A Personal Analogy on Standards Based Grading

"Change is the law of life.  And those who look only to the past or present are certain to miss the future" - John F. Kennedy.

Last Monday's Central School Board meeting, two of our board members shared about their recent visits to our classrooms.  The common message, education doesn't look a thing like it did when they were in school.  Many people that have strong opinions about public education, have not recently visited our schools and hold onto these opinions from a time that has long ago passed.  Our public schools of the past were built on a factory (one-size-fits-all model), with a grading system that echoed that model.  Our current schools are transitioning to a focus on the individual child, and with that transition we also need a grading scale that echoes the emphasis of the individual learner.  That system is standards based grading.

Before you can fully wrap your head around standards based grading, you have to have an understanding of the many faults of our traditional grading system.  The traditional A-F grading system actually did not have a strong emphasis on learning.  Instead the emphasis of this model was largely based on a students prior knowledge, work ethic, attitude, and ability to play the game of school.  The traditional grading system takes everything into account when developing a student's grade and gives the largest weighting (60%) to an F grade while all other grades have a 10% weighting.  The traditional grading system also leaves no room for error by our students, and I would argue how do you really learn anything without failing at it first?  In a traditional grading system, those early failures count against your grade and in many cases may eliminate a student's ability to ever achieve success (A or B grade) even though they may have mastered the learning by the end of the grading period.

I was recently asked some questions in regards to standards based grading by the Clayton County Register.  In my response (which should be found in a future publishing) I shared the conversation I had with my daughter about standards based grading.  My daughter is a junior here at Central and is a very good student with nearly a 4.0 GPA.  She obviously knows how to play the game of school.  She shared with me that she was not in favor of the change to standards based grading.  Through that conversation, I quickly learned she did not have a strong understanding of what standards based grading was, or why the change was needed.  Ironically we were on our way to Scheels to find her some hunting boots when this conversation took place.  So I seized the moment to put standards based grading into a simpler analogy (remember my truck analogy in a previous post!).  I asked her if I also bought her a bow at Scheels, imagine both of us practicing the next day.  In that practice I asked, do you think you will instantly hit the target consistently.  She said "no" and admitted it would take some practice and fine tuning of the bow to become consistent.  I asked her to think about the two grading systems.  In a traditional grading system, that practice and fine tuning would all be graded.  Those early failures to hit the target would count toward her grade.  I asked her to then consider a standards based system.  If after that practice and fine tuning she can consistently hit the target, did she not meet the learning goal?  Reluctantly she said, "well yes".  I then placed myself in the picture and asked her, how do you think I would do?  She stated, you would probably do pretty good and hit the target right away because you already own a bow and practice regularly.  She is correct.  I said in a traditional grading system, I would get a high grade, not because I necessarily learned anything, but because I knew a little something about the subject before it ever started (background knowledge).  Who is to say after some practice, my daughter doesn't become just as good if not a better shot than me?  In a traditional grading system that would never show, in a standards based system it would.
Standards based learning is a focus on the mastery of a specific learning target and does not take into account the practice and time it takes to reach mastery.  Mastery towards these targets depends solely on the individual learner.  A teacher can facilitate this learning, but the student still has to put in the practice and work to reach mastery.  They can't copy homework from someone else and get a good grade.  They can't turn in extra credit that has nothing to do with the learning target and get a good grade.  A student actually has to prove to the teacher they have mastered the target.  Some students may be able to master a target very quickly, others it may take multiple tries.  Our duty as public educators is not a one shot and done approach then move on whether students "get it" or not.  It is our sole responsibility to ensure ALL students have mastered essential learning concepts so they can build on that mastery at the next level, whatever that level may be.
The Central administration and staff look forward to discussing standards based grading in person on March 1st at our public forum being held in the auditorium starting at 7:00pm.  I also welcome any comments or questions on my Blog and will do my best to answer promptly.

District Website

During the Volga public forum, some in attendance commented on how the "News Updates" feature of our new district website was not working.  Since that meeting we have done a little research on this and I believe we have solved the problem.  Follow these simple steps to receive updates every time our district website is updated:

Sign up to receive News Updates now.

Step 1: Click on "Sign up for the News Update" at the bottom of our website.

Step 2: Enter your email for where you would like updates to be sent. Ex: johndoe@email.com

Step 3: Select which items you would like to receive updates from Ex: Elementary News, Middle School-High School News, District News.
              Note: You may select more than one.

Step 4: Hit Subscribe

Step 5: You will receive an email to confirm your address. When you receive this email hit reply. You MUST reply to this email to be subscribed.
              Note: If you sign up for more than one of the options you will receive separate emails for each one. You will have to reply to each email separately.

Step 6: Once you have replied back to each email you will be placed on our email list. 

If you have any questions please contact Melissa at mhunt@central.k12.ia.us

Spring is in the Air!

Spring is in the Air!

As I write this we are a week away from putting January in the rear view mirror.  Second semester has come to an end and already we are looking ahead and planning for the 2016/17 school year. 

While it may not yet feel like spring outside, inside our K-12 building we have begun work that very much resembles the feel of spring.  When I think about spring, thoughts of new life, growth, and freshness come to mind.  I bet if you ask any of our students their thoughts on our K-12 building, few if any will say the words new or fresh, and rightly so!  The last time our hallways were painted, Darwin Winke was superintendent of the school district.  The color scheme of that era resembled a time when color was not allowed in schools.  Everything done in schools was very institutionalized, the color included. 

Current HS/MS hallway is blue     Remaining hallways are parchment

 

Not only do these two colors have nothing to do with our school colors (red & white), they add to the darkness and age of our building.  We know through research that color can have a significant impact on emotion, which can ultimately influence a student’s study and work habits.  Color also helps define a room’s purpose, and I would argue we are defining the wrong purpose with our current color scheme.  Because of this, the Central Board of Directors has supported my recommendation to begin a major paint project that will “freshen” our hallways and promote our school colors.  The new paint job will also be enhanced with some new furnishings as we look to promote the use of our building.  As superintendent of Central, I love the fact that at anytime day or night I can walk through the foyer of our building and see students collaborating and working together in a safe environment. 

The news of a new look at Central unfortunately will mean the end of some of the student artwork located in the hallways, specifically located in the blue HS/MS hallway.  Central will be contacting all of the known artist and allowing them a chance to come in and take pictures of the work before the hallway painting begins.  Central will also take pictures of each of the artworks with the plan of putting everything together into a book, which will be made available to the public.

With appreciation for our school history, we must also have an appreciation for our future and the students of today.  Thank you for the many positive comments I have already received in regards to the new look in the foyer area and our high school gymnasium.  Tying our building together with our school colors I believe will enhance the culture and pride of our school district.  Enjoy the new look!

Ready, Set, Go!

Ready, Set, Go!

 

What if you had exactly 60 seconds to do something and the trajectory of your future depended on that 60 seconds?  Would you be nervous before that performance?  Do you think your action in those 60 seconds is a clear picture of your real talents or ability?  I pose these questions because this is exactly what the State of Iowa is doing to our children.  Recently, I, as well as administrators across the State, had to send a letter home to parents that labeled their child “substantially deficient” if their child did not read a certain amount of words in 60 seconds.  The letter was scripted by the Iowa Department of Education and “substantially deficient” is written into the Iowa Code.

The above requirement is a part of the Early Literacy Implementation (ELI) law.  The law states all schools should have an approved universal screener, progress monitor students who exhibit a “substantial deficiency” in reading, send a notice to parents that their child is “substantially deficient”, provide an evidence-based summer reading program, and retention of any student not proficient in reading by the end of 3^rd grade. 

With so many flaws in the ELI law it is hard to pick where to begin.  Let’s start with the universal screener.  A universal screener is defined by the American Institutes for Research as “Screening is conducted to identify or predict students who may be at risk for poor learning outcomes. Universal screening assessments are typically brief, conducted with all students at a grade level, and followed by additional testing or short-term progress monitoring to corroborate students' risk status.”  The important piece to take away from this definition is that once a student is flagged, further evidence is needed before determining if a student is at risk, or as the State of Iowa puts it, “substantially deficient”.  This is not happening in the ELI law as schools are using one universal screener without any other data being used to label students “substantially deficient”.  The National Center for Learning Disabilities discourages this practice stating, “screening students in the early grades lends itself to at least two common errors: false positives and false negatives. False positives occur when students are deemed at risk when, in fact, they are not. False negatives are cases in which students who are deemed not at risk then go on to perform poorly on a future criterion measure” (Jenkins, 2003).  A “screener” by all definitions is simply to scratch the surface of a possible problem and should be used to dig deeper into that individual student.  In the State of Iowa, a 60 second screener is being used to determine if you child is “substantially deficient” and in need of 3^rd grade retention. 

Another flaw in regards to the universal screener is the norming.  All tests have a set of norms.  Norming compares the results of a statistically selected group of test takers.  Central has been a part of the FAST assessment (screener) for going on three years now (we were a pilot school in the State of Iowa) and the norms of that test have changed three times!  Three times in less than 3 years the number of words per minute a student is supposed to read at a given grade level has changed.  So if your child misses this moving target by one word per minute, they are termed “substantially deficient”?  The changing of the norms shows that the test we are using is not reliable, yet the consequences for our children remain.

Most, if not all educators, will agree that reading is so much more than how many words a person can read accurately in one minute.  Think about our upcoming Christmas holiday.  Many of us get the “joy” of putting together the presents Santa brings our kids.  What if I told you that you only get 60 seconds to read the directions and then put together the toy?  How many of you think you could do it?  I know I could not.  Even though I am positive I could read the entire directions in my 60 seconds, what good is reading fast if we can’t comprehend what it is that we are reading?  Fluency is a strong indicator of reading success, but it isn’t everything and it sure doesn’t mean a child is “substantially deficient”.

So what can we do about this?  There really is only one thing we can do and that is to contact our local politicians and share your concerns.  Here are some suggested questions/thoughts to pose:

·      Name something you do in 60 seconds and your future depends on it.

·      Do home school and private school students have to follow the ELI law?  If not, why?

·      Do Iowa employers want an employee who can read a set amount of words per-minute, or do they want an employee that can comprehend what they read?

Contact Information:

Darrel Branhagen: (515) 281-3221

Patti Ruff: (515) 281-3221

Michael Breitbach: (563) 920-7399

Linda Fandel (Governor’s Special Assistant for Education): (515) 725-3522

Governor Branstad: (515) 281-5211

References

Jenkins, J. R. (2003, December). Candidate measures for screening at-risk students. Paper presented at the National Research Center on Learning Disabilities Responsiveness-to-Intervention symposium, Kansas City, MO. Retrieved May 15, 2008, from http://www.nrcld.org/symposium2003/jenkins/index.html

Universal Screening. (n.d.). Retrieved November 9, 2015, from http://www.rti4success.org/essential-components-rti/universal-screening

Wow!

As the Central football team heads into their last regular season football game tonight, they will be trying for a second undefeated season in a row.  Even in our early, rain filled games the team has competed in front of great Central crowds all season.  While the football team (rightfully so) has drawn the largest headlines, something even more special happened in Central sports yesterday.

The Central Girls Cross Country team competed in districts yesterday.  Not only did they take first at districts on their way to State, they did so by individually qualifying their top 5 runners.  For those that don't follow cross country running, folks this is unheard of!  To qualify for State, a runner has to finish in the top 15 at the district meet.  Central's runners finished 3rd, 5th, 10th, 14th, and 15th!  As a team Central finished 1st with a score of 47, second place Starmont finished with a score of 83.

This is the 4th year in a row the Central Girls Cross Country team has won districts.  Even more amazing than that, our Central Girls Cross Country team has qualified for State in 11 of the past 12 years and finished 5th or above 8 of those 11 times.

Cross Country doesn't come with huge home crowds, with most of the support coming from the runner's direct family and friends.  Yet, year in and year out our Central girls are quietly accomplishing something special.  Please take time to extend a congratulations to our runners and coaches on an incredible feat yesterday, and good luck at State girls!

Central Elementary SINA Corrective Action Plan

Central's SINA Corrective Action Plan is now available for public comment.  Anonymous comments will be accepted as long as they are kept constructive and professional.

Voter Survey Results

Vote Survey Letter and Results

Central Elementary Parent Resources

A big thank you to all of our Central parents for your support as we have transitioned into standards-based grading and multi-age classrooms.  The changes have been slow as we work to ensure we are doing things right the first time.  One change we are working on is to increase parent communication.  Our first step in doing this was to offer a stronger district website to better support communication.  While the district website is still a work in progress, I wanted to draw your attention to an area I hope you will find helpful in supporting your child's education.

Under the elementary tab of the district website, you will find a pull-down with Parent/Student Resources.  Resources are divided by multi-age level, IXL Math, and ST Math.  Our standards for the 1st quarter are listed as well as the grading rubric for that standard.  Under the grading rubric you will find resources you can do at home with your child that aligns to the standard they are learning in class. 

We will continue to develop these resources and add more as we move through the school year so please stop back often!

Again, thank you for your continued support.  Central Elementary students are off to a great start this school year.

Bond Survey Results

Last Friday a group of our National Honor Society students opened the bond surveys and entered the data and comments.  As of today we have had 45% of all voters respond to the survey with results being nearly 50-50 yes and no voters.  Outside a few pointed negative comments the feedback will be extremely valuable as the Central Board of Directors makes a decision on how to solve our current facility problems in regards to age, safety, accessibility, and student learning.  A work session is planned for October 5th at 6:00pm in the High School Media Center to discuss the survey data and possible next steps.

As the Central Board of Directors works through next steps for our facilities, the Central staff and I have our work cut out for us in addressing some major misconceptions about Central.

1. Central is a viable school district and can will remain so for a very long time.  Yes enrollment is a concern, but even if we combine with another district enrollment will remain a concern.  Outside of a few urban areas, enrollment around Iowa is declining.  Merging two school districts with declining enrollment and all you have created is one district with declining enrollment, plus you expanded your transportation and building costs.  In the November Central Newsletter I will provide data showing Central's financial status and enrollment.
2. Education is different from when we went to school, and that is a good thing.  I know this is a tough concept for most to grasp, but education has changed immensely in the last 5 years.  Federal and State mandates have led to much higher accountability on teachers and administration.  Gone are the days were we can teach "one-size fits all" out of a textbook to the whole grade level class.  Teachers are now asked to meet each individual student's needs, something our public education system was never designed for.  I am incredibly proud of the work our Central teachers have done to meet the changes of higher accountability.  Data also shows it is working!  In my two years as elementary principal, Central Elementary has went from a 74% reading proficiency rate to an 85% reading proficiency rate.
3. Improving Central isn't about a feather in the Superintendent's hat, and it isn't about luxury for teachers and staff.  Improving Central is about improving our community.  We can not recruit new people to our area without a vibrant school district.  You have to look no further than our surrounding communities to see what happens when the High School leaves.  When you lose your High School, you lose your identity, you lose your events, you lose your crowds that visit our businesses.  We sometimes take for granted the fact that we have a hospital, movie theater, grocery store, restaurants, bowling ally, car dealership, and a variety of other businesses not found in most small rural towns.  How do we support these businesses we often take for granted without youth?
4. Face-to-face communication needs to continue to improve.  Social media makes it easy for anyone to be brave and say anything (I have been guilty of this myself).  Highly successful schools have incredible parent and community support.  All of us need to work together and own our school.  If you live in this district, you are a taxpayer and a stakeholder of Central.  Lets work together to find ways of communicating that do not divide the community and school, but unite them.  Our bond survey wasn't meant for finger pointing, but instead meant to make whatever we decide to try and do with Central's facilities, a true community effort and project.  If you have a concern with Central, please bring that to our attention before posting something on Facebook.  Nobody wins when our school district is spoken about negatively.  You are our stakeholders and we want to hear from you, that is the only way we can improve!

Results from the bond survey will be released on our district website and in the local paper shortly after the work-session.  We are also continuously working on updating our new district website to better provide information to our stakeholders.  Please let us know how we are doing or suggestions of things you would like to see.

Yes or No on the bond vote, lets work together to improve our Central Community.  Together we can do great things!

Very Proud

Last night Central hosted Parent's Night for volleyball.  Our Warrior girls faced off against North Fayette Valley, and while we lost our matches they fought hard and represented Central extremely well.

On top of being represented well by our athletes and coaches, I shot out a Tweet last night about our student section.  I was extremely impressed with their sportsmanship and school spirit.  They single-handedly made the atmosphere in our gymnasium electric! 

This morning when I opened up my email, I was extremely pleased to see I wasn't the only one that noticed.  The following is from a NFV spectator:
Just wanted to send you a quick note and let you know how impressed I was with your student section last night at the volleyball games.  What an excellent display of school spirit and sportsmanship.  Nice to see that still exists.  Kudos to the Central kids!

Being an administrator it is often times very wearing always hearing what we are doing wrong.  I love hearing about the many things we are doing well, specially from outside sources!  Thank you Central students and staff for representing our Mission/Vision as a school district.

I am a very proud Superintendent/Principal today!