I'm excited to attend Garnet Hillman's Standards-based Learning in Action Workshop over with a team of TOSAs & teachers over the next two days--especially knowing I get to see such a well-seasoned consultant/speaker present on the topic of grading & assessment!

#SBLchat

📢 HOT OFF THE (electronic) PRESS! 📢

We are pleased to present JSARD's 2024 Spring Issue: Volume 9, Issue 1.

🔗ojed.org/index.php/JSAR…

I'm pleased to announce that JSARD has published its 2024 Spring Issue!

Our open-access academic journal publishes research & practitioner-focused articles on K-12 educational leadership.

We invite you to read, reflect, and share: ojed.org/index.php/JSARD

#edchat #leadupchat

It was great to present today at the Building Bridges Conference in Bakersfield!

My topic:
Balanced Grading: A Multi-Paradigm Approach to Grading

If more educators carried around Ken O'Connor’s slender book A Repair Kit for Grading, grading practices would be in a much better state in our country.

I don’t know of a concise text (just over 100 pgs) that does as much to guide teachers in grading reform. 💯👍

Great looking grading purpose statement from Norfolk Public Schools.

8 specific purposes that clarify the meaning & intended use of grades to stakeholders.

The common element in each purpose: student learning 🙌💯👌👍🫡

Research on the reliability of teacher grading practices dates back to the early 1910s, but this 1930 paper was among the 1st to focus on high variability in scoring of lower-quality papers, particularly in ELA.

I think this continues to be an issue today--almost 100 yrs later.

I'm sad to hear of the passing of the brilliant & influential Daniel Kahneman.

Here are 3 works that he coauthored & 1 about him that had a profound impact on me.

1. Prospect Theory: An Analysis of Decision Under Risk
2. Thinking, Fast & Slow
3. Noise
4. The Undoing Project

I really like the assessment purpose statement that Bishop Memorial High School includes on its website:

'The primary purpose of assessment is to determine the extent to which a student has achieved mastery of course content.' 👌👌👍

I love the way Missoula County Public Schools (MCPS) communicates the concept of priority standards to parents and other stakeholders 💯🫡🙌

When veteran teachers engage in dialogue with new teachers, both sides benefit.

For new teachers, it's about the craft.

For veterans, it's about the hope.

A Guaranteed and Viable Curriculum (Marzano, 2003) ensures all students of similar classes, courses, or grade levels are taught the same prioritized standards-based curriculum.

But how how can that learning be clearly communicated if teachers don't use common grading practices?

Sunday reading—new books by 2 of the best in grading & assessment: Guskey & Brookhart

I love Steve Jobs' definition of focus.

Anyone know of a good program/resource that provides valid high school CCSS-aligned multiple choice assessments in core subjects?

We're looking for something to use district-wide.
#edchat

Today's a reassessment prep day in my classroom!

Here's what it looks like👇

What factors are included in your grades?
👉academic achievement
👉effort
👉growth
👉behavior
👉participation
👉other

🔍If we don't make this clear to students, parents, counselors, & admin, they won't know how to interpret report cards.

#edchat

The traditional % scale works if you're using it to measure knowledge of a subject, like WWII or The Great Gatsby.

But if you're ONLY measuring knowledge-level learning (DOK 1), that's a problem.

Skills/concepts, strategic thinking, & extended thinking are the heart of K-12 ed.