I wonder why it's so hard to make systemic change....I do understand why it's hard for parents to grasp a new way of determining/measuring student growth.

I just wonder why it is so hard for some teachers to consider something different than the punitive, "gotcha" model. ("This assignment is 1 day late, you get a zero. I'm just preparing you for the 'real world' type of approach"....so if you didn't turn in your eligibility paperwork/grades on time, did you lose a day of pay? You mean that "real world"?)

So, more reading, more reflecting, more conversations with colleagues.