Commitment 1

Commitment 1 | Commitment 2 | Commitment 3

Commitment 1: Develop a System of Individual Student Feedback at the District, School, and Classroom Levels

Phase 1

  • Identify one grade level (or course level) learning goal per quarter (or semester) for each of the following subject areas: mathematics, reading, writing, science, and social studies.

  • Construct a rubric (or other type of common scale) for each learning goal.

  • Have teachers formally and informally assess each learning goal at least once every two weeks, keeping track of each student's score on each learning goal. (Use of appropriate computer software is highly recommended.)

  • Have students keep track of their progress on each goal and use the data as the basis for teacher/student interactions about student progress.

  • Periodically (i.e., once per quarter) aggregate the data by grade level. Have teachers meet to discuss student progress and how it might be improved.

Phase 2

  • Develop learning goals for each grade level (or course) for each subject area along with a rubric (or common scale) for each learning goal.

  • Develop learning goals for nonacademic (i.e., life skill) areas along with a rubric (or common scale) for each nonacademic area.

  • Design a grading system that utilizes the academic and nonacademic areas for each subject.

  • Identify computer software that can be used to track student progress.

  • Have a small team of teacher leaders pilot test the new grading system for one quarter.

  • Make revisions based on the pilot test.

Phase 3

  • Implement the new grading system in a staged fashion. For example, the new grading system might be implemented at the elementary school level the first year of phase III, at the middle school level the second year of phase III, and at the high school level the third year of phase III.