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 7th and 8th
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 8th 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.
