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Monday, June 27, 2011
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Wednesday, June 29, 2011,
Atlanta, GA
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CSSR Organizes Proficiency Cluster for Upcoming Institute
The Center for Secondary School Redesign will present a cluster of sessions at the 2011 From Structure to Instruction institute. The cluster, titled “Students demonstrate mastery: Systemwide policy and practice,” will explore competency-based approaches at all levels of the system: state, district, school, classroom, and community. Participant teams that represent a variety of roles in their district can explore all facets of this issue and come away with the knowledge they need to begin implementation. The four sessions in the cluster include: Policies, Strategies, and Tools for a Competency-Based,
Demonstration-Of-Mastery Approach to Learning That Takes Place Anytime,
Anywhere District Leadership Supporting Personalization and a
Performance-Assessment Approach to Adolescent Learning Redesigning Bell Schedules to Increase Teacher Professionalism and
Student Engagement Leading to Student Demonstration of Mastery Personalizing Through Extended Learning Opportunities The Center for Secondary School Redesign has been an institute
partner for the last two years. Founded in 2005 by Joe DiMartino, CSSR
is a leading provider of groundbreaking technical assistance. The center
provides an innovative approach to supporting school leaders who want to
personalize learning at the middle and high school level. CSSR provides
education leaders with change leadership tools and strategies to create
schools that are characterized by: collaborative leadership,
professional learning communities that personalize the school culture,
and student-centered instruction, assessment, and curriculum. |
In The Spotlight Support for Redesigning High Schools |
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Proficiency Approaches Taking Hold
Schools, districts, and states are experimenting with approaches that replace the traditional concepts of seat time, coverage, grading, and remediation with those of self-pacing, demonstration of mastery, multiple opportunities to succeed, and credit for proficiency. These proficiency-based (also referred to as competency-based) approaches are resulting in some of the most profound changes to teaching and learning since the American approach to high schools emerged at the beginning of the 20th century. “We cannot simply take what we do and ‘make’ it a competency,” says Rose Colby, a learning specialist with Capital Area Center for Educational Support in New Hampshire. At its most basic, a proficiency-based approach uses student learning as the measure for determining a student’s progress to the next concept, course, or level. For example, Jefferson County Public Schools in Louisville, Kentucky, is implementing “guaranteed proficiency” in its high schools. The idea is to prevent course failures by providing immediate remediation for students in danger of failure. Before beginning a new unit, for example, teachers of algebra II meet weekly to define the most important standards for students to master and to develop a diagnostic assessment. They also predict which concepts students may have trouble mastering and collaboratively design multiple approaches to teaching these ideas. At the three-week point, they look at data that indicate which students have not yet shown mastery and decide how they can best provide in-class interventions. At the six-week point they review data to reveal how successful their interventions have been and to identify those students who still need assistance. Students keep working on a concept until they have shown mastery of the material. The concern some teachers have—that too many “do-overs” will lower students’ effort—has not been borne out in the experience of schools that have moved to a proficiency approach. Colby says students in focus groups more often mention how supported they feel and how that leads to increased motivation. “In this school, it’s easier to learn it the first time around. They hold us to learning,” is a typical student comment. The Demand for Student-Centered LearningA number of factors are driving these developments, including technology-based changes in student learning habits, a greater focus on equity, and concerns about social promotion. In their lives outside schools, students are used to an anytime, self-paced, online approach to learning. School culture has struggled to keep up with the wired generation. In addition, schools are beginning to understand that current grading practices often emphasize behavior rather than knowledge and skills, a practice that may reinforce inequities. For example, poor students and those without family supports are more likely to be penalized in a system that grades homework, as opposed to one that offers multiple opportunities to demonstrate mastery. Another concern has surfaced due to the large number of schools identified as persistently failing under the current No Child Left Behind Act. In these schools, a student who falls behind is often unlikely to catch up, especially if he or she has to repeat an entire course to do so. The search for practical but rigorous approaches to credit recovery has been linked to the effort to end social promotion, as schools look for ways to ensure that students are mastering key content. Race to the Top funds from the federal government have also promoted the design of alternative systems for awarding credit in several states. Proficiency-based Pathway Design PrinciplesSome of the design principles of a proficiency-based pathway include: Students advance upon mastery. This means that students move ahead “by stage, not age” and have access to appropriately challenging work. There is no stigma to needing extra time, and teachers provide additional ways to learn material for students who don’t master it initially. Equally, those who need less time have ways to deepen and apply concepts or move on to the next concept. Explicit and measurable learning objectives that empower students. Clear targets for learning help students understand the rigorous goal they need to reach. The relationship between teachers and students focuses more on coaching students toward the goal and less on delivering content. Learning can happen beyond the classroom, as long as it helps students master the end target. Each learning target needs to be assessed independently, even when embedded in a complex task. Assessment is a meaningful and positive learning experience for students. Proficiency-based assessment and grading practices represent perhaps the greatest challenge to the status quo of schools. Colby describes this change, saying “[Schools typically] grade peripherals, not what students actually know. The schools who reframed grading made the most progress in implementing competency-based pathways.” Involving students in assessment helps them set goals and claim ownership of their learning. Formative assessments give students feedback that helps them understand where they are, identify the goal they need to reach, and determine the steps necessary to reach it. Rather than serving as devices for assigning grades and sorting students, proficiency-based assessments give students a clear picture of their own learning and help them decide where to go next. Students have multiple opportunities to show mastery. In a performance-based system, teachers must collaboratively agree on what rigorous learning looks like. In our next issue, we’ll explore how these approaches are being
implemented at the state, district, school, and classroom level as well
as how teachers maintain relevance and authentic learning in a
proficiency-based learning environment. Education Northwest Presenters Policies, Strategies, and Tools for a Competency-Based, Demonstration-Of-Mastery Approach to Learning That Takes Place Anytime, Anywhere New Hampshire Department of Education and educational service agency staff members will share how they support competency-based, performance-based approaches to learning that allow students to use their unique passions and interests to drive their learning, while simultaneously increasing the likelihood of success in postsecondary educational endeavors. PRESENTERS: Joe
DiMartino - President, CSSR District Leadership Supporting Personalization and a Performance-Assessment Approach to Adolescent Learning Participants in this session will learn how to overcome the leadership challenges faced by schools and districts as they move towards personalized learning environments that include performance assessments. A key challenge is to build understanding of the basic tenet of this work: Students who participate in inquiry-based learning experiences tied to performance assessments will be better prepared for college and/or career. PRESENTERS: Bill Bryan -
Vice President, CSSR Redesigning Bell Schedules to Increase Teacher Professionalism and Student Engagement Leading to Student Demonstration of Mastery Improving student outcomes is often hindered by a school's bell schedule. This session will show how one small school used a change in the bell schedule to support a major cultural shift towards student-centered learning. PRESENTERS: Joe
DiMartino - President, CSSR Personalizing Through Extended Learning Opportunities This presentation will trace the growth of the Laconia High School (New Hampshire) Extended Learning Opportunity (ELO) program for students. An ELO is a way of structuring learning outside the classroom based on a student's interests and typically includes the support of a highly qualified teacher and community partner. PRESENTERS: Lauren
Streifer - Academic Coordinator for Teaching and Learning, Laconia High
School
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