DEVELOPING STUDENT
OWNERSHIP
CREATING A VISION FOR INCREASED STUDENT PERFORMANCE…..
Owning Learning, Keeping Data, Communicating Results
WVDE, Glenna Heinlein and MaryJane Pope Albin
Everyone is a Winner
• Have you experienced student
motivation problems this year?
• Are you interested in students taking
a more active role in their learning?
• Would you like students to take more
ownership for their work?
• Are you concerned about students
behavior?
Begin With The End in Mind
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Data talks
Data Walls
Data tracking
Student data notebooks
Portfolios
Parent participation
Student led conferences
Student Ownership of their
Learning
Numbers as data
• “Numbers alone mean nothing. The
right numbers interpreted well,
– provide information to evaluate
effectiveness of improvement efforts,
– guide our practice,
and ultimately transform our lowest
performing schools into places with high
levels of learning for both students and
adults” (Huff, 2008, p. 197).
What are the results when you
use Data Walls
• Designed to
– Spur conversations
– Are the discussion points for
collaborative sessions and goal setting
– Drive the work of school improvement
– Demonstrate focus on the school’s
SMART Goals
– Link improvement to measurable data
that shows student improvement
– Focus
The most important outcome is that the data
walls are the focus of conversation and actions
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Types
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Public Data Walls - multiple forms
of data
• external
• Attendance
• Discipline
• Summative achievement data
• Interim or benchmark data
• Progress monitoring
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Individual or private data walls are
used by teams of teachers to
• Internal
• Track individual student
attendance
• Monitor behavior
• Review progress toward
summative achievement data
• Interim or benchmark data
for individual student
progress
• Individual progress
monitoring
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Conversations and Actions
– display of data intended to spur
conversation about
improvement toward goals
– dynamic and regularly updated
– messaging is informative and
encourages action
– often supported with contests
and recognition
Conversations and Actions
– Display of data for
conversations about
interventions
– Continuous progress reporting
– Individual student interventions
– Scheduling
– Before school/after school
programming.
DATA Walls
More Than a Graphic Representation
Goal setting to improve student learning.
Photo credit: David Binder
Encouraging Progresspractice
• Improvement Goal 10-8
– Decrease disengagement time
by improving transitions
– Increase higher order thinking
activities in all classes
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5 and 6
2 and 3
4, 5, 6
1, 2, 3
Ansted Elementary
Students charting their own progress
Photo credit: David Binder
Research-TRANSPARENCY
Many schools with a Clear and Common
Focus make their goals and progress
transparent to the community through
the display of data walls and data
graphs. Whether they are hand-drawn
or computer-generated, these data
displays show students, parents,
teachers, and other community
members the students’ progress toward
greater achievement
Douglas Reeves
High School Data Wall Example
What are the results when you set goals
from data? What data can you use?
• build shared ownership,
accountability, and awareness of
progress toward goals
• reinforce positive messaging to school
community instill goal setting
IMPROVE STUDENT OUTCOMES!
Boston Public Schools
Student Data Folios
• Test Talks or conversations
• Students set goals to their learning
Cole discusses his skills
Goal Setting
• The ability to improve one’s result
depends on the ability to adjust one’s
pace in light of ongoing feedback that
measures performance against a
concrete, long term goal.
• If I am not clear on my goals or if I fail
to pay attention to them, I cannot get
helpful feedback.
Grant Wiggins
7 Keys to Effective Feedback
Jigsaw the article
• Expert Groups
– #1 pp 11-12
– #2 pp 13-14
– #3 pp 15-16
• Use a T chart or 2 column notes to:
– State the important points; how we can use this
– http://www.learner.org/jnorth/tm/InstrucStrat19.html
• Table Group Discussion
• Group comments on chart paper
• Report out
http://www.readingrockets.org/strategies/jigsaw
Student led conferences could help you
put students on “center stage” and
take more responsibility for their
academic achievement and selfdiscipline
PHILOSOPHY
Student led conferences reflect the
belief that students should be
actively involved in their learning and
assume responsibility for the learning
process. Through student led
conference, students become more
motivated, reflective and evaluative.
They also become more critical in
their approach to learning.
Traditional vs. Student-Led
• Teacher Driven
• Short time frame –
little time for
conversations
• Focus tends to be on
social and emotional
rather than academic
• Fragmented
• Student driven
• Longer time –
conversation based
• High accountability
• Opportunities for goal
setting
• Samples of work
• Authentic assessment
Benefits vs. Pitfalls
Activity:
• table discussion about implementing
student-led conferences
• list likely benefits
• list potential pitfalls
• report out
• chart
PURPOSE
• Students accept responsibility for
learning, become more aware of the
learning process, and track their own
data.
• They report academic growth to
parents and progress toward
becoming life long learners.
POWER
Student led conferences…
• Encourage students to take an active
role in their learning
• Motivate students to take more
ownership for their work
• Allow students to see their progress
over time
• Encourage students to evaluate their
work
POWER
Student led conferences…
• Encourage students, parents and
teachers to openly communicate as
equal partners about student
achievement
• Enhance students’ oral
communication skills
• Build students’ self-confidence
• Build relationships
POWER
Student led conferences…
• Increase parent participation in
conferences
• Move students toward goal of being
life long learners
• Focus discussion on priority standards
and their accomplishment
• Showcase student work
• Encourage students, parents and
teachers to engage in open, honest,
dialogue
POWER
Student led conferences…
• Press students to have a vision for their
future
• Utilize students strengths, and interests to
garner higher student achievement
• Facilitate the development of students oral
communication skills
• Encourage self-efficacy
10 Good Reasons to
Implement
Student-Led Conferencing
• Opens up communication between school
and home
• Practices real life-skills - communication,
organization, leadership, etc.
• Teaches self-evaluation, self-reflection
skills
• Focuses on learning
• Goal setting process has buy-in by all
involved
Con’t: 10 Good Reasons to
Implement
Student-Led Conferencing
• Easier scheduling - easily accommodates
late arrivals, walk-ins
• Provides quality time between parent and
child
• Less stress on teacher during conference
days
• Accommodates parents who do not speak
English
• Students are the center of the conference
Organizing for the Conferences
• When to hold – time of year
• Decide on overall organizational plan –
facilitators, drop-ins, set up, demos
• How many to hold at a time – structure
• Decide upon scheduling process
• Parent notification process
• Preparing teachers
• Preparing students – teach the script
and process
NUTS AND BOLTS
Before the conference….
1. Begin with student goal setting
2. Prepare samples of students work to
show evidence of growth and goal
progress (data notebooks and
portfolio).
3. Notify parents well in advance of the
conferences.
4. Provide opportunities for students to
practice
NUTS AND BOLTS
(1) Goal setting
• Identify strengths and
challenges based upon
data…WESTEST, Benchmarks,
Grades, classroom assessment
and performance, behavior,
attendance, inventories, self
assessments, parent assessment,
teacher assessment, etc.
NUTS AND BOLTS
(1) Goal setting
 Set goals with the grade level
cluster/mathematical standards in mind ...
Reading, Writing, Mathematics,
Science, Social Studies
 Design a plan of action…
student responsibilities, teacher
responsibilities, parent responsibilities
 Decide on evidence to be included in portfolio, and
from data notebook…
what shows progress toward achieving the
goals
NUTS AND BOLTS
(2) Prepare samples of students’ work to show
evidence of growth and goal progress
(portfolio).
 Include baseline evidence
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WESTEST
Benchmarks
Classroom Assessment
Writing Assessments
Inventories/Self Assessments
Etc…..
 Have students organize their work with a table of
contents
 Have students to explain and reflect upon their
choices(post-its or note cards)
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I put this in my portfolio because…
I feel good about this piece because…
If I did this piece again, I would improve it by…
NUTS AND BOLTS
(3) Notify parents will in advance of the
conference.
 Send home a letter explaining the conference format
and why it is being used…
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Why are you having student led conferences?
How will the conferences be different?
If necessary, when can parents talk to you without the student?
When and where will the conference be held?
 Develop parent conferencing questions to guide
parents through the process…..
NUTS AND BOLTS
(4) Provide opportunities for students
to practice….
 Model the process
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Teacher to teacher
Teacher to teacher assistant
 With students, develop a checklist describing
student role
 Organize student to student practice sessions
NUTS AND BOLTS
Conference Checklist
Students
Parents
Teacher
NUTS AND BOLTS
Conference Schedule Example
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Introduction (1 minute)
Orientation (2 minutes)
Students Achievement Data (5 minutes)
Students Goals (3 minutes)
Action Plan (5 minutes)
Students Work (10 minutes)
Debriefing (2 minutes)
NUTS AND BOLTS
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7.
Introduction-students intros parent to teacher
Orientation-teacher explains conf. procedure
Student Achievement Data-examining the datateacher shares data that helped identify the goals
Student Goals-student shares goals and explains
why they were selected
Action Plan-student and teacher discuss their
responsibilities and plan
Students Work-student shows work and
reflections from the portfolio to demonstrate
his/her progress toward goal achievement
Debriefing-student, teacher, and parent discuss
and comment on the conference process
NUTS AND BOLTS
Conference Organizer
While we look at my work, please notice these
things:
• Subject goal ________
• Steps I will take to reach goal
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2.
3.
_____________
_____________
_____________
How parents can help me reach the goal
_____
Plan to monitor progress _______
These are the things I do well ______
These are the things I am working on ______
NUTS AND BOLTS
After the Conference
1. Student sends thank you letter to
parent
2. Student completes reflection
survey
3. Parent questionnaire/evaluation
NUTS AND BOLTS
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Student Reflection Survey Example
What did you like about the student led
conference?
How did you feel during the conference?
What didn’t you like about the
conference?
If you could change the conference to
make it better, what would you do?
NUTS AND BOLTS
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Parent Questionnaire Example
Which conference (traditional or student
led) gave you a better appreciation of…
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What your child was learning?
What your child studied in class?
Your child’s study habits such as finishing
assignments and handing work in on time?
NUTS AND BOLTS
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Parent Questionnaire Example
Which conference format did you prefer?
Why?
What are the benefits of student led
conferences?
What are the disadvantages of student
led conferences?
What more would you like to learn in the
conference?
KEYS TO SUCCESS
• Students and teachers willing to take
risks
• Teachers willing to step aside
• Focusing in on student achievementNext Gen Standards and their
accomplishment
• Committing to the process
• Learning
• Preparing
• Practicing
CHALLENGES
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First time jitters
Uncertainty of sharing control with students
Need to adopt a student-centered philosophy
Organizing the logistics of conferences
Responding to families who don’t participate
Vision of the student for their academics and
their future
THE ROLE OF VISION
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Vision is a dream in action
Vision gives direction
Vision determines your destination
Vision always precedes great
performance or action
THE ROLE OF VISION
• Vision clarifies purpose
• Vision empowers students beyond
known assets
VISION….
Enables
Empowers
Enhances
THE FUTURE-FOCUSED ROLE
IMAGE
Successful students had:
• A vision of their future
• Goals
• Believed in their own self-efficacy
• Saw multiple options in their life
SUMMARY
Teacher benefits:
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Less stress on teachers, very relaxed atmosphere
Less confrontational (more positive)
Places responsibility on the student and parent
Increased parent participation
An opportunity to see students in a leadership role
SUMMARY
Parent benefits:
• Increases the amount of information given to a
parent
• Learn more about their child’s learning and skills
• An opportunity to help their child set positive goals
• Active participant in their child’s learning
• First language communication
• Eliminates standing in line for a conference
• Allows for more time in their child’s learning
environment to see what the child has worked on
over a period of time
• First hand opportunity to see their child in charge
of the learning process
SUMMARY
Student benefits:
• Accountability for their learning
• Students learn to evaluate their own progress
• Students gain greater commitment to school work
and learning
• Builds self confidence and self-esteem
• Encourages student/parent communication
• Builds communication and critical thinking skills
• Places responsibility on the student and parent
• Allows students to become involved
• Puts students in charge of their learning
• Time allowed to share and celebrate in learning
environment