Chapter 8: Grading and Reporting Achievement

As a note, each chapter poses several questions. Please do not feel obligated to answer each question by number; rather, use them as a guide for you to respond to the reading and share your thinking about the ideas in the book.

1. When teachers believe that grading in a differentiated classroom is difficult, if not impossible, what are the issues and concerns fueling that belief?

2. The authors assert that the primary goal of grading and reporting is to communicate to important audiences, such as students and parents, high-quality feedback to support the learning process and to encourage learner success.

• To what extent do present grading and reporting practices effectively communicate? To what extent are they accurate and fair?
  
• In what ways do current grading practices achieve that goal for academically diverse student populations?
  
• In what ways do current grading practices fall short of achieving that goal for academically diverse student populations? In other words, for whom do current grading practices “work” and for whom do they “not work”?

3. The chapter offers six principles of effective grading and reporting. Examine them individually and discuss which students might learn more effectively if the principle were reflected in grading and reporting procedures—and which students suffer when they are not. Be sure to take into account the impact of grading practices on student motivation.

4. In what ways might reporting three factors — student achievement of goals, progress toward those goals, and work habits in pursuit of those goals — improve student motivation? Student performance? Parent understanding of student work? Teacher satisfaction with reporting?

5. Review Figure 8.1. What big ideas unify Understanding by Design, Differentiation, and effective grading practice?

Chapter 7: Teaching for Understanding in Academically Diverse Classrooms

As a note, each chapter poses several questions. Please do not feel obligated to answer each question by number; rather, use them as a guide for you to respond to the reading and share your thinking about the ideas in the book.

1. List and explain various ways in which the teacher's role differs in an understanding-oriented classroom vs. a coverage-oriented one.
   
2. Illustrate with examples from your content area how a coverage-oriented lesson might proceed and how an-understanding-based lesson might proceed. Be sure to state the essential questions around which your understanding-oriented example is based and to show how the six facets of understanding might shape the lesson as well.
   
3. The authors reject the idea of having students “climb Bloom's ladder” as a means of differentiation. How do you feel about their reasoning? Why?
   
4. In what ways might a teacher use the WHERETO framework to support understanding for students with varied learning needs? In other words, how can WHERETO support differentiation?

Chapter 6: Responsive Teaching with UbD in Academically Diverse Classrooms

As a note, each chapter poses several questions. Please do not feel obligated to answer each question by number; rather, use them as a guide for you to respond to the reading and share your thinking about the ideas in the book.

1. This chapter proposes several “givens” or principles of planning that support effective differentiation:

• All students (except those with IEPs indicating otherwise, which is the case for other the givens that follow) should work with the big ideas and essential skills of a topic.
  
• All students should work at high levels of thought and on authentic tasks.
  
• All students should have consistent support for growing in understanding and skill.
  
• All students should have opportunity to make personal meaning of important ideas.
  
• Teacher-guided instruction should ensure clarity of student understanding.
  
• Students should have full knowledge of learning goals and indicators of success.
  
• Pre-assessment and formative assessment should guide teacher thinking and instructional planning.

Examining the principles one by one, what are likely outcomes in classrooms where teachers attempt to “differentiate instruction” when the principle is not evident in the teacher's practice?

2. It is likely the case that, at various times, teachers play the role of direct instructor, facilitator, and coach (See Figure 6.1). Give specific examples of when each role is needed. How do you think differentiation looks different across those roles? What would remain consistent about differentiation across the roles?

3. Review Figure 6.2: Options for Flexible Use of Classroom Elements to Address Learning Needs.

• Which classroom elements do you already use in flexible ways to address learner variance?
  
• In which of the elements would you like to continue developing flexibility of use?
  
• Revise the figure by suggesting other examples of flexible use and other learner needs the adaptations could address.
  

4. Based on your own experience and ideas from the chapter, what are ways teachers can make instructional planning more manageable and efficient when they work to meet the varying needs of diverse learners?

Chapter 5: Considering Evidence of Learning in Diverse Classrooms

As a note, each chapter poses several questions. Please do not feel obligated to answer each question by number; rather, use them as a guide for you to respond to the reading and share your thinking about the ideas in the book.

1. Assessment is a critical feature of both UbD and DI. Explain why that is the case for each model separately as you understand them. Also explain how assessment links the two models.

2. Chapter 5 offers three key principles of assessment (photo albums vs. snapshots, measures that match goals, form follows function).

• What are the big ideas implicit in each principle? Identify specific actions that teachers can take to act on each principle.
  


• Explain how each principle matters for successful curricular planning and for successful differentiation.

3. This chapter suggests four classroom assessment practices that honor student differences while promoting critical learning for each student (assessing before teaching, offering appropriate choices in assessments, providing feedback early and often, and encouraging student self-assessment and reflection).

• What common teacher beliefs and practices do these guidelines challenge?
  


• Identify specific examples of each principle in practice.
  


• What would change for students in our classrooms if we appropriately followed these guidelines? For teachers? For learners?
  

4. How would assessment following these guidelines promote learning for a wide range of students rather than simply measuring it?

Chapter 4: What Really Matters In Planning for Student Success?

As a note, each chapter poses several questions. Please do not feel obligated to answer each question by number; rather, use them as a guide for you to respond to the reading and share your thinking about the ideas in the book.


1. This chapter proposes nine attitudes and skills that are likely reflected in the practice of teachers who help a broad range of learners succeed academically. Examine the nine one by one and discuss what role each of them plays in supporting student growth and success. (Look at how each indicator would affect specific “categories” of learners—for example: students for whom English is not a first language, students who have difficulty attending in class, students who need to move when they learn, students who are academically advanced, students who struggle cognitively, etc.)

2. Quickly re-read the classroom scenarios in Chapter 4. Jot down general characteristics the scenario classrooms have in common. Discuss how they are like and different from classrooms in which differentiated or responsive teaching is not a priority for the teacher.

3. Chapter 4 poses three final questions. Do we have the will and skill to accept responsibility for the diverse individuals we teach? Do we have a vision of the power of high-quality learning to help young people build lives? Are we willing to do the work of building bridges of possibility between what we teach and the diverse individuals we teach? How would you answer those questions? Use the bullet points accompanying each question to help you elaborate on your answers.

Chapter 3: What Really Matters in Learning? (Content)

As a note, each chapter poses several questions. Please do not feel obligated to answer each question by number; rather, use them as a guide for you to respond to the reading and share your thinking about the ideas in the book.


1. To what degree do you feel most teachers in your school or district regularly reflect on what knowledge is truly essential and enduring in their content? What would most effectively guide teachers in finding answers to this question? What likely impedes teachers' movement in this direction?

2. The authors make a case that backward design helps teachers avoid the twin sins of activity-based planning and planning for coverage. In what ways does backward design help educators avoid those pitfalls? What benefits should students derive from backward design?

3. Where is backward design naturally in use in your school? What changes in planning practices (by individual teachers and teams) are suggested by backward design?

4. What is the role of content standards in UbD? In what ways does that role differ from the role of standards in classrooms that don't use a UbD-type approach to planning curriculum?

5. Can we teach to standards and still be responsive to learners (standards without standardization)? Why might teachers perceive a conflict between standards-based teaching and differentiation? Based on information in this chapter (capsuled in Figure 3.3), why are standards and differentiation compatible and not in conflict?

Chapter 2: What Really Matters in Teaching? (Students)

As a note, each chapter poses several questions. Please do not feel obligated to answer each question by number; rather, use them as a guide for you to respond to the reading and share your thinking about the ideas in the book.

1. How do the lives of Elisa, Jason, Yana, and Noah shape their school experiences? Use Figure 2.1 and the vignettes about these real students to develop your explanation.
2. Think about several students in your school or class whose biology, degree of privilege, positioning for learning, and or preferences shape experiences with school. Describe some of the specific factors in their lives that you feel cause them to embrace school as it now exists or cause them to have difficulty with it.
3. Based on your experience and ideas in this chapter, what arguments would you propose to support the idea that effective teaching responds to factors in students' lives. Explain and illustrate your thinking.
4. This chapter suggests ten approaches to teaching or patterns of instruction that should be helping in developing a classroom that is more responsive to a broad range of learners.
a. Which of the patterns seems useful in your setting? To what sorts of students would they be useful in promoting success?
b. Which of the patterns seem less likely to be effective in your setting? Why would they not benefit students?
5. The chapter concludes with 7 questions. What might change in our teaching if we persistently planned and taught with these questions in the forefront of our thinking?