Our Philosophy and How We Implement It

Shaw Middle School adopted a Standards-based system of grading when it opened in August 2004. Our philosophy incorporates the ideas of Guskey, DuFour, Lezotte and the Effective Schools Movement. We are a work-in-progress and solve problems as they come up. It hasn’t been easy, but our students’ success is evidenced by their achievement on standardized testing.

In a nutshell our philosophy answers three questions:

· What is it we want students to learn?

· What must they do to show us they learned it?

· What happens if they don’t learn it?

What is it we want students to learn?

The State and District have adopted standards for each teaching discipline. Each department determines the essential standards (those that each student absolutely have to master) and in which quarter they will be taught. The quarterly standards are included with our standards-based report card so that parents can see how well their students have learned the standards.

What must they do to show us they learned it?

Each department develops common assessments, projects and rubrics based on the essential standards. Students know exactly what is expected of them to meet or exceed the standard. They are shown examples of excellent work and teachers’ lessons are designed to help students master each assessment.

Grading has been broken down into two components: product and process. Product is what the student actually knows or can do. The product grade or Academic Grade is based on five or six meaningful assessments or projects each quarter in each subject area. Although there are many formative assessments during the quarter, only the five or six summative assessments determine a student’s academic grade.

The process grade is based on five Work Ethic standards. Students know exactly what is expected of them: being prepared and on time; completing all work, including homework; seeking help when needed and actively participating in class; behaving responsibly; and following district, school and classroom rules.

Homework is important and is required; however, it is not part of the Academic Grade—instead, it is part of the Work Ethic Grade. There is a very strong correlation between successfully completing homework and mastering the essential standards.

What happens if they don’t learn it?

Our expectation is that all students will master the essential standards. Students that are not successful on assessments or projects are given multiple opportunities for success. Before they can retake a parallel exam or redo a project, they must meet with the teacher to identify the areas in which they need additional study and to demonstrate that they have completed all homework and classroom work. This has been particularly effective because students are not doomed to a low grade if they do poorly on an assessment or forget to turn in a homework assignment. Our system promotes hope rather than hopelessness.

Almost all of our special education students are in English and math inclusion classes. Inclusion classes have a regular education teacher and a special education teacher. The teachers have a common prep period, plan the lessons together and co-teach the lesson. Those special education students that need additional help are in a directed studies class each day. The special education teacher, because he or she is part of the regular education class, pre-teaches or re-teaches concepts during directed studies so the student is prepared to learn in the regular education class.