District 50 has received comments throughout the United States regarding our implementation of a Standards-based System. We thought we would share with you what conversations are happening.

CALIFORNIA

Comment: Hello Dr. Selleck, my name is Sandy and I am a parent that lives in California.  I read how your district is changing its philosophy about how students learn and progress.  I think it's wonderful; the analogy of the video games is great; you can also use this example:  in martial arts the accountability placed on demonstrating proficiency is shared by the instructor, parent and student.  The same way it should be in school.

I highly encourage you to keep up the good work and I hope that California can learn from your District. - Sandy

COLORADO

Comment: Hello-I am a graduate student at Regis University. I am currently taking a course with Steve Rogers and have been assigned to complete a literature review. I am very interested in the topic of SBE and am struggling to find research articles on this topic. I was hoping the districts website would have links to research. Could you provide me with any of the references you used in making the decision to switch to a SBE model? I would greatly appreciate any help! - LW -

Adams 50: Please see the References section of our website.

FLORIDA

Comment: Can you explain what this means from your new grading system please: "Standards will be clearly defined so teachers know exactly what they are expected to teach and students are expected to learn. Students may use multiple ways to demonstrate what they know and can do." - BA

Adams 50: We have identified what we are calling "measurement topics". These are the standards that will be our guaranteed curriculum.  Parents, students and teachers will all monitor student's progress on these standards that will be in 10 levels (not grade levels) for graduation.  Students will use what is called a "capacity matrix" to self-assess their learning on these measurement topics. Students will then partner with their teacher to create a performance assessment (or use a pre-created one) that would show what they need to know and be able to do.  This way they can use their interests and be motivated to complete their learning. We will hold all students to a proficient performance on each of the measurement topics before the student can move to the next topic.

Comment: I just read about how you are restructuring your schools. Hooray for you! I taught 2nd and 3rd grade for 36 years and feel that what you are striving to do is the right thing. My argument to support your proposed system is this: Would you rather buy a car that spent 180 days in the factory or a car that was put together correctly? I wish you all the best.

Comment: I am so proud that a public school district has found a superintendent with visionary leadership!  My thoughts and prayers are with you during this exciting time.  Your current and future students will have much to be thankful for. - Charles

GEORGIA

Comment: Congratulations on this new direction. I pitched this concept in the 90's while serving on a school board in GA to no avail. I wish you the best of luck and hope to see proof of the successes in this excellent teaching system soon. - DP

ILLINOIS

Comment: Bravo! I just read about your district's transformation to SBE and am thrilled. I train teachers to use differentiated instruction that is standards-based and know exactly how difficult it is to shift educators, parents and students away from the traditional grade-driven model to one that is truly student centered. I can't wait to follow your success story. I am a huge Marzano fan and I saw loads of Quality Management tools and terms embedded in the video so I believe you're truly positioned for this initiative to succeed.

I do have a couple implementation questions. What sorts of forms have you found successful to monitor students' progress through your 10 levels. I know that record-keeping is always a sticking point for teachers.

Adams 50: We are using an electronic system call e-ducate that will be monitoring student progress over time on our measurement topics.

Also - what happens to students on ether end of the spectrum? If a truly bright child moves swiftly and could complete the 10 levels at a young age - what provisions are in place? Likewise, it could take some well beyond the traditional number of years to master all the standards. How are you working through that with students and parents? - AH

Adams 50: Students will be allowed to progress through the measurement tropics and levels at their own pace.  If they complete level 10, the student, parents and counselors will decide the next course of action. If they are ready to graduate they may do so as soon as they've met the graduation requirements, if they are young and parents don't think they are ready for college or the world of work, the student may take advantage of our state's post-secondary options program and begin college while still at the high school.  We would love for students to walk across the stage at HS graduation with an associates' degree in one hand and a diploma in the other.  However, we will keep students until they are 21 if they need more time and want to complete all the 10 levels of measurement topics. Right now we believe that we will put their transcript right on their diploma.

Comment: I read, with interest, an article about your eliminating grades. As a former teacher and administrator in a public school system, I am well aware of how radical an idea this is in a community. Since I retired from the schools, I am working at Northwestern University's Center for Talent Development where we offer programs for gifted students. Among the programs is Gifted LearningLinks, an online program for grades K-12+. - RB

Comment: I read about you in Yahoo News..I'm so excited about your progress!  Please call me so we can talk about your new direction. - PS

Comment: AWESOME! Do you know if there are any SBE schools closer to Michigan? Thank you! - JC

NEW JERSEY

Comment: I want to commend your district for trying a really interesting approach to education. I am a mother in NJ who as a daughter with cerebral palsy. She has tested to the end of her next grade levels (they refuse to test her further) since kindergarten. She was reading 200 pg. chapter books just after her fifth birthday. Because I believe she is bored in class, she is not performing like the teacher wants. Instead of looking for the reason they have placed her in a remedial setting, two months behind her classmates. I would love for her to be moved to 4th grade, but they would never do it. I have my own fight on my hands, but I wish your school district all the luck in the world. Kudos to Superintendant Selleck for not being afraid to try something new! Good luck, a frustrated mom in NJ!

PENNSYLVANIA

Comment: Hello Adams 50, I'm graduating high school this year in Pennsylvania and I've been preaching the doctrine for years that your school is attempting to implement. I can't tell you how thrilled I was when I seen this on yahoo, and I'd like to help out in any way possible. - NP

Comment: We have been looking at a model like this for several years. We can get our minds around placement of students and standards but our difficulty comes with what to do with students who meet their present standards mid-year and progress to the next level.  It seems that you may end up with more diversity in terms of student knowledge than we have now.  How do you manage that?  I am very interested to follow this - we are a very small district - 120 students K-6 and I feel that a model like this would benefit our students.

Adams 50: We will be moving students to the next level when they have shown proficiency in all the essential learning's at their current level. We're trying to schedule a series of levels in each period so students can transition smoothly. So in period 1, we would offer levels 3-7 so students can move levels without a major schedule change.

TENNESSEE

Comment: Can you tell me who to speak with concerning the Standards Based Grading you have switched to this year. We are looking at this very seriously, but we cannot get away from the traditional "Grades" that "Higher Ed" requires for Scholarships....How have you substituted GPA for the Colleges? - DH

WEST VIRGINIA

Comment: Where can I find strategies like the ones pictured on the SBE model classroom photos?I'm a teacher in WV and would like to use some of them. Thanks! - LG

Adams 50: We got these strategies from the Reinventing Schools Coalition trainings we've had in the district. A lot of them are listed in the Website for the American Society for Quality.  Great tools! You'll love using them with students. It gives them a real voice in the classroom!

INTERNATIONAL

EL SALVADOR
Comment: Official Educator of the Consulates from El Salvador:
Called to acknowledge our effort around systemic change. - MD

LOCATION UNKNOWN

Comment: Greetings! I just read about your plan for next year (on yahoo), and LOVE it! I wish my kids could have the (enormous) benefits of a non-grade mastery-based system like yours, and also wish I could be part of it from the instructor side. Are you hiring? Congratulations on your fantastic new system. Kudos. - DW

Comment: I just read the article on your new plan for your district. I have often felt that is exactly what the schools needed to do. Too many times we pass children on just as they are beginning to understand concepts and they are now fully versed in that concept. Therefore never really mastering the skills, I only want to thank you for this and I look forward to hearing how this works and the progress your district makes in this area. I either missed one thing somewhere or maybe it wasn’t addressed but I wonder if this means students would be with the same teacher for more than one year. I found that most beneficial with my daughter in our district. Our daughter had the benefit of multi-age classroom and working with a teacher for more than one year let the teacher really focus on her needs. - SH

Comment: Hello, I am writing this in regards to my wife who is currently in her last year of college and sent me an article that was done on your school district. She seemed excited and actually asked me if we could move to Colorado when I get out of the Military next year. What kind of information could you give my wife and I and what would be the possibilities of her getting a job to participate in the new "no grade level" program? I don't know her exact degree, all I know is she is based in special education and likes working with all children. Any information you could provide or perhaps links to your new program would be appreciated. Thank you for your time. - KF

Comment: I just read about how you are restructuring your schools. Hooray for you! I taught 2nd and 3rd grade for 36 years and feel that what you are striving to do is the right thing. My arguments to support your proposed system is this: Would you rather buy a car that spent 180 days in the factory or a car that was put together correctly? I wish you all the best. - SH