{"id":209,"date":"2016-11-17T02:18:40","date_gmt":"2016-11-17T02:18:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cohort21.com\/rutheichholtz\/?p=209"},"modified":"2016-11-17T02:46:10","modified_gmt":"2016-11-17T02:46:10","slug":"measuring-success","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cohort21.com\/rutheichholtz\/2016\/11\/17\/measuring-success\/","title":{"rendered":"Measuring Success"},"content":{"rendered":"

Outside education, everyone assumes that it must be easy for teachers to measure our students’ learning. Just give them a test, right? As insiders, we know it isn’t this straightforward. Like @bnichols<\/a> has pointed out in her recent posts<\/a>, choosing a suitable assessment isn’t so easy,\u00a0because tests don’t necessarily measure learning – they measure a very narrow skill set.<\/p>\n

Exactly one year ago I embarked on some self-directed PD in a quest to find new ways to run my grade 11-12 math classes. I was interested in finding out what “inquiry” meant at this level of math education, and whether changing my classroom routine away from direct instruction could help improve student learning. I started by visiting the team behind Discovering the\u00a0Art of Mathematics<\/a> at Westfield State University.<\/p>\n

\"img_1251\"<\/a> Inspired by their collaborative, discussion-based approach, I returned to class and immediately changed my grade 11 math course. We switched to a small-group format where students worked together on the content without my instruction. They thought and reasoned together as they developed their own understanding of concepts. I was exhilarated and scared at the same time: were they really able to construct enough meaning without me telling them what to do? These students take external 2-year comprehensive exams in grade 12 – would I put their exam performance in jeopardy?<\/p>\n

Nothing like a little risk to keep you on your toes, right? I gathered input from them during the unit as they adjusted to the new style (they loved it!), I had my principal come and observe and give feedback, and I started tracking the data on that oh-so-important measure of student learning: test scores<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

While I enjoy the flexibility I have to assess in multiple ways in grades 9-10, and I make efforts to get students learning through projects in grade 11, I am aware that at the end of grade 12, their IB Diploma scores are 80% test-based. So their test-taking abilities are key to measuring up on the Diploma. And I’ve always wondered… wouldn’t they be fine on tests if they really<\/em> understood the material?<\/p>\n

One year in to this experiment, I am measuring its success. I have recently submitted a report to school leadership with the results of my attempts to shift into something more experiential for students: Experiencing active learning, but also experiencing the discussion and reasoning that leads to problem solving. This is the work of mathematicians. In the report I am pleased to note that in my grade 11 class, average test scores have increased by 20% on all tests. I haven’t changed the format or the style of questions – I have only changed the student experience in class.<\/p>\n

\"teaching-g11\"<\/a>My class was recently recorded and I watched the video, hoping to find things to reflect on. I hate watching myself on film, but I was interested in seeing how the class played out from a different perspective. I saw some things I overlooked during class, and I wondered whether all the students were learning and thinking all the time. But then I asked myself: do I really believe that students who are quietly listening to a lecture are always actively thinking?<\/p>\n

If I don’t believe that tests are the sole way to measure student learning, I can’t judge my own teaching by test results either. So test scores have increased by 20% on average. Is that enough to call my experiment in collaborative, discussion-based learning a success? Watching this video has helped me find another measure: student engagement. I watched as my students actively participated, supported, questioned, and reasoned with each other.\u00a0In the video I saw these things in my classroom: respect, discussion, teenage distraction, patience, courage, and comfort. Was it a perfect lesson? No, but it was a typical one. If this video is a good indicator of how my classes are functioning one year into this experiment, I think I am ready to call it a success.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Outside education, everyone assumes that it must be easy for teachers to measure our students’ learning. Just give them a test, right? As insiders, we know it isn’t this straightforward. Continue Reading →<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":57,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"wds_primary_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[21,7,20],"tags":[49,47,48,50],"class_list":["post-209","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-lesson-ideas","category-math","category-professional-development","tag-assessment","tag-inquiry-learning","tag-secondary-math","tag-student-learning"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cohort21.com\/rutheichholtz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/209","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cohort21.com\/rutheichholtz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cohort21.com\/rutheichholtz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cohort21.com\/rutheichholtz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/57"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cohort21.com\/rutheichholtz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=209"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/cohort21.com\/rutheichholtz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/209\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cohort21.com\/rutheichholtz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=209"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cohort21.com\/rutheichholtz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=209"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cohort21.com\/rutheichholtz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=209"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}