Evaluation of Student Performance:

1. Evaluation of Student Performance: Measuring Student Life Performance Skills via Teacher Action Research

2. “Education is a lifelong process of which schooling is only a small but necessary part. The various stages of education reach terminal points. Each can be completed in a definite term of years. But learning never reaches a terminal point. As long as one remains alive and healthy, learning can go on – and should.” Mortimer Adler

3. Student LearningandTeacher Learning: Happening simultaneously?

4. The New Country School Program • Five Cornerstones • Extensive Parent involvement • Teacher/Student Accountability • Community as a Place to Learn • Technology as a Tool for Learning • Coalition of Essential Schools’ Principles

5. Project-Based Learning • Students choose area of interest, propose project. • Advisors/Parents have input, guidance to standards. • Students work on integrated projects with community experts, advisors, community, technology. • Project assessed by team of advisors & experts, credit for number of projects and standards met.

6. Adherence to Brain-based Research Principles • Relaxed alertness as an optimal state of mind. • Orchestrated immersion of the learner in complex experiences in which curriculum is embedded. • Active processing of the experience so that learners create potential meanings from the experiences.

7. What is Learning? • To Know: content, facts, declarative knowledge. • To Do: application, producing, skills, processes. • To Be: dispositions, attitudes, becoming, possibilities.

8. Development of Project and Independent Learning Skills • Project rubrics to reflect elements of successful completion of quality products. • Independent Learner Skills rubrics to reflect qualities of successful citizen/productive worker • Presentation rubric to reflect ability to present knowledge/create products.

9. Project Rubric Development • Elements decided upon internally – from needs to “control” student action & behavior. • Staff Development decided upon looking at external elements – what do kids need to know & do, and how do we know? • Consideration of Dimensions of Learning elements. • Recognized the need to coincide elements with Independent Learner Rubric.

10. Independent Learner Skill Rubric Development • First developments from internal forces: • Heavy on organization andtime-management; • No real breakdown of what complex reasoning is. • Second development attempts to include Dimensions of Learning elements and community connections. • Some inclusion of complex reasoning skills. • Third development from staff development with Bill Spady on Life Performance. • Heavy on external elements – what are society’s expectations for students, what does a life-long learner need?

11. Critical Thinking Skills • Comprehension • New facts are gathered, uses information well, understands concepts within standards. • Competency • Knows and understands the facts, new thoughts developed on basis of new information. • Context • Information/knowledge used in multiple “real” contexts.

12. Life Performance EQ Skills • Leader & Organizer • Leads, gets results, others respect, effective use of time, follows through. • Mediator & Negotiator • Sought out to help, articulates issues that lead to solutions, open-minded, active listener. • Coach & Facilitator • Assists others, sticks to goals, encourages others. • Advocate & Supporter • Stands up for someone or idea, handles confidential information well, supports others, “other centered.”

13. Life Performance IQ Skills • Implementer & Performer • Demonstrates high achievement and effectiveness, accepts constructive criticism, creates relationship with community. • Problem Framer/Solver • Demonstrates ability to frame and solve complex, real world problems, meets standards consistently. • Innovator & Designer • Creates original work, something unique or new, willing to take risks. • Producer & Contributor • Creates professional quality products with few blemishes, consistently makes positive contributions to community & school

14. Presentation Skills Rubric • Development from simple to complex. • Looked at other exhibition/speech rubrics (Connect-4 Senior Exhibit Rubric). • Attempted to create categories that fit more closely with Independent Learner Rubric. • Addition of Knowledge and Application Skill category, Organization and Problem Solving category.

15. Continued Development Due to Action Research, Democratic Governance • New Country School staff: • continually monitors results with students; • continually discusses research from the educational community; • is always looking for a better way to reflect their mission of developing life-long learners; • is continually involved with action research in its true meaning.

16. Student Portfolios Around Life Performance Skills • Teach students to reflect on work in each of eight categories. • Quiz students on the categories as assessed. • Students add relevant pieces of project work in categories (if they fit). • Key is student’s knowing what to look for, what to add to projects, what to add to portfolios.

17. Reporting Student Progress • Portfolios speak for themselves, but can’t be disseminated easily. • Life Performance Skills should be a part of a normal transcript that can be disseminated. • Use rubrics to show progress in categories (i.e., 1-4) • Report how many make numerical progress.

18. Implementer & Performer 1st Block = 1.5 Problem Framer/Solver 1st Block = 2.0 Innovator & Designer 1st Block = 3.0 Producer & Contributor 1st Block = 2.0 Implementer & Performer Last Block = 3.0 Problem Framer/Solver Last Block = 2.5 Innovator & Designer Last Block = 3.5 Producer & Contributor Last Block = 3.0 Sample Rubric Numerical Assessment for Student 0001

19. Totals Per Person, Aggregate for School • Implementer & Performer • Student 0001 - 1.5 to 3.0 = +1.5 • All students - 2.25 to 3.15 = +.9 Etc….. Record for annual reports the rate of growth for all students in each category.