How
Authentic Assessment Heightens Accountability in Our Schools
How do we foster
intrinsic motivation, for both teachers and students, to work towards high
performance? Can we create a system of accountability that will drive this
performance? At Envision Education, we answer with a
resounding,yes. However, our accountability is not driven by a
system of rewards and punishments; it is driven by an authentic system of
accountability driven by making the work of students, teachers, and the school
public.
Envision uses several
strategies systematically to open the learning to the broader community which
drive more rigorous outcomes at every level of our school system.
Over the last few weeks
I have observed some of these strategies at work at Envision Academy of Arts
and Technology High School (EA) in Oakland, CA. Here is a little background
data on EA:
·
More than 70 percent of
the students qualify as low income and will be the first in their family to
graduate from college
·
100 percent of the
students in the class of 2012 graduated with all courses required for
California public university system entrance, compared with 40 percent of
students statewide
·
95 percent of students
in the class of 2012 were accepted to a four year or two year college, compared
to 48 percent of students statewide
·
For EA's first two
graduating classes (2010 and 2011), the college persistence rate from the first
to second year of college is 72 percent (compared to the national average of 55
percent)
How do we use authentic
accountability to drive this high performance at Envision Academy?
Public Exhibition of
Work
At least twice a year,
Envision students and teachers present their learning to the broader community.
At Envision Academy, I had a chance to listen to ninth and tenth grade students
debrief their fall exhibition. The ninth graders presented their learning
through digital media telling their own story as learners and as people. They
presented in semi-formal attire at an evening performance at school. They
shared their poems and artwork -- not just to their teachers but also to their
parents, siblings, grandparents, and other guests. During the class
reflections, a teacher shared a story of one parent's tears of joy as she
watched her son present his project.
The tenth graders were
celebrating with "Academy Awards" for their performance of short,
theatrical public service announcements on social and medical issues from their
biology classes. The principal shared with me that two of the winners for best
male actor were students who came to EA struggling with skill gaps and low
motivation. Clearly, they had become motivated by the project and the public
performance.
How does this type of
public performance drive authentic teacher accountability? If the students are
not prepared or they produce low quality work, it is not hidden in this type of
system. Not only do your teaching colleagues and school leader witness the
quality and rigor of the student work product, the entire school community
including the students' parents see the work. There is no place to hide. As a
teacher, you become committed to the success of all your students because you
do not want to see them publicly fail or falter.
Instructional Rounds
A couple weeks later, I
spent a day as part of our Envision Professional Learning Community conducting
"Instructional Rounds." Based on the work of Dick Elmore from Harvard
and the medical school concept of rounds, Envision teachers, school leaders,
network leaders, board members, and community members from other schools and
organizations gather at each school in the Envision network twice a year to
help each school investigate a "problem of practice." The school
opens all of its classroom doors for observation from the group assembled in
the morning. In the afternoon, the group works with the school to move from
observations to action -- concrete next steps. Envision Academy asked the
question, "How are teachers moving students towards more independent
learning?"
Using the evidence
gathered by their "critical friends," Envision Academy gained
insights into where they were using strategies that led to greater student
independence and places where there is room for growth. The school leadership
team used this data to create an immediate plan of action to begin improving
their collective practice. Imagine the level of commitment towards high
performance it requires as a school principal and as teachers to open up every
classroom in your school for observation when no outside authority is driving
you to do so (e.g. accreditation visits). Like the students in the exhibition,
the public nature of this practice drives the leader and teachers towards
improvement intrinsically and not with an external reward or punishment based
solely on a standardized test score.
In my next post, I will
describe how Envision Learning Partners uses a process called Design Studios to
open up our schools as a place for colleagues from other schools, districts,
and networks to learn and plan the redesign of learning at their own schools.
Let's start a
conversation through the comments: How does your school hold you and students
accountable? How does your district or charter management organization hold
your school accountable? Is it working? How do you know?
Comments
(7)
Posted on 2/4/2013 5:30am
0
We have the International Baccalaureate Program
in our school and therefore, teachers and students are extremely accountable.
For instance,50% the course I teach is graded externally. I grade the rest of
the course, however, it is moderated externally. Having this system holds us
all accountable and most certainly raises the level of student learning.
Posted on 12/10/2012 7:16pm
0
I love the idea having the students present
their own work in front of an audience. I believe that would keep them
accountable for their work and make them want to do their very best. It is also
a good way to show their peers what they have learned and to learn from each
other.
I taught 4th grade last year, and in an effort to mix it up, I broke up my classroom into groups of 4. I then made them accountable for reading a section of their Social Studies book on the different regions of the US. They then made a billboard trying to persuade new settlers to come to their region giving examples from the text. They then presented their billboard to the rest of the class. I really felt that giving them ownership of a section of material made them more accountable for their learning and the teaching of their peers.
It is awesome to give students a voice!
I taught 4th grade last year, and in an effort to mix it up, I broke up my classroom into groups of 4. I then made them accountable for reading a section of their Social Studies book on the different regions of the US. They then made a billboard trying to persuade new settlers to come to their region giving examples from the text. They then presented their billboard to the rest of the class. I really felt that giving them ownership of a section of material made them more accountable for their learning and the teaching of their peers.
It is awesome to give students a voice!
Posted on 12/10/2012 6:47pm
0
I am really impressed with the stats from
Envision Academy. I too teach students with low income and many of them will be
the frist to graduate from high school or college in their families. It is
exciting to see how well the students do in college. I have not used a public
performance in my classroom, but I can see how it would motivate both the
students and the teachers to be prepared and successful. I have not heard of
instructional rounds before. I feel that they could be beneficial to schools
because the school woudl gain feedback from others outside of the system. Does
the school invite certain people to come and visit, or is it more of an open
invitation to be a part of this process?
High
School Math Teacher from Minneapolis, MN
Posted on 12/10/2012 6:43pm
0
I've taught in two different schools with two
different views on the matter. One school was very open to having the public
come in and see what your classroom is like. It took a while for the students
(and myself) to get used to strangers walking in during class. After a while,
it was almost expected and the students were no longer distracted. As a
teacher, that was the hardest part to get used to. How will this affect my
ability to maintain my students' attention? The more it happened, the easier it
got. As for the second school, there really isn't any school or district
accountability. It's almost like a "no news is good news" philosophy.
I think they would be open to allowing the public in for visits, but it isn't
encouraged as much as the first school.
I love the idea of the public exhibitions! What a great way to hold everyone accountable.
I love the idea of the public exhibitions! What a great way to hold everyone accountable.
Junior
and Senior Language arts Teacher, North Dakota
Posted on 12/10/2012 6:28pm
0
I enjoyed your ideas on
how to make assessment authentic. Public exhibitions and instructional rounds
are two interesting ideas. I have utilized public exhibitions in my classroom
before, going to far as having community members come in to interview and view
the students' work; however, I have not heard of instructional rounds before. I
like the idea of opening the classroom to the public as it would give
non-teachers a real glimpse of what teaching entails. It would also motivate
teachers to be at their best.
I would be interested to know how this process
begins.
High
School English Teacher
Posted on 12/9/2012 8:09am
0
I really like your concept
of the performance assessment here where students summarize and present their
learning for a more public audience, not just of their peers, but of parents,
siblings, grandparents, other parents, and administration. I think knowing that
they will be showing off their learning to others in a non-traditional
classroom setting really does encourage them to go the extra mile to make sure
their learning is "good" and authentic. Students (and their teachers)
don't want to appear unprepared in front of others, especially since this type
of assessment is public and would be very clear in displaying their amount of
effort.
Just out of curiosity, how well attended are the
open-house nights for these presentations? I think they are a great idea, but
wonder if it is difficult in our busy lives to get parents to come in.
Kindergarten
Teacher from Otsego, Minnesota
Posted on 12/7/2012 1:16pm
0
Wow! I have to say that it would take a LOT to
get teachers in my school to open their classrooms to the public or even to
other teachers at times to come and observe them and their students. So many
teachers seem to be 'scared' when the principal has to come observe them
formally every 3 years and formally 3x/year for the first three years until
tenure. I have been observed several times and admit I would get nervous when
the principal would come in, but mostly it was in the anticipation of her
coming. If she just showed up, I should be doing the same thing whether she is
there or not. I think this attitude is what is needed throughout the schools. I
also think it is helpful if teachers are open to suggestions instead of feeling
like they know everything and shouldn't have anyone else telling them how to
teach or what to change. We need to change, that is part of education! The
formal observations are how teachers are held accountable.
As far as how our school holds students accountable, it seems to be through standardized testing. I do not think it is working since so many parents and students do not care about the tests and some students don't even read the questions before answering. I think a lot of the attitude comes from home. If the parents care about their students score or grades, then the student is more likely to care. If the parents don't care, neither does the parent. How do we get parents attitudes to change along with students? How do we get teachers to want to learn more and be excited about changing things or trying new things in their classrooms to teach the students instead of sticking to the things they've been doing for 30 years whether they work or not?
As far as how our school holds students accountable, it seems to be through standardized testing. I do not think it is working since so many parents and students do not care about the tests and some students don't even read the questions before answering. I think a lot of the attitude comes from home. If the parents care about their students score or grades, then the student is more likely to care. If the parents don't care, neither does the parent. How do we get parents attitudes to change along with students? How do we get teachers to want to learn more and be excited about changing things or trying new things in their classrooms to teach the students instead of sticking to the things they've been doing for 30 years whether they work or not?
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