Saturday, March 22, 2014

Cosmos Redux

"The Cosmos is all that is or ever was or ever will be."
—Carl Sagan, Cosmos

His eloquence capturing my curiosity and imagination, Carl Sagan is one of my all-time favorite scientists. His cosmic journeys stirred my sense of wonder about the universe and solidified my lifelong passion for science. How fitting that one of my other all-time favorite scientists, Neil deGrasse Tyson, should revisit and revise this cosmic journey that Sagan began 30+ years ago. The newly-launched Cosmos is once again stirring my imagination and reviving that sense of wonder I first felt decades ago. Cosmos, both the original series and the new series, should be required reading and viewing for "every hero and coward, every creator and destroyer of civilization, every king and peasant, every young couple in love, every mother and father, hopeful child, inventor and explorer, every teacher of morals, every corrupt politician, every "superstar," every "supreme leader," every saint and sinner."*

*Excerpted from Carl Sagan's Pale Blue Dot speech (with apologies)

Our cosmic journey just got more interesting this week with the announcement of confirmatory experimental evidence for a key piece of the Big Bang Theory, the scientific explanation for the origin and evolution of our universe. Scientists used careful telescopic observations to detect faint ripples that emanated from the inflationary expansion of our universe in its nascent micro-moments. While behind most humans' everyday experience, this new knowledge is a triumph and celebration for astrophysicists who have sought to understand the very beginnings of this universe in which we exist. Carl Sagan would smile with this astonishing discovery.

Thank you to all scientists who dare ask bold, audacious questions about our universe and who courageously seek the truth amidst the mystery of the unknown—despite the charlatans who would endeavor to discredit you. You inspire us!



Excellent explanations about this week's discovery about cosmic inflation have been produced by:

Sunday, March 16, 2014

Why Science?

Having endured (survived?) two weeks of state testing—with an additional week yet to go—I feel starved for nourishing, hopeful science.

For 15 years now, I've seen firsthand the damage wrought by standardized testing. These tests stifle creativity, curiosity, and the human desire to understand and discover—in both students and teachers. Learning is reduced to its lowest forms: to the memorization and regurgitation of bland facts; to mindless reading and writing and bubbling with wooden, graphite-based, number 2 pencils; to the measurement of socioeconomic wealth and privilege disguised as "assessment." Is it any wonder that our educational system continues to suffer under this "Race to the Top" where "No Child's Left Behind"?

So then... Why does science matter: to me, to our students, to our economy, to our society, to our planet? Where is the purpose and hope for science in our schools and in our lives?

Astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson once again eloquently explains why science and science literacy matter in both a democratic society and our human quest to understand the universe:



Sunday, March 9, 2014

Existential Questions

Existential questions for a K-8 school pondering its vision and identity:


Who Are We?
  • as a school
  • as a level (middle, elementary)
  • as a department
  • as a team
  • as a community

Who Am I?
  • within the school
  • within my level (middle, elementary)
  • within my department
  • within my team
  • as an individual

What does it say about ourselves and our culture if I/we struggle to answer these fundamental questions? (confidence, trust, self esteem, efficacy, consciousness, interdependence, etc.)

Saturday, March 8, 2014

The Long Standards-Based Journey

Our school has undertaken many journeys over the years. One particularly long and turbulent journey has centered on standards-based grading (SBG). Here are some of my thoughts about this ongoing journey—what SBG and its expectations are, what a transition to a new grade reporting system might entail, and best hopes vs. worst fears for our continuing SBG saga.



Our SBG Philosophy

We strive to use a standards-based grading system to provide feedback to students and parents about a child’s learning progress. A child’s learning is assessed in two ways: his or her progress toward meeting national, state, and/or district content standards (formative assessments), and his or her mastery of national, state, and/or district content standards (summative assessments). Teachers use a variety of formal and informal assessments to provide children with timely, effective, and ongoing feedback to guide them on their lifelong learning journeys.

Formal and informal assessments can include reading and writing tasks, inquiry-based investigations, short- and long-term projects, discussions, conversations, performances, homework tasks, quizzes, tests, observations, peer- and self-evaluations, etc.

Traditional grading systems use A, B, C, D, F to quantify a student’s progress. While our online grading system stills uses A, B, C, D, F to report end-of-trimester progress, the underlying meaning behind these letter grades has shifted. In a standards-based system, teachers are focused on how proficient students are at meeting standards, rather than degree of effort or accumulation of points. In general, letter grades can be interpreted in the following standards-based ways (notice that “B” is equivalent to “proficient”):

  • A: above proficient, exceeds standards
  • B: proficient, meets standards
  • C: partially proficient, shows progress toward meeting standards
  • D: unsatisfactory, struggling to meet standards, little data to evaluate
  • F: failing, not meeting standards, no data to evaluate

In a standards-based system, extra credit is not available to boost grades, since grades are based on learning mastery.



Basic SBG Expectations

1. Each middle level department creates their formative, summative, PPQ (practice/preparation/quality) percentages and expectations for the online grading system.
  • Each content area and teacher may have slightly different grading expectations, which are usually provided to each student and discussed at the beginning of the course. Information about expectations can also be found in online weekly notes and on teacher websites.

2. At our school, we allow students to “redo” their assignments to ensure that students are learning the concepts, skills, and knowledge.
  • Redos are offered at teacher discretion (see individual classroom expectations and redo policies).
  • Redos are not automatic for every assignment.
  • Redos can only be offered when honest effort has been made on the original assignment (encourages honesty and integrity; discourages procrastination and laziness).
  • Redos occur under logical conditions and within reasonable time frames (avoids end-of-trimester panics).
  • Redo opportunities may differ from the original assignment: a different assessment, a different format, etc.

3. No “zeros” policy.
  • Reference: Reeves, D., “The Case Against the Zero,” Phi Delta Kappan, 2004.
  • On a 10-point (or 100-point) scale, zeros skew grades disproportionately downward when averaged among other assignments.
  • Zeros reinforce the concept of grades as punishment—they de-motivate students, and probably exacerbate missing assignments (“Why bother?”).
  • Zeros could be used on a 4-point (0, 1, 2, 3) or a 5-point scale (0, 1, 2, 3, 4).

4. Other.
  • In a standards-based system, extra credit is not available.



Grade Reporting vs. Feedback

Our biggest struggle as a teaching staff has been grappling with our grade reporting system. We are caught between  maintaining the current, traditional grading system (A, B, C, D, F) and moving toward one that is wholly standards based with detailed feedback about student learning. This has led to some difficult conversations—overall, there is a reluctance to fully embrace a standards-based reporting system at our school despite many years of trying to move in this direction.

What tasks/training/timeline are necessary to either maintain our current grading system or transition to a new system?

Current System
  • streamline and clarify language to minimize student/parent confusion
  • be clear about the impacts of missing assignments
  • use common language around “learning” vs. “grading”
  • continue professional development around effective feedback

4, 3, 2, 1, 0 System
  • create standard definitions for each point on the scale
  • set up new grading scale for our school in our online grading system
  • set up new gradebooks in our online grading system
  • rewrite course syllabi
  • rewrite student/parent handbook

Feedback-Only System
  • define a feedback-only system
  • train teachers on providing effective feedback in a non-grade environment
  • set up new grading scale for our school in our online grading system
  • set up new gradebooks in our online grading system
  • create/maintain student portfolios
  • rewrite course syllabi
  • rewrite student/parent handbook



What are the best hopes and worst fears as we continue our SBG journey?

Best Hopes
  • conversations/conferences will center around learning, not grades
  • motivation for learning will shift from extrinsic (rewards-based and competition-based) to intrinsic (curiosity, hunger to learn)
  • grades will no longer be used as carrots and sticks, instruments of control and compliance, reward and punishment
  • reporting systems will shift from Ds/Fs and missing assignments to feedback about a child’s strengths and opportunities for growth

Worst Fears
  • students won’t be prepared for high school’s A, B, C system, and high school won’t take the time to explain their system
  • “Is that an ‘A’?” (students/parents retaining a traditional grading mindset)
  • creating community confusion, anger, and backlash
  • making our school less attractive to prospective families
  • polarized beliefs about grades will damage relationships among teaching staff
  • status quo continues
  • district, administrators, parents, students won’t support a new system