Why Do We Test

“Most teachers in America use their classroom assessments either to assign grades or to motivate students to study harder,” says Popham. “This deprives them of one of the most powerful, research-proven tools for improving student learning – using insights from classroom assessments to reteach, help struggling students, and gain insights that improve teaching.”

-J. Popham

Too often we lose sight of the best reason to test - gauging the level of mastery for the purpose of determining what should be re-taught (or "better" taught), and what students know that can be built on for subsequent instruction.

Testing is an area where educators can learn lessons from the athletic world. For coaches, each game is a test. Following each game, coaches go back to practice and try to teach their players to correct mistakes made in games. They re-teach, examine their practice plans for new methods of teaching the same concepts, contact other coaches for ideas about how to teach certain concepts - in short they use the assessment as a learning tool. Some teams learn more than others - our own woeful National Football League franchise, the Detroit Lions, has a lot of material for "re-teaching". Yesterday I listened to our new head coach, Jim Schwartz, talk about the re-teaching they did during a bye week. He and his coaching staff watched film of other teams, watched film of his own team, and spent the week trying to use lessons learned from others and themselves to correct mistakes.

The concept of re-teaching is critical. Each Monday our school has a late start so teachers can meet in small teams of teachers to communicate and share ideas. We call these teams "Professional Learning Communities" or PLCs. One of the best reasons for the institution of PLCs is for teachers to work with each other examining data - looking at each other's "game film" - and exploring new ways to better teach concepts. District wide our high schools have developed common final assessments so that we can access the best our entire district has to offer. Teachers across the district can meet to compare their students' performances on assessments and share ideas for preparing students.

Using assessment data to identify areas to re-teach, or better teach, is the most relevant and significant reason to test. I once heard well-known educator Pedro Noguera say "I can teach my dog Spanish - that doesn't mean he'll be able to speak it." It's what our students learn that is important - not what we teach. If they aren't learning we need to adjust our instructional methods, and student assessments provide a blueprint for that work.

Problem Solving or "Mom Where are My Socks?"

How many times a day do your children yell through the house that they can't find something, only for you to walk into the maelstrom of chaos and madness we call the "teenager's bedroom" and find it right where it actually belongs? The last place any child looks is the most obvious, rightful place for an object. Perhaps this has been true throughout time, but I'm convinced the conveniences of the modern world have exacerbated the problem.

A critical function of today's classroom has to be problem solving. The world we live in changes so rapidly that people who can't adjust and adapt will be left dumbfounded as the world passes. The conveniences of the modern world have spoiled us into being incapable of solving even the simplest of problems. When our computers (the power and speed of which we couldn't have even imagined a few years ago) don't respond immediately, we're on the phone with the help desk for an answer. The changing environment in which we live has changed the focus of schools. Rote memorization has far less relevance in schools than teaching students to solve problems. We have moved more and more to skill based assessments in determining whether students have mastered the skills and the ability to apply those skills.

In a typical literature class, students will learn about authors, discuss texts, analyze those texts and have discussions regarding character and themes. Traditionally the exam might have included matching terms with definitions, answering short answer and multiple choice questions about events and literary devices from the piece, and reciting or regurgitating pearls of wisdom from teacher lectures. There is still room for some of that, however the outcome assessment, typically a semester or final exam, is now more likely to be a skill based assessment. On such a test, a student might be given a piece of literature with which he/she is unfamiliar, and asked to apply all the skills mastered during the course to analyze and answer questions based on this new, never before seen, piece. The goal is cultivating the skill to apply lessons learned to new situations.

Ask your child's teachers what kind of critical thinking and/or problem solving activities and assessments are being employed in the classroom. They should be able to point to specific examples in their lessons and assessments. We're determined to have graduates who can find their own socks, and who will never be stranded on an escalator...

Swine Flu

As news spreads across the area of numerous cases of H1N1 virus, we continue to get many questions from parents about the vaccine and its potential availability in schools. As of now, Wayne County has not shared any plans to offer the vaccine in the Grosse Pointe Schools, but has a limited roll-out of the vaccine in some Detroit schools. We will keep everyone posted. Our website www.gpschools.org has a lot of information for parents, and below is a letter sent home to all parents regarding a case of swine flu at North. Since this letter, we have become aware of several other students throughout the area who have contracted the virus. If you have any questions, please feel free to contact me at 313.432.3204.

Dear Parents:

As part of the district’s continued effort to keep you up to date on the H1N1 flu, the following information is being provided to keep you informed, not to cause alarm. We have learned that a student at Grosse Pointe North High School has a confirmed case of the H1N1 flu. The student is home recovering and will return to school soon.

The H1N1 flu has received a lot of attention in the media and, therefore, we felt that it was important to tell you about this first confirmed case (this flu season) in the district. However, since health officials are unable to predict how widespread it will become, we will not be sending home a letter each time we receive notice of a confirmed case.

At this point, the mid-west and more specifically southeastern Michigan has not had any widespread outbreaks of H1N1. The Center for Disease Control (CDC) is not recommending school closure in the event of a single case or even mild outbreaks of the H1N1 flu. School closures will only be considered if a large number of students or staff members are absent. District administration will inform parents in the event of a school closure by our automated phone fan-out system and posting on the district website. If a school or schools need to be closed for any reason, the Health Department suggest students not gather at another location, but rather stay home to avoid continued spread of flu outside of school.

There are many actions we can take to minimize the number of students who become ill this school year and we are asking for your help to do this.

v Remind your children how to reduce the risk of getting and spreading flu viruses by:
· Washing hands often. Wash with soap and hot water for at least 20 seconds.
· Use hand sanitizer. Gels and rubs with at least 60% alcohol are effective.
· Coughing or sneezing into their sleeve or elbow

v If your child is sick, keep him/her home for at least 24 hours after being free of fever, without fever reducing medication.

v Please continue to notify the school when your child will be absent. If you are keeping your child home due to flu or flu-like symptoms, please share that information with the school when reporting the absence.

The district will continue to make decisions based on the recommendations of city, county, and state public health organizations as well as the Center for Disease Control (CDC) and will keep you updated with new information as it becomes available.
Sincerely,
Tim Bearden C. Suzanne Klein
Principal Superintendent

The Pennant Race for Schools

Baseball pennant races are among the most exciting events in sports, and with our beloved Detroit Tigers in the midst of a down to wire chase for a playoff spot, there is a real sense of urgency here about the baseball season. Every pitch, every play, every at bat now takes on monumental importance as the team struggles to maintain their lead in the division race and make post season play. This sense of urgency has led to heightened performances for some, and disappointments for others. Mistakes at this point in the season are magnified, and every play dissected ad nausea by analysts. Our schools are in a "pennant race" every day. Never in our country's history has our future depended so much on an educated work force of the future.

There is a tendency in baseball to discount things that happen early in the season. An error in April doesn't count as much as an error in September. This same trap exists for schools. Mistakes that students make as freshmen don't seem as significant as ones they make in the senior year. It's important that we work to overcome that apathy towards early shortcomings, and create a sense of urgency for our students. In baseball and in schools, the error early in the "season" counts as much as the one late, it just may not get the same attention.

Parents, please help us stress the urgency of schoolwork, particularly with our younger students. When we meet with the freshmen on their first day, we emphasize to them that high school is the first time that the grades they receive will actually have a significant impact on their future. These grades will determine, in part, what post high school opportunities are available. Often times this catches both students and parents bu surprise, and there is a tendency to brush off the freshman year in terms of importance. Too often I see seniors who are choosing their schedule based on a desire to improve their g.p.a. because of deficiencies from their underclassman years, rather than choosing courses that will prepare them for what's ahead.

The need to be educated to survive and prosper has never been more urgent. Help us stress this urgency with all of our students, especially our young ones, and....Go Tigers!

The 100 Club - No Child Left Behind - For Real

In the year 2014 (frighteningly close...) 100% of students in the United States will be proficient on their state standardized school achievement test. Skeptical? That's the goal of the federal No Child Left Behind (NCLB) act. In fact, it's not just a goal, but an expectation that comes with negative consequences if not met. One would be hard-pressed to find an educator anywhere who thinks this goal is achievable, yet it's admirable. We can debate its realism, or decide to attack the problem in the spirit of really leaving no child behind - we've decided to attack the problem.

Over the summer, while reviewing our state test scores, I started seriously thinking about the possibility of 100% of our students achieving mastery of our state standards. As a teacher, I taught for ten years in a school of fewer than 400 students. Because we knew all of our students well, and had the opportunity to spend a lot off individual time with them in relatively small classes, it was significantly easier to see major improvements in achievement. It occurred to me that making our school "smaller" might be an answer.

Research and experience show that making real connections between student and teacher is one of the critical pieces in achievement. In small schools this is a much simpler proposition. With more than 1400 students in our building, and 350 plus juniors who will take the MME, we have to take active measures to make our school seem smaller. We want to include every educator in the building in school improvement, and reach every student. From this concept the idea of the 100 Club was born.

On a very small scale, working with students one on one, achievement gains happen more rapidly. I thought that if we could figure out a way to have teachers responsible for a small group - say five or six students, we could cultivate such a one on one type atmosphere. Working with our administrative team, and our building leadership team, we came up with a plan. We have approximately eighty professional staff in our building, and 360 juniors. If every educator is responsible for five students, that is a plan that will include every student in the junior class.

On the first day for staff, we discussed our ideas, and laid out a plan. We posted lists of all the juniors in the building, and asked our teachers to volunteer to work with five students by putting their own name next to the students' names on the list. On the lists we indicated whether students had passed their 8th grade MEAP, and whether they were in support classes. We also included the students' lunch hours. We wanted staff people to choose students they knew, who have the same lunch hour as they do to find additional meeting time, and to pick students with whom they thought they could have success. We're looking to establish personal connections.

The role of the mentor teacher or coach in the 100 Club is to meet regularly with his/her five students and monitor their progress. The coach will act as a liaison with other teachers, help find additional help in areas where the student struggles, provide MME and ACT resources and practice tests, provide encouragement and keep contact with parents. The teacher is taking some of the responsibility for the MME success of his or her "team" of students.

Some teachers will set aside time during late start Mondays, some during lunches, before or after school, during tutorials, or at other agreed upon times. We will ask every student and parent to sign a letter of commitment to mastering the state standards. Every student who attends all meetings with his/her mentor will receive rewards, and have their name entered in drawings for prizes. In March, they will all take the MME, and we will see if it's possible to have 100% of our students meet the standards the MME tests.

We've provided all of our teachers resource materials, and will be updating a "manual" for them throughout the year. We have established a social network group online for our teachers to use to exchange ideas for working with their students. We will meet with all of our juniors during their class meeting this week and roll out the plan for them. We will establish incentives and short term goals for juniors throughout the year. Our teachers and administrators are teaming with our students to work together towards a goal of 100% of our students achieving mastery on the MME.

As the old adage goes, "Shoot for the moon, and if you miss you still end up among the stars...". We're shooting for the moon with the 100 Club - a partnership of students, parents and staff. Watch for more updates, and contact us with questions or comments about this program.

Making the Grade

Several years ago the state of Michigan began giving letter grades to schools as part of the Education Yes! initiative. State school improvement efforts have converged with NCLB requirements, and now all states give their schools some kind of performance review that includes AYP status. While this is certainly an imperfect system, it does give schools some standard for improvement. This year, we're proud to announce that Grosse Pointe North High School received an "A" on the state report card.

All schools in the Grosse Pointe district received letter grades of "A's". North's scores are far above state averages, as is true district wide, but that is not the only measure of success. In addition, for high schools the graduation / dropout rate is counted, achievement change (improvement from year to year) is counted, and the AYP status considers performance of what the law calls "sub-groups" - minority students, socioeconomically disadvantaged students, and special education students.

North's focus last year was on closing the achievement gap between our lowest and highest achieving students, and the school's improvements in that area led to North making AYP and receiving a letter grade of "A". For this year, we have even bigger and bolder plans to bolster achievement gains. Look soon for posts regarding North's "100 Club", a new program for all juniors.

For now, we've made the grade and it's an "A", confirming what we all know - North High School is an exemplary school!

Lost Generation

This is a very creative and thoughtful reflection by a young person. Be sure to watch all the way through for the great twist on a theme.

Our young people represent our greatest hope for preserving and improving our great country and the world. This is a great reminder about the power of hope.