But I deserve at least a B!

Grading is possibly the most crucial task that every teacher should reflect upon, with the current inconsistencies we are seeing more students working less and wanting more.  I can not tell you the number of times a students has walked up to my podium after class and said, "Mr. C, you gave me a D? I deserve an A!"  In which I respond, "Correct, you deserve an A but earned that D."  The student then turns around and walks out the door and that is the end of the discussion until Mom calls angry about the grade. Another question that occurs often not only in my band room but also in my graduate classes is, "what do I need to do to get an A?" or "how long does it have to be?"

We have a society that is happy with doing the bare minimum and the least amount of work as possible.  In the average classroom the students do not want to spend the extra time reading a book when they could be texting their friends or memorizing important facts about science or history when all they have to do is google it.  America has fallen in academics and many other areas compared to the other twenty-nine developed countries.  The only area we have not fallen is  in students perception of self-esteem.  Could this decline in work ethic and acceptance of mediocrity be due to the current grading system?

In Education Week Sarah Sparks gives a list of symptoms that demonstrate how grades are no longer viewed as earned by hard work and mastery but instead, just showing up to class and performing the task with the least amount of work and discomfort as possible. We have a generation of students who believe that they deserve good grades because if we give them anything lower than a B, they will have self-esteem issues for the rest of their lives. Recently an English teacher from Wellesley High School gave a commencement speech in which he told them that they are not special. David McCullough Jr. has sense then has been defending himself on various networks for his comments.

On CBS News he is questioned on why he felt that graduation was the right time for the speech and if he was surprised about the attention it has grabbed. I personally love how David tells the reporters that he was there to celebrate the graduation of his students and the media has decided to place the cameras on him when they shouldn't be. His closing line said it all, "Selflessness is the best thing you can do for yourself. The sweetest joys of life, then, come only with the recognition that your're not special - because everyone is." Students need to know that they must accept their responsibilities and to help others.

Tonight I sat down to help my wife "make-up" awards for her students that did not earn one of the many awards that they give out at the end of their school year. The school has a policy in which every student must earn at least one award, even if they did not earn the award. I am a firm believer that not every child deserves an award. Awards are meant to recognize the hard work and accomplishments of those who have gone the extra step and have gone far beyond norm.

 We as educators perform an injustice and take away the importance of recognizing hard work, discipline, and responsibility. Students need to know that it is alright to experience failure from time to time and that it is how we respond to failure that makes us who we are. Abraham Lincoln, the Wright brothers, Michael Jordan, and Thomas Edison all failed but have found a way through that failure to impact the world.

Educators, do not fear failure, take chances, try something new and make your classroom great. If we never think outside of the box and take risk than how can we expect our students to. Provide assignments that allow room for failure, reflection, feedback and correction. This will cause them to reflect, and correct their mistakes, instead of saying, "I got a ___," and then move on to the next task.

Student Accountability: If not grades, what?

In my last post we talked about the tradition of grading students and how they no longer reflect the students ability or mastery of certain standards or skills.  The past four years I have seen students receive a C or lower for not turning in one assignment and receiving a zero.  A student that missed school for being sick or on a family vacation that forgot to turn in one assignment is now failing a class.

To fog the issue further, depending on the teacher a student with the following grades: 95, MA (missing assignment), 84, 90, MA, MA, 88, 97 could end up with an "F" or on the "AB" honor roll.  Grading practices in today's school systems are not consistent.  Imagine that you are employed at a company that builds computers and you consistently miss two days a week and continue to receive positive reviews at the end of each quarter.  Now, lets imagine that the computer company is bought out and a new manager is placed in your department.  Now your two days a week results in consequences and eventually termination.

What happened in the scenario above is exactly what our students experience every year as they walk into a new teachers classroom.  Anyone that has attended college knows that the first exam or paper is the most difficult because they do not know their expectations or testing style.  As a teacher I receive a lot of questions on how I grade versus their child's former band director and why they are so different.  So what could be the solution to what seems to be an overwhelming issue?

In short, there is no silver bullet, however we must start looking at assessments as a tool and not as a reward and punishment system.  Marzano suggest in many of his books that feedback needs to be given constantly with no grade attached and that instead of assigning zeros for missing work the appropriate punishment is making them complete the work in a time manner.  A couple of suggestions as to when students can complete their work are:

• Before school
• During school (planning/study period)
• After school
• Silent table at lunch
• On the activity bus on the way to a field trip (my favorite)

Imagine what would happen if the grading policies changed and became about mastery of skills and students no longer fought the high stakes grading that often could ruin an entire semester of hard work. I know someone is saying, "I would help that one child out!"  That statement is exactly why the grading policies of education need to be looked at.  It is my belief that when grading policies improve behavior and moral will follow.

Do grades represent mastery of skills?

In my experience of teaching I have noticed that students who make lower grades in my class is based on lack of participation.  However, when they stay after to play their instrument or join in the review games they clearly have a strong understanding of the material presented in class.  I began asking teachers within my building on what causes students to earn lower than an A in their class.  Many answered, "not turning in their homework."  This brings me to my concern; do grades represent the mastery of skills or a series of punishment based on effort?

Many school systems have already stopped assigning zeros to students for missed assignments.  Instead they have instead that the assignment be completed in a timely manner.  This year my school started this policy and initiated Study Hall where students that have not completed their class or homework had to stay after-school to complete their assignments.  The Positive Behavior Intervention Support committee or PBIS also started hosting quarterly celebrations to reward students that had met the following criteria:

• No more than 3 absences.
• No office referrals.
• No academic referrals (study hall).

The celebrations included activities like basketball, volleyball, video games, movies and popcorn, soccer, Ipod touches, and board games.  The activities were adjusted each nine weeks based on surveys from the students and what they wanted to have at the celebrations.  By the second quarter 80% of the students that were held back from the celebration were held back for not completing their homework.  It was the PBIS team that took additional steps during the third quarter to catch students up on their work.  

The week after interim reports went home the PBIS committee planned a mid-quarter celebration in which students with missing assignments spent the time in study hall completing their work.  Due to the efforts taken by the PBIS committee over 500 assignments were completed and made up in one afternoon.  However, teachers still punished the students by taking away points for the assignments being turned in late.

This tradition of using grades as motivation and punishment is becoming less effective and harder yet, to change.  With the introduction of Common Core and the focus on consistency,  teacher effectiveness, and student mastery of the core standards in every class it is time to re-evaluate the process of grading.

I believe that grading should resemble the format that Guilford County uses for K-2 in which each standard is listed on the report card and a grade of I-IV is given based on the level of mastery that the child has reached.  This provides a clear view on what the child needs to focus on, versus uncertainty on whether they have mastered the skills being evaluated or failed to turn in an assignment. 

 This method of grading using I-IV has been suggested on several occasions, most recently by Ellen R. Delisio and Robert J. Marzano. If we are to change the method of grading then we must also set clear expectations so that the student understands what they must demonstrate in order to show mastery.  The easiest method is to use rubrics, Marzano has an example on how a rubric may look like using the Common Core standards and grading using I-IV.

It is time for the lines of communication to open between parents, teachers and administrators concerning behavior, attendance and attitude that is separated from the grade that shows up on the interim reports or report cards at the end of each quarter.  If accountability is to be reached then our grading procedures need to be clear and represent what we are truly evaluating.

Resources:

Common Core State Standards Initiative. Digital image. Common Core State Standards Initiative. Web. June-July 12. <www.corestandards.org>.

PBIS Logo. Digital image. Positive Behavior Interventions & Supports. Web. June-July 12. <www.PBIS.org>

Am I alone?

Overwhelming, hell, trial and error, lost, and alone are common words used by teachers describing their first year of teaching.  If we as leaders wish to retain talented teachers we must look at methods and strategies to provide mentors and support to our beginning teachers.  During the 2010-2011 school year North Carolina's public schools reported that the teacher turnover rate was 11.17%.

I believe that technology such as the Ipad, online conferencing tools and Skype can provide the tools needed to allow highly qualified teachers to view what is happening in the classroom of the beginning teacher.  Here are some limitations on the current method of assigning mentors to a beginning teacher from within the same grade level or from a different subject area:

• Mentor is unable to observe beginning teacher.
• Beginning teacher is unable to observe mentor.
• Mentor does not teach same subject area.
• Beginning teachers in specialty areas such as band, foreign language, and art are the only teachers in the school that teach that subject.

In the past teachers went through rigorous studies and eight weeks of student teaching often gaining experiences that do not relate to the school they start teaching at.  Many universities have started to require prospective teachers to complete fieldwork throughout their coursework to gain exposer.  There is a direct correlation between teaching experiences and teacher retention.  In short the more experiences a teacher has in various classroom settings will result in a teacher that is better prepared when they are the one in front of the students.

With the increased experiences the beginning teacher will have more past experiences to pull from and a larger network of teachers to contact for help.  But what if the beginning teacher would like for their mentor to view their classroom structure first hand but their mentor shares a common planning time or in some cases work at a different location?

This past August three North Carolina band directors started an online Professional Learning Network on Facebook, using the privacy restrictions to prohibit retailers to join in on the discussions.  The online network currently host a staggering 9,450 members who discuss issues of seating arrangements, handbooks, instrumentation, fundraising, method books, classroom management, and how to relieve the stress that builds up throughout the day.  The leaders of the PLN also created a space on Posterous Spaces for directors to upload documents, arrangements and letters that they have found to be successful and beneficial in their programs.

In as little as ten months the three band directors from the Central District Bandmasters Association had created a network that connects nearly ten thousand band directors to collaborate and support each other on their journey in education.  What if every subject area had this resource available?

It is my belief that if every beginning teacher had a network of teachers to go to when they felt overwhelmed or just needed a suggestions on how to teach a certain standard or topic that the beginning teacher who once felt alone would feel empowered and liberated.

Resources:

Band Directors Group Cover Photo. Facebook Band Directors Group. Web June-July 12. <https://www.facebook.com/groups/banddirectors>

Central District Bandmasters Association Logo. Central District Bandmasters Association. Web June-July 12. <http://www.nccdba.org>

Welcome!

My name is Carl Cruthis and I am an educator in Greensboro, North Carolina.  I currently teach middle school band and attend graduate school at High Point University for Educational Leadership/School Administration.  Throughout the summer you can find my thoughts in education, leadership and as always music here on my blog!