VALIDUS PREPARATORY ACADEMY FACULTY GRADING GUIDE Assessment at VPA is meant to provide students and families with accurate, detailed, and clear feedback on the quality of their learning based on multiple kinds of assessments. EL schools implement standards-­‐based grading because it clarifies expectations for students, families, and teachers, and separates academic outcomes from habits of scholarship. Therefore character, attitude, effort and aptitude are not included in the assessment of academic targets but are assessed in separate character targets. We believe in the power of assessments for learning to promote student growth. Assessments for learning are defined as assessment strategies that give students key information necessary to understand what they’re aiming for and the steps needed to get there. This is distinguished from assessments of learning, those assessments that occur at the end of a study and show what a student has learned. Students are expected and supported to engage in a process of assessment for growth and learning through active reflection on their work and other self-­‐assessment strategies. This emphasis on self-­‐
assessment, along with other assessment for and of learning strategies is built into assessment plans for all courses. Teachers create assessment plans for all student learning targets that include assessments for learning strategies to support all students in meeting the target, and assessments of learning that determine students’ mastery of that target. Moreover, in order to give students timely feedback to promote growth in learning, teachers strive to return assessments to students within 3-­‐5 school days from their administration. Teachers strive to return extended written pieces and in-­‐depth projects to students within a 5-­‐10 day period. I. Crafting and Communicating Learning Targets 1. What is a long-­‐term learning target? A long-­‐term learning target is a description of what a student should achieve during a particular semester for a class; the targets describe the essential content all students must know and skills students must be able to do. Ideally, long-­‐term learning targets will remain similar from year to year for a given course. For a semester, there are typically 5-­‐12 long-­‐term learning targets. Long-­‐term targets: § describe the big-­‐picture goals for a unit of study (i.e. an expedition or investigation) § reflect rigor and higher order thinking skills § guide instruction and assessment § are directly related to state and district standards and the CCS § are written in language that is accessible to students and parents 2. Who sees the long-­‐term learning targets for my classes? Long-­‐term learning targets are submitted to the Principal, Assistant Principal, and Instructional Guide before the semester begins. The Instructional Guide will enter them into a unified spreadsheet. If teachers make changes during a semester, they are responsible for updating the spreadsheet, which will be a shared Googledoc. Validus Preparatory Academy Faculty Grading Guide Page 1 Long-­‐term targets will be housed in JumpRope, and are therefore seen by students and their families on their progress reports. Most importantly, long-­‐term learning targets are intended to be shared with students at the outset of each semester so students are clear on what they are expected to know and be able to do. 3. Long Term and Supporting Learning Targets Teachers use the long-­‐term learning targets to write clear, student-­‐friendly supporting learning targets specific to the content of the expedition. Care needs to be taken to ensure that supporting targets encompass the standards, big ideas, and habits that the expedition is meant to address. The supporting targets should guide students toward reaching the long-­‐term targets. For example: Long Term Learning Target Supporting Target(s) 2. I can organize and develop my writing so that it is clear and appropriate for the task, purpose, and audience. (W4) 2.1 I can develop strong topic sentences, 2.2 I can integrate quotations from the documents with my interpretation and analysis, 2.3 I can refer to documents by title and author to make it clear to my reader where my information is coming from. 2.4 I can conclude each paragraph with a synthesis that connects to the topic sentence. The long-­‐term and supporting targets are posted in the classroom. Student learning targets are used daily to help guide students through the complexities of the expedition. Daily learning targets, some even smaller than supporting targets, may be used to help guide the day’s learning. The long-­‐term and supporting targets are always clear to students to provide reasons to engage in the study, and daily targets provide students with small goals which can be reached to build momentum. Targets can seem linear and are meant to provide direction, but can, and at VPA are, used in constructivist ways. Here are some examples. • At the beginning of an investigation, the teacher presents students with three or four supporting learning targets, and asks them to analyze the targets to determine what they will need to know and be able to do to reach each target. The teacher then uses this information to write daily targets. Validus Preparatory Academy Faculty Grading Guide Page 2 •
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At the beginning of a lesson, a teacher presents one supporting target to students and asks them to identify what they need to know to get there, or what they need to do to get there. Then they use that information to frame the lesson. At the beginning of the lesson a teacher presents one supporting target to students, then delivers a mini-­‐lesson. At the end of the mini-­‐lesson, the teacher asks students to analyze how doing the work modeled in the lesson will help them reach the supporting target. At the end of the lesson, the teacher asks students to reflect back on their progress as it relates to the daily target. Did we make it? How do we know? At the end of the lesson, the teacher asks students to reflect back on their progress as it relates to the supporting or long-­‐term target. Are we there yet? How do we know? II. Determining Progress toward Long-Term Learning Targets
1. Assessments FOR Learning/Formative Assessments Teachers should plan to collect and review at least two pieces of assessment data in progress toward each supporting learning target. Teachers should also plan to assess students almost daily on daily learning targets. This work should be used by the teacher to inform instruction. Students should analyze this same work to determine progress and next steps. This work may or may not be entered into JumpRope. However, if it is entered, it is entered under the long-­‐term target. 2. Descriptive Feedback Descriptive feedback is one Assessment FOR learning strategy that has proven to lead to some of the largest learning gains for students. Teachers should develop a small cadre of descriptive feedback strategies that they use consistently to give students feedback on formative assessments. Strategies like: -­‐ using the rubric/criteria list to give feedback -­‐ highlighting or underlining work where students are demonstrating the target. -­‐ conferring with a student to identify aspects of their work that meet criteria and asking questions about criteria they haven’t reached yet. Using the descriptive feedback at the beginning of a lesson as way to ready students for the content of the lesson, next steps or revision, will maximize the benefits of the feedback. 3. Self-­‐Assessment Self-­‐assessment, in relation to learning targets, has also shown statistically significant results towards meeting targets. Regular check-­‐in, in relation to the targets is highly suggested tool to help teachers and students identify next steps and ‘holes’ in their understanding. The key to Assessment FOR Learning is that the information needs to be in the students’ hands, not just the teacher’s, so that students themselves can make change. As students notice growth and success, they become more confident, take more risks, and thus experience more success. Validus Preparatory Academy Faculty Grading Guide Page 3 4. Assessments OF Learning/Summative Assessments After teachers have followed a rigorous, scaffolded investigation that weaves Assessment FOR Learning strategies throughout, teachers should carefully select an Assessment OF Learning that will help the teacher determine a summative grade. a. Choosing appropriate assessments Teachers must pay attention to the reliability of their assessments. Particular assessments give quality information about particular kinds of learning targets. It is important to ensure a match between the type of target and method of assessment. Once the teacher judges that an appropriate amount of instruction has taken place and students have made significant growth and are ready, teachers should administer a summative assessment. This final assessment should be significant enough to determine if all students have reached the target. In some cases, teachers may find after looking at the summative assessment that more instruction is needed. They can make this determination and continue to teach and reassess. b. Determining Level of Achievement/Grade We use the following language to communicate achievement: VPA Grading Words Student-­‐Friendly Exemplary I can teach this! Proficient I got it! Developing I’m on my way. What the Grade Means Exceeds the Target. Student work goes above and beyond the skills, knowledge or reasoning criteria for meeting the learning target. The work may not be perfect, but it reflects additional depth or adeptness than the target describes. Meets the Target. Student work demonstrates the essential skills, knowledge or reasoning described in the target and all of its criteria. Partially meets the Target. Student work shows demonstration of part of the skill, knowledge or reasoning described in the target. This means that the student has met some of the criteria for that Validus Preparatory Academy Faculty Grading Guide Equivalent Traditional Grades Mastery Score A+/100 4 A-­‐ B+/85 3 B – C/70 2 Page 4 Beginning I don’t get it. No Evidence I didn’t try. assessment. Student has submitted work. However, the work does not demonstrate any part of the skill, knowledge or reasoning described in the target. This may mean that a student has not met any of the criteria for that assessment. Student has not shown sufficient evidence to measure his/her progress toward the target. F/55 1 F 0 c. Progress Reports Three times each semester (twice before the end and once at the end of the semester), teachers will report to students and their families the level of mastery that each student has reached for each long-­‐term target. Teachers only report on those targets that were supported with enough instruction to make it reasonable to expect that all students to reached the target. Also remember that character, attitude, effort and aptitude are not included in the assessment of academic targets. VPA character traits are, however, assessed and reported directly in the progress report. Progress towards targets is also communicated through student-­‐led conferences towards the end of each of the two semesters. d. Submitting Final Grades JumpRope will convert mastery-­‐based scores into the 55-­‐100 scale that the DOE uses. Under the “Explore” tab, select “Final Grades” on the left. Students who have failed should receive a 55. Beginning with the Spring 2013-­‐2014 semester, all HSST grades must match the grade given in JumpRope. III. Opportunities for Students to Demonstrate Mastery on Long-­‐term Targets 1. What does it mean to meet a long-­‐term learning target? In order to “meet” a long-­‐term learning target, a student should be able to consistently demonstrate that standard whenever it is assessed. Meeting a long-­‐term learning target consistently does not mean meeting it perfectly. Some learning targets address skills and knowledge which may only have to be demonstrated once during a semester; other learning targets may address skills or habits which have to be addressed multiple times during a semester to ensure mastery. Gradually building upon a long-­‐term learning target throughout the course, demonstrating growth along the way, and then finally meeting the standard during the last possible opportunity for demonstration is acceptable. On the other hand, a student who demonstrates Validus Preparatory Academy Faculty Grading Guide Page 5 the long-­‐term learning target once early on and then never demonstrates it again when assessed has not met the learning target. It is also acceptable for certain learning targets, for example targets dealing with content knowledge, to be assessed during a certain limited time period, as in a certain unit of study. Such learning targets do not need to be re-­‐assessed later in the semester or course. To meet a long-­‐term learning target, every component of the standard should be demonstrated at some point. This may not all happen with the same assessment; it may happen over time. Teachers must be deliberate and clear in identifying the core, required components of a long-­‐
term learning target. 2. Students must have multiple opportunities to meet a long-­‐term learning target. What does this mean? Teachers must provide at least two opportunities for students to meet a long-­‐term learning target during a semester before assigning a score of a “1” or a “2” for the target. Teachers may provide more than two opportunities to meet a long-­‐term learning target. Redoing or finishing an assessment that originally received a “1” or a “2” can count as a second opportunity to demonstrate mastery of a target. In some circumstances, the assessment may require modifications for the second opportunity to be a true assessment of the target. It is left to the teacher’s discretion to determine if modifications are necessary. Under these circumstances, the student would have had two opportunities to demonstrate the learning target and would have successfully demonstrated the learning target once. Providing two completely different assessments on the same long-­‐term learning target would also provide students with the multiple opportunities necessary. In some cases, a teacher may raise the stakes on an assessment by limiting opportunities for revision. Such restrictions will be clearly articulated in advance to all students. 3. Should students get a second chance even if they don’t attempt to demonstrate the learning target at the first opportunity? Yes. Each student must have at least two opportunities to demonstrate a long-­‐term learning target. Teachers may impose a time limit (e.g. one day, two weeks) to address when the second opportunity must be completed, or may identify the midterm or final assessment as the second opportunity. 4. What if there isn’t enough time to give students two opportunities for a long-­‐term learning target? Or enough time to grade submitted work before grade reports are due? If there is not enough time in the semester to provide for two opportunities to meet a learning target, students should not be held accountable for successful demonstration of the learning target. In this case, teachers should review the long-­‐term learning target to determine if they are reasonable, and revise them if they are not. If a long-­‐term learning target has not been sufficiently addressed, and it is the end of a marking period or semester, it is not necessary to include the long-­‐term learning target on a grade report. Validus Preparatory Academy Faculty Grading Guide Page 6 5. How often should I be entering assessments into JumpRope? How many SLTs should be included for each investigation or unit? How many times should I assess an SLT over the course of a semester? In order to ensure students are receiving timely and relevant feedback in regards to their progress towards mastery, all teachers should be entering at least one assessment per week for each of their students. In general there should be 2-­‐4 long term SLTs per unit. Each SLT needs to be assessed 3-­‐5 times before a teacher can accurately assess mastery. IV. Assessment for Character Targets (revised 03/03/14) We believe that a student’s character is as important as his or her academic performance, yet achievement in one area is not necessarily reflective of achievement in the other. Keeping these grades separate also gives students meaningful feedback as to what specific SLTs students need to target to achieve mastery. Thus, we separate information about a student’s academic achievement from information about his or her character. Beginning the Spring 2013-­‐2014 semester, character grades will be weighted at 15% and academic grades will be weighted at 85% of a student’s overall grade. Teachers provide students with instruction about character targets, give students feedback about their progress, and ask students to evaluate their own progress. Expedition teams are expected to design character targets that are consistent across the team. At least once for every progress report either the individual teachers or the team will update JumpRope to reflect students’ progress toward character targets. Reflection on character targets is an essential part of the student-­‐led conference as well. For character targets, the determination of progress will be based on frequency. Each target will be reported out in the following way: Equivalent VPA Grading Mastery What the Grade Means Traditional Words Score Grades Student exceeds “Consistently”. He/she may Leader lead by example or outwardly support others in A+/100 4 reaching the targets. Student demonstrates the trait on a regular Consistently A-­‐ B+/85 3 basis. This is the expected level of frequency. Student has noticeable lapses in demonstrating Inconsistently B – C/70 2 the trait; some support is required. Student needs significant support to Rarely F/55 1 demonstrate the trait. Student has not shown sufficient evidence to No Evidence F 0 measure his/her progress toward the target. Validus Preparatory Academy Faculty Grading Guide Page 7 Sample Character Targets: 1. I can demonstrate responsibility by showing up every day, on time, ready to participate. 2. I can demonstrate compassion by being supportive to others in my class. This means that I ask others if they need help, help resolve conflicts, and help the class run smoothly. 3. I can demonstrate commitment. This means I keep trying even if the task, assignment or problem is hard. I seek out new solutions and ask for help. I am focused and engaged on my work. 4. I can collaborate effectively by participating in group activities and helping others to be their best. 1. What examples of Learning Targets which have been mislabeled as academic Learning Targets in the past and should be labeled as character? “I can respectfully partake in a Socratic Seminar” – participation is a character trait. “I can come to class prepared and on time.” – preparedness is a character trait. 2. What type of assessments are not suitable to be linked to Academic Learning Targets and should be linked to Character Learning Targets instead? Any assessment that is being graded for completion or as part of a checklist and not academic mastery of specific content or skills should be linked to a Character Learning Target and not an Academic Learning Target (i.e Homework, Classwork, 1st drafts completed, graphic organizer completed, student reflections and self-­‐ assessments, etc.) Additionally, any assessments that have an explicit connection to character (i.e. lateness, preparedness) and frequency (i.e. participation) should be linked to Character Learning Target only. V. Habits of Scholarship Similarly to Character Traits, we believe that a student’s Habits of Scholarship are important. However, unlike character targets, sometimes Habits of Scholarship targets will overlap with academic targets. Teachers provide students with instruction about Habits of Scholarship, give students feedback about their progress, and ask students to evaluate their own progress. Expedition teams are expected to design Habits of Scholarship targets that are consistent across the team. At least once for every progress report either the individual teachers or the team will update JumpRope to reflect students’ progress toward Habits of Scholarship targets. Reflection on Habits of Scholarship targets is an essential part of reflecting on each product and therefore of the student-­‐led conference as well. The Validus Habits of Scholarship and some possible targets are below: •
Evidence How do I know what I know? Validus Preparatory Academy Faculty Grading Guide •
I can explain how I reached my conclusion. I can develop an argument using relevant and sufficient evidence. (W1) Page 8 •
Perspective How does this look differently standing in someone else's shoes? •
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Curiosity Do I continually seek the "why," the "how" and the "what if"? •
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Craftsmanship Did I create my best work? Is it a beautiful, beneficial, and worthwhile contribution? •
I can explain the impact this may have on the world around me. I can consider multiple perspectives and their implications in terms of fairness, justice, freedom, and human rights. I can analyze the author's purpose and perspective. (R6) I can persevere through solving a problem by asking new questions at each step. I can ask factual, interpretive, and evaluative questions to drive learning. (NYSR1) I can work through the writing process by planning, revising, editing, and rewriting. (W5) I can proudly present high quality work to an outside audience. VI. Grading Crew Crew Grade Teams decide common character targets. Crew advisors use crew initiatives such as Town Hall and Crew Olympics as “assessments” for these targets. Crew advisors also create student reflections on these targets for students to describe specific behaviors and ways they have exceeded, met, or fallen short of the targets. These reflections are also used as assessments. Crew Advisors should have at least one assessment for each progress report. Students cannot pass crew if they do not complete a satisfactory SLC. VII. Frequently Asked Questions 1. What about students who do not submit products? At VPA we expect expedition teams to discuss grading and be as consistent as possible with their students. JumpRope allows the following options for inputting data for students who do not submit work: a. Zero – This indicates that the work wasn’t done. It is averaged into a mastery-­‐
based grade, which makes the mastery grade inaccurate as a measure of how well they have mastered the learning target. Most VPA teachers agree that for major products, students who do not submit work deserve a zero. b. M – Indicates that the work is “missing” but doesn’t impact the mastery grade. It shows up to the student as something that is missing. c. Blank – The assessment will not show up on the progress report and will not impact their mastery grade. d. Jesse Olsen’s (creator of JumpRope and former VPA teacher) statement on the topic is here: http://support.jumpro.pe/entries/443129-­‐how-­‐does-­‐missing-­‐
work-­‐fit-­‐into-­‐mastery-­‐based-­‐grading Validus Preparatory Academy Faculty Grading Guide Page 9 2. What about students who are receiving Special Education and ELL support? If a student is able to meet a long-­‐term learning target given adequate/modified support, the target should not be changed. However, if a student is not be able to meet a given long-­‐term learning target according to his/her IEP, then the target needs to be modified, or another target needs to be developed in consultation with the special services teacher. 3. What is the role of homework in determining students’ grades for a course or assessment? Homework that is used as practice should be used primarily as assessment FOR learning and NOT be included in a student’s body of evidence toward meeting a long-­‐term learning target. All homework assessments should be linked to SLTs for the students character grade and NOT their academic grade. However, whether or not students complete homework in a timely manner will impact their character grades. Teachers are expected to assign homework and use it for the purpose of tracking and increasing student understanding during the learning process. When students complete longer-­‐term work at home (i.e. working on products or reading for class), this type of homework is most often related to an assessment OF learning that will be entered into the grade book. Also, there is usually a correlation between a student’s academic success and their completion of all types of homework. 4. Is there a common format for rubrics? All major products (assessments of learning) are expected to have rubrics. In addition, it is very helpful to students to have rubrics for formative assessments. Rubrics should be based on the SLTs, with the SLTs in the left hand column so that the scores can be easily analyzed by teachers and students as well as entered into JumpRope. When students login to JumpRope, they should recognize the SLTs and scores from their rubrics. Validus Preparatory Academy Faculty Grading Guide Page 10 5. What is the decaying average? JumpRope allows for seven options for averaging values across a learning target. These can be selected any time by going into the Plan tab and selecting the learning target. The seven options are weighted average, max value, power law, most recent, decaying average, power law classic, and final rating. Standard is a standard average. Max value takes the highest score achieved on that learning target at the final score. Most recent takes the most recent score as the final score. According to Jesse Olsen, former VPA teacher and JumpRope creator, “[The decaying average] calculation type assigns progressively-­‐decreasing weights to older assessments. Working backwards, each assessment is worth 66.667% of the teacher-­‐assigned weight, compounded exponentially. In effect, newer assessments automatically ‘count more’ in the overall score. Teacher weights still apply.” Olsen’s explanation is here: http://support.jumpro.pe/hc/en-­‐us/articles/200355494-­‐How-­‐are-­‐mastery-­‐values-­‐calculated-­‐in-­‐
JumpRope-­‐ 6. What is the Power Law? The power law weights the more recent assessments in the average, however you must have 4 assessments for an SLT in order for it to work. Because most VPA teachers do not have 4 assessments per SLT, we changed the default to decaying average. Olsen’s explanation is here: http://support.jumpro.pe/hc/en-­‐us/articles/200355494-­‐How-­‐are-­‐mastery-­‐values-­‐calculated-­‐in-­‐
JumpRope-­‐ According to Jesse Olsen, JumpRope creator, at http://support.jumpro.pe/, the power law “is based on research on cognitive development. It is a time-­‐based average, and automatically adjusts assessment weights to give higher weight to the more recent assessments. In this way, it more closely represents true student learning progress. However, it is more difficult for students to understand or teachers to predict because the formula is very complex. If you're interested and mathematically-­‐inclined, we'd love for your input on the power law's exact algorithm – check out the attached file at the above link.” VIII. Academic Integrity Copying work, plagiarizing, and other forms of cheating are serious violations of the VPA character traits. It is expected that teachers will make this clear at the beginning of each semester. Teachers are responsible for teaching students to cite information appropriately and for teaching the difference between plagiarizing, quoting, paraphrasing, and summarizing. If a student has copied, plagiarized, or otherwise cheated the teacher writes it up as a comment in JumpRope and discusses it with the dean and the student’s crew advisor. Grading (zero, chance to revise, etc.) is to be determined by teacher in consultation with dean, grade team, and/or Fairness Committee. Serious and repeated cheating should be brought up in Fairness. Validus Preparatory Academy Faculty Grading Guide Page 11 IX. Example of a rubric based on SLTs and how it would be entered in JumpRope Name: ___________________ I can determine the central ideas, themes, or conclusions of a text. (R2) This means that I underline/highli
ght the answer to the question in the document. I can summarize how the central ideas, themes, or conclusions of a text are developed and connected. (R2) I can develop an argument using relevant and sufficient evidence. (W1) I can organize and develop my writing so that it is clear and appropriate for the task, purpose, and audience. (W4) Topic: _____________ This means that I answer the questions correctly in my own words. 4 Date: __________ DBQ Short Answer Rubric 4 3 2 1 All highlighted/underlined words are short phrases that are essential to the answers. Most highlighted/underlined words are short phrases that are essential to the answers. Some highlighted/underlined words are short phrases that are essential to the answers. Few highlighted/underlined words are short phrases that are essential to the answers. All answers are highlighted/underlined
. Most answers are highlighted/underlined
. Some answers are highlighted/underlined
. Few answers are highlighted/underlined
. All answers are correct, complete, and in my own words. Most answers are correct. I use some of my own words. Some answers are correct. Few answers are correct. DBQ Argument Paragraph Rubric 3 I express a strong argument with clear reasons. I provide two direct quotations and thoroughly explain the quotations in my own words. I use four to five specific details from the documents. I use relevant outside information. I develop my argument thoughtfully and persuasively using strong topic sentence, introduction of evidence and discussion of evidence. I include document numbers as well as titles and/or authors. 2 1 I express a clear argument with reasons. I provide one direct quotation and thoroughly explain the quotation in my own words. I use at least three specific details from the documents. I use outside information. I express an argument and mostly relevant reasons. I use some details from the documents. My argument and reasons are not entirely clear. I use only one to two details from a document. I develop my argument coherently using a topic sentence, introduction of evidence and discussion of evidence. I include document numbers. I use a topic and/or conclusion sentence but it may be vague. My evidence is generally in the middle of the paragraph and is vaguely connected to the argument. I lack a topic sentence. Organization may be difficult to follow. Note: This guide is based on similar guides from Casco Bay High School, Springfield Renaissance School, The Odyssey School, and Minturn Middle School. Validus Preparatory Academy Faculty Grading Guide Page 12