The Teenage Brain Is Wired to Learn—So Make Sure Your Students Know It Adolescence is an exciting time as teenagers become increasingly independent, begin to look forward to their lives beyond high school, and undergo many physical, emotional, and cognitive changes. In that last category, teenagers can learn to take charge of their developing brains and steer their thinking in positive and productive directions toward future college and career success. The brain’s prefrontal cortex, which functions as the control center for executive functions such as planning, goal setting, decision making, and problem solving, undergoes significant changes during the teenage years. In an NPR interview, Laurence Steinberg, author of Age of Opportunity: Lessons From the New Science of Adolescence, notes that ages 12 to 25 are a period of extraordinary neuroplasticity. They have the capacity to become functionally smarter. Tools for Self-Directed Learning Don’t just read—learn. Consider the source. Create, then edit. Make a schedule—and stick to it.
Mrs. Landolt's Web Page - Standards-Referenced Grading Standards-Referenced Grading Frequently Asked Questions What is standards-referenced grading? Why standards-referenced grading? How does standards-referenced grading work? What are formative and summative assessments? Why aren’t formative assessments calculated in the final grade? What is a common assessment? What are the roles of the teacher, student, and parent in standards-referenced grading? What is standards-referenced grading? Standards-referenced grading is a way to more accurately reflect what students know and are able to do. Why standards-referenced grading? In June of 2010, approved a new mission, vision and learning principles to guide student achievement. How does standards-referenced grading work? The state of has grade level expectations (GLEs) in each content area. A 4 level scale is used to measure student work. Every standard has a rubric that demonstrates the benchmark for proficiency. Adapted from: Marzano, R.J. (2010). What are formative and summative assessments?
A Cautionary Tale? - Quakertown School District will welcome new grading system QUAKERTOWN, Pa. - The Standards Based Grading system (SBG) is no more in the Quakertown Community School District. The board decided at its meeting Thursday night that various parameters would need to be included. The board amended the initial proposal to include grades six through twelve rather than just the high school. The controversial SBG system led to an almost entire hour of public comments before the board voted on the proposal. Several parents addressed the board about their various concerns with this grading system currently used throughout the Quakertown Community School District. “I’ve never heard a single person think Standards Based Grading was a good thing,” said Amy Einhoff, a local parent. SGB also offers some opportunities for remediation. “How long before a motivated student learns that he can earn the same grade with a lot less work?” “Standards Based Grading allowed me to get ahead in classes and focus on different things in different classes,” she said.
Teachers Going Gradeless – Arthur Chiaravalli – Medium After years of teaching using the principles of standards-based learning and grading, I encountered two findings that radically changed my perspective on assessment, grading, and reporting. The first finding comes from Ruth Butler (1988, as cited in Wiliam 2011) regarding feedback. Butler examined 3 types of feedback: scores alone, comments alone, and scores with comments. Her study showed that scores alone made students either complacent or unmotivated depending on how well they did. Scores with comments were just as ineffective in that students focused entirely on the score and ignored the comments. Surprisingly, it was the students who received comments alone that demonstrated the most improvement. The second finding comes from John Hattie (2012) whose synthesis of 800 meta-studies showed that student self-assessment/self-grading topped the list of educational interventions with the highest effect size. It’s been quite a journey.
4 Ways to Reduce Classroom Risk and Reach the Whole Child Intention is everything, especially when educating and nurturing children. Words matter, and specificity with vocabulary determines whether or not adult interactions with kids have the desired impact. One misguided message many teachers instill in their students is that risk-taking is good. On the surface, this may seem like a worthwhile component of social-emotional learning. Yet I reiterate to my students that generally and within reason what one thinks of as risk is not truly risky at all. Especially where school is concerned, the vast majority of “risks” that tend to paralyze children and prevent them from making any academic attempt whatsoever contain no actual danger, undue burden, or extraordinary sacrifice. Granted, even in the best of situations a student’s active participation and investment in school sometimes contain a dash of discomfort, an element of uncertainty, and an enormous amount of effort and attention. Therefore, teachers should not completely dismiss risk.
Effective Grading Practices Conference Countdown Dallas, Tex. June 27-29, 2014 weeks days hours minutes seconds go Share Share on Twitter Share on Facebook Share on LinkedIn Share on Google+ 2014 ASCD Conference on Teaching Excellence June 27–29, 2014 Dallas, Tex. Explore ways to make excellent teaching the reality in every classroom. More Tweets about "@ASCD" Permissions ASCD respects intellectual property rights and adheres to the laws governing them. Policies and Requests Translations Rights Books in Translation Buy this issue Log in to read all articles.NONMEMBERSSelect an unlocked article to read a sample.To view the entire issue, Digital EL November 2011Effective Grading Practices November 2011 | Volume 69 | Number 3 Effective Grading Practices Feature Articles Perspectives / What We Learn from Grades Marge Scherer Starting the Conversation About Grading Susan M. Five Obstacles to Grading Reform Thomas R. Redos and Retakes Done Right Rick Wormeli The Case Against Grades Alfie Kohn Grades That Show What Students Know Robert J. Spencer J. Tags:
SBG timeline Author Interview: 'The Essentials for Standards-Driven Classrooms' Two co-authors of the new book, The Essentials For Standards-Driven Classrooms: A Practical Instructional Model For Every Student To Achieve Rigor, agreed to answer a few questions. Michael D. Toth is founder and Chief Executive Officer of Learning Sciences International (LSI), author of Who Moved My Standards? Joyful Teaching in an Age of Change: A SOAR-ing Tale, and co-author, with Robert J. Marzano, of Teacher Evaluation That Makes a Difference: A New Model for Teacher Growth and Student Achievement. Carla Moore, MSEd, is Director of Professional Development Services and Product Development at LSI, specializing in teacher and leader effectiveness, and author of The Essentials for Standards Driven Classrooms, and Creating and Using Learning Targets and Performance Scales. Assuming the research is accurate, what do you think the reasons are behind this classroom reality? Michael D. These thirteen essential instructional strategies are a teacher's basic "toolbox." Data are everywhere! Save
Schools Often Fail to Educate, Support English-Language Learners - Learning the Language Schools across the United States often provide substandard instruction and social-emotional support to the nation's English-language learners—and fail to properly train the educators who teach them, a new report from the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine finds. Noting that limited English proficiency remains a substantial barrier to academic success for millions of children in K-12 schools, the study explores how under-resourced schools and under-prepared educators can hinder efforts to help those students learn and master English. The committee behind the report—consisting of a who's who of experts on language acquisition and educators—also explored the struggles of specific populations of English-learners such as those with disabilities, who are less likely than their native English-speaking peers to be referred to early intervention and special education programs. Here's a link to the full report. For Further Reading on This Topic:
Q&A: Standards-based grading expert Robert Marzano talks about Bangor Township Schools new grading system DENVER, Colo. — Bangor Township Schools recent switch to a standards-based grading system has parents questioning the validity of their student’s grades. School officials defend the new grading system, which aims to grade students on their ability to apply what they learn to real-world examples, and plan to continue it as a pilot program through the rest of the year. In parent meetings last month, Superintendent Shawn Bishop said the school district is using research from Robert J. Marzano, who runs education research laboratories in Indiana and Colorado. Marzano’s book, “Transforming Classroom Grading,” is the roadmap teachers and administrators are using to implement the new program. Read what's been going on in the Bangor Township Schools district with the new grading system, here. The Times caught up with Marzano on Monday to talk about his research on standards-based grading. Robert J. Andrew Dodson: What is your answer when people ask you what is standards-based grading?
Standards-Based Reporting FAQs—Parent Guide How does standards-based grading differ from traditional grading? Standards-based grading reports tell us how students are performing on a set of clearly defined learning outcomes. There is no single mark for a course as is traditionally generated by averaging or combining multiple scores across the duration of a class. Unlike traditional grade reports, standards-based grading measures students’ knowledge of grade-level content by reporting the most recent, consistent level of performance. . together with proficient performance later in the course resulting in a lower grade than current performance indicates. Click here to view an example >> Where else in the area is standards-based grading being implemented? How should we look at a student’s grades if the system of A-F changes to 4-1? performance over he duration of a course. Some think it is impossible to earn a Level 4? How will a standards-based report card impact determining athletic eligibility? How will honor roll be determined?