PSUG National Information ExchangeUsers helping users

Implementing Standards

Bob CornacchioliDERO Technical Services

CEO

Agenda/Participants will be engaged in:• Understanding Common Language• Constraints and “Givens” in PowerSchool• Best Practices- Standards are Coming!• Importing Standards using Excel• Conversion Scales• Looking at PowerTeacher Gradebook• Report Card options

www.derotechnical.com for more resources

CEO - DERO Technical Services

Contractor - PowerDataSolutions

- ANCGroup

Trainer - Pearson Systems

Evangelist/Process Assistant- Level Data

Marketing - ParkBench Software

Director of Technology and Media Services – Shrewsbury Public Schools (16 yrs)PowerSchool Administrator ( 6 yrs)

Bob Cornacchioli

CURRICULUM/ADMIN & TECHNICAL

Collaborate and learn the constraints

DRAW A LINE IN THE SAND

Read anything by Ken O’Connor aka The Grade Doctor

Far more important than the keystroke of a grade is how the district has trained teachers in the proper techniques in determining that grade. What Ken and others are saying about student achievement is mission critical. PowerTeacher has been designed with these principles.

Learning Conversations: The Culture of Grading

Have you had these chats yet?

Same Curriculum

Across all classrooms HOPE

ZERO’s

MISSING WORK

EXTRA CREDITTENDENCY

MAKE UP WORK

Evidence

Same Grading Practices

Across all classrooms??

What does a 4 or a C really mean?• With teachers at your Grade Level• With teachers at your School• With teachers in the District• What does it mean for next placement?

Setting Expectations & Emphasize Consistency

Everyone on the Same Page

Homebound Assessment• Avoid Confusion- Adjust Rubrics and

assessments

Sending Home Letter Grades and Percentages will confuse Parents

and Students

S T A N D A R D SCHEDULE

C O U R S S

S C L E S

IDENTIFIER

F I N A L G R A D E E N T R Y GRADEBOOK

STANDARDS

65 Character Limit

STANDARDS • Create the standards collaboratively- Excel• Teacher Involvement = Ownership• Less is more- 65 character limit• Report Card vs. Curriculum Guide• Core Content vs. Specials• Essential Skills, Effort or Habits of Mind• Assessment Per Term• Changes and Real Estate – Text vs. #• Conversion Scales- Drop Downs for Teachers

STANDARDS TIMELINE (considerations)

• District initiative or single school pilot???– Pilots can pose some issues– Invite participation from non pilot schools

• 6+ Months in advance- identify standards• Decide your scale ( avoid traditional grading- A )

• Do all teachers have rosters in PS?• Set Expectations for Comment Writing• Discuss Assignments vs Standards Assessment• Communicate with all stakeholders

STANDARDS by TERM

Final Grade Entry For Teachers

Changing Allow Assignments is

NOT Recommended… Union Issue!

Associated to a unique number

65601First two digits = Content AreaMiddle digit = School IDLast two digits = Grade Level

Highlands = 0Smith = 1Riverside = 2Thorpe = 3Great Oak =4

65000, 65001, 65002, 65003, 65004, 6500565100, 65101, 65102, 65103, 65104, 6510565200, 65201, 65202, 65203, 65204, 6520565300, 65301, 65302, 65303, 65304, 6530565400, 65401, 65402, 65403, 65404, 65405

Can be used for

AM/PM K etc

Decisions: All elementary courses same or different #

Importing Standards via ExcelWhat does Allowassignment do?

TRUE means- Allow Teacher Choice from Pull Down!

Hey Bob, All these standards report on the same course number?

Importing Standards via ExcelWhat does Includecomment do?

FALSE means- No Comment for that standard allowed!

Conversion Scales

Habits of Mind/Effort

Proficiency LevelsGrades 1-8 / MCAS

Proficiency LevelsFor K

Importing Standards via ExcelWhere do I get these Conversionscale Numbers?

Requires Internal Pearson Number in this Excel Spreadsheet!

Next Steps• Communication with:

– Teachers - expectations for comments– Parents – how to interpret 4,3,2,1/your scale(s)– Specialists going to grade? Schedule?

• Create Standards– # of standards per content area per term– Altering Rubrics / Common Assessments

• Create the Conversion Scales• Create Sample Report Cards before EOY

Conversion Scale #?

• Gen Table (6)

• Search for “scale”

Access: PowerTeacher Gradebook

• Will the Art, PE, Music, Media, Computer, Band, Chorus… teacher be grading students?

• If YES – they must have rosters in PS

Web Gradebook Record Keeping

Tying Assignments to Standards

Grade Value of Conversions Scales

When teachers assess a standard more than once associated to multiple assignments, PTG averages these scores. Grade Value can’t be ZERO as seen earlier in this presentation.

Grade Value of Conversions ScalesDepending upon which standard based educator your curriculum folks have read, the concept of AVERAGE isn’t part of the standards movement.

YET the Gradebook has to apply some sort equation in order to convert scores to these Grade Labels 4,3,2,1.

Feedback from districts to Pearson has resulted in a new version (2.3) of PowerTeacher with the installation of PS 7. Averaging of standards scores assigned to multiple assignments is now becoming clearer.

PowerTeacher Gradebook is still evolving!!!!

Controlling Web Gradebook

If defined as PT Admin** - School Usage – Site Specific!!

Calculations

Using PT Admin- your district will have to set policy on grading standards. The Gradebook will have to be set per school to look: • Default setting for final grades• Allow teacher modifications OR NOT• Calculations for Most Recent Scores

Decisions Decisions

Training Teachers to Grade• Final Grade Entry** (RW will not work)

• Specialists vs. HR teachers • 5 mins. with a PPT presentation• Google PowerTeacher Gradebook- lots of

resources• Web Gradebook – A bit more time

( JING Movies/Atomic Learning/Mastery in Minutes/Google?)

• Comments- Comments- Comments

“Straight quotes” with “Smart quotes”

If teachers use Word for pasting into the gradebook, special characters (like “quotation marks”, apostrophes’ and - dashes) can end up printing incorrectly on the final report card.

Word – Tools- Auto Correct- AutoFormat as you Type and REMOVE the √ from Straight quotes with smart Quotes

This only works if you change this setting BEFORE you typed them in- SORRY!

Have you thought about Report Cards?

• Parent Portal – access to grades – list form• NOT DYNAMIC – all must be custom made• Object Reports- Visual PST – Report Works• Summative• Multi-page requires duplex printers

• http://schools.shrewsbury-ma.gov/egov/docs/1251933966124. htm• http://www.derotechnical.com/REPORTCARDS/ REPORTCARDS.html

Bob CornacchioliDERO Technical Servicesbcornacchioli@gmail.comhttp://www.derotechnical.com

PowerTeacher Gradebook for StandardsPPTX available on DERO website

or Session # 13

Bob CornacchioliDERO Technical Servicesbcornacchioli@gmail.comhttp://www.derotechnical.com

Q & A