Just a couple thoughts I had while reading it—
I'm curious as to the nature of the frequent "quick quizzes" the teachers use to assess achievement. One of the greatest concerns I have about using tests and quizzes to assess learning progress is that they generally don't represent accurate, real life knowledge and skills situations. In other words, is a multiple choice exam (which is by far the most common assessment format) truly representative of a student's understanding of and ability to apply the knowledge and skills obtained in class? I can't think of a vocation or avocation that makes you take a written test to measure your performance (the closest analog to school testing in real life might be civil service exams, and the PRAXIS-type tests we teachers must take, which probably says something about government jobs). Consequently, I never use multiple choice assessments and depend on formative assessments as much as possible.
Formative assessment requires the teacher to observe and assess during the classroom learning activities, as opposed to the commonly used summative testing tools. The formative assessment method allows me to understand better what the learner has mastered over dependence on fill-in-the-blank, matching, and multiple-guess formats. I have noticed this year a sharp increase in the frequency and standardization of department-wide assessments at the high school level – modeled on SOLs – similar to the subject of this article. I don't know if River Bend's teachers are using formative assessment as a key part of their grading, but it is a basic component of the Standards-based Grading River Bend has "embraced." If so, that is wonderful, but formative assessment is not an easy skill for a teacher to master; I hope River Bend has invested significant training and coaching to support it.
I do worry, though, that this may not be the case since recent research appears to show that it is teaching to the standardized test that best guarantees SOL test success over other, more formative assessment friendly activities. You see, River Bend is one of the only two LCPS middle schools that made AYP this year. If Principal Bennett and his staff have figured out how to consistently meet standardized test achievement goals while encompassing non-standardized-test learning activities, then we all need to understand their methods better. Definitely worth looking into.
Homework is the other thing we don't do well. I do not think homework has much value, especially the assignments most high school students do. Teachers are frustrated by very low completion rates (less than 50% in one teacher's class I visited today) and copying. The River Bend teachers' explanation for why they gave so little homework was that "students would not do it because it didn’t count on their report cards." My take on what I see in high school is similar: students don't perceive much value in their homework assignments so they don't see much reason for doing it; if they are interested in the "completion" grade, they go to the trouble of at least copying answers from one of the few who did the assignment in the first five minutes of class (that the assignment can be copied in that brief time says something about the teacher's homework expectations).
Homework is a very thorny, controversial issue, and I do not have the answer to it. I will not, however, assign homework just for "practice" and "building responsibility." For any of us who take work home with us, consider its nature; is it just rote work meant to make us a more responsible employee or are we doing it because it is needed the next day at work? I think kids are savvy enough to appreciate this point as well. I do understand, however, the loss of opportunity for engagement homework provides to the parent and child, and this is a valid concern in the River Bend situation; this is something I would consider seriously for the elementary and middle schools when formulating homework philosophy (maybe not so much for high school).
Just some thoughts.
The school is only grading on what can be assessed at school. There were many high grades on hw and projects (think parents) but not on the corresponding tests. If students do poorly on a quiz, they can attend a reteaching session and retake the quiz. Not sure what classes that student is taking but my children bring home HW on a daily basis although not in every subject. And it is not graded but they do not have "chioce" to do it. If it is assigned, then they need to complete it. If the Mom thinks her child has a learning disability, she should ask for a child study.
ReplyDeleteMr. Lacy gave a presentation on Standards based grading last month. Very few parents showed up but I am sure we will hear from them now.
I have a sixth grader with a learning disability at Belmont Ridge - the other middle school that made AYP. He has some testing accommodations that are directly related to his disability (marks in test booklet instead of on the scan sheet). If the child's accommodations aren't working, then it is time for a team meeting. I found the teachers and administrators want each child to be successful and have suggestions that are worth trying for a quarter. My child is not terribly strong in math and gets extra help during resource; I was also working with him each night and thought he needed a tutor. Turns out the math resource teacher had no idea that he was having difficulty with new concepts. I was politely asked to stop reteaching him at home so his teachers could identify his areas of difficulty. I love a good team meeting! Now we can do fun things together instead.
ReplyDeleteWhy does assigning homework need to be thought of as a "thorny issue"?
ReplyDeleteHomework has plenty of value, not least of which includes A) reinforcing concepts from the classroom B) Assessment of learning (assuming there is no cheating, which I understand is a BIG assumption to make), and C) trying to instill some work ethic in an age group that feels entitled.
Your parallel between homework and work brought home from a professional job doesn't make sense. If I bring work home, it's because I need to get something done for the office on a tighter timeline than may be available by working at the office. Students are not working professionals, they're students who still need to learn the basics.
Please don't fail our next generation by not expecting high standards of quality and challenging work.
The article states, "They grade only on how much has been learned, not on classroom behavior or homework completion or other matters shown by research not to reflect achievement. "
ReplyDeleteWhile the statement may be true, I find it hard to believe that there is not a cause and effect relationship between homework and success on quizzes and tests. Properly designed homework reinforces and in the best situations, engages the parents in the learning process which is shown to be a key factor in how students perform (see Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell).
Setting up an incentive system (i.e. grading) that de-emphasizes homework leading to teachers not giving homework, is not a logical response to the conclusion that homework grades do not reflect achievement. The proper response is to evaluate how better to design homework to drive achievement on the testing done. Also, an appropriate incentive system has to be put in place to motivate students to do the homework. While a college student or mature high school student may understand the link between the work they do out side the classroom and their performance on a test, it is not realistic to expect middle-school students to make the same connection. However, a middle school student is perfectly capable of grasping the unimportance of doing homework when it is only 10% of their grade.
The article also states, "River Bend was one of only two among Loudoun’s 13 middle schools to make adequate yearly progress last year under the federal No Child Left Behind law." So, what Riverbend was doing last year was working. This begs the question, "Why change?"
Ultimately, the answer to whether or not Riverbend has made the right move lies in how are the students doing? I find it curious that the write-up did not provide any indicators as whether or not the new approach is working. Do we have to wait until the end of the year to find out? I certainly hope not as the cost of such an experiment is much too high if it results in our children falling behind.
The article states, “They grade only on how much has been learned, not on classroom behavior or homework completion or other matters shown by research not to reflect achievement.” The corollary to this is the implied conclusion Homework completion does not equate to learning and homework grades are not an indicator of learning comprehension; therefore we should not put a grading emphasis on homework.
ReplyDeleteIn practice at River Bend, the students’ homework is 10% of their grade. In terms of grades reflecting performance and advancement toward the learning goals, this is probably a reasonable approach. However, in practice this approach ignores the impact that incentives have on human behavior. By making homework such a small portion of the overall grade, homework has become deemphasized by many of the teachers and quite often ignored by the students (as a parent of River Bend Students, I have witnessed this myself). I do believe these consequences are unintended and that the quality teachers we have at River Bend genuinely work to help our children learn the material they are expected to learn.
While homework grades may not truly show learning comprehension, quality time spent on well-designed homework is invaluable. Therefore, instead of deemphasizing homework, the proper response to the conclusion that homework completion does not reflect achievement is to address how to make homework more effective.
In addition, the article states that “River Bend was one of only two among Loudoun’s 13 middle schools to make adequate yearly progress last year under the federal No Child Left Behind law.” This begs the question “Why change?”
In the end, the validity of the change will be determined by whether or not the children are advancing faster relative to their progress under the previous system. Hopefully, this can be and is being evaluated as the year progresses. If we have to wait until year-end testing to see if the change is working or not and the results are not positive, the costs for such an experiment are far too high.
Mr. Emery says, "By making homework such a small portion of the overall grade, homework has become deemphasized by many of the teachers and quite often ignored by the students." Reminds me of something that happened at Farmwell Station Middle School a couple years ago.
ReplyDeleteApparently the science teachers were counting homework enough that its non-completion was causing many students to have failing grades. Parents questioned this, and administration decreed that teachers were required to contact and discuss with parents any low grades. The result? Science teachers stopped assigning homework and grades went up, and no calls home were necessary.
One would think if homework was a make-or-break situation at Farmwell the students would have been motivated enough to do it (which they apparently weren't). And if the teachers so quickly deleted it from the syllabus (to avoid the parent contact), then one must wonder how much value they placed on it.