Central Coast High School: A Case Study
Central Coast High School: A Case Study
Written by Lisa Almeida
June 20, 2020
Context
Alan Crawford is the principal of Central Coast High School, Community Day School, Independent Study, and Monterey Adult School in Monterey, California. The four schools offer alternative paths to a high school diploma. The majority of students were unsuccessful in a traditional setting.
Challenge
At Central Coast High School, where students are referred due to not being on track to graduate because of a history of failing classes, there were high levels of Ds and Fs. The number of students failing classes was making it even harder for students to graduate.
Professional Practice
Alan and his staff continually think outside the box to engage their students many of whom have experienced trauma and have a long history of not being engaged in school. While striving for continuous improvement, Alan created an environment that encouraged teachers to reflect on their instruction, assessment, and grading practices. Where do you start? What comes first, the chicken or the egg?
Rethinking on their grading and feedback practices appeared to be a logical start for an environment in which the majority of teachers are “singletons.” Over the last year, many teachers adjusted grading practices to better reflect learning and mastery learning. Specific actions include:
• Kevin reflects on the products/output he receives from students and adjusts his own support and practice versus penalizing underperformers. Kevin also stopped using zeros. He started giving work back and/or giving 50%, and started accepting late work when necessary.
• Math teachers allow students to fix mistakes versus counting them wrong.
• Olga teaches CTE Nursing and Health Careers. She continues to reflect on how to weigh practice exercises and focuses on the key standards students need to master. Olga re-weighed the entire grade book, and she lowered the weight of practice. Now Olga focuses on grading mastery, which resulted in no Fs and one D. Hands-on assessments are now weighed more, and she decreased the number of quizzes.
• English language arts teacher Sam eliminated the zero and began using a four-point scale. The four-point scale was a learning curve for students, and he explained why it is fairer than 100 percent. Sam also led professional development on grading for new teachers, in which he advocated for eliminating the 0 and the 100-point scale, not using the average, and encouraging professional judgement rather than computer calculation of grades. Sam also spoke passionately about the use of the four-point scale as the best determination of student mastery.
Reflecting on assessments, the why and how, is now a close second in terms of area of focus. This critical practice is in place as of spring 2020. Teacher-led analysis of interim assessment data occurs every two to three weeks at a minimum. Though still a work in progress, teachers focused a lot of energy on both the previous data protocol, which was adapted from the Dufours’ work and an updated protocol initially led by me. I trained and co-facilitated with teacher Nicole, who is the on-site point person for leadership for her colleagues, to build internal capacity. Teachers act as “critical consumers” of all the assessment resources, examining every possible assessment and/or question by asking the following:
• Why am I asking the questions in this way?
• Will this assessment provide me with evidence of learning?
• Will it provide data to make immediate instructional decisions? Is it aligned to critical standard(s): key concepts, skills, and the appropriate level of rigor?
• Am using the right type of question? Are there too many questions?
• What am I truly assessing with these questions?
• Are there other ways to obtain better quality feedback?
• How long is it taking students to complete? Is this effective? Could it improve? Is this quality over quantity?
Kevin, who teaches five different classes, gives multiple opportunities to revise work vs. “one and done.” Upon reflection on the formative data, Kevin started questioning students face-to-face. He pulls in two more students later in the day, tracks who has answered questions, and records what his next steps are instructionally based on students’ feedback. The change increased the importance and value of formative assessment. It is more engaging with the teacher and student. Some excel more at discussion than writing, and expectations are clear.
Math teachers are asking, “How can I use the practice sheets as formative data?” They reduced the number of practice problems so they can provide more immediate feedback. In health and nursing classes, Olga started returning the initial exit slips, so students can revise and/or add to them. She sees what teaching strategies worked; students can own learning. Olga believes assessment is not the destination. It is a journey and should be used to determine the learning path.
Creating a reliable and viable curriculum will be what ties effective grading and assessment practices together. The key is Alan and the teachers are focused and progressing. Everyone is headed in the same direction, and Alan provides support and encouragement to do what is best for students versus traditional practices. Alan says, “I keep the momentum going and celebrate successes by having teachers share practices. Sometimes I turn the steering wheel to keep us headed in the right direction.”
Results
The 2018-2019 school year was an exciting and successful one for students, teachers, and the leader at Central Coast High School. Fortunately for students and teachers, Alan remains focused on what is best for students. It is continuous hard work; they are definitely seeing the results.
“We had 76.5 percent decrease in total Ds and Fs for semester 1 grades! We are really excited to continue the work,” says Alan.
