Episode Details

Gregory Leavitt, principal of Draper Park Middle School in Utah, explains how common formative assessments keep subject-level PLC teams working toward mastery all year. Every assessment at his school is common, so teachers compare results standard by standard and fix weak spots long before the state test arrives.

The results speak. Draper Park ranked first in language arts among Utah middle schools on the new SAGE test, 12th in science and around 15th in math. Sixth grade science reached 80% proficiency. The tools are plain: teachers save their assessments in Google Docs and show data sheets.

What you'll learn

• Start a subject-level PLC with three questions: what do we want students to know, how will we know, and what will we do if they don't.
• Make every assessment common and paced within a day of each other, so teachers can compare data on each standard.
• After the state test, find the standards students missed and make the matching formative questions tougher.
• Meet each grade-level group every nine weeks for about 15 minutes and look at their assessments and data together.
• Try sharing data across grade levels or with an online partner if you have only one teacher in a subject.

Chapters

• 0:00 How subject-level PLC meetings run
• 5:00 Why every assessment should be common
• 7:17 What to say when teachers feel compared
• 10:02 Top Utah scores on the SAGE test
• 14:20 Reviewing grade-level data every nine weeks
• 16:35 Strengthening weak standards and comparing up
• 21:39 Common assessments in a small school

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Questions this episode answers

How do I start common formative assessments if I have only one teacher per subject?
Leavitt says to make sure that teacher has data they will share, and consider sharing it vertically. Then find a teacher online at the same level to compare with. He adds that you only need one other person, and that having one teacher teach two grade levels can help.

How do I get teachers to accept being compared with their peers?
Leavitt says it takes consistency. He tells teams it is not about them, it is about students, and that every student deserves an equal chance at a good teacher. He has not had to remind teams to look at data in about four or five years.

Do I need special software to run common formative assessments?
No. Leavitt says his teachers save their assessments in Google Docs. He notes there are programs where teachers share formative work, but his school has done well without one. Common sense, good practice, consistent over time, is what he says works.

About Gregory Leavitt

Principal of Draper Park Middle School in Draper, Utah, and the 2013 Canyons District Administrator of the Year.

Links and resources

• Draper Park top-scoring school news
• 2013 Administrator of the Year announcement
• Fair Isn't Always Equal book
• Rate the show on iTunes
• Rate the show on Stitcher
• Jethro Jones on Twitter

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