Thoughts On SLO Implementation After RPDC Training

On November 24th I attended a workshop on Student Learning Objectives (SLO's). Here are a few reflections on the training. 

SLO's are DESE's response to the NCLB waiver, which requires student achievement data be part of teacher evaluation. Beginning in 2016 Missouri schools will be required to document, through core data, that achievement data is used in evaluation. Local districts have been given the responsibility for choosing what data will be used. This is certainly better than models which would mandate evaluations be based on state assessments. However any change to evaluation must be communicated clearly and followed by thoughtful support.  

A few bullet points on using SLO's for achievement data:

-SLO's should evaluate individual objectives/learning targets contained in the Missouri Learning Standards.

-SLO's should document achievement over two points in time.

-SLO's should incorporate "stretch." Formative and summative assessments should challenge students in appropriate ways.

-SLO's should be chosen by teachers.

-SLO's should allow teachers to communicate to administrators any unique learning challenges students have. 

-SLO's should allow teachers to set "growth targets" for individual students.

The formula for setting individual growth targets suggested by our trainers is illustrated below. Growth targets are set at half the distance between the student's baseline score and one hundred percent. This is a straightforward method, but it leaves me with a few questions. 

Thoughts, questions, and concerns:

-Using SLO's will come naturally to many teachers. Most elementary teachers already use assessment data in reading and mathematics. Secondary teachers in large departments have common assessments. Many teachers already submit results on locally created assessments to central offices. Data being tracked by assessments already in place is a perfect resource for meeting new evaluation requirements. However, for various reasons, not all teachers have had the same practice working collaboratively on data collection and evaluation. How will administrators support them? 

-What is the most efficient way to submit SLO data? Could a teacher's grade book be used to track SLO's. Administrators and teachers would need to have conversations along the way, but once the assessments have identified, could a teacher submit a printout of their grade book as part of the evaluation process?
-SLO's emphasize baseline data. How can administrators discourage teachers unfamiliar with best formative assessment practices from incorporating results of baseline assessments in a student's final grade?
-The "half the distance to the goal" strategy works on a points earned/points possible mindset, which runs counter to standards based grading. Wouldn't a rubric, with a high bar set for mastery, be a better model for incorporating both "stretch" and growth targets?

These are important questions that administrators and teachers should have sooner rather than later. I'd be interested in hearing from those who are further along in the conversation.

Bear Hunt

My son and I share a ritual. It begins when one of us, he as often as I, asks the other to go on a bear hunt. The ritual demands an invitation to bear hunt can not be declined, regardless of weather, or time left in a tied football game. If you are asked to bear hunt you are required to respond, "Let's go."

A half mile trail winds through a few acres of cedars on the far side of the lake behind our house. We walk the path with our eyes peeled, carrying sticks. We haven't seen a bear yet.

The name stands.

A November morning with frost on the ground and a stream of division on the news feed makes a bear hunt appealing. At four he is becoming bold enough to run ahead, leading me to a bench at the crest of the hill where I sit and consider the reasons I want to retreat from and engage in society. Along the trail we bust cottontails in the woods and ducks along the shoreline. We examine the workings of beavers and tracks in the frost left by the survivors of last week's deer season. All of it encourages: the cardinals, the cold air, the light reflecting off the cottonwoods.

He's four so he is beginning to run ahead and lead the hunts. But he's four and the hunts still end the same as they always have. His legs get tired and asks to "ride up top," on my shoulders back to the house.

"That sure was a good bear hunt, huh Dad?"

"Yep. It sure was."

A Thought On Autonomy

No school improves without the tough work of collaboration. "Leave me alone and let me teach," is a mantra for those who are uncomfortable with collaboration. While the allure of autonomy is understandable, interdependence is the path to better outcomes. 

October Paddle On Perche Creek

The mile stretch of Perche Creek just upstream from the Missouri is a fantastic place to watch the seasons change. My sit-on-top Wilderness Systems kayak allows me to skim along with the leaves that litter the surface. In late October I miss seeing the turtles, but when the trees begin to shed, terrific views of the limestone bluffs, hidden all summer, emerge.

Stripes on the trunks rising from the bank mark water lines from spring and summer floods, revealing how dynamic nature is. The creek, turtles, and trees seem to relax in the fall, but paddling in and out of the powerful eddies at the confluence reminds paddlers that the Missouri isn't ready for winter yet.

Are our attempts to teach responsibility ethical?

Imagining Assessment

An important way of considering of the true purpose of assessment.

Using EdHub to Increase Flexibility and Clarity

To support teachers in our evaluation system we are using the resources provided by Edhub in our monthly professional development days.

Registering for the Edhub resources was fairly simple. The Edhub administrator provided tokens that were redeemed when the account was created.

Once the account was created, resources for two of the four indicators our district uses for evaluation were curated: student/teacher relationships and critical thinking. Teachers volunteered to lead professional development sessions on the indicators, and a schedule was created that allowed teachers to choose, elective style, which indicator they most wanted to explore.

For our district this approach increases flexibility for teachers: they are provided a time and place to develop skills of their choosing. Clarity is also increased: administrators and teachers together can learn what research says regarding appropriate student/teacher relationships and critical thinking.

There is great value in educators gathering together to affirm:
-relationships are healthy and secure when structures and limits are in place
-creative, collaborative work on open ended assignments ensures that critical thinking is taking place

EdHub's research based presentations on a range of performance indicators are great resources for clear, yet flexible, professional development.