Southern Regional Education Board Failure Is Not An Option ( When the right conditions are in place!) SREB HSTW/MMGW/TCTW

Southern Regional Education Board The Silent Epidemic: Perspectives of High School Dropouts Top Five Reasons Dropouts Identify as Major Factors for Leaving School: Classes were not interesting (not related to real world applications): 47% Missed too many days and could not catch up: 43% Spent time with people who were not interested in school: 42% Had too much freedom and not enough rules/ order/ structure: 38% Was failing in school: 35%

Southern Regional Education Board FAILURE NOT AN OPTION Clear alignment of standards to assessment Quality work expected (A, B, C, not yet) Clear grading practices Intervention/ Opportunities for Extra Help

Southern Regional Education Board The Problem? Students cannot get to the proficient level on state assessments if not given ample opportunities to complete assignments at the proficient level. Gene Bottom, Senior Vice President, SREB

Southern Regional Education Board Priority Actions for FNO Focus all students and teachers on Smart Effort. Create a Culture of High Expectations. All teachers will engage, motivate and inspire all students through research-based instructional strategies. Teachers will work together to plan lessons that are linked to what students need to know and will be able to do to meet grade-level standards.

Southern Regional Education Board Beliefs Relative to School Grading Policies Research by Dr. Lynn Canady Professor Emeritus, University of Virginia THE THREAT OF A LOW GRADE IS MORE LIKELY TO MOTIVATE HIGH ACHIEVING THAN LOW ACHIEVING STUDENTS. Historically, schools have tended to buy into the DEFICIT MODEL OF EVALUATION: that is, to focus more on sorting and selecting practices than on teaching and learning strategies. Human beings MAKE SIGNIFICANT CHANGES in their lives ONLY when they are in an environment where they feel genuinely CARED ABOUT. 6

Southern Regional Education Board Beliefs continued.. Nationally less than 69% of the students who enter kindergarten in US schools graduate from high school…….in some urban areas less than 50% of the students who enter Grade 9 graduate from high school. There is little or no EVIDENCE that REPEATED FAILURE MAKES PEOPLE MORE RESPONSIBLE. 7

Company LOGO Blooms Learning Pyramid 8 8 HOW WE LEARN 1% 10% 20% 30% 50% 70% 80% 95% 98% Use art, drama, music, movement – Integrated curriculum with content Having a personal experience – Making connections (hands on) Teaching someone else Discussion with others Lecture with visuals Fill out worksheet Reading Assignment Lecture Using only visuals

Company LOGO 9 Essential Conditions for Failure is Not an Option Just adding a Failure is Not an Option policy wont do it all by itself. This policy works best under the following conditions: Southern Regional Education Board

Company LOGO Conditions Develop engaging, challenging and meaningful assignments and assessment. Establish useful and applicable homework criteria. Assess more and grade less. 10

Company LOGO Conditions As a school: Examine grading practices and policies. Come to agreement on what determines A, B and C work. Examine grading practices that include factors other than the students academic knowledge. 11

Company LOGO 12 What Are The Results of the Current Practice? Giving zeros or accepting work below standard isnt working. It fails to motivate students to make a greater effort. Dropout rates are increasing not decreasing. Students not doing the work, is the #1 reason for failure in middle and high school.

Company LOGO 13 Is Giving Ds and Fs Working? It doesnt work most of the time. -It works for students who are already A and B students If it doesnt change behavior, why do we continue this consequence? Why do we let students off the hook for not completing work at expected standards? What is the real effect of this policy? Southern Regional Education Board

Company LOGO What does FNO look like? Extra help is required. Extra help is required. Use of rubrics is required. Use of rubrics is required. Know that it may not work for ALL students. Know that it may not work for ALL students. Regional Education Board 14

Company LOGO D FCB A A Clayton County Grading Scale: A = B = 80 – 89 C = 71 – 79 D = 70 F = Disproportionate Impact of Zero

Company LOGO Comparing Students Student 1 Student Student 3 If 65 is passing, which students are passing? If progress – not averages – was used, which students should be passing? = 63.5 = 63.8 = 65 FAIL FAIL PASS 16

Company LOGO The Weight of Grades F vs. Zero Think in terms of pounds: A = 7 pounds (94-100) B = 10 pounds (84-93) C = 10 pounds (74-83) D = 10 pound (64-73) F = pounds (0-63 ) 63 17

Company LOGO Individual teacher classroom practices produce the most variability in the performance of students. Heibert & Stigler, The Teaching Gap 18

Company LOGO Issue: Alignment to Standards Do our grades for students reflect the degree to which they have met the standards for a course? 19

Company LOGO Issue: Alignment to Standards Assessments That Relate to Standards Tests Projects Performances Essays Research papers Presentations Lab experiments Assessment of Other Learning Factors Homework completion and practice Attendance Tardiness Student behavior Effort Timeliness Following class rules Extra credit (for completion only) 20

Company LOGO Stages in Backward Design 1 Identify designated results 2 Determine acceptable evidence 3 Plan learning experiences and instruction Understanding by Design, Grant Wiggins and Jay McTighe, ASCD,

Company LOGO In standards-based classrooms, students have the opportunity to continuously revise and improve their work over the course of several days. Doug Reeves, Center for Performance Assessment 22

Company LOGO Getting Teachers on Board Assess where you are now Conduct periodic instructional reviews Conduct professional development on rubrics and taxonomies for assessing level of challenge Design opportunities for teachers to engage in assessing the level of challenge

Company LOGO Failure is not an Option: Next Steps ( school year) Yes, next year! FNO session from SREB (April 8 & 9, 2010) School Based FNO Facilitator PD (April 29, 2010) School Based teams developing the FNO policy/ part of School Improvement Planning Process and RTI Plan (June, July, August 2010) Follow up support ( ) 24