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Jamey Moore, Director of Standards and Assessments, presented the new assessment and grading practices to the Board. The practices were developed by teachers and academic coaches during the last school year. The goal is to use on-going assessment to give feedback to students, rather than primarily for grading purposes, and to give students the opportunity to use projects, presentations, demonstrations, or writing to demonstrate levels of mastery rather than only using multiple choice tests.<br /> <br /> Highlights at each school level include: <br /> <br /> *Elementary schools will move to a standards-based report card that will list standards and report to parents the level of mastery rather than letter grades. <br /> <br /> *Middle school is using a 50-100% grading scale and giving students multiple re-test opportunities (after receiving feedback and practicing) for scores less than 50%. High school is using the scale of 0-100% but will allow re-test opportunities for students who are not successful on the first attempt. <br /> <br /> *The high school and middle school are using performance tasks, rather than multiple choice tests, for grades in at least half of the units that are taught. <br /> <br /> *The high school and middle school both have added a 40 minute Enhancement Period to the school day where students who need additional instruction or re-test opportunities can get extra help, and those who excel can use for enrichment projects. The middle school will especially focus the enhancement period on book clubs and efforts to make reading enjoyable for students. <br /> <br /> Summative (end of unit) tests will be graded for reporting, and formative (during teaching) will be used for student feedback. <br /> <br /> On Wednesday morning, University of Kentucky professor, Dr. Thomas Guskey, will speak to the school system convocation at the middle school. He is an expert in the use of assessment to improve grading practices. <br /> <br /> 2. The Board made suggestions for the Balanced Scorecard, which are the measures the Board will use throughout the school year to determine the progress toward the priority goals, and also report final progress at the end of the school year. The Board discussed at length the financial goals they would like to add to the scorecard. <br /> <br /> <br /> 3. The Board approved Janet Allison, CFO, to investigate the current banking services and explore cost-savings services. <br /> <br /> 4. The Board heard a report from Keith Vincent, Director of Maintenance and Operations, on the projects completed this summer. They commended him on the large number of improvements, including the completion of re-roofing at Enota and Wood's Mill and major plumbing work at Enota. <br />

http://accesswdun.com/article/2010/8/231206