Proficiency Based Learning Update Series #3

Many people ask me - so how is our Proficiency Based Learning (PBL) System Structured?  Well this sounds like a fairly simple question, but in fact, it is a pretty complex one.  In a traditional school environment, the structures are all very familiar to us.  They are familiar because they are essentially the same as what we experienced ourselves growing up (and what our parents experienced, and what our parents parents experienced)!  We know that students enter school based upon their age (Age 5 by Oct. 15 for Kindergarten, Age 6 for first grade, etc. etc. etc.) and that they often have a single classroom teacher who is responsible to teach students all core subject areas through grade 5.   Then they go to Middle School where they may have a small team of teachers that specialize in a particular content area.  Students are still required to take all the core classes (Math, ELA, Science, Social Studies) but have a little more flexibility in their day.  Then its on to high school where students know they have to accumulate have so many credits in each content area in order to graduate from high school.  In this traditional model, teachers know what they are supposed to teach, they have curriculum and textbooks to help guide them in their teaching, and they assess student performance in each class, giving students an overall grade for each content area.  The expectation is that students pass each "class" in order to move on to the next grade.  For example, a student in 6th grade at GMS might get a 85 in ELA, a 72 in Math, a 93 in Science, and a 90 in Social Studies and know that they are moving on to 7th grade the next year (although none of us would be happy with that math grade darn it)!  We knew all of this, but did we really know what students were learning???

In a PBL system, we are very clear about what students need to be able to do and learn.  Some of the old traditional tenants remain, but there are several significant differences.  For example, in a traditional system, it was the teacher who knew what the curriculum was, and who moved students along through that curriculum.  In a PBL model, we also want students to know what they are learning.  We want students to know what they are learning, why it is important to learn, how we as teachers will know that they have learned it and what comes next in their learning after they have learned it.  This is a core tenant of a PBL model - transparency - and it is there because we want students to become more adept at "driving" their own learning.  We want this because we know that we are preparing students for a very different world out there than what we were prepared for.  In today's world students must know how to think critically, how to set their own goals and how to work hard to achieve them.  The traditional system didn't do a very good job of teaching those skills.  If we stick with the "old" system where the teachers did all the "driving" - well, students in those systems learn more about compliance, they learn that if they just sit in the classroom, participate, and work hard on homework (none of which are bad mind you), they will "pass" the class even though they may not have learned all the essential skills that were supposed to be learned.  Going back to that 72 above in 6th-grade math class.  That student may have been great at basic computation skills, but lacked an understanding of percents and fractions - yet they could still move on to grade 7 because they "passed" the class with an average of 72. This is not what we want in a PBL system, this is not what is best for our children in preparing them for the very different world they now face outside of our schools.

In our PBL system, we still have grades (grade 1, 2, 3, etc.) and we still have classes (ELA, Math, Science, etc.).  We also still have classroom teachers and curriculum and textbooks.  What is "new" is that we have made the expectations for learning much more transparent and clear by creating a clear set of standards that we want our students to demonstrate proficiency in (or mastery of) before moving on or "passing".  We have actually been doing this for several years at the K-5 level here in Gorham, but now we're bringing that clarity of expectation to our Middle and High Schools and strengthening our standards at the Elementary Schools.  All of this in an effort to become more clear about what our students need to know and be able to do and to ensure that they demonstrate proficiency in those skills before being "passed on" to the next piece of learning.

So What Does this Look Like:

The Gorham Public Schools has long been known for its ability to offer our students a comprehensive K-12 educational program designed to advance literacy, numeracy, and citizenship, as manifested in academics, the arts, athletics, and activities to enrich the life of each student.  We have structured our PBL system to ensure that this long-standing tradition continues to provide the best possible educational experiences for all our students.   Here’s a visual representation depicting how our system is built:

Overall, this pyramid must be viewed understanding that the smallest components of the system, our “Learning Objectives” are closest to the day in and day out work with students.  Each component of the pyramid is aligned to the component above it.  For example, Learning Objectives are aligned to specific Performance Indicators, which in turn are aligned to Graduation standards.  

Let's dig a little more deeply into each of the components of PBL structure to hopefully help you better understand what each is, and how they all build to the top of the pyramid, which is where we want all of our students to be proficient by the time they graduate from our schools.

What are Learning Objectives:

Learning Objectives - Learning objectives guide the design of curriculum units that move students toward the achievement of performance indicators.  These are the smallest component of our system and you can typically recognize these by the language we use.  We often refer to our “Learning Objectives” as “I Can Statements”. 

Here’s an example from K-5 music:

“I can compose a piece of music and write it down with musical notation."

And here is an example from High School Chemistry:

“ I can explain why temperature and concentration have an effect on reaction rates at the atomic level and use data to support my explanation.”

When you see a progression of “learning objectives” laid out across a 1,2,3,or 4 score – that document is called a “Scoring Criteria” document.  Scoring criteria allows teachers to see the various learning objectives across from a score of “1” (Emerging) to a score of “3” (Proficient) and even to a score of “4” (Distinguished).  An example of a scoring criteria document might look like this:

Emerging	Developing	Proficient	Distinguished
I can identify a habitat and organisms that live there.	I can make a claim that in a particular habitat some organisms can survive well, some survive less well, and some cannot survive at all.	I can make a claim and use supporting evidence to prove that in a particular habitat some organisms can survive well, some survive less well, and some cannot survive at all.	I can make a prediction and use supporting evidence to prove that a certain change in an animal’s habitat may have an effect on the animal’s survival within that habitat.

What are Performance Indicators:

Performance Indicators – Approximately 4-6 indicators by grade/grade span or course/learning experience for each content area graduation standard that move students toward the achievement of graduation standards. 

Here’s an example of three Performance Indicators from 8^th grade science that are aligned to the “Stability and Change” Graduation Standard:

Graduation Standard 1: Stability and Change: Explain how stability and change shape engineered or natural systems.

Performance Indicators:

Develop a model that predicts and describes changes in particle motion, temperature, and state of a pure substance when thermal energy is added or removed. (MS-PS1-4)

Develop and use a model to describe how the total number of atoms does not change in a chemical reaction and thus mass is conserved. (MS-PS1-5)

Construct, use, and present arguments to support the claim that when the kinetic energy of an object changes, energy is transferred to or from the object. (MS-PS3-5)

For each performance indicator you can have a series of learning objectives organized by scoring criteria.  Here's what that looks like for these same performance indicators so you can get a sense of how this builds on each other:

Graduation Standard 1: Stability and Change: Explain how stability and change shape engineered or natural systems.
Performance Indicators	1	2	3	4
Develop a model that predicts and describes changes in particle motion, temperature, and state of a pure substance when thermal energy is added or removed. (MS-PS1-4)	I can identify different states of matter.	I can relate changing temperature and particle motion to states of matter.	I can describe the changes in particle motion, temperature, and state of a pure substance when thermal energy is added or removed.	I can explain the effects of changing the temperature of particle will effect the rate at which a reaction occurs.
Develop and use a model to describe how the total number of atoms does not change in a chemical reaction and thus mass is conserved. (MS-PS1-5)	I can identify (some of) the chemical symbols and compounds in a chemical equation.	I can read and determine whether a chemical equation is balanced.	I can describe how the total number of atoms does not change in a chemical reaction and thus mass is conserved.	I can balance a chemical equation.
Construct, use, and present arguments to support the claim that when the kinetic energy of an object changes, energy is transferred to or from the object. (MS-PS3-5)	I can define potential and kinetic energy.	I can explain how an object’s kinetic energy can change.	I can support the claim that when the kinetic energy of an object changes, energy is transferred to or from the object.	I can quantify the kinetic energy of objects to show energy transfer to or from an object.

Student progress towards meeting performance indicators can be assessed both FORMATIVELY and SUMMATIVELY.  Formative assessments are small assessmens given by teachers to students for the purpose of helping the teacher and student understand where they are in their learning (1,2,3,4) and how they can improve, or dig more deeply into the content in order to move up higher on the scoring criteria scale.  Often formative assessments are not "graded" but are only used to provide feedback to students.  Summative assessments are graded assessments that teachers use to summarize student learning and to provide an opportunity for students to demonstrate mastery of the skills being taught.  These are the "grades" that parents will see.

Performance indicators are generally "mapped" across the K-12 learning experience by grade level. Students in 1st grade science may focus on one group of performance indicators and then in 2nd grade science another group.  As students move along from performance indicator to performance indicator, they are working along what is called a "learning progression" towards ultimately demonstrating they are proficient at the largest and most important learning of all - our "cross-curricular" and content area graduation standards.

What are Graduation Standards:

 K-12 Content Area Graduation Standards – These, along with the “Cross-Curricular” Graduation Standards are the largest components of our PBL system.  There are typically 3-8 graduation standards for each of the required 8 content areas in Maine’s Learning Results (ELA, Math, Science, Social Studies, Health  & PE, Visual and Performing Arts, World Languages, and Career and Technical Education (CTE).   These are what all those smaller performance indicators are working towards.

Here's an example of our K-12 Graduation Standards in Math:

Mathematics

A graduate will be able to: Mathematical Practices:  Use sound mathematical practices when solving problems. Number & Quantity:  Reason quantitatively, using computation, estimation and number sense. Algebra:  Reason algebraically, using expressions, equations, and functions. Geometry:  Reason spatially, using geometry, visual representations, and coordinates. Statistics & Probability:  Reason statistically, using data analysis, probability, and inference. Mathematical Modeling:  Model with mathematics to solve real world problems.

Again, for each graduation standard there are associated grade-level performance indicators and for each performance indicator there are associated learning objectives or "scoring criteria".  Here's an example of what that looks like in High School Math:

(GS):  MATHEMATICAL PRACTICES: Use sound mathematical practices when solving problems.	Emerging (1)	(LO) Developing (2)	(LO) Proficient (3)	(LO) Distinguished (4)
(PI) Make sense of problems, and persevere in solving them.		I attempt to solve every mathematical problem given to me, and can define key concepts and terms used in them.	I can restate given problems in my own words, and continue to work at solving them when confronted with setbacks.	I can explain the details of complex mathematical problems expressed in various forms, and don't stop working on them until they're completely solved.
(PI) Apply appropriate techniques, and then interpret the results.		I can identify whether specific mathematical techniques can be used to solve given problems.	I can choose and apply appropriate mathematical techniques to solve problems, and interpret the results.	I can use multiple mathematical techniques to solve problems, and then verify and explain the resulting solutions.
(PI) Use mathematical and technological tools strategically.		When given specific tools, I can use them to solve mathematical problems.	I can select suitable mathematical and technological tools to solve problems, and explain why I chose them.	I can combine different tools to make conceptual connections, solve problems, and optimize solution processes.
(PI) Construct viable arguments, and critique the reasoning of others.		I can state my solutions to problems, and understand other ways of solving them.	I can accurately explain how I find solutions, describe solution approaches of others, and identify strengths and weaknesses of each.	I can justify my solutions using evidence and sound reasoning, and integrate elements of other solution strategies to improve them.

For Graduation Standards, students typically demonstrate achievement through their aggregate performance on performance indicators which are measured via summative assessments over time.  These will be the items that will be reported on student transcripts when students graduate from Gorham High School.  Parents will also see interim reports on student progress towards meeting proficiency at the Graduation Standard Level on report cards.

What are K-12 Cross Curricular Graduation Standards:

K-12 Cross-Curricular Graduation Standards – These standards, along with the K-12 Content Area Graduation Standards are the largest components of our system.  These standards are identified as “Cross-Cutting” because they do just that – they cut across ALL CONTENT AREAS and in fact, they cut across everything we do within the Gorham Schools!  These standards are also sometimes better known as Maine’s “Guiding Princples”.

Here's what these look like:

Guiding Principles

Each student will graduate as: A clear and effective communicator; A self-directed and lifelong learner; A creative and practical problem solver; A responsible and involved citizen; and An integrative and informed thinker.

The Gorham Schools are currently working to inventory our existing performance indicators to see which ones also align with our guiding principles so that we are not duplicating efforts.  Once we have this "map" created, we will work to fill in any "blanks" with specific performance indicators geared towards making sure students are also working and demonstrating proficiencies in these important skills over time as well.  

Much like the K-12 Content Area Graduation Standards, the K-12 Cross Curricular Graduation Standards will also be demonstrated through student’s aggregate performance on summative assessments over time.  These will also be items that will be reported on student transcripts when students graduate from Gorham High School.  Parents will also see interim reports on student progress towards meeting proficiency at the Graduation Standard Level on report cards.

What are Skills for Life:

It is important to understand that we assess “Skills for Life” separately from “Content Area Skills”.  “Skills for Life” are those skills related to student participation in class, completing homework on time, and producing their best.  These are very different skills than the skills required to master content area skills such as solving an algebraic equation.  We separate the tracking of these two types of skills because we know that a student may be proficient in one type of learning/understanding, but they may not be proficient in another and we believe that Skills for Life are equally as important as Content Area Skills.  Therefore, we intentionally teach and intentionally assess student progress in both areas separately.  

Here's what our Skills for Life Look like:

Skills for Life

A graduate will be able to demonstrate: Preparation:  Students have required materials and assignments are fully completed. Engagement:  Students report to class on time, engage in classroom activities, and use time productively. Communication:  Students ask appropriate questions about content and directions, respectfully share ideas, and appropriately respond to communication in a timely manner. A student leaving Gorham Middle School will be able to demonstrate: 1.     Preparation:  Students report to class in a timely manner, independently engage in class, and independently initiate completion of class work. 2.     Engagement:  Students report to class with necessary materials and with necessary work completed. 3.     Communication:  Students give input and ask questions independently.  Students respond to input and questions independently and seek help when needed. A student leaving Gorham Elementary Schools will be able to demonstrate:

We are still working on defining what our Skills for Life should look like at the K-5 Level.  That will be completed by the end of this school year.

Well, I think that's likely enough information for now!  Probably overwhelmed you with this. .. SORRY - but I warned you that the answer to the question of how this system is structured was a little more complex than it might seem!  

Remember, one of the overarching purposes to a PBL system is to be clear and transparent about what is being learned, why it is important to be learned, how students demonstrate that they are proficient in their learning, and what comes next in their learning.  This type of transparency allows everyone involved in our educational system (including you as parents)to be a part of the "team" effort needed to make sure our students graduate "prepared and inspired" to move on to the next levels of their life and their learning!  

In my next PBL series post I'll talk more specifically about how students move through our PBL system,  what "grades" might look like and mean for each grade level.  Until then, please feel free to reach out with questions!  My email is heather.perry@gorhamschools.org

Proficiency Based Learning Update Series - Post #2

So, What Does This New System Look Like In The Classroom For Our Students?

First, it is important to remember that good teaching is simply that - GOOD TEACHING - and we have some of the best teachers right here in our schools!  The best instructional practices from our traditional systems of education remain the core of useful tools and strategies that teachers will use in a Proficiency Based Learning System (PBL).  The key difference is that in a PBL system, the primary instructional focus is on being clear with students what standards they are learning, why it is important to learn them, providing multiple ways in which they can be successful in demonstrating their learning, and in helping students understand what comes next in their learning once they have. While in the more traditional systems, often what drove instruction was the end test, or final assessment, or what came next in the textbook series.

One of the false rumors that float around out there about PBL is that somehow the role of the teacher is diminished in this new system and nothing could be further from the truth.  In fact, the role of the classroom teacher is enhanced and set free to be more creative and to be more "artful" in facilitating learning and in tailoring that learning to the individual needs of students rather than being stuck reading from too many scripted lessons, or having to make sure the class is on page 214 of the textbook by December 15, so that they are ready to do well on the latest and greatest state test.  What becomes very tight in a PBL system is the standards that students are expected to demonstrate proficiency in . . . what becomes more "loose" is how students and teachers together decide how to successfully get there!

Traditional instructional tools do not disappear in a PBL system, they may simply look slightly different, or take on different prominence in the work based upon the types of learning that are being undertaken, and the skills that are being taught.  For example, in traditional models of schooling the lecture was a primary instructional methodology used to deliver vast amounts of information to students in relatively short periods of time.  This was a primary tool in the traditional system when the goal of public schools were to "fill up" students with the names and dates, and mathematical formulas they would need to be successful as adults in their jobs.  I personally remember many such 45+ minute lectures and the associated writing cramps fondly!  Really, I'm not kidding.

The world has now changed.  It is no longer as important for students to be able to recite the presidents of the United States, or to know that the capital of California is Sacremento whenever they are asked.  Today, technology has changed our world, and we no longer need to pay so much attention to this knowledge recitation (now don't get me wrong. .. that doesn't mean there aren't still things students need to memorize - like multiplication tables for example).  Today's skills around knowledge are better focused around teaching students knowledge utilization such as knowing when to question the answer they get when they "google" something, or knowing when a source of information may be biased, etc.  Because we no longer focus on knowledge recitation, the lecture format for instructional practices are not as necessary as they once were.  However, that does not mean they disappear.  There are still times in today's learning environment when teachers need to simply share a large amount of information to a large group in a short period of time and in those instances, lecture is still very much a useful tool and one that teachers will continue to use moving forward - just not to the primary degree they may have when you and I were in school!

Another great example of a traditional instructional approach that will still very much have its place in our PBL system is that of group or collaborative learning.  In fact, the skill of being able to work with others in a collaborative setting to accomplish a shared goal has become even more important today than it was even just 10 years ago!  Today's businesses expect employees to be able to come into the workplace, to independently identify problems, to communicate those problems, and to work together with teams of fellow employees to problem solve and implement potential solutions to those problems.  Today's workplace no longer wants "yes people" who basically do not think on their own and instead just follow orders from the boss each day.  Today's workplace requires students to be creative problem solvers, collaborators, and clear communicators and what better way to learn those skills than in group learning situations in the safety of our K-12 classrooms?  It is in these situations that students will be able to challenge themselves and others to creatively think, explore, try out possible solutions, possibly fail, and learn how to persevere together to try again until they have accomplished what they set out to accomplish.  Clearly group learning situations are not going anywhere as we move our system from more traditional models to our PBL learning system!

So what might our classrooms actually look like?  Well, let's take a look at some things that would likely be happening in our classrooms K-5, 6-8 and 9-12 in our PBL learning system:

In a K-5 PBL classroom, you would see teachers taking time to "unpack" learning standards with students.  This means they would spend time talking with students about what they are learning and why, bringing our students into the learning process vs. doing it to them.  You would see students being grouped and regrouped frequently according to their skill levels in specific standards.  you would see lots of student inquiry and flexible structures that allow small groups of students to learn the same skills in different ways and to demonstrate their learning in different ways.  You would see timely interventions for students who need an "extra boost" and you would see opportunities for student enrichment of learning as well.  You would see a combination of all good teaching practices such as mini-lessons to introduce topics, workshop models to allow for students to learn similar skills in different ways and to practice their knowledge.  You would see guided reading and writing centers, and the use of engaging hands-on learning opportunities.  You would see the teacher interacting with students, asking guiding questions that encourage students to ask even more questions and investigate for themselves potential answers.  You would see classroom teachers working with large and small groups.  You would see teachers' assistants and other outside supports "pushing into" the classroom to provide specific instruction rather than pulling students out.  You would see technology being utilized to allow students to explore ideas on their own.  You would see clear connections to our community.  Basically, you would see highly organized and purposeful learning.

In a 6-8 PBL classroom, you would see teachers taking time to unpack learning standards with students because it is always important for students to know what they are learning and why they are learning it.  You would see students learning in multiple ways and beginning to take the reigns of their own learning.  You would see inquiry and questioning by teachers and by their peers.  You  would see built in time during the school day for students to enrich their learning and explore their interests in unique and meaningful ways.  You would see those same good teaching practices with whole group mini-lessons, projects, research and experiential, real-world learning opportunities.  You'd see technology integrated within all of this in meaningful ways.  You would see maker spaces and opportunities given to students to apply their knowledge in real-world, community-based situations.  You would see high expectations and excitement about learning.

In a 9-12 classroom, you would see students taking the reigns of their own learning more and more.  Students would understand the expectations required of them in order to graduate and they would be given multiple pathways to move through the next four years in order to meet them in ways that fit their learning styles and strengths.  Students would be challenged to reach their full potential as learners and to take their knowledge to new and higher levels of analysis and synthesis, applying their learning to real-world problems.  Time would be built into every day for students who need support to get that support in a timely manner and not wait until it is too late.  Students would also be given time to enrich their thinking, to dig deeper in their understandings and to explore their own interests for learning.  There would be multiple opportunities for students to develop aspirations and to experiment with post secondary learning with community conversations, job shadowing, internships, Career and Technical classes, co-op opportunities, college visits, personal career plans, AP and Dual enrollment classes, and more.

This just gives you some examples of what you would see and is not intended to list all of what is possible.  Overall, our new PBL system will be much more "laser-like" in its focus on individual students and on ensuring that their learning needs are met in meaningful ways.  Students will be asked to demonstrate proficiency in our performance indicators and graduation standards as well as in the areas of our state's guiding principles - all of which are aimed at making sure our students ultimately graduate "Prepared" and "Inspired" to be successful in any post secondary learning they wish to pursue beyond our great schools!

In my next blog post, I'll focus on helping parents and others to better understand how our PBL system is structured.  I'll define and talk about what Performance Indicators are, and what graduation standards look like, and how a student would move through their learning successfully within the Gorham Schools.  Til next time!  THANK YOU!

P.S. - As always, if you have any questions, or seek clarifications on any of the information contained within this blog, please do not hesitate to email me at heather.perry@gorhamschools.org.