CVU Standard Based Learning description of Communicate.
Educators report student progress and achievement at the end of each unit of study. These reports are aligned with the articulated Learning Targets. Think of these reports as the “blue dot” on a GPS. At any given time, we know our exact location towards the destination. The blue dot tells us where we are and how far we are from where we want to be. This is what the standards reports do as well: they let teachers, students, and parents know where the learners are in relation to specific destinations.
When I think back on my first experience (I shared in the Articulate section) with SBL, communication was the driving force in changing the way I assessed student learning. What would I be communicating to the student, future teachers, the parents, or the institutions that the student may attend? Did I want the report to show what mathematical understanding they had of the concepts addressed in the course, or how good they were at getting help on their homework? Don't get me wrong, both are important, but it is logical to report them separately. The other day, a student was frustrated at the "new grading system" because they couldn't "cushion" their grade by doing the homework and participating in class. This reaction was very telling that we as teachers have beed putting a lot of value on "doing assignments" rather than what is being "learned" through the process of doing the assignment. The concept of communication/grading now puts the value on the proficiency in the course or the achievement of the learning targets. By only grading on targets, I believe that we are sending a clearer message of the importance of the topics/concepts of the course. We are also putting a greater emphasis on the importance of continuing the learning process throughout a unit rather than memorize for a few quizzes or test and move on. I experimented during my first unit in Algebra II by not letting my students take the summative if they had not previously demonstrated on a formative assessment that they were meeting the learning target. So far I have loved the results! Students have been more engaged in their learning and have been able to identify and communication what they need to still LEARN rather than the assignments they need to complete. The only obstacle has been progress reporting. Since progress reporting happens during the Learning Process, it is difficult and an anxiety for parents (and sometimes students that are new to the system). A parent shared that they understood that I would contact them if I had concern, but they still felt that they had a responsibility to follow up and see if they should be getting their child support when the grade looks like a C or D.
Educators report student progress and achievement at the end of each unit of study. These reports are aligned with the articulated Learning Targets. Think of these reports as the “blue dot” on a GPS. At any given time, we know our exact location towards the destination. The blue dot tells us where we are and how far we are from where we want to be. This is what the standards reports do as well: they let teachers, students, and parents know where the learners are in relation to specific destinations.
When I think back on my first experience (I shared in the Articulate section) with SBL, communication was the driving force in changing the way I assessed student learning. What would I be communicating to the student, future teachers, the parents, or the institutions that the student may attend? Did I want the report to show what mathematical understanding they had of the concepts addressed in the course, or how good they were at getting help on their homework? Don't get me wrong, both are important, but it is logical to report them separately. The other day, a student was frustrated at the "new grading system" because they couldn't "cushion" their grade by doing the homework and participating in class. This reaction was very telling that we as teachers have beed putting a lot of value on "doing assignments" rather than what is being "learned" through the process of doing the assignment. The concept of communication/grading now puts the value on the proficiency in the course or the achievement of the learning targets. By only grading on targets, I believe that we are sending a clearer message of the importance of the topics/concepts of the course. We are also putting a greater emphasis on the importance of continuing the learning process throughout a unit rather than memorize for a few quizzes or test and move on. I experimented during my first unit in Algebra II by not letting my students take the summative if they had not previously demonstrated on a formative assessment that they were meeting the learning target. So far I have loved the results! Students have been more engaged in their learning and have been able to identify and communication what they need to still LEARN rather than the assignments they need to complete. The only obstacle has been progress reporting. Since progress reporting happens during the Learning Process, it is difficult and an anxiety for parents (and sometimes students that are new to the system). A parent shared that they understood that I would contact them if I had concern, but they still felt that they had a responsibility to follow up and see if they should be getting their child support when the grade looks like a C or D.
I have been using formative assessments weekly and encourage students to make sure they complete parts of the assessments that they want feedback on if they are rushed for time. I am finding that this is enforcing the idea of demonstration of learning rather than a single grade on an assessment.
We have taken some assessments or activities as a class and assessed them around learning targets. This has reenforced the important of learning and that their is no "guessing" in how they received the assessment they did. Here is a formative assessment that a student decided to self assess before I gave them feedback. This wasn't an intentional activity, but I like the idea that the student self assessed and was understanding what learning they were demonstrating. This is another formative assessment where there were targets that the student decided that they didn't need more feedback with and chose not to demonstrate (ND) that target.
We have taken some assessments or activities as a class and assessed them around learning targets. This has reenforced the important of learning and that their is no "guessing" in how they received the assessment they did. Here is a formative assessment that a student decided to self assess before I gave them feedback. This wasn't an intentional activity, but I like the idea that the student self assessed and was understanding what learning they were demonstrating. This is another formative assessment where there were targets that the student decided that they didn't need more feedback with and chose not to demonstrate (ND) that target.