What To Expect in 2017-18 for PBL Work

What a great start to the 2017-18 School Year!  Before I dig into what you can expect for Proficiency Based Learning (PBL) work in the area of assessments, grading and reporting this year, I just have to share some awesome pictures from our first few days of school (I just couldn't help myself).

   

  

  

What a great start to the school year!  Just had to share!  Now on to some PBL information. . .

The Gorham Schools has been working to create a Proficiency Based Learning (PBL) system within our schools because we believe that student engagement and achievement improve when the components of a PBL system are fully implemented in all grades and content areas.  Those components are:

·      Clear Learning Targets

·      Aligned Instruction and Assessment

·      Timeline Interventions

·      Aligned Grading and Reporting Practices

For several years now, we have focused our work on the creation of clear learning targets, aligning instruction and assessment to those learning targets across all grades, and on creating solid structures and practices for interventions that allow our students to receive timely, differentiated support based on their individual learning needs. 

In these areas we have made great progress!  We now have a comprehensive system of clear learning targets K-12 which you can view by going to our website (www.gorhamschools.org) and clicking on “About Us” and then clicking on “Proficiency Based Learning System”.  Once there, click on “Gorham Curriculum Overview”.  On this page you can find our 2017-18 PBL Handbook which is a comprehensive guide to any parent that wants to learn more about our PBL system.  Also on this page you can find our “2017-18 Progress Report” which gives parents access to view all of our Graduation Standards, Performance Indicators and Scoring Guides for Grades K-12 across all content areas.  Our teachers have worked hard over the past few years to develop these clear standards and to align their instruction and assessment practices with these standards!

In the area of interventions, we have also made some significant improvements, albeit there is more work to do!  At the K-5 level we have strengthened our Response to Intervention (RTI) processes to include social/emotional learning for our students as well as the traditional academic supports.  In grades 6-8 we continue to refine and strengthen our RTI processes and utilize the EICAL block to provide both intervention and enrichment services for students.  In grades 9-12 we have completely changed our bell schedule and worked to create a daily intervention/enrichment period for our students now fondly known as “Auxilium”.  Across K-12 we have changed our benchmarking assessments from NWEA testing to STAR 360 testing to allow for more detailed interventions based upon students performance to be used and we continue to offer strong supports for students in our learning labs and learning extension programs through our already strong Gifted and Talented Program.

The area that we are focused on for this year is assessment and on the alignment of our grading and reporting practices to our PBL system.  This is likely the most difficult work yet because this will require making changes to the way we communicate student learning to students, their families, and to the community as a whole.  Here in Gorham we are taking a very measured and calculated approach to these changes.  Teachers, students, and parents have been involved in helping to plan this approach.  This year, the Gorham School Department is entering the first year of a four year “phase in” plan to align our grading and reporting practices to our PBL system.  Here’s an overview of that plan:

2017-18

Student learning in grades K-6 will be reported out utilizing a 1-4 grading scale via our standards based grading and reporting software, currently known as Jumprope (see scale below).

Existing Jumprope pilots in 7^th and 8^th grade science will remain in place and student scores will be reported out via Jumprope on the 1-4 scale.    Allied Arts grades for students in grades 6-8 will also utilize the 1-4 scale and be reported out via our standards based grading and reporting software.

All other learning scores for students in grades 7-12 will be reported out using the “blended scale” (see scale below) in a similar manner as they have always been reported out via Infinite Campus.

2018-19

Student learning in grades K-7 will be reported out utilizing the 1-4 scale.  Existing Jumprope pilots in 8^th grade science will remain in place and student scores will be reported out via the 1-4 scale.  Allied Arts grades for students in grades 6-8 will also utilize the 1-4 scale and be reported out via our standards based grading and reporting system.

All other learning scores for students in grades 8-12 will be reported out using the “blended scale” in a similar manner as they have always been reported out.

2019-20

Student learning in grades K-8 will be reported out utilizing the 1-4 scale across all content areas.

All other learning scores for students in grades 9-12 will be reported out using the “blended scale” in a similar manner as they have always been reported out.

2020-21

Student learning in grades K-12 will be reported out utilizing the 1-4 scale across all content areas.

Throughout this transition, we will continue to calculate honor roll, GPA, class rank, extra and co-curricular eligibility, etc.

As we go through this school year we will be spending a great deal of time working with students and parents in grades K-6 helping you to understand how to read these new reports.  We will be spending time during Parent/Teacher Conferences this fall on familiarizing parents with these new reports and we have a parent informational meeting scheduled for the night of November 13, 2017 at 7:00 p.m. at Village Elementary School.  Additionally, we will have online materials prepared for parents to reference using our district's website. (www.gorhamschools.org).  

With the changes we have planned over the next four years, our goal is to ensure that our grading and reporting system gives students, parents and other stakeholders clear information about where students are in their learning so that we can all continue to work together to ensure each student’s continued growth and learning success!  Ultimately we want ALL our students to graduate "College and Career Ready" and to be “Prepared and Inspired” to take on the complex challenges facing our current and future world!

As always, if you have any questions, please feel free to reach out to me directly at heather.perry@gorhamschools.org.

Thank you!

1-4 Grading Scale

Score	Description	Proficiency Description
4	Distinguished	The student consistently exceeds the proficiency requirements for the course level.  Performance indicators show that the student grasps, applies, generalizes, and extends key concepts, processes, and skills independently.
3.5	Exceeding Proficiency	The student’s body of work falls consistently between a “3” and a “4” for proficiency requirements for the course level.
3	Proficient	The student consistently meets the proficiency requirements for the course level.  Performance indicators show that the student, with limited errors, grasps key concepts, processes, and skills for the course level and understands and applies them effectively.
2.5	Approaching Proficiency	The student’s body of work falls consistently between a “2” and a “3” for proficiency requirements for the course level.
2	Developing	The student is progressing toward meeting the proficiency requirements for the course level.  Performance indicators show that the student is beginning to grasp key concepts, processes and skills for the course level, but demonstrates inconsistent understanding and application of concepts
1	Emerging	The student is making some progress toward meeting the competency requirements.  Performance Indicators show that the student is not demonstrating understanding of course-level key concepts, processes and skills and requires additional time and support.
IE	Insufficient Evidence	The student did not turn in enough work to determine his/her level of proficiency.

Blended Grading Scale

Proficiency Score	A,B,C Score	100-Pt. Score	Proficiency Description
4	A	100	Distinguished - The student consistently exceeds the proficiency requirements for the course level.  Performance indicators show that the student grasps, applies, generalizes, and extends key concepts, processes, and skills independently.
3.75	A	96.7
3.5	A	93.3
3.25	B	90	Proficient - The student consistently meets the proficiency requirements for the course level.  Performance indicators show that the student, with limited errors, grasps key concepts, processes, and skills for the course/grade level and understands and applies them.
3	B	86.7
2.75	C	83.3
2.5	C	80	Developing - The student is progressing toward the proficiency requirements for the course/grade level.  Performance indicators show that the student is beginning to grasp key concepts, processes, and skills for the course/grade level, but demonstrates inconsistent understanding and application of concepts.
2.25	C	76.7
2	D	73.3
1.75	D	70	Emerging - The student is making some progress toward meeting the competency requirements.  Performance indicators show that the student is not demonstrating understanding of course-level concepts, processes and skills and requires additional time and support.
1.5	D	66.7
1.25	F	63.3
1	F	60
IE	Insufficient Evidence		The student did not turn in enough work to determine his/her level of proficiency.

* Note:  Scores lower than a 60 will not be given to students using this grading scale.