Claim 1
Students are becoming effective learners by taking ownership of their learning
through goal-setting, self-reflection, and tracking their progression of learning.
“When students are equipped to analyze data for their own learning, whether from large-scale summative assessments or daily formative assessments, the power of data as an engine for growth is centered where it has the greatest potential to improve learning-with students.” ~ Ron Berger (p. 96 Leaders of Their Own Learning)
Taking Ownership of Learning
Before becoming an EL Education network school, Brighten Academy students participated in student-led conferences in varying degrees depending on grade level and teacher preference. Goal setting was a regular component of the conference, but the goals were set by the teachers and often shared only with the parents. Students had little input. Although students did track their progress in some areas of learning, they did very little reflecting on their learning and progress. Teachers at Brighten Academy now recognize that "skillful reflection is at the core of becoming a self-directed learner and thus is essential for college and career readiness" (Berger, p. 9 Leaders of Their Own Learning).
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EL Education's Core Practice 23 "Building the Culture and Structure of Crew" describes facilitating student reflection on the Habits of Scholarship and academic progress. With the implementation of daily crew meetings, students learned to distinguish between fixed and growth mindsets and developed the connection between hard work and achievement. Students began tracking their progress and reflecting on their work. This led to a desire on the part of the students to set goals for their own learning. Students learned the goal-setting process by initially setting class goals during crew. Through the reading and study of Leaders of Their Own Learning, teachers learned that "starting with a collective class-wide goal for data analysis fosters a spirit of collaboration" as well as being "a low-stakes way to introduce data use in a classroom."
Goal Setting
The Individual Learning Plan (ILP) that Brighten students create yearly serves as an active document on which they record the goals they set, reflect on their progress and track their learning. Students keep the ILP in data binders so it is easily accessed and they use it during student-led conferences as they articulate with parents the progress they have made. Although the style varies by grade level, the ILP reflects growth in both academics and habits of scholarship. Three examples below show how the ILP form evolves from being teacher-created with student input in the very early grades of K-2 to more student-driven with teacher support in grades 3-5. By middle school, students understand the data from MAP scores and Milestones tests. They reflect on that data, in addition to previous report card grades, and set SMART goals for themselves. The ILP is retained in each student's portfolio, so students have the data from previous years progress to reflect on as well. The ILP is not the only document students use to set goals, track progress, and reflect on their learning, but it serves as a concise organizational tool students use as they take ownership of their learning.
Self-Reflection
Students self-reflect for various purposes, including synthesizing new learning, tracking how their thinking has changed over time, and setting goals for future learning. The EL Core Practice "Cultivating a Culture of Engagement and Achievement" also supports the use of student reflection as a tool for students to measure their growth by tracking their learning. One way teachers help students become confident with reflecting is by offering sentence starters and specific verb prompts to scaffold their learning in the beginning. The sample on the left is a kindergarten reflection prepared by a student for her student led conference. The middle photo shows a reflection written by a third grader after completing a reading module and expedition about children with limited access to books. The reflection on the right is representative of how the student reflections advance in depth as the students take more ownership of their learning. Notice the prompts on the right for support to be used if needed.
4th grader reflects on assessment practices
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Reflection on learning has helped prepare for high school
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Students reflect on their growth in Habits of Scholarship. Our report card includes Habits of Scholarship grades driven from our 7 Cs, and student led conferences include how the student is growing in their character and work habits. Students have also been integral in determining how their crew can help keep our school culture positive and productive reflecting on our school community (two of our 7 Cs). They have helped create crew goals with measurable outcomes, reflecting on their impact on the school culture and community. The other Cs (commitment, critical thinking, craftsmanship, creativity, and curiosity) engage students in behaviors which lead to becoming effective learners.
Each year for the past three years, more than 89% of our students sampled improved their HOS grades in all three areas measured (culture, commitment, and craftsmanship) as seen in the graph on the right. The criteria increases for each grade level, so students are not compared from year to year, but from the beginning to the end of each year. Although we feel these high percentages are evidence of student growth in character, we will continue to improve our assessment strategies for the 7 Cs/Habits of Scholarship report card to strengthen and measure the correlation between work habits and academics. |
Tracking Progression of Learning
It is Brighten's belief that Student Led Conferences help our learners take responsibility for their progress. By allowing time for adequate reflection on performance in both academics and habits of scholarship, students become more aware of how their input into their personal growth determines what output they will see. During each conference, our students take time to greet their parents when they arrive, spend time discussing their goals and the progress of these goals, and allow time for discussion and questions throughout. Our learners spend ample amounts of time preparing for their conferences by collecting and displaying their data in a portfolio. Students practice their presentations with peers and teachers, knowing they will need to explain their grades, growth progression, and reflections to their parents.
K-2 Student Led Conferences
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3-5 Student Led Conferences
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6-8 Student Led Conferences
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Students track their progression of learning on classwork and with test data. They maintain graphs of the progress to track their growth toward the goals they set. Crew goals are set as a class, and these are displayed for easy reference. Students participate in keeping the data for crew goals. They hold each other accountable for their behavior when working on a crew goal. Students also spend time reflecting on their progress towards the crew goals through the week.
Looking Back...
Our students have participated in student-led conferences since before becoming an EL school. The goals were set by the teachers, and the students’ role included reading a script prepared with help from the teacher. Students were told what to report for their progress essentially from the teacher’s viewpoint, and reflection was not a part of the student-led conference. Our Habits of Scholarship report card was used to assess students on work habits and character, but our students did not fully understand the correlation between academics and work habits.
Looking Forward...
Our students have made great strides taking ownership of their learning through student-led conferences as we strive to implement EL core practices deeper. Students set the goals, track their progress towards mastery, and are becoming adept at speaking on and advocating for their academic strengths and weaknesses. We will also continue to work on our performance benchmarks, helping students see the connections between Habits of Scholarship growth and academic growth.