1. Meaningful Assessment & How We Report
Goodbye Grades
Purpose of today is to focus on Communicating Student Learning, Grades, & Reporting & where we’re heading at Brantford.
So, how did we get here?
Meaningful Assessment & How We Report

2. How did we get the education system we have now?
Well, it all started about 150 – 200 years ago during the industrial age.

3. To prepare students for their future in the industrial age, the public education system was set up using a Factory Model

4. Students were assigned to grades based on age, academics were taught as separate subjects, a specific amount of time was given to learning (if you don’t get it…sorry, we’re moving on)

5. Tabula Rasa
Kids minds were seen as blank slates to be filled with knowledge

6. And eventually, by the end of their “education”, their bucket would be filled with this knowledge (sarcasm)

7. Unfotunately, we know all too well how we would cram for exams…learn the material…and then all the learning would leak out and be gone mere days later. Not genuine learning.

8. So, what’s changed?

9. Environmental Influence
Mindset
Malleability
Neuroplasticity
Divergent Thinking
Allostasis
Now we know more about how the brain works
Environmental Influence
Social Neuroscience

10. We know that learning is Social & highly influenced by INTEREST and EXPERIENCE

11. Jobs of the future have changed and the skills employers are looking for have changed along with it.

12. So we’ve moved from “Filling kids heads with information” -> “Lighting a fire”…from “Transferring information” -> “Allowing for Discovery” & “Learning to Learn”…form moving from “Time-Based” -> “Outcomes Based”…from “Memorization of Facts” -> “What can you DO with the information”
This brings us to the importance of the 4 C’s

13. We’ve moved from teacher’s simply standing at the front disseminating information

14. To teachers working with student strengths and finding ways to inspire and motivate them to explore and learn
So, what inspires kids to learn? Well…what inspires YOU to learn?

15. Learned guitar…intrinsic motivation…no one ever gave me a grade or a compared me to my peers…and this is a skill that I have passed down to my daughters.
So would a grade have made me a better guitarist? Would it have spurred my passion to play? But what did help me, was my uncle would occasionally sit down and give me pointers. He’d play a cool song that I wanted to know, and he’d teach me the chords, point out parts I needed to work on, and then let me practice…DESCRIPTIVE FEEDBACK

16. Butler (1988) 132 grade 5 & 6 students Assigned randomly to 12 classes
Each class given tasks on convergent & divergent thinking
4 classes received grades
4 classes received descriptive feedback
4 classes received grades AND descriptive feedback
There have been numerous studies comparing grades to descriptive feedback and the impact it has on future learning.

17. And this has been replicated OVER AND OVER again.

18. Kohn (2011) The Case Against Grades Diminish interest in learning
Preference for easiest possible task
Reduce the quality of thinking
Alfie Kohn has become a leader in this area, citing numerous research studies and conducting his own.

19. Redesigned Curriculum
So why the change now? With the redesigned curriculum and now the fact that we are changing our reporting systems in Burnaby (many moving to MyEd)…this is the time to change. We have 2 choices, make up our own Reporting Form OR use the MyEd System. We’ve completed training with the MyEd System, and feel it is regressive instead of moving towards meaning reporting for parents, students and teachers.
Changing Report Cards

20. With Descriptive Feedback
Proficiency Scales
Emerging 
Developing 
Proficient 
Extending 
The student demonstrates an initial understanding of the concepts and competencies relevant to the expected meaning. 
The student demonstrates a partial understanding of the concepts and competencies relevant to the expected learning. 
The student demonstrates a complete understanding of the concepts and competencies relevant to the expected learning. 
The student demonstrates a sophisticated understanding of the concepts and competencies relevant  to the expected learning. 
So at Brantford, we want to move away from grades, and towards Proficiency Scales WITH descriptive feedback. In reality, unless there seems to be a reason for it to be necessary, it is the descriptive feedback ONLY that will be provided for students…Prof. Scales are mainly for parents during Reporting.
With Descriptive Feedback

21. We can now start to deal more personally with what we hold most dear at Brantford to reflect the work we do.

22. Why Descriptive Feedback?
So, why is descriptive feedback so important?

23. Even with this very simplistic example, without descriptive feedback, both these students would simply receive an F and a “zero”. However, when you look closely, you can see that Student #2 is simply missing one key concept, so is much further along in Mathematical understanding than Student #1. Both students are perfect when it comes to multiplying single digits, but there are clearly differences in their overall ability when it comes to double-digit multiplication computations.

24. With our reporting changes, there will also be Communicating Student Learning changes…portfolios, blogs, digital platforms, etc… and more parent input for goals.
Don’t forget the survey.
Questions?