The standards movement is now more than two decades old, yet the fundamental premise of standards – that students should be evaluated based on their performance rather than comparison – remains mired in controversy.  The failure of grading reform is often a self-inflicted wound, with school systems falling victim to fads, unnecessary complexity, and silly controversies. Here are five ways to get grading reform unstuck.

Success in high school and college is a strong predictor of future employment, financial success, family stability, and health. It’s certainly true that a four-year liberal arts degree is not essential for this – skilled jobs in building trades and technical medical fields, for example, pay well and do not require a four-year college degree. But nearly every job offering middle-class wages requires some post-secondary education, at a community college, technical school or university.

If you've been scrolling through Instagram Reels or TikTok, you've likely stumbled upon those entertaining clips sharing tips on learning a new language. Some playfully jest that it's "easy but be careful." These videos, initially in French and Spanish, now seem to explore languages beyond the romantic ones.

There was a time when educators feared that the use of handheld calculators would encourage students to cheat on math homework because they would lose the ability to do mental math.  Similarly dire predictions were made about the spell-check functions on word processors and, later on, by programs that corrected grammar and usage errors in student essays.

Education professionals have returned from a well-deserved rest after the stressful year of 2022. The top concern I hear around the nation is time – too much to do, too many standards to cover, too many behavioral issues, too many meetings, and despite abundant federal funding, not enough to purchase a 25-hour day.  This article offers five practical suggestions to save time and, as a result, reduce anxiety and stress that is the daily enemy of success for teachers and educational leaders. 

School leaders and educational policymakers are faced with a stark choice in how to invest funds that have been distributed to schools and district as a result of COVID relief legislation.  That choice is between investing in people or products.  There are certainly products that have value, and the multi-billion dollar investment in technology has given access to students and families that previously were disenfranchised from the technology revolution of the 21st century.  Nevertheless, products fade. Investments in people will endure.  This article suggests three guidelines for how to get the most out of investments so that the benefits will last long after federal funds have expired.  First, invest in assessment literacy, not tests.  Second, invest in school leadership and build a bench of future leaders.  Third, invest more than money in attracting and retaining great teachers and paraprofessionals.

Sometimes we need to take a minute and realize that nature has gentle lessons for us - not just catastrophic weather events.  Much wisdom can be gained by paying attention to these gentle lessons.  The past two years have been nothing shy of survival in schools.  Let’s take a few minutes to reflect on how nature just might have the answer for you!

When is the first time that you can recall being in a high-trust environment? Perhaps it was early in your career when colleagues and supervisors encouraged you, forgave your mistakes, and gave you a sense of confidence that allowed you to forge ahead to launch your career as an educational professional and make a difference for your students. Perhaps it was even earlier, when a teacher helped you break the bonds of perfectionism, encouraged you to try something new, and then encouraged you through the inevitable mistakes that accompany the risk-taking endeavor we call learning. But I would like to suggest that your first experience in a high-trust environment was much earlier.

Picture this: School starts and everyone is focused on assessing learning loss. Interventions are put in place but students continue to struggle. Schools struggle with lack of engagement, failing grades, and, increased behavioral issues. School teams are confounded and ask why? Why isn’t the learning loss being mitigated by reading and math interventions? The straight truth is because schools siloed social and emotional learning from the total equation. Instead of being the foundation for the reopening plan, many schools across the country attended to the academic side of the house without realizing the actual foundation relies on social emotional learning or SEL. 

Introduction:  The traditional 4-point scale, with A=4, B=3, C=2, D=1, and F=0, has been used throughout the almost 400-year history of public education in the United States.   This article establishes the rationale that the traditional system, not the “new” system of the 100-point scale established in the early 1900’s, is the most accurate, fair, and respectful way to grade students

As the 2020-2021 school year opened, the principal and staff of Jackson Elementary in Elmhurst District 205 near Chicago knew what they didn’t know.  They didn’t know how parents would respond to their children learning remotely from home.  They didn’t how they were going to be able to keep up with changing schedules from remote, to hybrid, to in-person, and back again through the cycle according to the pandemic infection metrics.  They didn’t know how to keep focused on student learning, knowing that teacher and student health might preclude academic achievement.

Monterey Peninsula Unified School District (MPUSD) is the proud home to three comprehensive high schools and one alternative high school serving approximately 3,170 students. MPUSD, like many districts across the country, has worked incredibly hard to begin the new year and the new semester, and we have much to celebrate. Over the course of the first semester and with an extended grading window, the four high schools in MPUSD collectively reduced the number of Fs by 77%.

Monterey Peninsula Unified School District (MPUSD) is the proud home to three comprehensive high schools and one alternative high school serving approximately 3,170 students. MPUSD, like many districts across the country, has worked incredibly hard to begin the new year and the new semester, and we have much to celebrate. Over the course of the first semester and with an extended grading window, the four high schools in MPUSD collectively reduced the number of Fs by 77%.

A recent study by the Civil Rights Project at UCLA confirms what many of us have long suspected: American middle and high schools are losing a shocking number of instructional days to suspension. Using discipline data collected from almost every U.S. school district, the study found that 28 districts lost more than a year of learning to this draconian discipline practice. And what populations were most affected? You guessed it: Black students and students with disabilities were disproportionately deprived of the opportunity to learn in the name of suspension.

The pandemic numbers continue to be grim, but we must be relentless in our support of student learning. While it is true that COVID-19 is a matter of public safety, so is literacy. If we do not revert the looming dropout time bomb, the public health crisis associated with dropouts will last for generations.  

Schools are facing an avoidable crisis – students dropping out of high school because of toxic policies that lead to a cascading series of failures that will undermine any reason for them to persist in their studies. When students to fail to complete high school, they face a lifetime of unemployment, poverty, increased health care needs, and greater involvement in the criminal justice system. If these students were inside a burning building, we would not convene focus groups, hire consultants, or begin a strategic plan. We would get them out of the burning building. There are only a few weeks left in the fall of 2020 to decide how to respond to this crisis.

This is the first in a series of brief articles about digital equity. Each week, we will provide educators and leaders with an immediately applicable strategy that will help students, teachers, and leaders focus on what matters most.

In my live and virtual travels around the country, one consistent concern I am hearing is the difficulty of establishing and maintaining emotional connections between teachers and students. We can’t wait for schools to resume live instruction for this vital part of learning. Here are five ideas you can apply right now.

Classroom observations can be a key strategy for improved teaching and learning, provided that they are conducted in a manner that gives teachers constructive and immediately applicable feedback as well as a chance to engage in a substantive conversation about their work with students and colleagues.

In the fall of 2020, schools are opening in a season of continuing trauma for students, families, and staff members. The deaths and illnesses of family, friends, and colleagues are perpetual reminders of how fragile life is and how the emotional needs of children and adults are a central responsibility of educational leadership.