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THE ACADEMIC CORNER Washington Wilkes Middle School continues in its endeavor to improve education for all students. As part of Georgia's Leadership Institute for School Improvement (GLISI), WWMS has established a Better Seeking Team comprised of the principal, assistant principal, and five other educators within the school. This team works together collaboratively to learn and to improve student achievement. The Better Seeking Team uses data to make informed decisions about how to boost student achievement. As teachers work to implement the Georgia Performance Standards, the Better Seeking Team is making examining student work a top priority for the school. The most common and practical way to measure student achievement is by assessing work. With the Georgia Performance Standards, more and more student work is becoming performance based. Teachers, students, and parents must change their ways of thinking of the traditional assessments. Now, performance is measured based on standards and whether or not the student can apply what was taught in that standard. In an effort to help educators find different and innovative ways to assess student work and eliminate misconceptions in learning, the Better Seeking Team has been exploring methods of examining student work and new assessment tools. With mathematics as a target for school-wide improvement in achievement, the Better Seeking Team decided to begin with the math department. While several methods were researched and discussed, the team decided to model a collaborative approach to examining student assessment in the monthly math meeting. In this collaborative approach, the teacher decides on the focus of the assessment: will the focus be on the assignment (example: does the assignment teach the standard), or will the focus be on the product or work the student produces? With this decision made, a focus question is formed and the teacher presents the work to a group of his or her peers with all of the necessary information needed to have an understanding of the assignment. As a group, colleagues and peers provide feedback for the presenting teacher that enables him or her to see strengths and weaknesses in the assignment and the student work. This type of collaboration also allows other teachers in the same discipline to share ideas and successes with each other while examining a piece of student work.
Throughout the rest of the year, this collaborative approach will be used in all disciplines to examine student work. Teachers will be able to work together to sharpen their practice of improving student learning. WWMS is diligent in its endeavor to have all students succeed.
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