Choosing to participate
Dear Families:
On Wednesday, we had our annual MLK assembly. We continued our tradition of using this assembly to examine social justice issues in the context of Martin Luther King’s words and work. This year’s assembly was organized by our eighth graders as a kick-off to a more comprehensive day-of-learning event that they will organize for the whole Middle School in April. The focus of our assembly was on making connections between social justice and sustainability issues both of which relate to the eighth grader’s year-long humanities theme “Choosing to Participate.” Through presentations on the impact of bus idling on health, industrial fishing in Africa, and the disposal of toxic waste in North Carolina, students introduced the concept of environmental racism and how these issues can have immediate and long-term local and far-reaching impacts. Students also shared poems that were written on a variety of sustainability themes; these poems crystallized their profound observations and deeply held convictions on this issue. The observations and insights offered were framed by an excerpt from King’s speech “Where do we go from here?” and video clips of social justice and environmental activists Van Jones and Paul Hawken. Our assembly concluded with a rousing performance of Stevie Wonder’s “Happy Birthday” performed by the eighth grade members of the Middle School band The Special Guests. It was a truly thoughtful assembly the spirit of which was continued by students today in advisory as they engaged in a series of follow-up activities. Our eighth graders really rose to the occasion and left us all, students and faculty, with much to consider about how we can “choose to participate.” Well done!
This Friday, students will be coming home with their progress reports for the second quarter. We ask that students not open their reports in school or after school with friends. Rather, they should share them with you at home. The reports provide an important opportunity for shared discussion about successes to date and challenges to address as we move forward into the second half of the year. Our decision to move to reports that show a student’s progress over the four quarters was motivated by a desire to help students and families to see the work of a particular quarter in a broader context of their overall learning experience. Prior to receiving these reports, take the opportunity to speak with your child about his/her perceptions of the work s/he has completed this past quarter and how s/he sees this work in relation to the work completed last quarter. This will help to frame your discussions when you go over the progress reports together.
While progress reports provide an opportunity to reflect on a student’s progress and to think about strengths and challenges, it is important to remember that assessment is an on-going process at LREI; it is a means to an end, but not an end in and of itself. Its aim is to improve student understanding of key ideas and skills. In the Middle School, teachers strive to develop assessments that are learner-centered and focused on student understanding in relation to the particular goals identified for each area of inquiry. Rather than being separate from learning, assessment plays a central role in the instructional process. The assessment process also sheds light on which instructional strategies are most effective. Through thoughtful assessment, the teacher gains critical feedback for choosing and utilizing those teaching strategies that can best help a learner progress towards the goals of a particular unit of study. Opportunities for meaningful assessment also allow students to gain deeper insight into areas of strength and challenge and allow them to develop plans to address growth in both of these areas.
Also on the subject of assessment, I’d like to say a few words about the upcoming ERBs, which are scheduled For February 12th-14th. The ERBs represent one piece of the assessment puzzle at LREI and it is important that they are seen in this light. They convey useful information, but not the full-picture of a child’s achievement. While the content of the ERBs is generally aligned to grade-level expectations, there are areas where this is not the case. For example, a math concept that appears on the sixth grade test, may not be addressed in our curriculum until the seventh grade and teaching this concept out of context may not always make sense. Your child’s teachers will make every attempt to identify these particular alignment areas. So while much of our ERB prep is focused on reviewing concepts that have been addressed in the curriculum, teaching general test prep skills, and helping students to feel comfortable with standardized testing conditions, our focus tends not to be on “cramming” new concepts. Please do not hesitate to speak with me if you have questions about the ERB process.
Be well,
Mark