Michelle Boyden, district teacher leadership instructional specialist, presented the Mount Vernon School Board with an update on where the evidence based reporting committee is at on their goals of updates to EBR.
Boyden said the committee has identified two key areas that need to be addressed the most – the wide range of what a two means in terms of grading, and how to instill habits of success at all grade levels.
When it comes to 2s on the EBR scale, Boyden said they represent students who just may be starting to grasp a concept (and are on the lower side of the two scale) and those are extremely close to showing proficiency but not quite there (on the higher end side). When it comes to grading, the wide range on that scale is impacting letter grades students receive and their understanding.
The other issue is establishing habits of success, like completing and turning homework in on time when that is not graded.
“We want to help students master employability skills and social emotional learning skills,” Boyden said.
The committee is discussing how teachers all handle things like missing work, especially when it can take students so long to turn assignments in.
Boyden said they have had five meetings, and there will likely be three more to address these concerns and continue to improve the EBR system, with an action plan developed for all teachers by August of how to implement these changes.
Board member Tim Keegan asked if these were being rolled out by grade level for areas for improvement.
Boyden said that happens at elementary and middle school levels, with grades being more consistent on subject matters taught at the high school level.
“We’re trying to make sure we’re all aligned on these practices moving forward,” Boyden said.
Board member Jason Clark asked if the district has heard of any students at college levels who are struggling or unprepared because of EBR.
Boyden said they hear from pockets of former students, but they haven’t done as much to get information from former students.
Superintendent Matt Leeman said a lot of students take classes at Kirkwood along side their high school classes, and that the items about the wide range of the 2 scale and implementing more habits of success came from student suggestions on improvements.
Board member Maggie Hartzler said getting students to better communicate why they may not be ready for assessments or things like essays or speeches would be helpful.
“Having them explain that they would have completed it, but they had a late night extracurricular the night before they hadn’t considered in their scheduling and asking for an extension would be helpful life skills in having them be accountable for what was missing,” Hartzler said.
Board member Jeremy Kunz said that these two items – the wide disparity in the ratings on a four point scale and getting homework turned in on time – were two of the weaknesses already identified in EBR.
Of the school districts in Iowa, roughly 190 of the 315 now use an EBR or standards based grading system.