The Power of the I

1
The Power of the I

• Making Middle Grades Students Accountable for
  Their Work and Their Learning

2
Failure Is Not an Option When Work Is Incomplete

• Ohio HSTW/MMGW Network
• Ninth Grade
• Make It or Break It Year
• Retreat

3
Purpose of Workshop

• This workshop will provide the elements and
  conditions necessary to implement the a grading
  policy that takes the Power of using an I
  incomplete grade over an F failure grade

4
Policy Impact

• Any policy regarding student work should result
  in increased student achievement. Data should be
  evident.
• If data is lacking in those areas, then the
  policy isnt working.

5
Teachers Affect the Expectations of Students

• 66 percent of teachers in 2004 agree that
  students success or failure in school is due to
  factors largely beyond a teachers control.
• Almost 70 percent of middle grades teachers
  never ask students to revise work until it meets
  standards.

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Why Teachers Give Zeros

• Values Issues
• We All Value Things Done on Time
• Sacred Cows
• Thats What My Teachers/Professors Did
• Some teachers believe that it is a just
  punishment for a bad behavior.
• Mostly because we honestly believe that giving
  them a consequence for not doing or completing
  work will result in students not repeating this
  behavior .

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Is this consequence working?

• And for Whom?

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Lets Face It

• It doesnt work most of the time
• It works for students who
• are already A and B students

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Lets Face It

• If it doesnt change behavior, why do we continue
  this consequence?
• Why do we let students off the hook for
  completing work?
• What is the real effect of this policy?
• Table discussions

10
Impact of Zeros

• On Responsibility
• On Grades
• On Work Ethic
• On Values
• On Learning
• On Achievement

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Impact of Zeros

• We want the impact to be positive, but has it
  been?
• What data do we have that giving zeros is
  positively impacting students?

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Changing the Paradigm

• This session assumes that
• you want to change students behaviors.
• You want to get more students to complete work.

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Changing the Paradigm

• In order to do this, you must
• MODIFY YOUR GRADING PRACTICES
• in order to
• CHANGE THEIR WORK HABITS!

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What did she say????

• YIKES!!
• OUCH!!

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The Compliance Curve

• Students are at different places and Learn at
  different paces, YET
• Systems assess at the same time
• Bell curve based upon when learned, not Learned
  or Quality of Learning
• The old bell curve has morphed into a Compliance
  Curve in most classrooms
• A Learning Curve is necessary for NCLB

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The POWER of the I

• Eliminates the Compliance Curve
• Creates a true Learning Curve
• Doesnt let students Off the Hook
• For learning
• For delivering quality work
• For completing hard work
• For becoming responsible citizens

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The POWER of the I

• Creates a Culture of High Expectations
• No excuses!
• You dont get to choose not to work.
• Improves the Quality of All Student Work

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The POWER of the I

• Allows Teachers to Really Teach to Standards
• Teachers will finally know what students can do
• Takes the guesswork out of retention

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The POWER of the I

• Sends the Right message to students
• The blame game points back to the student
• When students come home with an F or a zero, they
  (and their parents) often blame the teacher
• When students come home with an I, only the
  student is to blame

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The POWER of the I

• When assignments arent ready, or they are
  incomplete or seriously below the standard and
  quality of expectation,
• WHAT CAN TEACHERS DO?
• A, B, C or I Incomplete

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Components of the Power of I
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What does the Power of I look like?

• Students no longer receive zeros when work isnt
  turned in they receive an I.
• Students dont have the option of not turning in
  work.
• Teachers have made this clear from the beginning
  of the year
• Teachers have other consequences for work not
  done, not done completely or not done
  satisfactorily

23
What does the Power of I look like?

• 2. Late work is just that late but it must be
  completed
• in order for teachers to correctly determine if
  students know and understand the standards being
  taught and assessed.
• in order for teachers to determine if students
  are ready for work at the next level.
• in order for teachers to know if students are
  ready for state assessments.

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What does the Power of I look like?

• 3. Students are given opportunities (required) to
  complete the work
• during the school day (not during the class
  ever)
• after school
• Saturday School
• or whatever fits your schools possibilities.

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What does the Power of I look like?

• 4. Consequences change for students not having
  work ready to turn in on time.
• What different consequences are there?

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What does the Power of I look like?

• Require students to stay after school in an extra
  help setting to complete work (this takes some
  work, but many schools are having great success
  with this)

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What does the Power of I look like?

• Require students to attend an extra help class
  during the school day (these are taking several
  forms, but consistently, they are similar to a
  support class)

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What does the Power of I look like?

• Some policies state that students are not allowed
  to participate in any extra-curricular activity
  if they are missing any assignments or have
  attempted to turn in poor quality work.
• Sports, band, chorus, clubs and events
• Practices for each of these

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What does the Power of I look like?

• 5. Must contact students parents and solicit
  their assistance this must begin early and
  will have the greatest impact.
• 6. Requires a parent conference at a
  pre-determined number of missed assignments or
  failed tests, etc.

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What does the Power of I look like?

• 7. Extra Help is Required!!!
• Students who are missing work must be offered
  opportunities to get the extra help and
  assistance they need to complete work.
• Must be offered outside of the classroom.

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What does the Power of I look like?

• 8. Tests are excluded from the policy.
• Teachers may choose to give students
  opportunities to retake tests by coming in during
  extra help times
• to raise test scores to passing.
• to make sure that the standard is met at least to
  70 mastery.

32
What does the Power of I look like?

• 9. Know that it MAY NOT WORK FOR ALL STUDENTS,
  but each school must have a goal for
  significantly reducing these numbers over a
  period of time.
• of students currently making zeroes
• acceptable in the future

33
Effect on Grades

• What can you expect to happen?

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Effect on Grades..

• 1. Students will receive an I on any assignment
  not turned in
• 2. One or more Is will result in an I grade
  for any report period
• 3. Report cards can be printed or a note
  included that I means that work is missing and
  a grade will not be given until work is completed.

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Effect on Grades..

• 4. Students cannot receive an A (or a B in some
  schools) on any assignment that is late or turned
  in incomplete (some schools have instituted
  specific time periods)
• 5. Students never receive an F if an assignment
  is completed within the year or semester

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Effect on Grades..

• 6. A few students will still fail no matter what
  you do. So..
• Final report cards have asterisk or note
  reporting to parents that the F is a result of
  failure to complete work
• 7. The goal is to drastically reduce the percent
  of students making zeros!!

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Paradigm Issues

• Excitement?
• Discomfort?
• Full of Questions?
• Fear of Failure? Ah ha!

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Not Just a Simple Policy Change

• Just adding a Power of I policy wont do it all
  by itself.
• This policy works best in conjunction with other
  key practices and other indicators of high
  expectations.

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How to Implement

• Finally!

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How to Implement

• Determine Scope of Implementation
• Whole School
• Whole Academic Team
• Subject Area
• Course
• Teacher

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How to Implement

• Get Stakeholder Support
• Principal, superintendent, BOE
• Parents
• Business community or local school advisory
  council
• Local post-secondary institutions

42
How to Implement

• Create a Culture of High Expectations for All
  Stakeholders
• Get commitment from all staff members (have a
  plan)
• Communicate expectations students, parents,
  district office, boards of education members, the
  high school/s and elementary schools in the
  feeder pattern (have a plan)

43
Creating a Culture of High Expectations

• For Assignments, Reports, Written Work
• 69 of teachers say they set high standards and
  provide examples of work that meet their
  standards at least weekly, while fewer than 50
  of students report this

44
Creating a Culture of High Expectations

• For Assignments, Reports, Written Work
• Only 20 of teachers report that they require
  students to revise a previous draft to improve
  quality at least weekly,
• Fewer than 13 of students say they are often
  required to redo work that doesnt meet teacher
  requirements

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Creating a Culture of High Expectations

• Rubrics Are Required for Power of I to work
• Level the Playing Field
• Must Be Adapted for Self and Peer Review
• Samples and Sources for Rubric Design
• Rubristar.com

46
Creating a Culture of High Expectations

• Quality Teaching Is a Necessity
• Highly Qualified Teachers
• Highly Engaging Activities
• Hands-on
• Real World
• Meaningful Assignments
• Lose the Handouts, Worksheets, Drill Sheets, Word
  Searches

47
Creating a Culture of High Expectations

• Higher Order Thinking Skills
• (Instructional Review Handout)
• In Every Class, Every Day
• Teach to the rest what you teach to the best!
• Design more activities and assessments at the
  proficient level most activities are at or below
  basic.
• Use instructional review handout
• Seriously look at teacher tests
• Almost all tests and assessments are at or below
  basic

48
Creating a Culture of High Expectations

• Emphasis on New Content
• Too much of middle school content is review
• Boring to kids
• They have figured out how to play the game

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How to Implement

• Require Extra Help
• Structured Program of Extra Help
• Various, Multiple Opportunities

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How to Implement

• Quality Assessment Practices Required
  Including..
• Engaging Student Activities
• Homework that Matters
• Ditching poor quality handout sheets

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How to Implement

• Quality Assessment Practices Required
• Long-term memory Emphasis
• As ways to problem-solve and big-picture
  synthesis and analysis
• Short-term memory de-emphasis
• List of facts to memorize
• Capture and give grades to students performing
  well
• Not just paper and pencil assessments

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How to Implement

• Quality Assessment Practices Required, cont.
• Backward Design
• Blooms Taxonomy
• Emphasis on Higher-Order Skills and Learning
• De-emphasis on Recall, Memorization of Facts
• Move away from the enemy of learning Study
  Guides

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How to Implement

• Communication Requirements
• School
• Faculty meeting agendas
• Middle grades team meeting agendas
• Middle and high school department meeting agendas
  
• Oversight committee must keep all teachers
  informed of implementation issues successes and
  snags

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How to Implement

• Communication Requirements
• Principal to Teachers
• Reach consensus on the scope and exact
  implementation issues
• Rogue policies or lack of implementation even by
  a few will send a mixed message to students and
  sabotage the policy
• Set up a committee to chart the progress
• Be open to teacher frustrations and
  implementation snags help to work out the bugs

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How to Implement

• Communication Requirements
• Principal and Teachers to Parents
• Initial letters sent home
• Outline the policy and the availability of extra
  help
• Open House
• Newsletters
• Student Handbook
• Website
• A progress chart

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How to Implement

• Communication Requirements
• Teachers to students
• Course Syllabus (required)
• Assignment sheets (required in writing to
  students)
• Rubrics (required, specific, vertical and
  horizontal)
• Availability of extra help (required, multiple
  opportunities preferred)
• Encouragement a MUST for successful
  implementation (for students and teachers)

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Keeping Track

• Possible Sources
• MGA assessment data
• Promotion/retention percentages
• College-preparatory course enrollment percentages
• Distribution of grades
• Norm-referenced and state tests
• Attendance at extra help sessions
• Responses from student and parent interviews and
  focus groups

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Keeping Track

• Current and Over Time
• Grade analysis reports (number of As, Bs, etc. by
  course, grade, teacher)
• Attendance
• Test score data (state and HSTW or MMGW
  assessment scores)
• Completion rates
• Quality indicators

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Keeping Track

• Benchmark and Set Goals
• Gather and Track Data
• Completion rates
• Graduation rates
• Quality indicators
• Test grades
• Failure rates
• Retention rates

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Nuts and Bolts Assistance

• Get organized for accepting late work
• Require students to attach a cover sheet with the
  title and date of the original assignment
• Designate a place in your room for quick student
  access to all assignments
• Consider keeping an assignment notebook with a
  page for each day of class assignment sheets,
  rubrics, handouts, etc. can be slipped into clear
  pockets

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Nuts and Bolts Assistance

• Keep rubrics or scoring guides filed and
  organized by course or period for easy access
• File or scan rubrics and assignments sheets into
  computer files
• Dont make it difficult for students or teachers

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Nuts and Bolts Assistance

• Expect adjustments to the policy to be suggested
  and have a plan for how to deal with each
  recommendation (some will be good).
• Schedule conference calls with groups of teachers
  and SREB.
• Use the sample letters as samples, please, but
  please revise them to fit your school/community.

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Prioritizing Actions

• Review actions developed for each goal throughout
  the workshop.
• Prioritize goals. What must we work on first?
• Choose indicators on which to work during year
  one.
• Course syllabi
• A and B work
• redo work
• rubrics
• engaging activities

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You can contact.

• Some of the middle and high
• Schools currently implementing
• this or another version of a no
• zero policy like
• ZAP Zeros Arent Possible
• A, B, C or NY (not yet)
• Zero Tolerance for Zeroes
• Schools contact information is listed on SREB
  website

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Contact Information

• Toni Eubank, Director, MMGW
• Toni.eubank_at_sreb.org
• 404-879-5610
• Call me and we can schedule conference calls with
  leadership teams or others to answer questions
  along the way!!