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CLARK COUNTY SCHOOL DISTRICT

PATHWAY FOR SUCCESS

McCall Elementary School

January 25, 2023 Community Meeting

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Thank you for taking an active role in your child’s educational journey.

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GOALS

Understand the shifts in classroom instruction and how student progress is communicated.
Promote student success through equitable grading by exploring priorities in Regulation 5121, Student Progress: Grading (Grades Kindergarten through Twelve).

School-wide Grading Policy

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WHY THE SHIFT?

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Standards and expectations have changed.
Opportunities for all students to succeed.
Accurate communication to families and students is required for success.
Support from our school community is critical.

REQUIRED SLIDE.

Talking Points:

Why did the Clark County School District implement a shift in how we report academic achievement?

Standards and expectations have changed.

Think about when we all were in school and the history of education in general. Education was very task driven and grades were based primarily on completing a set of activities. We completed a task and then the teacher moved on whether we learned it or not.
With years of the Nevada Academic Content Standards being implemented, standards and expectations for academics have evolved. The standards are complex and were developed with the intent of providing students the school year to understand and master the content. Our instruction and expectations should match this understanding that students learn at varying paces and provide the school year to gain mastery of standards. It’s not a one and done opportunity. We will no longer allow students to fail and move on, as the learning is too important and it builds from year to year.

Opportunities for all students to succeed.

Creating pathways for success is a top priority for educators. We want to ensure all students are afforded opportunities to show mastery of learning. The goal for each school community is to ensure our students successfully exit each course proficient.
This means we are teaching our students it’s ok to make mistakes. That is all part of the learning process. We are teaching them it’s important to keep trying until mastery is achieved.
This provides students who take a little longer to learn the same opportunities as others to be successful.

Another reason for the shift is to support accurate communication to families and students as it is a requirement for success.

The purpose of the report card is to report academic progress aligned to grade level standards.
It is our professional responsibility to provide accurate communication to our students and families. The priorities we will discuss today will show how this ensures an accurate report of student progress.

Support from our school community is critical.

We are all here because we want our students to reach their fullest potential and succeed.
During our time today, please think about how the priority areas align to providing all students the opportunity to succeed.

https://www.pexels.com/photo/black-female-teacher-looking-at-schoolgirl-raising-hand-5905458/

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PRIORITY AREAS

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Implement an equal (balanced) grading scale.
Remove behavior from the grading process.
Implement a consistent reassessment policy to include opportunities for reflection, revision, and reassessment in order to ensure mastery of the Nevada Academic Content Standards (NVACS) and District curriculum for all students.
Implement consistent weighting and categories in the Infinite Campus Gradebook for recording formative and summative assessments.

REQUIRED SLIDE.

Talking Points:

In July of 2021, the Board of School Trustees approved revised Regulation 5121, Student Progress: Grading, to ensure equity and accuracy in reporting for all students in the Clark County School District. Included in the regulation are four priority areas that focus our efforts.

Implementing the shifts in the regulation will take time and CCSD is committed to a multi-year plan of support as changes in mindset and practice occur.

The CCSD Grading Reform Guidelines have been developed alongside educators and administrators and serves as the implementation framework for schools to use when developing school wide grading reform plans. The guidelines provide a consistent structure while also providing flexibility for schools as they work in partnership with their educators, students, and families.

bit.ly/CCSDGradingGuidelines

https://www.pexels.com/photo/curious-schoolboy-looking-through-magnifier-at-camera-in-room-6186146/

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IMPLEMENT AN EQUAL (BALANCED) GRADING SCALE

Provides equity and accuracy in grade calculations.
Equal interval scale reporting achievement from 50–100 percent.

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REMOVE BEHAVIOR FROM THE GRADING PROCESS

Academic performance will be the only factor included in student grades.
Students will no longer be penalized through the academic grade for late work submitted within the established guidelines, participation, responsibility, etc.
Behaviors will be reported separately as a successful learner behavior or citizenship grade.

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REMOVE BEHAVIOR FROM THE GRADING PROCESS

AT McCall Elementary School:

Successful Learner Behaviors

Successful Learner Behaviors are taught within our Leader In Me curriculum
Successful Learner Behaviors are evaluated as Exceptional, Satisfactory, or Needs Improvement

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	Exceptional Progress	Satisfactory Progress	Needs Improvement
Observes School Rules	Student observes all school rules and is a model for others	Student observes school rules on a consistent basis A reminder is sometimes necessary	Student needs improvement observing the school rules
Follows Classroom Rules	Student follows all classroom rules and is a model for others	Student follows classroom rules on a consistent basis A reminder is sometimes necessary	Student needs improvement following the classroom rules
Follows Directions	Student follows directions by all staff members and is a model for others	Student follows directions on a consistent basis A reminder is sometimes necessary	Student needs improvement following directions
Accepts Responsibility	Student accepts responsibility and is a model for others Habit 1 is shown and understood	Student accepts responsibility on a consistent basis A reminder of Habit 1 is sometimes necessary	Student needs improvement accepting responsibility More work in Habit 1 is necessary
Works Independently	Student is able to work independently and is a model for others	Student is able to work independently on a consistent basis	Student needs improvement in working independently
Works Cooperatively	Student is able to work cooperatively with peers and is a model for others	Student is able to work cooperatively with peers on a consistent basis	Student needs improvement in working cooperatively with peers
Completes and Returns Homework on Time	Student completes and returns all homework assignments on time	Student is able to complete and return most homework assignments on time	Student needs improvement in completing and returning homework assignments on time. Student has more than 3 missing homework assignments.
Quality of Work	The quality of student work is always the best of the student’s ability	The quality of student work is usually the best of the student’s ability	The quality of student work needs improvement to be the be the best of the student’s ability

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IMPLEMENT A CONSISTENT REASSESSMENT POLICY

Include opportunities for reflection, revision, and reassessment in order to ensure mastery of the NVACS and District curriculum for all students.

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REQUIRED SLIDE.

Talking Points:

The third priority focuses on implementing a consistent reassessment policy to include opportunities for reflection, revision, and reassessment in order to ensure mastery of the NVACS and District curriculum for all students.

We acknowledge the fact that students learn at different rates. Providing opportunities for students to deepen their learning and demonstrate their new understanding of content standards honors this truth. By providing reassessment opportunities, we have made a collective commitment to teaching perseverance and grit. Two critical life skills.

The reassessment guidelines provide a common definition of what is and what is not reassessment to build consistency across all schools. Let’s explore what reassessment looks like on the table presented on the slide.

All students have the opportunity to demonstrate higher levels of learning through reassessment.

All schools across CCSD must establish reassessment opportunities for students who have not met standards within the identified NVACS/NVACS Connectors and District curriculum, establish a timely opportunity for reteaching and relearning, and communicate expectations to students and families.

Students who have met standards within the identified NVACS/NVACS Connectors and District curriculum may request a reassessment opportunity aligned to the guidelines for elementary schools.

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REASSESSMENT POLICY AT McCall ES

Students may be reassessed on the same Nevada Academic Content Standard when:

Student requests to be reassessed after working to improve mastery of the Standard
Parent asks to have child assessed again after working with the child and the teacher to improve mastery of the Standard
Teacher has worked with the student to improve mastery of the Standard
The reassessment is within the same grading period, up to one week before semester report cards.

The reassessment may look different than the original assessment, based on the needs of the student and the Standard being reassessed

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CONSISTENT WEIGHTING AND CATEGORIES

Recording Formative and Summative Assessments

2021–2022:

Formative 0–25 percent
Summative 75–100 percent

2022–2023:

Formative 0–20 percent
Summative 80–100 percent

2023–2024:

Formative 0–10 percent
Summative 80–100 percent

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Low Stakes = Practice

High Stakes = Game Day

REQUIRED SLIDE.

Talking Points:

The fourth priority focuses on implementing uniform weighting and categories in the Infinite Campus gradebook for recording formative (low stakes) and summative (high stakes) assessments. Ensuring consistent calculations when determining achievement supports accuracy in reporting student progress across all schools in CCSD.

Mastery of the standards is the ultimate expectation. How students get there will look different.

Let’s use this sports example to better understand the differences between both formative and summative assessment. We wouldn’t ask our children how many points they scored after a practice because it wouldn’t be appropriate. Yet, often times we grade quizzes and assign points to practice assignments in our gradebook. Practices also inform the coach if a player is ready for the game or if they need more skill development. How does this align to classroom instruction and formative assessment? As educators and students engage in formative assessment, our educators know if a student is ready to show what they know on the summative assessment or if they need deeper learning to be successful. In addition, formative assessments provides students with the opportunity to learn from making mistakes without being punitive in the grade as learning is a process.

On game day, however, we expect our children to apply the skills they’ve learned during practice in order to win the game. On summative assessments, we expect our students to apply the skills they’ve learned in class in order to demonstrate their level of mastery of the standard. It should not matter how long it took them to get there, just that they did master the standard and that is what gets reported as evidence of student learning. The real question is “Why is summative weighted so heavily?” Weighting formative practice with a high percentage distorts what a student knows in the end. Our weighting of student progress honors the fact that students learn at different rates and when they learn skills/standards THAT is reported in the grade book for a high value (summative assessments).

Real world example:

Practicing for your driver’s license is a formative process. It doesn’t matter how long it took you to learn how to drive, once you pass the test (summative assessment) you are rewarded with a license.

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WEIGHTING AND CATEGORIES AT McCall ES

Recording Formative and Summative Assessments

2021–2022:

Formative 0-25 percent
Summative 75-100 percent

2022–2023:

Formative 0-20 percent
Summative 80-100 percent

2023–2024:

Formative 0-20 percent
Summative 80-100 percent

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Low Stakes = Practice

High Stakes = Game Day

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“The way we grade should motivate students to achieve academic success, support a growth mindset, and give students opportunities for redemption.”

Author Joe Feldman, Grading for Equity

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Questions?

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