Bethany

=-__My Philosophy of Assessment__=

~I, as the teacher, need to show respect to my students so they, in turn, will show respect to each other and those around them. ~I, as the teacher, need to help challenge my students to be in control of themselves so they can learn. ~I, as a teacher, should know my students’ strengths and weaknesses. ~I need to use different types of assessments (tests, questions, things that help me know what my students knows) to help find out my students’ strengths and weaknesses. ~Students should be given many different ways of learning. ~Students need to have feedback (told what they did correctly, what they need to improve on, and how to challenge them to grow) in the classroom. ~I believe that I, as the teacher need to meet my students where they are in their learning. ~Students should be challenged to grow no matter where they are in their learning. ~Students should be able to understand what I am teaching before I go on to something else. If a student is having a hard time understanding, I will re-teach the lesson to that student in a smaller group or one-on-one. ~I should regularly be checking where my students are at in their learning so I know what they need help with and what they fully understand. ~I believe that all students should be involved in their learning. They should be excited to participate and never scared of getting an answer wrong. ~Students that turn in their homework on time will be rewarded with something small. ~Students that turn in their homework late (one day) will still be rewarded, but with something smaller. Students still need some type of motivation to turn in late homework. ~Students that have a lot of missed homework will do their homework with me. ~Students’ attendance is so important for their learning. If a student continually misses class, I will contact the parent. If the student continues to miss class, the principal/guidance counselor will contact the parent. If the student is still missing class, a home visit will be made. ~Students are expected to do their best in everything they do. ~I, as the teacher, will continually challenge the students with their best and beyond. ~I, as the teacher, will do my best to create a “Family” environment for my students. This will help in their learning, because if students are comfortable, they are ready to be challenged. ~I, as the teacher, will help create a “No judgment” zone. Where every students’ opinions matter and they can voice something they think without being teased. ~I, as the teacher, will help guide the students to be able to think on their own. ~I will help guide the students to work on their own. ~I will help guide the students to proper social behaviors. ~I will help guide the students to ask questions and to not be satisfied until they get/find an answer. ~I will make sure my students know that I care about them and want what is best for them.

__Reflective Learning Log: “Learning to Love Assessment”__

I read the article “Learning to Love Assessment” and it reminded me why we have assessments. I really liked how the writer talked about her previous misconception of assessments. It was something to show what the students grasped from her teaching. It was there at the end for test purposes and grades. She emphasizes many key points to having assessments. I liked how Ms. Tomlinson said assessments are not always formal. Sometimes it is just purely observing your classroom and finding out more information about your students. She goes on and discusses why assessments should be before, during, and after teaching. You can see where students are and also determine how to help students grasp the most important things needed to get to the end goal. Basically assessment and instruction go hand-in-hand. This can help students find the “want” to learn. Learning now has a point and a goal. She says assessments help differentiate your classroom. I think this is so important. A teacher needs to know where his/her students are to meet their needs. Assessments can also be used to find out students’ strengths, what they are passionate about, and how they learn. It isn’t about finding their weaknesses, but finding out their positives. I really liked how she said she would then “reflect” this to the students. She saw the positives in them, told them about them, and then saw results that were “stunningly different”. The last key point that Ms. Tomlinson made was assessments are not just for the teacher, they are for the students, as well. They help students to self-monitor and self-reflect. It is guiding a student to become independent in their education. When students understand the goal they are trying to reach, what it looks like to reach it, and why it is important they reach that goal, they start wanting it for themselves.

This article really re-challenged me with assessments. I know I am assessing my kindergarten students all the time. But, it reminded me again, why I do assessments. How it helps drive my instruction and meet my students’ needs. I connected with her when she said in the beginning she really didn’t realize how important assessments were. Unlike her, I was taught in college why assessments were important, but did not understand what that importance meant until I became a full time teacher.

A couple questions I have after the article are the following:


 * 1) If assessments are not about grades and tests, should the report card system look way different than it looks right now?
 * 2) Shouldn’t we be putting more emphasis on reflecting to the students and parents why they earned a letter or a number rather than just typing a letter or number into the grading system? Why did the student get a “B” in math, how can they do better?
 * 3) What if I did a kindergarten survey for my students? It would be a little different since it is kindergarten, but I would love to see what my students love and are passionate about.
 * 4) What am I doing to meet the needs of my students that are continually reaching the goals I make? How am I challenging them above and beyond?

= = __**Reflective Log for “Assessing What Matters”**__

“In our society, a problem with teaching and assessing more broadly is that the kinds of standardized assessments we currently use are quite narrow.” I loved this quote. This is exactly how I feel sometimes when it comes to the tests we have to give our students. How is this teaching them about life? How is this helping the students dig deeper and think about why that is their answer? I loved that quote from this article! I must admit, I found this article completely fascinating! I would love to meet this man. I think these kinds of assessments would benefit the educational world. I like the four pieces of the assessment: analytical, creative, practical, and wisdom. I think all four are needed. Imagine the level of thinking if we started this kind of questioning in kindergarten? It challenges me to start right now. Why can’t I start a story and have the kindergarten student come up with their own ending? Right now, in the Chambersburg Area School District, we are using Bloom’s Taxonomy with “Higher Order Thinking”, even in kindergarten. What if we continued pushing higher order thinking along with the other questioning techniques? I think we would have students with an incredible level of intelligence and also character.

I also really liked how it helped to separate our differences and focused in on the strong areas. This would help the students understand they can be great students; it just takes finding their area of excellence. “Traditional assessments provide little help to students in learning how to capitalize on strengths and compensate for or correct weaknesses.” I loved this quote, as well! I firmly believe this to be true and to go even further sometimes causes their confidence level to falter. I would love to see assessments drive instruction in such a way that helps both students and teachers.

Last, but not least, I did like how he explained the caveats in his research. It is true, no assessment can measure all the skills required for success in everyday life. Also, it hasn’t been used on a statewide or national basis, and it costs time and money. Overall, I loved this article and it really challenges my teaching and assessing in my classroom. I just wish sometimes I had so much more time to sit and contemplate all of my teaching and assessments.

My questions: ~ If this type of assessment has seen so much success, why aren’t more districts apt to use it or try it? ~ What would it take for this type of assessment to go statewide or national basis? ~ What could my questions look like in kindergarten with analytical, creative, practical, and wisdom thrown in there?


 * __Reflective Log for “The Best Value in Formative Assessment__**

A lot of educators get confused between formative and summative assessments. Because of this confusion, I like the breakdown of summative and formative assessments the article provided. Summative assessments’ results are used to make some sort of judgment. They are an assessment of learning and how much learning has occurred. They also measure the level of students, school, or a program’s success. Formative assessments deliver information DURING the instructional process. They come BEFORE the summative assessment. Formative assessments are used to make decisions about what actions should be taken to promote further learning. They are an ongoing, dynamic process.

I must admit, it was a little difficult to stay focused with the article because so many summative assessments can be used for formative assessments, as well. I would get confused at which assessment the article was talking about.

State assessments are mostly summative assessments. This is because the results are not easily communicated in ways teachers and students can understand. The results are also delivered months after the tests are given. I really liked when the article talked about using formative assessments, getting the results, and then going back to teaching what you have always been teaching. It really emphasized that the assessment was useless if that is what a teacher does. The formative assessment should be driving the instruction. Seeing where a student is excelling and where a student lacks should be a driving force to how and what you are teaching. I really liked this quote from the article: “For students to make maximum use of these questions to guide further study, however, teachers must plan and allow time for students to learn the knowledge and skills they missed on the summative assessment and to retake the assessment. Lack of time for such learning is one of the biggest hindrances to formatively using summative classroom assessments.” I really agree with this statement. It would be amazing if each teacher could sit down and walk through each test question, one-by-one with the students and explain how they could solve the problem, fix the problem, etc.

Assessment for learning helps the student practice. There is no grading or marking, just practice. It helps teachers improve their instruction and change it when necessary. Students can also manage their learning. Students can see, “Where am I going? Giving them a goal and showing them examples of a weak and strong product, and having the students determine why. Where am I now? Quizzes during the instructional time to determine what needs worked on. Giving them rubric showing where they are and how they can improve. Having students assess where they think they are and how they can improve. Last, but not least, “How can I close the gap?” Feedback is the key. It helps the students set a goal. Also asking students to show their progression and talk about it. When a teacher gives the students feedback and they can see how they can improve, it gives them ownership of their work and success. \

I also really liked how the article described what effective feedback looks like: “focuses on the intended learning, identifies specific strengths, points to areas needing improvement, suggests a route of action students can take to close the gap between where they are now and where they need to be, takes into account the amount of corrective feedback the learner can act on at one time, and models the kind of thinking students will engage in when they self-assess.” The article ended with telling about the advantages of formative assessment, but only if the teacher and the student make use of the results. A couple of questions I have after reading this article:
 * 1) How effective are the PA state assessments? Are teachers able to understand what needs to be improved? Do the students understand what needs improved?
 * 2) How often am I reviewing my assessments WITH my students and walking through each question, helping them to understand, how to improve, and taking ownership?
 * 3) How effective is my feedback to my kindergarten students? Sometimes I think I need to be careful the amount of feedback I give to my students. They can only correct so much at a time.
 * 4) Am I modeling the kind of self-assessment I want my students to do? I think I need to model more self-assessment for the students; that way they can start holding each other and themselves accountable for their actions and work.

v **__School Years:__** Students attend six years of elementary school, three years of junior high, and three years of senior high school. v **__Type of Assessment:__** National Assessment of Educational Achievement (NAEA) v **__Grade Levels Assessed:__** Assessed in grades six, nine, and ten…two subjects. v **__Data Reporting:__** Tests are for informational purpose only. They are not reported by individual student. Therefore, they are more for school accountability and school growth. v **__Interesting Fact:__** South Korea’s school systems are designated “equalization areas” meaning students are admitted to junior high school and senior high school based on a lottery system! v **__High Stakes Testing:__** The tests are not high stakes until after senior high school. They are required to take an entrance examination if they are not admitted by the lottery system. v **__Grouping/Grade Promotion:__** Students in elementary school are usually grouped by age. Recently though, there has been a rise in experimental ability-based grouping. The secondary level keeps grouping by age rather than ability. || =__** State System: Pennsylvania **__= v **__Type of Assessment:__** Pennsylvania System of School Assessment (PSSA) and Keystone Exams. v **__Grade Levels Assessed:__** PSSA (English and Language Arts) is taken in grade 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, and 8. Science is administered in grades 4 and 8. Aligned with the PA’s Common Core Standards. v Keystone Exams are taken in high school (Biology and Algebra focused) v **__Data Reporting:__** The state scores by a percentage ranking and the school provides the score to the students. v **__High Stakes Testing:__** The PSSA tests and Keystone Exams are all high stakes testing. v **__Grouping:__** Students grouped by grades. Accommodations are also based on students’ needs. v **__Grade Promotion:__** The PSSA’s are not used for grade promotion. v **__Time of Year:__** Spring || ==**__ Local System: __****__ Ben Chambers __**== v **__Type of Assessment:__** Pennsylvania System of School Assessment (PSSA) Formative and summative assessments. v **__Grade Levels Assessed:__** PSSA (English and Language Arts) is taken in grade 3, 4, and 5. Science is administered in grade 4. Aligned with the PA’s Common Core Standards. Teacher assessments are used in every grade and classroom. Kindergarten uses Letter identification, high frequency words, hearing sounds and words, and DRA levels. v **__Data Reporting:__** The school receives the score reports from the PSSA tests. Teachers also use their assessments and create data sheets to help improve instruction. v **__High Stakes Testing:__** The PSSA tests and Keystone Exams are all high stakes testing. for grade promotion. v **__Grouping:__** Students grouped by grades. Accommodations are also based on students’ needs. Students can have the math test portion read to them. Students that are behavior issues and lower can also be accommodated by smaller groups. v **__Grade Promotion:__** The PSSA’s are not used for grade promotion. Different tests and assessments can be used to determine if students are able to pass into a new grade level. v **__Time of Year:__** Spring Other assessments used throughout the school year. ||
 * = __**International System: South Korea**__ =

This article really challenged me to make sure I am meeting all of the different points it made and also reassured me that I am doing what my students need. For example, when I was reading about differentiated instruction and how vital is it in the classroom, I was proud because I can say that I definitely differentiate in my classroom. Differentiated instruction is doing different things with different students to meet them where they are in their learning. It is vital in helping the students show progress. It will eventually help guide the students to learning, even if the material is not differentiated. The article also challenged me to remember that mastery and understanding is not just rote memorization; but being able to break it down, apply it, and then come up with a new perspective on it.
 * __Reflective Log for “Fair Isn’t Always Equal”__**

I found it really exciting to see we, as a district, are already doing the essential questions and even going further to lesson essential questions in our curriculum! Yeah, Chambersburg Area School District! Great job, curriculum leaders! I am also proud to say we do KUD charts in kindergarten! I loved this quote in the article, “Don’t take time to assess, unless you are going to take action with what you discover.” So true, why waste my time if I am not going to use it to drive my instruction. Assessments are there for a purpose, to see where my kids are, how much they know, what I need to teach them to get them there, and how to challenge them if they are already there. The article really helps giving clear descriptions of assessments. Pre-assessments show your students’ readiness, I really like that wording. Formative assessments are your checkpoints along the way, giving clear feedback to the students and teachers. Summative assessments are at the end of the teaching and show growth and mastery.

I must admit, I do not send home rubrics home with my kindergarten students. Although, it wouldn’t be a bad idea to send home a copy of an excellent homework paper, a mediocre one, and a poor one at the beginning of the year. This might help parents understand my expectations, as well. Hmm, something to definitely think about and possibly plan.

I also really liked the explanation on the grading scale, very informative. I have never really thought about it much, before. I must admit, kindergarten doesn’t work on this same grading system, so it is a little different. But, I still like knowing the information.

I was definitely challenged by creating my own grading philosophy. This would be really time consuming and tough to do, but it would add so much to my grading.

I really loved the ending with so many different key points and advice. They really made sense and I loved reading them. Making sure you mark a “T” and a “F” so there is no questions. Underlining key words, putting some fun questions in tests, not giving an answer away, creating a test so that it can be easily graded. I thought these were great little pieces of information that all teachers should know/be reminded.

My questions: = = =__Reflective Log for “Formative Assessments: Measuring and Managing Student Learning”__= I wish I could have sat in on this presentation. I think there would have been a lot more information given during it. I struggled with wanting more information when I read the powerpoint slides. I did like her slide on critical questions. I think all teachers should be asking these questions: I was reflecting on these questions for my kindergarten classroom. Right now, we are working on pushing their recognition of high frequency words. The end goal is to know all 50 kindergarten words. We assess by having them read the list of words and then also see if they recognize them in print. We assess many times throughout the year. Not just the four report card periods. It wouldn’t help us at the end of the fourth marking period to know they didn’t meet that goal. So, we assess multiple times. After looking at the data, we start putting them into differentiated groups. When I see they aren’t recognizing certain words, I use them more in my message time, my entrance and exit tickets, during their small group time, and word work time. If they still are not grasping the word, then we might have to do more kinesthetic work, writing the words in sand, rice, etc. This year, I have students that are above and beyond knowing their 50 high frequency words. They know the 3rd and 4th grade words. So, what do I do with them? For starters, I noticed they cannot spell and write the higher words as well as they recognize them. I am having them use the words in sentences and their writing. I am also challenging them with tier 2 or tier 3 words. I am challenging them to come up with synonyms and antonyms for the words they know. I want to eventually talk to them about nouns, verbs, adjectives, pronouns, etc. We have started this lightly (whole class), but I want to challenge them further. It’s interesting what a kindergarten class can learn when taught! This was my reflection on her four critical questions on just ONE thing I am teaching! It takes a lot, but it’s important to reflect on ALL that I am teaching asking these 4 critical questions.
 * 1) If a teacher gave students their work back with ways to improve, what percentage of students would do the work to get the full grade? I’m curious of the numbers.
 * 2) Am I differentiating my classroom enough to help the students succeed even when the work is not differentiated?
 * 3) “The 10 Practices to **__Avoid__** in a Differentiated Classroom” said “Incorporating non-academic factors (behavior, attendance, and effort). Am I doing enough of this in my classroom? I get so frustrated when a student continually doesn’t bring homework, but am I forgetting to praise the other things that need reinforced?
 * 1) What do we want students to know and be able to do?
 * 2) How will we know if they can?
 * 3) What will we do if they can’t?
 * 4) What will we do if they already can?

I also really liked her slide on BASRC Findings: Frequent assessment of student progress, knowing how to analyze the data found, and then creating clear and focused goals around improving student achievement. I think our PLC’s in the mornings are helping with this information. We are assessing our students, pulling our data together, and then creating goals we want the students to meet. We then assess more, look at the data again, and say if they are successfully working towards meeting these goals, and what we should do to improve.

I was really challenged by the “Traditional Instruction-Assessment Model” that said teachers usually “Pretest, teach, teach, teach, posttest, then assign grades. Where a “Focus on Learning Instruction-Assessment Model” focuses on “Pretest, analyze results, plan for differentiate instruction, teach, assess, modify, reflect, adjust, teach, posttest, and then assign grades.” I really need to be careful not to slack off and fall into the traditional instruction-assessment model and challenge myself to focus on their learning, not memorization.

KRSP, remembering these four letters for assessing students is very important. K- knowledge and understanding, R- reasoning proficiency, S-skills (performance skills), and P- products (ability to create products).

I really loved the slide near the end that talked about what would happen if 99% was good enough. It made me laugh, but also made me think. How often, am I satisfied with 99%? I should never be satisfied with 99%. I should also be instilling in my students a desire to never be satisfied with mediocre, but a want to be the best and do the best they can.

Questions I have after reading this article? = = =**__Reflective Log for “Learning and Transfer__”**=
 * 1) Are we assessing our students enough throughout the year? Maybe an even better question, are we using this information the way we should be?
 * 2) Are school districts focusing more on a traditional-assessment model or a focused on learning assessment model?
 * 3) What would our students look like if we focused more on a learning assessment model?
 * 4) What would our tests look like?
 * 5) Where am I, as the teacher, allowing 99% to be good enough? How can I improve that area?

Transfer is defined as the ability to extend what has been learned in one context to new contexts. It’s amazing to watch when a student gets what they are learning and suddenly understands how to apply it. I love how the article starts out saying it is better to educate someone rather than just train them. Why? Because if you teach someone why they are learning something, then they have a reason to focus their minds and attention to that learning. If you just train someone and never tell them why they should learn this or that, they have no reason to want to learn the information. If I say to my kindergarten students you need to learn this, but never tell them why, why should they care if they learn the information? If I educate my students and tell them they are learning this information so they can use it in their future career or everyday life, then they have a reason to learn.

I really liked the key characteristics of learning and transfer.
 * 1) Initial learning is necessary for transfer
 * 2) Abstract representation of knowledge can help promote transfer. (I found this to be very intriguing that abstract can promote learning better than overly contextualized information, fascinating!)
 * 3) It is an active dynamic process
 * 4) All new learning involves transfer based on previous learning.

Successful transfer depends upon a few things. First, the degree of mastery of the original subject really matters. Another factor is learning with understanding rather than just memorization. Most people can cram for a test and remember the information for that period of time. After a little time, if the person did not study really hard and crammed, that information will be gone. I must admit, I regret not learning to understand some of the information I learned in college. It was awesome information and I wish I could flip the light switch on in my brain and recall that information, but sadly, it was crammed and not fully studied so it doesn’t exist. The amount of time is also a big factor in successful transfer. The article said that the amount of time is roughly proportional to the amount of material. It also emphasized that too many topics too quickly will deter the learning. Learning cannot be rushed. I LOVED this statement in the article. I think too often we rush the learning process our students are going through. We force the teaching on them and expect them to understand the information in the amount of time we laid out for it. Sadly, it doesn’t happen this way. Teachers need to be aware of how the students are processing the information and how much they can handle. Sometimes, I find myself needing to back off my kindergarten students because I’m pushing their poor little brains so much, they are frustrated. I must take a step back and remember to emphasize learning and understanding rather than rote memorization.

Motivation also really affects the learning process. I found it really interesting reading about performance oriented students and learning oriented students. Learning oriented like new challenges but performance oriented are more worried about making errors than learning. Reading that made me think of my own classroom and I definitely can tell you some of the students I have are afraid to make mistakes. I will have to watch for this more often and really reinforce that making mistakes is a great way to learn.

I really liked how it explain the learning context and making sure we teach them in a specific area and then ask them “what if” to help them problem solve.

I also really liked this quote: “…an important strategy for enhancing transfer from schools to other settings may be to better understand the non-school environments in which students must function. Since these environments change rapidly, it is also important to explore way to help students develop the characteristics of adaptive expertise.”

Overall, I really liked the article. I did think it got a little long winded, but I enjoyed thinking about everything I read.

Questions I had after reading the article:

=**__Reflective Log for “Feedback that Fits”__**=
 * 1) How can I help my performance oriented learners feel more confident so they can get to a point where they are not afraid to make a mistake but learn because they want to?
 * 2) If all teachers would help students learn about themselves as learners and how they can best understand and transfer their learning, what would our students look like?
 * 3) How can I help my students connect their learning to their non-school environment and help them to adapt even when it continues to change?

As I was reading this article I stopped and thought about the feedback I’ve gotten through the years. I thought about my professors in the education department and how their feedback also challenged me to grow in my education. How they would make sure they took the time to give me feedback on an assignment given. I thought about other professors that rarely gave feedback and how frustrated I was because I never knew why I received the grade I received. I think about the feedback I get from my kindergarten team and how it challenges me to strive to do more and think creatively. I then think about my kindergarten classroom and think about what kind of feedback I am giving to them. Yes, even kindergarten students need feedback.

I liked how the article said “…feedback is only effective when it translates into a clear, positive message that students can hear.” I also liked when it said, “…even well-intentioned feedback can be very destructive if the student reads the script in an unintended way (See, I knew I was stupid!)” This is a very fine line and teachers have to be very careful when giving feedback. I can see it even in kindergarten. Some students struggle with perfection, they have one mistake and they want to rip their paper up and throw it away. I have other students who are afraid of failing or messing up. They do not want to answer because it might be wrong. This is where I like to model; even Mrs. Hanft makes mistakes sometimes. It is hard, because even as adults, we struggle with feedback.

I really loved how the author stresses knowing the students. The teacher must know their student before deciding what type of feedback they should give. I also really like how the article challenged the teacher to put themselves into the students’ shoes and think about when and how they would want feedback. The article suggests for studying facts or simple concepts, immediate feedback is necessary. For writing or problem solving, the article suggests waiting and watching how the student came to their conclusion and then giving feedback.

There are different types of feedback: written feedback, oral feedback, and demonstrations. I connected a lot with demonstrative feedback for kindergarten. I feel like most of my day is modeling and demonstrating. I thought it was challenging how the article said to ask questions to the students about their work. I definitely need to talk through my students’ work and have them independently looking to see where they need to improve. I was also really challenged by focusing my comments to the students. “Good job” makes my students smile, but they don’t understand what they did to get that comment. With focused comments, my students will get the praise, but also know how to improve in their work.

Feedback should also help the students understand what is next. The feedback should give students a new goal to reach, but never correcting all the work so students have nothing to work on. The author also stresses that students who are struggling really need to know they can improve their work and make progress. Feedback given to these types of students is very tedious because they hear the voice saying they are stupid and cannot learn. A teacher must make sure he/she shows the small improvements even if they do not show overall success.

I really enjoyed the reading the last two examples of feedback. It challenged me to make sure I am giving effective feedback and focusing on the goals I wanted accomplished. I was also challenged with the last few statements of making sure I have many opportunities of giving feedback to my students. It will help me grow and mature in my strategies. I just need to remember to continually put myself in the students’ shoes.

Questions I have after reading this article?
 * 1) How effective is my feedback in my kindergarten classroom?
 * 2) How effective is the feedback in my entire school?
 * 3) How focused are my comments to my students on a project, their homework, or their work?
 * 4) How can I grow in my feedback strategies if I am not regularly using them in my classroom?

=**School Grading:**= Kindergarten is a very different ball game when it comes to grading. We do not have grade letters, "A", "B", "C" etc. Kindergarten has W, P and P+.

W - this means the student is "Working towards" the goal. For example, if a student is being assessed beginning sounds, I will give the students five words and they need to tell me the beginning sound of each word. If a student is incorrect two or more times, they are still working on learning their beginning sounds.

P - this stands for "Proficient". When looking proficient up in the dictionary, it gave the definition of "well advanced" or "competent". Looking even further competent means "having suitable or sufficient skill". For example, if a student is being assessed on writing their numbers 1-15. I will assess the students by asking them to write the numbers (out of order, of course) on a piece of paper. I will then look at the assessment and if the students wrote all the numbers correctly, they are proficient at writing their numbers 1-15.

P+ - this means the student is "Proficient plus". If a student must count to 25 to be proficient and I assess the student and learn they can count to 200, they are proficient and beyond in that area. They have met the standard and need challenged to learn more.

Homework does not count towards a students' grade in my classroom. They have extra things sent home to reinforce their learning, but nothing that affects their grade.

The grading system is very vast and sometimes hard to determine. I know a lot of parents that worry because their child has a "W" on their report card. I definitely think the grading system could be more specific to help students and parents. This year, there was an assessment sheet sent out with different assessments for the report card. I think this was VERY helpful in our kindergarten team's data because we assessed our students similarly. There may have been some differences, but most were the same. This was very beneficial to our team because we could explain (very easily) why the student received a "W", "P", or "P+" on their report card. We would also send home the assessments the parents could understand so they knew what they could work on with their students at home.

__Bethany,__

__Your reflections are very thoughtful and full of question and analysis. I enjoyed reading your ideas within the posts and how your ask yourself, "are you doing enough" in the classroom. You also ask questions about the state and national movements and why we dont do more of the "right" things in education around assessments. I can see you are a person that likes quotes. Quotes can be very inspirational to staff and students. In particular, you honed in on the WICS assessment components which I think is fascinating as well. "dont bother assessing unless you plan on doing something with it." One of my favorites as well.__

__I could really hear your voice in the posts. It sounds like your passion and your persistence for improvement in your classroom. Excellent!__

__Chris__ =__**AYP Data Report:**__=
 * **__ Performance: __** || **__ 2012 Reading __** || **__ 2011 Reading __** ||
 * ** Students Overall: ** || ** 53.60% **  ||  ** 45.50% **  ||
 * ** White Non-Hispanic ** || ** 58.50% **  ||  ** 51.10% **  ||
 * ** Black/African American Non-Hispanic ** || ** 29.50% **  ||  ** 26.50% **  ||
 * ** Latino/Hispanic ** || ** 60.00% **  ||  ** 50.00% **  ||
 * ** IEP - Special Education ** || ** 29.30% **  ||  ** 16.90% **  ||
 * ** Economically Disadvantaged ** || ** 47.10% **  ||  ** 39.80% **  ||


 * **__ Performance: __** ||
 * ** Students Overall: ** ||
 * ** White Non-Hispanic ** ||
 * ** Black/African American Non-Hispanic ** ||
 * ** Latino/Hispanic ** ||
 * ** IEP - Special Education ** ||
 * ** Economically Disadvantaged ** ||


 * **__ 2012 Math __** || **__ 2011 Math __** ||
 * ** 55.80% ** ||  ** 49.60% **  ||
 * ** 61.70% ** ||  ** 62.90% **  ||
 * ** 38.60% ** ||  ** 22.40% **  ||
 * ** 55.00% ** ||  ** 52.50% **  ||
 * ** 26.80% ** ||  ** 19.00% **  ||
 * ** 50.30% ** ||  ** 44.10% **  ||


 * *There is a significant upward trend in both math and reading percentages in 2012 ||
 * *What caused a decline in White/Non-Hispanic math scores? ||


 * **__ Participation: __** || **__ 2012 Reading: __** || **__ 2012 Math: __** ||
 * ** Students Overall: ** || ** 99.60% **  ||  ** 100.00% **  ||
 * ** White Non-Hispanic ** || ** 99.10% **  ||  ** 100.00% **  ||
 * ** Black/African American Non-Hispanic ** || ** 100.00% **  ||  ** 100.00% **  ||
 * ** Latino/Hispanic ** || ** 100.00% **  ||  ** 100.00% **  ||
 * ** IEP - Special Education ** || ** 100.00% **  ||  ** 100.00% **  ||
 * ** Economically Disadvantaged ** || ** 100.00% **  ||  ** 100.00% **  ||


 * *There is a high degree of overall participation at Benjamin Chambers in every category as reflected on the graph. ||  ||   ||
 * *Why is there a drop in participation for the White/Non-Hispanic students? ||  ||   ||   ||
 * **__ Attendance: __** || ** School: ** || ** District: ** |||||||| ** State: ** ||
 * ** All Students: ** || ** 94% ** || ** 94% ** |||||||| ** 94% ** ||
 * ** Male: ** || ** 94% ** || ** 94% ** |||||||| ** 94% ** ||
 * ** Female: ** || ** 94% ** || ** 94% ** |||||||| ** 94% ** ||
 * ** White: ** || ** 94% ** || ** 94% ** |||||||| ** 95% ** ||
 * ** Black: ** || ** 94% ** || ** 93% ** |||||||| ** 91% ** ||
 * ** Latin/Hispanic: ** || ** 95% ** || ** 93% ** |||||||| ** 92% ** ||
 * ** Asian: ** ||  || ** 96% ** |||||||| ** 96% ** ||
 * ** Native American: ** ||  || ** 94% ** |||||||| ** 93% ** ||
 * ** Multiracial: ** || ** 94% ** || ** 94% ** |||||||| ** 94% ** ||
 * ** IEP: ** || ** 94% ** || ** 93% ** |||||||| ** 93% ** ||
 * ** English Language Learners: ** || ** 96% ** || ** 94% ** |||||||| ** 93% ** ||
 * ** Migrant: ** ||  || ** 94% ** |||||||| ** 94% ** ||
 * ** Economically Disadvantaged: ** || ** 94% ** || ** 93% ** |||||||| ** 92% ** ||


 * *Benjamin Chambers and Chambersburg Area School District have the same attendance average as the state of Pennsylvania. ||  ||   ||   ||
 * *Benjamin Chambers has a higher or equal attendance rate of all participating sub-categories than the district or the state. ||  ||   ||   ||
 * *What defines a "Migrant" learner and why does Benjamin Chambers not meet the sub-category requirement? ||  ||   ||   ||