debate about the modernization of grading practices, since the research on standards-based grading is in its infancy (Brookhart, 2013b).
There is not enough space in this book to thoroughly explore the move to learning-centered grades (or grades based on achieving standards), but should you have questions, you can refer to the countless professional resources available for details on how to create a learning-centered grading system (Guskey, 2015; O’Connor, 2011; Reeves, 2016; Schimmer, 2016; Schimmer, Hillman, & Stalets, in press). Visit go.SolutionTree.com/assessment for links to these resources. Despite the pockets of debate, we strongly believe a culture of learning is a culture in which student grades exclusively reflect their levels of achievement.
Strategies and Tools
The focus of this book is about making instructional maneuvers yet teachers cannot maximize those maneuvers without firmly establishing a culture of learning. This section offers a few practical ways in which teachers can begin or maintain a culture that values who they teach more than what they teach.
Strategy 1: Design Assessments
Designing assessments is not just a procedural exercise; there is a human side to assessment that teachers must always be mindful of. Assessments will either add to or take away from the student-teacher relationship. Assessments that are sensitive to student readiness are the ones that help build strong, trusting relationships. As well, paralanguage—elements that accompany spoken words—is critical, since not all learning demonstrations emerge in written form, which means how students communicate their learning provides additional insight. Listening to the tone of a response or watching student body language while solving a difficult problem can be influential on how teachers respond in real time. And finally, knowing why an assessment is occurring and how the teacher intends to use the results gives the necessary transparency that allows students to invest in the assessment experience.
Build Strong Relationships
It may seem odd that building relationships falls under assessment design, but as we have already established, we cannot separate learning from its social context, which means the relationships teachers have with students undoubtedly impact the culture of learning. Teachers can begin by making a personal connection with their students. This doesn’t mean teachers become best friends with every student, but it does mean getting to know each student on a somewhat personal level. They can ask students questions about themselves, their families, hobbies, the way they learn, and the way they do not learn.
Teachers can also reveal a personal side of themselves that humanizes the classroom experience. They may model moments of frustration, perseverance, and success, showing students their own intimate understanding of the learning process. In a culture of learning that maximizes the opportunity for teachers to be instructionally agile (and for students to engage in carrying out the subsequent actions), teachers and students invest in one another and trust that the relationship is strong enough to withstand—even prevent—any potentially aversive situations or circumstances.
Be Mindful of Paralanguage
Certainly, what teachers say goes a long way toward communicating priorities, but of equal influence on a culture of learning is their paralanguage—all the things that accompany words, like body language, pitch, and tone. Whether it’s tone of voice, certain gestures, facial expressions, or other nonverbal forms of communication, teachers who are mindful of aligning language and paralanguage help solidify a culture of learning. The messages to students about the importance of learning ring hollow if nonverbal cues say the opposite. For example, a teacher who offers further opportunities to deepen understanding, but does so with a tone of frustration, may send a mixed message: Is it okay to take longer to learn or isn’t it? Students who struggle or simply take longer to complete their work can be quite sensitive to paralanguage, so just being aware of the alignment between verbal and nonverbal messages increases the likelihood of creating an optimal learning environment.
Stay Focused on the Why
So much of the frustration students experience in school centers on the lack of clarity they have about why they are doing what they do. Too often, we expect students to complete tasks, assignments, and other activities without understanding why they’re doing them and what it will eventually lead to. Teachers who build cultures of learning do so by making the learning intentions and success criteria transparent, as well as continually explaining how today meshes with the overarching goals of tomorrow (the learning progression).
By articulating clear learning intentions, specific targets, and success criteria, teachers keep learning at the forefront. They can also frame any other skill-based or attribute-based learning in terms of why when they, for example, organize students into groups to produce tangible evidence of learning (such as a project) as well as learn how to function within an effective collaborative team. In this case, teachers don’t leave students wondering why they are doing group work to produce evidence of learning; they know that the process of learning effective collaboration is a parallel learning goal.
Strategy 2: Interpret Assessments
Assessment’s power comes from using the results to advance student learning, but for results to be used productively, teachers must communicate results with a learning-centered focus (and the necessary finesse) to ensure students keep learning. After interpreting assessments, teachers can engineer opportunities for students to actively advance their own proficiency. Providing feedback that focuses on what’s next causes thinking and balances both strengths and that which needs strengthening. Teachers can feel more confident that students will see assessment interpretation as simply the next opportunity to expand their skills and understandings.
Emphasize What’s Next
Instructional agility is all about what’s next, so assessing through that lens is essential. Feedback and subsequent actions are more effective when they describe rather than evaluate, especially when teachers intend to use assessments formatively. For example, teachers can begin feedback with the phrase, “Now let’s work on …” instead of “You should have …” Though it may seem subtle, this level of awareness not only addresses the what’s next view of feedback, but its paralanguage also aligns. For example, consider the following: “Now let’s work on isolating the variable before dividing both sides by four.” This sounds more learning centered than, “You should have isolated the variable before dividing both sides by four.” One is descriptive, and the other is judgmental.
Promote Thinking Opportunities
As we discussed earlier, one of the cultural forces that shape classrooms is the opportunity students have to think (Ritchhart, 2015). Teachers provide consistent opportunities for students to think by stimulating them with feedback. Feedback that takes the form of a cue, question, or prompt directs student attention to the appropriate place but asks students to determine why. For example, a teacher may ask a student why he or she has highlighted a particular passage in a writing sample. Asking questions instead of providing answers forces students to be active participants in the feedback process because they find the details of the feedback in the answers. Even more, actively involving students in the process of self- and peer assessment requires them to think throughout the entire assessment process. Learning is thinking, so by using strategies that force students to think, teachers instill in them the primary concern that more learning should emerge from any initial demonstration.
Balance Strengths and Areas Needing Improvement
Taking a balanced approach to feedback sends the message that everyone is somewhere on the path to proficiency. For students who are more confident and more proficient, a deficiency focus may not be problematic, but for others,
