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1791 | February 2017
Throughout the year, the Lower School faculty and I engage in a variety of faculty meeting formats and discussions. With the support of Lower School families, several of these meetings are held on different late-start mornings. Our next late-start morning will occur on March 23, and it is slated to be a time in which representative faculty from all three Divisions will make small-group presentations related to Curriculum 2020 progress.
I have written about our Curriculum 2020 school-wide focus on several occasions. As mentioned, we currently find ourselves at an unprecedented point in Pre-Kindergarten through twelfth grade education, as we further define essential educational goals within the teaching-learning cycle necessary for current and future student success. Curriculum 2020’s five supporting pillars (goals) highlight the promise of a continued vibrant and meaningful Berwick Academy educational program:
1. Fostering student-directed learning;
2. Focusing on relevant skills and content;
3.Infusing systemic innovation;
4. Developing a broader focus on wellness, character education and public purpose;
5. Evolving in our understanding and authentic practice of cultural competency.
Understandably, these noteworthy goals are not necessarily new to our collective school-wide focus, but rather areas in which we are attempting to emphasize more consistently in future years. Realizing that this important program alignment is already underway in varied forms across campus, my colleagues and I will present on aspects of our program that connect with varied Curriculum 2020 goals during the March 23 meeting. Marti Limbocker and I, for example, have volunteered to speak on the open-ended topic of “Thinking About Assessment.” Our focus is to present current Lower School assessment efforts and to project ahead regarding future goals and practices in this area.
When we consider assessment, we often think of summative assessment forms like the ERB’s. The third and fourth grade students took the Educational Records Bureau (ERB) standardized tests at their respective grade levels during the week of January 23-27. The students’ schedules were modified during that week to include a combination of test-taking periods in the morning and regular class periods throughout the school day. The assessments support our awareness of individual student progress within reading, writing and math skills and content, and they give us the ability to analyze Division-wide progress in these areas in comparison to peer independent schools across the country.
Prior to the December break and during specific classes in January, grade-level faculty helped the students understand the significance of the tests and how to best prepare for the varied test-taking directions, procedures and strategies. Within our approach, we have attempted to walk that fine line of preparing students both emotionally and academically for the tests while not causing unnecessary concern for or over-emphasis on the test-taking process.
Prior to the December break and during specific classes in January, grade-level faculty helped the students understand the significance of the tests and how to best prepare for the varied test-taking directions, procedures and strategies. Within our approach, we have attempted to walk that fine line of preparing students both emotionally and academically for the tests while not causing unnecessary concern for or over-emphasis on the test-taking process.
Undoubtedly, gathering standardized student data as our students move through their final two years in the Lower School is an important step. But it certainly is not the only component within a well-rounded assessment process. This summative assessment is important, but so too are other forms of summative and formative assessments that occur throughout the year.
Backing up a step, summative assessment is generally defined as the process of assessing student learning at the end of an instructional period by comparing it against certain standards. Conversely, formative assessment is generally defined as the process of assessing and monitoring student learning to provide ongoing feedback that faculty can use in real-time situations. In varied ways, faculty and students can use summative and formative assessments to inform their teaching and improve their learning. For example, we use summative assessments to form our leveled literacy groups, and formative assessments during student instruction within these reading groups. Summative assessment usually involves formal assessments, and formative assessment usually addresses the close interplay between a teacher and student within daily teaching-learning interactions.
As Curriculum 2020 suggests, student educational experiences and thus student assessments will be multifaceted within 21st century educational practices. With that in mind, a balance of assessment systems will be essential, including the interesting challenge of stretching formative assessment into key areas such as social-emotional learning and innovative thinking. I believe that varied forms of teaching, learning, and assessing will become more possible and appropriate within Curriculum 2020’s framework and Berwick’s approach to 21st century education. I look forward to the upcoming faculty meeting presentation and, in turn, further updates to our Lower School community regarding varied and essential approaches to student assessment within our Division.
Berwick Academy
31 Academy Street
South Berwick, Maine 03908
Contact:
Admission | 207.384.6300
Main Office | 207.384.2164
South Berwick, Maine 03908
Contact:
Admission | 207.384.6300
Main Office | 207.384.2164
Berwick Academy, situated on an 80-acre campus just over one hour north of Boston, serves 520 students, Pre-Kindergarten through Grade 12 and Postgraduates. Berwick students are from Maine, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, and several countries. Deeply committed to its mission of promoting virtue and useful knowledge, Berwick Academy empowers students to be creative and bold. Berwick strives to graduate alumni who shape their own learning, take risks, ask thoughtful questions, and come to understand and celebrate their authentic selves.
