Author archive

Eric Wright

Yet another AP Report to the Nation has good news and bad news.

Good News – An article  from insidehighered.com reports that in 2012 more students are taking AP courses (↑ 2/2% from 2011 and 18% since 2002) AND more students are passing the AP test (↑ 1.4% from 2011 and 11.6% since 2002) with a 3 or above.  Further, Virginia is in the top 10 (#5) states regarding it’s pass rate on AP tests for high school graduates.

Bad News – Still there are many students who are likely to pass an AP test (as measured by PSAT test scores) but do not take an AP test.  These students are likely candidates for AP classes.  An alarming number are minorities and come from low-income families.   College board suggests strategies to promoting equity within schools to combat such disparity.

Eric Wright

Post Up!  Center the ball!  Be careful of Off-sides!  These comments can be heard every Saturday across the country at Parks and Recreation fields where budding soccer stars are competing.  With a ten year old daughter who plays soccer, I can see the result of ineffective feedback.  Often I am the one giving it.  I’m not sure that my daughter has a solid understanding of what Off-Sides is, but it doesn’t keep me from yelling it during a game.  I recently read an article titled 7 Keys to Effective Feedback in the September, 2012 edition of Educational Leadership.  Feedback that impacts instruction must be:

• Tangible
• Transparent
• Actionable
• Focused
• Timely
• Ongoing
• Consistent

The author (Grant Wiggins) makes a compelling argument that our current grading systems, and even many of our teacher evaluation systems, are ineffective at the above items.  I often hear students bemoan busy work because they know it is not goal oriented.  The worksheet might reinforce a lecture, but there is often no real feedback other than a grade.  A grade is not meaningful feedback, nor is a check-mark on an observation or summative evaluation.

Instead, we should strive to provide tangible feedback that provides insight regarding how well students (or teachers) accomplish a goal.  When my daughter scores a goal after I direct her to stand in the middle of the field instead of joining the scrum of players, my feedback becomes meaningful because she sees that it directly relates to scoring.  Similarly, students need to see why they are doing a certain activity.  We call this a rationale.

If my daughter stands in the exact center of the field instead of being closer to the goal, my directions are not transparent.  I need to be clear about what steps need to be taken to improve.  In the same way, instead of telling a teacher to improve her classroom management, specific strategies need to be spelled out for this teacher to be successful.  Suggestions need to be clear and supportive.

Supportive comments like yelling, “Good shot!” from the sidelines is encouraging, but not feedback.  It provides no direction or advice.  Feedback needs to be actionable.  Teachers should know what can be done with the advice given.  Wiggins suggests setting up a return observation which targets the advice given.

Sometimes several bits of advice are given at once.  This can be confusing to a player on a field as well as a teacher in the classroom.  Make an effort to provide focused suggestions that target the area of greatest need.  I have experienced this when taking golf lessons from my father.  “Keep your head down, straighten your left arm, open your stance, follow through…” good grief.  If too many suggestions are given at once, the ‘nuggets’ might get lost.

For feedback to be effective, it needs to be given in a timely fashion.  This is the beauty of some online assessments, they give immediate feedback.  Some even let you know what the correct responses are and why.

Recently, the nation watched Superbowl XLVII.  Like most professional football games, sideline views often show quarterbacks  pouring over images taken from the previous series.  These images are timely and ongoing so the quarterback can respond the next time he sees the same defense.  This is what we call formative assessment in the education world.

Lastly, Wiggins says feedback needs to be consistent.  My English department has started grading papers using the anchor paper method.  This supports their effort in being consistent across the grade level.  For those of you in PLC’s, without some form of consistency, a common assessment can result in drastically different outcome for students based on how their teacher grades.

Each of these strategies must be present if you want meaningful and sustained feedback.  Feedback is not the same thing as grades or advice.  It must be targeted and well thought out for the recipient to take it to heart.  I’m sure my daughter could be a much better soccer player had I read this article a couple years ago.  Fortunately, she’s picked up a tip or two along the way.

Eric Wright

Should schools encourage students to take AP classes (and AP tests) at the risk of lowering AP scores?  Should more students be introduced to college-level classes to prepare them for the rigor of academia outside the K-12 environment?  Or does this just water down the AP curriculum?  Are we setting these students up for failure?  These are the questions we are wrestling with at my school.

There is a balancing act that needs to be considered.  As an administrator, do I want to see a greater percentage of test takers as compared to the total number of students, or do I want to have the highest test scores?  I’d lean toward the former.  Is there a way to increase AP student enrollment, percent testing and pass rate?  In a previous blog, I shared suggestions about how to increase AP test scores from AP Report to the Nation.  While we are implementing a few suggestions (summer boot camps, vertical aligning and greater collaboration), I’m not convinced these will work.

Please share if you have seen this balancing act performed effectively.

Eric Wright

Frodo’s quest to destroy the magical ring in the movie The Lord of the Rings reminds me of how we sometimes treat test scores.  They are often hidden and not discussed, shared or considered within many education circles.  They are like heavy burdens teachers carry to their retirement.  Doesn’t this go against the very core of PLC’s?

Once upon a time I sold cars.  My statistics were up on a board for all of my coworkers to see.  My pay was based on my performance.  To improve, I sought out the best salespersons and asked for tips.  I watched how they interacted with customers and I learned much from them.

Recently I had a powerful conversation with a teacher whom I supervise and respect.  The discussion revolved around her AP test scores compared to others in the county.  I tried to guide her toward inquiring what the other teachers were doing to produce such scores.  Instead, the discussion kept getting back to excuses and placing limitations and requirements to students enrolling in an AP class.  Why is this?

What educators need to do is shed off the shackles of secrecy and let others share the load.  Like Frodo’s faithful companion, Samwise, we should be willing to share the load even if it means carrying others once in a while.

Eric Wright

Loss Aversion is a teacher incentive program that pays teachers for student progress and requiring them to pay it back (or take it away) if student achievement does not improve.  I’d be hung from the rafters by my necktie if I suggested such practice in our county, but it’s worth discussing.  A study out of Harvard suggests such practices significantly affect student achievement more than the traditional merit pay.  The study also indicates that student achievement can improve by more than one standard deviation.  A shorter article from the Washington Post summarizes the findings.  It’s worth a read.