The MacDuffie School Newsletter, Volume 19, Issue 14, July 2013

Greetings from the Head of School

Dear Students, Parents, and Guardians, I thought that we would touch base to share our graduation photos, and to provide a brief update of what we’ve been doing at MacDuffie in the past few weeks. During our end-of-year meetings, we welcomed Ms. Susan Carter of McTighe and Associates to talk to faculty about assessment and evaluation. We were also able to welcome guests from The Grammar School in Somersville, CT, and Academy Hill in Springfield. Ms. Carter shared the elements of backward design, stimulated discussion on assessment and grading, and used research to push us to rethink our practice. Our faculty left with a mandate to consider what is best for our students given the new information, and a promise to continue the conversation in the fall. Also, you may have noticed that MacDuffie is “going Google” in a few short days – we’re transitioning to Google Docs, Mail, and other applications. The plan is for faculty to move to “Chromebooks”. You will hear much more about this initiative in the future. We are also planning a more complete implementation of Rediker’s Student Information System. Faculty will be moving to a marks manager that is accessible on line. This means that marks will also be available on line for students and parents. Look for future information about how we plan to implement this initiative as well. As for me, I’m about to make like Clark Griswold and head out with my family on a vacation to the Grand Canyon. I wish you all safe journeys with your own summer plans. Have a great summer!

Regards,

Steve Griffin Head of School

Report Card Grading Guidelines

Presented by Susan Carter

McTighe and Associates

Align to Learning Targets

Assessments, achievement records, and

grades should reflect student attainment

of pre-established achievement

standards (or learning

expectations/targets), not the students’

place in the rank order or classmates

(i.e., criterion-, not norm-referenced).

Separate Achievement from Effort

Report evidence of student

characteristics other than achievement

(e.g., effort, class participation,

compliance with rules or guidelines,

attitude, etc.) separately from evidence

of academic achievement. Do not factor

them into achievement grades.

Use Formative Assessment to Inform

Instruction and Provide Feedback

Use assessments for learning as the

basis for providing students with

descriptive feedback they can use to

see how to improve. Do not factor into

report card grades.

Continued. . .

Use Consistent Evidence

When assigning grades, use the most consistent body of evidence available. Base all grades on verifiably accurate

assessments of student achievement. Discard any inaccurate assessments from grading records.

Use Current Evidence

Base grades on the most current evidence of the student’s level of achievement. If more recent information about

student achievement reveals new levels of attainment, rendering previous evidence outdated, grades should be based

on the newest evidence.

Interpret Zeros only as Lack of Evidence

Do not enter missing or distorted evidence of achievement into grade books as zero. Do not interpret missed tests,

scores attained by cheating, or assignments not handed in, as evidence of the total absence of any learning. Rather,

interpret those as only lack of evidence, until turned in or re-taken.

Engage and Inform Students in the Process

At any time during the grading period, be sure students know how their current level of achievement compares to the

standards (or learning expectations/targets) they are expected to master. This knowledge should arise from their

consistent involvement in self-assessment, record-keeping, and communication.

Grade Based on Learning Target, not Assessment Type

Arrange achievement records in the grade book according to achievement target, not according to the type or source of

information, such as the type of assessment.

Based on:

Ken O’Connor, How to Grade for Learning (© Skylight 2002)

Chappuis, Stiggins, Arter, Student-Involved Classroom Assessment

and Assessment for Learning: An Action Guide for School Leaders (© Assessment Training Institute 2004)

MacDuffie News and Notes

Second Semester Honor Roll

EFFORT HONOR ROLL REGULAR HONOR ROLL HIGH HONOR ROLL MAXIMUM HONOR ROLL

Grade 8 Grade 12 Grade 12 Grade 11 Evan Murdock Heather Jopson Chen Cai Kitwanie Carbon

Steven Kearns Lucas Caseli Jodecia Elliott

REGULAR HONOR ROLL Xia’nan Li Pornnapat Huansuriya Luisa Figueiredo

Meijun Liu Jiansen Jiang Iuliia Grotova

Grade 6 Tong Liu Zhengxi Li Chi Huang

Jesse Bordenca Anh-Van Nguyen Xinyi Lin Khoa-Dang Le

Mia Levesque Luisa Sierra Lizeth Molina Dali Li

Grade 7 Andrei Tatuiko Phuc Ngo Yuguang Lin

Ethan Deecher Kongsak Tipakornrojanakit Long Nguyen Jiachang Liu

Johanna Saarela Fan Zhou Rui Liu

Jordan Skibel HIGH HONOR ROLL Xinyang Liu

Caitlyn Zaranek MAXIMUM HONOR ROLL Maryanne Magnier

Grade 8 Grade 7 Caleb Shelburne

Alexis Chapin Aniis Anderson Grade 6 Aliana Stevenson

Alana Ford Ashley Stebbins Georgianna Brown Gaowen Wang

Samuel Hackett Grade 8 Kayla McCullough Ziying Xue

Hannah Marshall Sang-Won Choi Grade 7 You Zhang

Joshua St. Pierre Henry Ho Maren Jung Xie Zhou

Grade 9 Gabriella Mercier Varona Maysonet-Ayala Grade 12 Hyunjae Bang Donovan Richardson Mikayla McEwen Lina Choi

Leah Finn-Erb Zhanara Shardarbekova Taylor Pluta Shangzhe Dai

Elias Os Ethan Shelburne Sarah Soares Li Guan

Emmanuelle Peterson Grade 9 Jocelyn St. Onge Ling He

Weixu Shi Yitao He Alexis Woloshchuk Tianqi Hu

Ruiang Zhang Haoyang Li Grade 8 Nguyen Nguyen

Grade 10 Kai Zhang Faith Lawless Michaila Papamichail

Skyler Anderson-Coughlin Grade 10 Grade 9 Stamatia Papamichail

PeiNing Jiang Aqsa Ahmad Jane Bannish Eva Snyder

DaWei Lin Darien Guy Linyue Chen Nicolas Suarez-Canton Trueba

Adam Seruga Soyeon Jung David Gorestki Sha Tao

Yue Sun Natalie Pappas Cheolhee Lee Wathone

Ziyi Wu Elizabeth Ramah Woo-Cheol Shin Shitong Zeng

Kwok Wong Bingyan Ren Grade 10

Ziyou Zhao Kristina Smith Jenna Boisselle

Grade 11 Kai Zhang Anqi Hu

Jake deHahn Grade 11 Lauren Liderman

Timothee Jacques Trung Bui Zi Lin

Madison Jung Victoria de Paula Yang Luo

Do-Hyun Kim Iuliia Grotova Vejae McLean

Sani Kohen Keymo Hoshing Olivia Smith

Xiaoyu Lu Kimberly Jones Joseph Varney

Matthew Stewart Tianyang Li Kunyun Wu

Siwei Lu Yuqing Ling

Chien-Minh Tran Thanaporn Nuansanam

Shemar Yap Jessica Schwartz

Berk Yilmaz Alexandra Webb

Zheyu Zhang

EFFORT HONOR ROLL REGULAR HONOR ROLL

HIGH HONOR ROLL MAXIMUM HONOR ROLL

Grade 8 Grade 6 Grade 7 Grade 6

Evan Murdock Jesse Bordenca Aniis Anderson Georgianna Brown

Jocelyn St. Onge Kayla McCullough

Grade 12 Grade 7 Ashley Stebbins

Steven Kearns Ethan Deecher Alexis Woloshchuk Grade 7 Johanna Saarela Maren Jung

Jordan Skibel Grade 8 Varona Maysonet-Ayala

Henry Ho Mikayla McEwen

Grade 8 Faith Lawless Taylor Pluta

Alexis Chapin Gabriella Mercier Sarah Soares

Alana Ford

Samuel Hackett Grade 9 Grade 9 Hannah Marshall Jane Bannish David Gorestki

Donovan Richardson Linyue Chen Woo-Cheol Shin

Ethan Shelburne Yitao He

Joshua St. Pierre Cheolhee Lee Grade 10 Haoyang Li Lauren Liderman

Grade 9 Vejae McLean

Hyunjae Bang Grade 10 Olivia Smith

Emmanuelle Peterson Aqsa Ahmad Joseph Varney

Ruiang Zhang Jenna Boisselle Kunyun Wu

Darien Guy

Grade 10 Anqi Hu Grade 11

Skyler Anderson-Coughlin Yang Luo Luisa Figueiredo

Elizabeth Ramah Natalie Pappas Dali Li

Yue Sun Bingyan Ren Yuguang Lin

Ziyi Wu Jiachang Liu

Kai Zhang Grade 11 Maryanne Magnier

Kitwanie Carbon Caleb Shelburne

Grade 11 Iuliia Grotova Aliana Stevenson

Trung Bui Chi Huang Gaowen Wang

Timothee Jacques Khoa-Dang Le Ziying Xue

Kimberly Jones Tianyang Li

Madison Jung Rui Liu Grade 12

Yuqing Ling Thanaporn Nuansanam Lina Choi

Xinyang Liu Jessica Schwartz Shangzhe Dai

Siwei Lu Alexandra Webb Ling He

Chien-Minh Tran You Zhang Stamatia Papamichail

Shemar Yap Xie Zhou Eva Snyder

Sha Tao

Grade 12 Grade 12 Wathone

Lucas Caseli Li Guan Shitong Zeng

Xia’nan Li Pornnapat Huansuriya

Meijun Liu Jiansen Jiang

Tong Liu Xinyi Lin

Anh-Van Nguyen Phuc Ngo

Michaila Papamichail Nguyen Nguyen

Andrei Tatuiko Nicolas Suarez-Canton Trueba

Year End Honor Roll 2012-2013

Congratulations to

The MacDuffie School

Class of 2013