A Reader Writes... Pass / Fail - Part 2

In response to the 9/22/2015 post, “Pass / Fail – Part 1,” a reader writes:

SC,

I agree with what you are saying. But what is the most viable alternative? How do we move whole systems to change after all of this time?

A new, better system will require a huge education for not only teachers and students but the parents and others who are measuring us as we measure our students.  

SC Response

If you are a principal, and you are comfortable being proactive, you can do a lot. Here are four things you could do right now to ensure that the grades on your campus are consistent from class to class and reflect a more accurate measure of end of course mastery.

1. Homework for practice, not a grade. If the student does the homework, the reward is being more capable of passing the course assessment(s).  The penalty of not doing the homework is being less capable of passing the course assessment(s).  The student who doesn’t need to do the homework shouldn’t have to. And the student who should do the homework and doesn’t, shouldn’t be penalized twice.

2. All tests are common (the same from class to class for a given content) and are graded using a common (developed by the content department) rubric. That way a student isn’t placed at a GPA disadvantage by being in the class of the “harder” grader.

3. Allow re-tests on all tests, up until the final. The final exam is the test that should matter the most.  Everything up until the final is simply practice.

4. Create common, cumulative finals and allow performance on the final to either not hurt the student or trump everything. For example. 

a. I have an 87 average going into the final.  I get a 75 on the final, so the final doesn’t count against me. 

b. I have an 87 average going into the final.  I get a 93 on the final, so my final grade for the semester is a 93.

Either way is a win/win for the school and the student.  In example A, the student has the motivation to perform during the semester to provide a level of “Final Insurance.”

In Example B, the student has the motivation to continue to grind and engage in the learning for a chance to improve her grade.

The con would be the student who does nothing throughout the semester and aces the final.  Some would say that we would be rewarding a malcontent.  But I would argue that for this particular student, the student who obviously didn’t need the instruction, enduring the class was punishment enough.

Think. Work. Achieve.

Your turn...

• Call Jo at (832) 477-LEAD to order your campus set of “The Fundamental 5: The Formula for Quality Instruction.” Individual copies available on Amazon.com!  http://tinyurl.com/Fundamental5
• Now at the Apple App Store: Fun 5 Timer (Fundamental 5 Delivery Tool); PowerWalks CLC (Networked Formative Observation Tool) 
• Upcoming Presentations: American Association of School Administrators Conference; National Association of Secondary School Principals Conference (Multiple Presentations) 
• Follow Sean Cain and LYS on www.Twitter.com/LYSNation  and like Lead Your School on Facebook

A Reader Asks... Better Checkpoint Implementation

A LYS Principal asks the following questions. I will embed my answers after each question for easier reading.

SC,

I love the daily e-mails addressing improving schools (The LYS Nation Blog) and love The Fundamental 5 (Cain & Laird) and The Foundation Trinity (Cain).  As you know I have moved to a new district and I have a couple of questions about the 3-week Checkpoints we are implementing on my new campus this year.

1.  My teachers are having a difficult time "creating" their mini-assessments (Checkpoints) for each 3-week period.  We admit that we are not test writers.  We have lots of resources but finding stems with answer choices over the TEKS taught to that point has caused difficulties for us.  This is especially true in the area of Reading. 

SC: This is the most difficult part of the assessment process.  The easiest way to tackle this is to:

A. Map the curriculum in 3-week increments, identifying the critical TEKS that must be taught in the 3-week window. The YAG provides too broad of a brushstroke.

B. Identify questions that assess the identified TEKS.  STAAR release tests, district benchmark tests, TEKS Resource System unit tests (if you saved them), and test banks are the place to start.  A teacher actually writing checkpoint questions is the last resort. 

C. With reading assessments, identifying good reading passages is the first step.  Look for passages that can be used for numerous questions on a given assessments and used on multiple assessments.  Remember, with a hot read (a passage a student has seen before) you can ask more questions and more difficult questions in a given testing time.

2.  What are your suggestions for review of the mini-assessments while maintaining the pace of the YAGs (Year At A Glance pacing guide)?

SC: Do not review for an assessment.  To do so means that the Checkpoints are actually assessing the quality of the review, not the quality of first instruction.  Do not review after the assessment.  Instead re-teach the deepest holes over the course of the next 3-weeks.   

3.  Do you recommend DMAC (a data analysis tool) for data analysis for each mini-assessment (Checkpoint)?  If not, what should we use?

SC: No. In-depth data analysis of 3-week assessment data is a waste of time. The data sample is inherently unstable.  Instead, do a quick 1-page trend analysis, adjust, and move forward (LYS has a process it trains campuses to use).  Save the heavy data analysis for the Fall Finals and EOC / Spring Finals.

4.  What do you recommend for transparency of student/teacher data and do you have recommendations on how to keep it meaningful but not losing the valuable instructional time.

SC: There should be team transparency of assessment data.  However this should be implemented in a purposeful and methodical manner.  Doing it too early, when the data is overwhelmingly invalid destroys trust.

5. Thank you for you input.  I realize these are loaded questions.

SC: Yes, I realize these were loaded questions.  I do suggest that you schedule a LYS Coach to come to your campus and meet with your leadership team and lead teachers and walk them thru the process.  The LYS Coach will let your team know where they are on the right track, what corrections need to be made, and if the adversity you are dealing with is normal or unique.

I hope to hear from you soon.

Think. Work. Achieve.

Your turn...

• Call Jo at (832) 477-LEAD to order your campus set of “The Fundamental 5: The Formula for Quality Instruction.” Individual copies available on Amazon.com!  http://tinyurl.com/Fundamental5
• Now at the Apple App Store: Fun 5 Timer (Fundamental 5 Delivery Tool); PowerWalks CLC (Networked Formative Observation Tool) 
• Upcoming Presentations: American Association of School Administrators Conference; National Association of Secondary School Principals Conference (Multiple Presentations) 
• Follow Sean Cain and LYS on www.Twitter.com/LYSNation  and like Lead Your School on Facebook

Field Notes From The Fundamental 5 Summit - Part 2

Last week, the 3^rd Annual Fundamental 5 Summit was held in Austin, Texas. Over 300 educators from across the country attended and participated.  Here are some more of the highlights of from the Summit, as reported on Twitter.

Planning practices need to focus on the "How," not the "What." (By @ptpeabody)

The closing gives teachers the most bang for the buck when checking for student understanding. (By @celiadrews)

If there is more teacher talking than student talking in class - purposeful talk needs to be addressed. (By @ptpeabody)

The ABCs of education..."Always Be Closing." (By @cheadhorn)

Kids will give us sloppy work if we accept sloppy planning work from teachers. (By @CabidaCain)

Brad Weston: Don't look for reasons to discount the data. Look for ways to use the data to get better. (By @LYSNation)

Brad Weston: You have to get comfortable being uncomfortable. (By @LYSNation)

Brad Weston: Teachers need to care and try. CARE about what they do and TRY to get better. (By @TraciTousant)

Harry Miller: If no one's following you, you're just on a walk! (By @TraciTousant)

WE are in charge of creating the future. (By @leslmeek)

"The Lesson Frame is magic" - Jayne Ellspermann, National Principal of the Year. (By @PrincipalFHS)

National Principal of the year, Jayne Ellspermann, limits sending school wide email to only 1 per week! (By @tra_hall)

Jayne Ellspermann = A-MAZ-ING! We live in a world that we have shaped. Let's change that shape! (By @leslmeek)

Think. Work. Achieve.

Your turn...

• Call Jo at (832) 477-LEAD to order your campus set of “The Fundamental 5: The Formula for Quality Instruction.” Individual copies available on Amazon.com!  http://tinyurl.com/Fundamental5
• Now at the Apple App Store: Fun 5 Timer (Fundamental 5 Delivery Tool); PowerWalks CLC (Networked Formative Observation Tool) 
• Upcoming Presentations: American Association of School Administrators Conference; National Association of Secondary School Principals Conference (Multiple Presentations) 
• Follow Sean Cain and LYS on www.Twitter.com/LYSNation  and like Lead Your School on Facebook

Field Notes From The Fundamental 5 Summit - Part 1

Last week, the 3^rd Annual Fundamental 5 Summit was held in Austin, Texas. Over 300 educators from across the country attended and participated.  Here are some of the highlights of from the Summit, as reported on Twitter.

Lively learning last longer. (By @tra_hall)

Never give students of any age anything... Make them get up and come and get it. Get them moving. (By @tra_hall)

Adapt - Adjust – Apply: This is what we all must do after we learn something new. (By @tra_hall)

Which wolf (positive or negative) wins the battle? The one you feed. (By @leslmeek)

The negative wolf is NOT being fed by students.  It is being fed by big people like us!!! (By @leslmeek)

Amazing speech by Charles Foster Johnson. Are you one of the faces in a child's Mount Rushmore? (By @tudon26)

Accountability is a force of evil used as justification to not fund public schools. (By @tra_hall)

"Game of Schools" Teach the right content, at the right rigor, at the right time... or it's WRONG! (By @TraciTousant)

Accountability is tough on us but better for kids. (By @GarzaNesie)

In the accountability era, pacing in paramount. (By @tra_hall)

Common assessments should be designed to keep students and teachers on pace. (By @tra_hall)

Superstar teachers implement the fundamentals with high frequency and high quality. (By @tra_hall)

The close is not a "task." The close is proof of understanding. (By @leslmeek)

Think. Work. Achieve.

Your turn...

• Call Jo at (832) 477-LEAD to order your campus set of “The Fundamental 5: The Formula for Quality Instruction.” Individual copies available on Amazon.com!  http://tinyurl.com/Fundamental5 
• Now at the Apple App Store: Fun 5 Timer (Fundamental 5 Delivery Tool); PowerWalks CLC (Networked Formative Observation Tool) 
• Upcoming Presentations: American Association of School Administrators Conference; National Association of Secondary School Principals Conference (Multiple Presentations) 
• Follow Sean Cain and LYS on www.Twitter.com/LYSNation  and like Lead Your School on Facebook

Top LYS Tweets From the Week of November 8, 2015

If you are not following @LYSNation on Twitter, then you missed the Top 10 LYS Tweets from the week of November 8, 2015 when they were first posted.  And if you are on Twitter, you might want to check out the Tweeters who made this week’s list.

1. Success is doing ordinary things extraordinarily well. (By @CoachKWisdom)

2. Don't major in minor things. (By @blitzkrieg607)

3. School is the new "family" for many of our students; it's where they learn to say thank you, excuse me, and more. We must meet their needs! (By @stephengpeters)

4. “Adversity causes some teachers to break – and others to break records.” (By @DrRichAllen)

5. Our Lt. Gov's (Dan Patrick) reference to our public schools as "dropout factories" offends us. With all due respect, we ask him to name those schools. (By @pastors4txkids)

6. Conservatives often use the dismissive phrase "just throwing money at" problems like poverty. Yet it sort of works. (By @alfiekohn)

7. One of the weirdest corruptions of our education policy in America is how classroom teachers are ignored in the formulation of it. (By @pastors4txkids)

8. Friday reflection: What did you DO this week, not talk about, not e-mail, to make your campus better next week? (By @CabidaCain)

9. Students have BS detectors for fake relevance.  It has to be THEIR relevance that learning is connected to. (By @tedfujimoto)

10. What's awesome about 79,000? That's how many copies of The Fundamental 5 (Cain & Laird) that have now been sold! Thanks, LYS Nation!! (By @LYSNation)

Think. Work. Achieve.

Your turn...

• Call Jo at (832) 477-LEAD to order your campus set of “The Fundamental 5: The Formula for Quality Instruction.” Individual copies available on Amazon.com!  http://tinyurl.com/Fundamental5 
• Now at the Apple App Store: Fun 5 Timer (Fundamental 5 Delivery Tool); PowerWalks CLC (Networked Formative Observation Tool) 
• Upcoming Presentations: American Association of School Administrators Conference; National Association of Secondary School Principals Conference (Multiple Presentations) 
• Follow Sean Cain and LYS on www.Twitter.com/LYSNation  and like Lead Your School on Facebook