Reimagining Grading: Empowering Students Through Simplicity and Agency→

Robert Talbert, in an article on Substack, talks about his use of “spec grading” and the EMRF rubric he used:

“The EMRF rubric does this. It is basically a Pass/Fail rubric in which instead of one decision that needs to be made about a student’s work… there are two. The first is whether the specs are met. The second one is: If the specifications are met, then is the work really excellent (‘E’) or not excellent but just OK (‘M’)?”

I find this approach compelling. Simple labels like “Success” and “Retry” on student work help students retain their agency—something crucial in education today.

I’ve always been uneasy with grade-focused conversations: students fixated on getting an “A” or asking if content will be “on the test.” Grades like C and D often fail to provide meaningful feedback about learning. The “Retry” concept shifts the focus to quality over completion, telling students, “You’re not done yet. Keep trying.” As Talbert notes:

“It wasn’t about points, it was about quality and there’s a world of difference here.”

Moving from grading to feedback transforms classroom dynamics, emphasizing learning and personal growth over mere completion.

Key lessons from research about project-based teaching and learning→

Anna Rosefsky Saavedra and Amie Rapaport, writing for Kappan:

"Our research has demonstrated that inquiry-based learning can be intellectually rigorous and cover a sufficient breadth of content and skills. Students learning through these approaches outperform comparison students on meaningful outcomes, including probability of high school graduation and AP scores."

They do a nice job summarizing implementation challenges inherent in project-based teaching and learning:

On the struggle of integrating PBL in traditional settings:

"In studies of PBL instruction that was not schoolwide, teachers struggled as the only adult in the building using the approach... For a student immersed in a traditional school, a PBL classroom can feel new, different, and unfamiliar."

On the tension between project depth and curriculum breadth:

"PBL requires students to spend a lot of time deeply exploring fewer content areas... This requirement can be in tension with the need to teach the breadth of content and skills in district and state learning standards."

On the financial and resource challenges of adopting PBL:

"Teaching PBL well requires materials and professional learning support that can be costly for schools and districts... These costs add up and can make transitioning to PBL a costly budget item for schools and districts that may already be strapped for cash."

They do an equally nice job of summarizing potential solutions and insights related to those challenges:

On the importance of patience and support for educators:

"Transitioning to effective implementation of PBL requires patience because pedagogical skills and culture take time to evolve... Educators, particularly those new to PBL, struggle."

On aligning PBL with standardized assessments:

"The IB Diploma Programme’s approach to assessment helps teachers overcome this barrier... students will have the choice on the exam to address questions related to those areas without being required to delve into others."

On leveraging open access resources and professional development:

"Many curriculum resources are open access... Even when the resources are free, professional learning workshops and coaches have costs, as does providing teachers with the time for extra course planning and professional learning community meetings."

They advocate for whole-school implementation of PBL as it addresses many of the challenges revealed in their research, such as the misalignment between different teaching methods and the need for a unified school culture that supports inquiry-based learning. They also emphasize the importance of district-level investment and support. This includes providing adequate resources, professional development for teachers, and the alignment of assessments with PBL methods to ensure that they measure the broad range of skills and knowledge that students gain.

The overarching message is that with support at both the school and district levels, the implementation of PBL can lead to transformative educational outcomes, fostering students who are not only academically successful but also adept at critical thinking, collaboration, and lifelong learning.

In my experience, that checks out and could easily be applied more broadly than to just PBL.

What’s Ahead for the AP Program: Discussing and Prioritizing Potential Changes→

Trevor Packer, Senior Vice President for AP and Instruction at the College Board, back in August 2023:

"The research does seem clear that incorporating projects can be a more expansive way to measure learning..."

Long perceived as a benchmark of excellence in high school education, the AP's pivot towards project-based learning (PBL) represents a deeper understanding of what constitutes effective learning. PBL is not just an alternative teaching method; it's an approach that can provide a more nuanced and comprehensive assessment of a student's abilities and understanding.

The shift to PBL acknowledges that learning transcends the traditional boundaries of rote memorization and regurgitation of facts. It's about applying knowledge in real-world scenarios, problem-solving, and innovation. This approach aligns well with current educational research, which underscores the importance of experiential learning in developing critical thinking, collaboration, and adaptive skills.

However, Packer maintains the need to balance between new and old methodologies. He states:

"Keeping part of the score based on something that is proctored and timed is valuable to us. But we don’t have to base all of it on that."

His point emphasizes the continued relevance of traditional assessments. Timed, proctored exams have their place in measuring certain types of knowledge and skills, particularly under pressure. I can’t argue that, but the blend of project-based assessments with traditional exams offers a more holistic approach to evaluating student achievement. A more hybrid assessment ensures that students are not only adept at theoretical knowledge but also proficient in practical application and problem-solving.

In essence, the AP's move towards incorporating more PBL into its curriculum reflects a broader shift in educational philosophy. It's an acknowledgment that the ways we measure learning need to be as diverse and multifaceted as the learners themselves. By adapting to include more project-based assessments, the AP Program is not only maintaining its high standards but also evolving to meet the diverse needs and talents of students in a complex, rapidly changing world.

Essential Learning Outcomes at Bay City Central High School

Central High School is in the initial phase of its first year of redesigning its curriculum and instruction, focusing on teaching and assessing essential learning outcomes like agency, collaboration, communication, and knowledge and thinking. This video captures the early yet significant progress being made. It's evident in the way students, teachers, and leaders have wholeheartedly adopted these core values.

Visiting Central High School, the commitment to innovation is unmistakable. Everyone involved is deeply invested in effectively implementing these outcomes for the benefit of students. This dedication is visible in every classroom and interaction.

"But There's No Time!"→

Grant Wiggins, writing for ASCD in 2012:

"Decades of education research support the idea that by teaching less and providing more feedback, we can produce greater learning."

And also:

"Although the universal teacher lament that there's no time for such feedback is understandable, remember that 'no time to give and use feedback' actually means 'no time to cause learning.'"

When I was a principal, a parent complained about an art teacher not updating grades often enough. I talked to the teacher, who invited me to observe her class. What I saw sticks with me today. She constantly moved, observed student practice, and gave quick, useful feedback on their work. She wasn't focused on grades because she was helping students improve in real time. I told the parent everything was fine and never questioned the teacher’s grading practices again.

Such practices ought to extend beyond the art classroom.

Aligning Classroom Practices with Community Aspirations for Deeper Learning

Yesterday, I shared the BCPS Graduate Profile video, describing what the Bay City community collectively wants for graduates. Today, I want to share its companion video describing our Deeper Learning initiative, where theory becomes part of our teaching practice.

By aligning instruction with the skills and values our community holds dear, we create a more cohesive and effective educational experience. This isn't just about ticking boxes on a standard assessment; it's about synchronizing our educational goals with real-world needs and expectations. When every stakeholder, from teachers and administrators to parents and community leaders, is on the same page, that's when we see transformative growth in our students.

I abandoned grading my students and stopped taking attendance. Here’s what happened→

J. W. Traphagan, a professor at the University of Texas at Austin, abandoned traditional grading and attendance requirements, opting for a self-evaluation system that eliminated busywork and replaced grades with an assessment of participation and a score assigned by each student to reflect their performance. Here are his takeaways:

First, I often hear that students are apathetic about learning these days. This is inaccurate. Students are, in fact, excited about learning.

However, they’re indifferent to or even bothered by the educational system’s incessant emphasis on quantitative measures and assignments that seem to have little or no value. Most students want to learn, but don’t see the conventional educational approach as providing a particularly good framework for learning.

Second, many students have experienced enormous stress and anxiety. High school can be a pressure cooker focused on grades, test scores, GPAs and getting into the right college. As a result, learning seems like a side effect of education rather than the goal.

My students consistently note that when they don’t have to anticipate the expectations of their professor, they can focus on taking chances in their writing and thinking. And taking chances often leads to true learning and mastery of a topic.

Finally, this experiment has forced me to think about intellectual rigor in the classroom. Is a system designed to generate stress through piling on work and being “hard” — whatever that means — rigorous?

Or is rigor about creating an environment where students enjoy the learning process and, as a result, willingly engage in broadening their horizons and thinking about their lives?

I think it’s the latter.

The Gender Gap in Academics→

I first wrote about the underperformance of boys back in 2015. Dual-enrolled students at my high school did well in general, but on average, girls' GPAs in college were 1.05 points higher than boys', even though they did the same on standardized tests going in. Fast forward to today, and the problem still exists:

“Many social scientists agree that contemporary American men are mired in malaise, even as they disagree about the causes. In academic performance, boys are well behind girls in elementary school, high school, and college, where the sex ratio is approaching two female undergraduates for every one male. (It was an even split at the start of the nineteen-eighties.)”

Addressing academic differences between boys and girls in our current culture is a complex and delicate task. We're navigating a social landscape where conversations around gender equality and toxic masculinity are ongoing, and any efforts to support boys specifically may be met with skepticism or resistance. Yet, it’s essential to address this challenge, understanding that the purpose of school is to lift everyone up and create equal opportunities for success.

Solutions should emphasize supporting all students and creating a safe space for candid conversations about their experiences. By placing a strong emphasis on learning and growth, and listening to each student’s individual needs, we can begin to understand the issue of boys performing worse than girls in school. Then, by encouraging open dialogue among educators, parents, and students, we can collaboratively work on strategies that are adapted to meet a variety of learning needs. By doing this, we are likely to help boys succeed and make learning more inclusive and equitable for everyone.

Transforming Middle School with Essential Outcomes at Handy Middle School

As a teacher, I had my first encounter with the New Tech Network in the spring of 2010 at Bloomington New Tech in Indiana. It was there, under the leadership of Alan Veach, that I was introduced to project-based learning and the intentional teaching of essential skills. I was fortunate enough to later serve as principal for two New Tech high schools and am now working with my district team and a talented group of school leaders and teachers to bring this innovative approach to Handy Middle School.

This video highlights the exciting work happening at Handy Middle School as they implement the New Tech Network's essential learning outcomes. These outcomes, which include agency, collaboration, knowledge and thinking, and written & oral communication, go beyond traditional content standards and equip students with the skills they need to succeed in the future.

Could Rubric-Based Grading Be the Assessment of the Future?→

So, apparently the Association of American Colleges and Universities has been piloting the use of rubric assessments of "cross-cutting skills." They call their rubrics Valid Assessment of Learning in Undergraduate Education or VALUE.

According to Katrina Schwartz's reporting on the pilot last month, the professors involved were surprised by what they, themselves, learned by doing assessments in this way:

Professors began realizing how much the language of their assignment prompts communicated what they expected from students. That might seem obvious, but without other samples to compare to, professors just thought their students didn’t have the skills.

You don't get this type of reflection from multiple-choice tests.

Predicting College Success

I spent my morning analyzing the grades of the sixty-seven juniors and seniors who dual enrolled from my school this past semester. Of the 464 college credits attempted, 440 were earned, giving us a pass rate just a hair under ninety-five percent. Half the group had a college GPA above a 3.43. I'd say this is pretty good news for our first cohort of New Tech students taking college classes.

One of the goals of my analysis was to assess how well we predicted college readiness amongst these young advanced students. While only four of the sixty-seven students who dual enrolled experienced failure, some students still performed worse than expected. Pushing students to college too early could potentially blemish their college transcript. Defining "ready" has therefore become a really big deal.

Aligning our thinking with both our college partner and the state, we placed the greatest weight on students' college entrance exam scores last year. In deciding who got to go, we let test scores trump all other valid readiness indicators such as high school GPA, teacher perception, etc.

So, how did that work out for us?

The worst predictor of student success for us was their score earned on the COMPASS, taken by our current juniors who had not yet taken the ACT. The COMPASS is used by our community college partner to place students into courses at appropriate levels. For us, it turned out that the COMPASS provided only a minor ability to predict college success (r=0.25).

The correlation between student COMPASS scores and college GPA was a low r=+0.25.

Coming in second was the ACT assessment, taken by all juniors in the state of Michigan. The ACT proved to be a fair predictor of college success (r=0.44).

The correlation between student ACT scores and college GPA was a moderate r=+0.44.

The best predictor of college success turned out to be student GPA (r=0.76).

The correlation between student high school GPA and college GPA was a high r=+0.74.

While the state of Michigan allows schools to use varied methods of determining college readiness before allowing students to dual enroll, it is interesting that they will not not allow GPA be a primary determining factor, given it's apparent ability to correctly predict student success.

What we will most likely do in the future, given this data, is create a single numerical value for each student that takes into account their college entrance exam score and their high school GPA. This would appear to provide some additional predictive ability (r=+0.82 to r=+0.86) not possible using test scores alone.

UPDATE—January 30, 2015: Looking at this with fresh eyes, I think it's important to point out that we used the minimum COMPASS and ACT scores required for college-level coursework placement with our community college partner as our cutoff for allowing students to dual enroll. We did not use the state minimum scores, which are higher. It is logical that using the higher scores would have increased these assessments' predictive ability. We are choosing to use the lower scores to increase access with the hope of keeping risk to a minimum for our students.

My Reaction to Michigan's Switch to the SAT? Carry On.

I do not deny that we have a lot to learn about Michigan's switch to a new "college-readiness" assessment and the impact this switch will have on students' admission to colleges and universities. Any time we spend learning about the SAT is time we could spend learning about something else, like teaching practices that positively impact student achievement. At the same time, I can't help but feel indifferent about the news of the change.

High schools exist to teach students to be successful in the world they graduate into. College readiness exams measure a narrow band of that world. Assuming we are focused on teaching students the knowledge and skills they need (rather than just those that are assessed), the brand of exam should have little impact on how we work with students.

My message for teachers about this week's news:

Carry on.