Whatarethreebuildingblocksforimprovingschools?

Stopblaming,establishclearaims,agreeondefinitionof
improvement
Schooltakesupwhatpercentageofapersonsfirst18years
oflife?
13%
AccordingtoColeman,whatisapupilsachievementstrongly
relatedto?
Ed.Backgroundandaspirationsofotherpupils

Allchildrenareborn________
Motivated
Jenkinssaysthat_________isdestroyingtheinborn
motivationtolearn?
Competition
NamethreethingsthatJenkinssaysteachersneedto
internalize?
Everyoneisbornmotivated,techniquestheyhavewitnessed
demotivates,whateverdemotivatesadultsdemotivates
children

ListatleastthreepsychologicaltruthslistedbyDeming.
Mostpeople,oncediscouragedstaythatway.
Childrendontdestroytheirownmotivation,adultsdo.
Theresnoshortageofgoodpeopleunlesspeoplecreateit.
Rankingdestroysjoy.
Thecustomerdefinesjoy.

Howcananadministratorknowthathis/herschoolhasimproved?
Whentherearemoresuccessesandfewerfailures.
Onecanmorenearlypredictthefuturethroughwhat?
Statistics
Whatarethreesuggestedstepsforteacherstotakeinorderto
besuccessful?
Explainaimofcourse,quizstudentsonsquareroot,anduse
classrunchartsandscattergrams

AccordingtoDeming,thistermisdefinedaswhatcustomers
say.
Feedback
Whenthegoalisimprovement,theteacherbelieveswhat?
Teacherhasmajorresponsibilityforstudentlearning.
Whatcanstudentsandteachersplantogetherbysharing
feedback?
Effectiveinstructionalstrategies

Gradelevelisasynonymforwhat?
Average
Listtherequirementsforqualitymeasurement.
Statecourseobjectives,developrubricsforsingleand
continuousevents,assessstudentsregularly,organize
assessmentdataintoclassroomchart,usefeedbacktomake
corrections.

DescribeDr.Demingsmethodforimprovinglearning.
Providestudentswithinfo.theyareexpectedtoknow;
randomlyselectconceptsofthetotalamountofinfo.And
quizonthesq.root;useclassrunchartsandscattergrams;
usedata(feedback)tomakecorrections
Whatistheanswertothosewhoquestiongivingaquizto
studentsonconceptsnotyettaught?
Itsapreviewofinfo;itsnotgraded;itsthehook

Describetheprocess(giveexample)ofcontinuous
improvementmodeldescribedbyJenkinsforassessing
essentialinformation.
Explaintostudentsthatthefirsteightweeksofeachquarteris
practicetime.Theteacheristhecoachandwillbedoingeverything
possibletohelpthemimprove.Theninthweekisgameweek;
practiceisover.Duringthelastweekofthequarter,onadesignated
day,studentsbringallassignmentstoclass.Thecanreviseany
assignmentbaseduponinstructiongiven,upuntiltheduedate.
Teacherrollsthediceandwhatevernumbercomesup,thatsthe
assignmentnumbertheyaretoturnin.

Chapters6and7ImprovingStudentLearning

Whatsrubric?
Rubricsarescalesofqualityandascalemustbedeveloped.
Thisisaperformancebasedassessment.
Howdoteachersknowwhenstudentsarebetterwriters,
bettersolversofmathproblems,betterartists,andbetter
scienceresearchers?
Justadduptherubricscores

Canteachersinspectqualityintoanyprocess?
No,theymustbuildinthequality.
Whatarethestepsfordoingthis?
1.Providestudentswithrubricsbywhichtheirworkwill
beevaluated
2.Explaintostudentsthatthefirsteightweeksofeachquarter
ispracticetime.Theteacheristhecoachandwillbedoing
everythingpossibletohelpthemimprove.Theninthweekis
gameweek;practiceisover.

3.Assignthefirstassignment.Afterwardsallstudentsareto
reflectuponpossibleerrorsortroublespots.
4.Theteacherrandomlyselectsfivestudents(orsq.rootof
thetotalstudentsinclass)fromeachperiodfora1:1
conversationregardingtheirassignment.Therandomnessis
doneinclasssostudentsknowitisprobabilitythatchose
them.
5.Basedonerroranalysesandobservationsfrom20
assignments(fourperiodsoffivestudentseach),teachers
preparelessonsforteaching/reteaching.

6.Teachersrepeatthisprocessatleastfourtimeseachquarter.
Uptothispoint,thereisstillnograderecorded.
7.Duringthelastweekofthequarter,onadesignatedday,
studentbringallassignmentstoclass.Thecanreviseany
assignmentbaseduponinstructiongiven,upuntilthedue
date.Teacherrollsthediceandwhatevernumbercomes
up,thatstheassignmentnumbertheyaretoturnin.
8.Theteachernowgradesallstudentassignmentsforthat
portionofthegradeforthatclass.

Thegoalistoimproveinstruction,learning,andthe
studentsproducts(assignments).

Chemistry:MaryKaserLourdesHighSchoolRochester
MN.
RefertoPostLabAssessmentRubricinJenkinsbook.
Maryscansalllabreportsbriefly,givinga15score,butthen
randomlyselectsfivestudentsfromeachperiodforthe
complete120scoringanditemanalysisoferrors.Attheend
ofeachnineweeks,sheselectsonelabreporttobegathered
fromeachstudent.Thisisrandomlyselectedfromthe8to12
labreportswritteneachquarter.

Grade3WritingTimSheppardandNancyHunter
Wenatchee,WA
Allthirdgradeteachershaveagreedtorandomlyselectsample
storiesbygradelevel.Theteachershaveagreedupon11
essentialskills(seepages62and63.)Atregularintervalsthe
teachershavetheirstudentswriteonthesametopic.The
papersarecollectedfromstudentsand15(sq.rootofthethird
gradeclasses)arerandomlyselected.Eachteacherscoresfive:
theresnoneedtoreadallpapers;the15scoredgiveallthe
necessaryinformation.Theteacherssaythattheirwacky
writingprovidesanavenueforregularconversationamong
gradethreeteachersregardingtheirunderstandingofessential
writingskillsandthewritingprocess.

ContinuousImprovementintheMathematicsClassroomby
CarolynAyers.
Studentsaregivenamathproblem.Thestudentstrytosolveit
ontheirownandCarolynscoresitaccordingtoherrubricand
resultsaregraphed.Theteachingcomesthefollowingday
whenhersecondgradersareplacedingroupsoffourandgiven
thesameproblemagain,alongwithablanktransparency.The
studentssolvetheproblemagain,thistimeallowingherto
listentotheirthinking.Eachgroup,usingtheirtransparency,
presenttheirsolutiontotheremainderoftheclass.The
ensuingdiscussionwiththewholeclassandtheteacheristhe
primarymethodthatCarolynusestoassisttheminreaching
higherlevelsofperformance.

SixthgradeScienceDebiMolinaWaltersAntioch,CA
Theschoolyearbeginswithstudentsreceivingtherubricfor
sciencelabreports(seehandout).Studentsarethengiventheir
firstlabassignmentandtheyrecordtheirresults.Theyselfedit,
usingtherubric,thentheyhavetheirpeersedittheirlabwriteup.
Finally,Debieditsthelabssostudentshaveamodeltoworkfrom
theyear.Thislabisnotgraded:itisusedasthefoundationfor
futurelearning.Theprocesscontinuesthroughouttheyearinthe
samemanner.Experimentsareconductedingroupsoffour,
studentswriteuptheirlabreport,theyselfeditthereport,they
havethereportpeeredited,andthentheysavethereport.After
fourlabs,eachstudentselectstheirtwobestlabreportsfortheir
portfolio.,andthenoneofthetwotobehandedinforDebito

scoreontherubricandrecordasagrade.

SixthgradeScienceDebiMolinaWaltersAntioch,CA
Significantpoints:
Debiisnotscoringallofthelabreports.Sheisscoringonly25%
ofthelabsherself.Withtheextratimesheislistening.Seis
listeningtothediscussionofeachgroupoffourwhiletheyare
conductinglabsandsheislisteningtopeereditingofthelab
writeups.Listeningtostudentscoacheachotherthroughthe
processgiveshertheinformationnecessarytofurtherdevelop
theirperformancelevels.
ITSPERFORMANCETHATMATTERSTHEMOST!

TrueorFalseeverysubjectineverygradelevelcontains
essentialinformation?
True
Whatshouldstudentsreceiveduringtheirfirstweekofclass?
Theessentialinformationtheyneedtoknowbytheendofthe
course.

MiddleSchoolScienceSomedistrictshavedecidedtohave
100factspergrade.Sixthgradersareresponsibleforthefirst
100facts,seventhgradersareresponsibleforthesecond100
facts,andeighthgradersareresponsibleforall300facts.
(Studentsaregivenallofthefactsinsixthgrade.)
Whatstheresult?
MiddleschoolScienceclassesarenowconnected.Insteadofthree
separateoneyearprograms,Scienceisnowathreeyearprogram.

ContinuousImprovementintheHistory/ScienceClassroomby
ShellyCarson
Thefirsthistorycourseisinthefifthgradeandcoversearliest
timesoftheNorthAmericanContenttotheAmericanRevolution.
ThesecondcourseisintheeighthgradeandcoverstheUnited
StatesfromtheUSConstitutionto1900.Theuniquetwististhat
duringthefirstweekof11thgrade,studentsareprovidedessential
factsforallthreecoursesandeveryquiz,everyquarterlyexam,
andthefinalincludesitemsfromallthreeyears.Sotheteacher
randomlyselects16itemsfromthe250essentialfactsforquizzes.
Whatstheresult?
Historyclassesarenowconnected.Insteadofthreeseparateone
yearprograms,Historyisnowathreeyearprogram.

WhyusetheSquareRootmethod?
Thesquarerootprovidesalargeenoughsamplesizetobe
accurate.Thesamplesizeislargeenoughifquizzingisdoneon
aregularbasis.Also,thesquarerootworksforbothlargeand
smallernumbers.
Whyuse(orgrade)asamplefromallthestudents?
Thesimplereasonforsamplingistheresnotenoughtimeto
assessstudentscontinuallyoneverythingtheyneedtoknow.
Samplingtakestheleastamountofclassroomtimeandprovides
themostuptodateinformation.

Whyusethemethodofselectionbyrandomselection?
Formathematiciansandscientists,randomselectionmeans
accuratebecausenohumanbiasesaredistortingthedata.For
educators,thismeansthatstudentsarenolongerattempting
topsychouttheinstructortodeterminewhatwillbeonthe
exam.
Howdoteachersselectrandomitems?
Specialtydice,afishbowlwith300factsonindexcards,random
numbergenerators,bingogamewithnumbers1300.
www.random.org

DoItemsandQuestionsRepeat?
Yes.Everyessentialfacthasanequalchanceofbeingdrawn.
Thegoalisnotforstudentstoknowtheanswerstoquestions,but
toknowtheconceptsandvocabulary.Soteachersshouldaskthe
questionsindifferentways,I.E.,multiplechoice,TorF,fillin
theblank,openendedquestions.

Howwillparentsreacttostudentsbeingquizzedonitemsthathave
notyetbeentaught?
Preparationisneeded.First,studentsneedassurancethatthe
quizdoesntcountfortheirgradeandthatthepurposeistoshow
howtheyarelearningindividuallyandhowtheyarelearning
collectively.Theyalsoneedtobecontinuallyremindedthatthey
willknowthecontentattheendoftheyear.Second,parentsare
usuallysatisfiedwhentheyknow:1)theirchildrenarenot
gradedonquizzes,2)abyproductofthisprocessisthatittakes
awaycramming(whichtheyknowisawasteoftime)and3)each
quizisreallyapracticefortheendoftheyearfinal,whichwill
begraded.

Howlongdoesthistakeeachweek?
Teachersexperienceincontinuousimprovementsaythatmostof
thetimeisspentteachingeitherreviewofpriorcontentor
previewofupcomingcontent.So,theydontseethisas
assessmenttimetakingawayfrominstruction;theysee
instruction.
Howcanteachersgettheclassdataquickly?
Inordertoexpeditetheprocess,andnottoembarrassstudents,
teachershaveseveralwaysofcollectingnumbers.Generally,
studentsareingroups.Amonitorisassignedtoeachgroupto
gatherupthenumbercorrectfromeachstudentintheirsmall
group.

SteveDennyandDaveBellofCincinnatisWoodsHigh
Schoolhavesummarizedtheirobservationsregarding
continuousimprovement:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.

Studentshaveacceptedresponsibilityforthelearninggoal.
Studentsarereadyandanxioustohelponeanother.
Studentsideasabouthowtoreachthelearninggoalareplentiful.
Studentsbecomeactiveteachersofoneanother.
Interventionismuchmoresuccessfulnow.
Teachershaveaclearerpictureofwheretheyneedtointervene.
Studentshaveamuchmoreaccuratesenseoftheirprogress.
Parentsfeelgoodabouttheprogressbeingmade.
Aspectsofcontinuousimprovementmotivatestudents.

PrincipalBrianKrobfromTipton,Iowa,MiddleSchool:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.

Controllingonesactionsisselfcontrol
Doingsomethingwithoutbeingaskedistakinginitiative
Meetingdeadlinesisbeingresponsible
Takingprideinonesselfisselfrespect
Stickingtoapurposeoranaimisperseverance

CarolynAyres:
Themotivationseemstocomenaturallywiththe
processoftesting,checking,learningfrommistakes,
improving,andbeingabletoseethevisibleevidenceof
growthonthegraphs.