Episode Details
Back to EpisodesBuild Teacher Trust by Sticking with One Program with Gregory Leavitt
Description
Gregory Leavitt, principal of Draper Park Middle School in Utah, says teachers trust a principal who keeps the program steady. After nine years of collaboration as the focus, he added standards based grading, so 100% of grades now come from assessments, not homework, projects or extra credit.
Leavitt moved math from 60/40 tests and homework to 70/30, then 80/20, then 100/0 over several years. Students rate themselves from one to four on weekly objective trackers, and college students from BYU and Utah State give writing feedback so students write every week.
What you'll learn
- Pick one thing you can sustain for five to seven years and resist swapping it for the next new program.
- Start a change with three teachers who want it, train them, send them to a conference and add two teams the next year.
- Move grading in steps, from 60/40 to 70/30 to 80/20, until grades reflect only what students show on assessments.
- Give students a weekly objective tracker of I can statements to rate themselves from one to four, and have parents sign it.
- Hire college students to give writing feedback so students can write more often without wearing teachers out.
Chapters
- 0:00 Building trust by not changing the program
- 3:10 Collaboration as the one focus that lasts
- 4:39 Why all grades come from assessments
- 6:24 How Draper Park moved to standards-based grading
- 8:31 Objective trackers and student self-assessment
- 11:17 Hiring college students to give writing feedback
- 16:48 Think big, start small with three teachers
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Questions this episode answers
How do you build trust with teachers as a principal?
Leavitt says not to change the program every year. Teachers won't buy in if they expect the district's next flavor of the month. His school has made collaboration its focus for nine years, and he tells teachers it isn't going away, so they need to get better at it.
How do you move a school to standards-based grading?
Leavitt started small. He and a few teams read Rick Wormeli's book on grading, and he began with three of his nine teams, one per grade level. Math moved from 60/40 to 70/30, then 80/20, and eventually 100/0, with language arts building rubrics for content.
How can students write more without burying teachers in grading?
Leavitt's students write on Canvas, and the writing is emailed to hired college students from BYU and Utah State who give feedback. He says more writing and more feedback make better writers, and his students now write in full about every week of the 38-week year.
About Gregory Leavitt
Principal of Draper Park Middle School in Draper, Utah, and the 2013 Canyons District Administrator of the Year.
Links and resources