What Is Really Going On in the Middle School?

The influence of the foremost educational voices in the 21 st century – Dweck, Wormeli, Marzano, Berger, Hardiman, and Pink Our middle school leadership realizing that our approaches for assessment, grading, and reporting were not providing accurate pictures of student learning. Student preparation for 21 st century employment requires a re-evaluation of the way we teach.

Mastery Formative and Summative Assessments Mastery Behaviors and Habits Rubric A Review of the Past and the Current

Mastery is the desire to get better and better at something that really matters to you, generally a skill or an area of content. (Tom Guskey in Educational Leadership article)

Mastery Learning is an instructional philosophy based on the idea of setting clear objectives, providing students with opportunities for practice, checking for understanding, re-teaching in new and different ways if needed, and, finally, giving students more than one chance to demonstrate the attainment of the goal. (Tom Guskey)

Re-teaching – class or individual; whole or part Re-doing – class or individual; whole or part Re-taking – class or individual; whole or part; even a different format *Progressive 5 th – 8 th & At teacher discretion

Formative Assessments Summative Assessments

Formative Summative Homework Simulations, experiments, diagrams “Exit slips” Quizzes Tests Projects Oral examinations Exams (7 th & 8 th ) Warm-ups, practices Mastery behaviors and habits 10% of grade  80 % of work 90% of grade  20 % of work

Participation Materials Management Day-to-Day Learning Self-Advocacy Collaborative Work Promptness & Readiness to Work Absence Advocacy

Old Effort Indicators - E, G, S, N, U New Mastery Indicators - Exceeds Expectations (E) - Meets Expectations (M) - Not Meeting Expectations (N)

A grade represents a clear and accurate indicator of what a student knows and is able to do – mastery. With grades we document the progress of students and our teaching, we provide feedback to students and parents, and we make instructional decisions regarding the students. Rick Wormeli – Fair Isn’t Always Equal ABCDFABCDF

“Mr. Woods, what went wrong?”

“I believe the work of excellence is transformational. Once a student sees that he or she is capable of excellence, that student is never quite the same. There is a new self-image, a new notion of possibility. There is an appetite for excellence. We can’t first build the students’ self-esteem and then focus on their work. It is through their own work that their self- esteem will grow. I don’t believe self-esteem is built from compliments. All the self-esteem activities and praise in the world won’t make them feel like proud students until they do something they can value.” Ron Berger, An Ethic of Excellence