Back in December, I shared some thoughts on the differences between standards-based and competency-based teaching and assessment. Since then, I’ve drafted competency-based rubrics for each dimension of the C3 Framework. In this post, I’ll share those rubrics and explain the thinking behind how I constructed them.
Standards Based Grading
Conceptualizing Competency Based Grading with the C3 Framework
This post is a reflection on my work with the C3 framework as I have moved from "Big Tent" standards towards competencies.
Designing a Social Studies Course with C3 Standards
Our department's 9th grade foundational course is interdisciplinary and uses the C3 Framework; its called Geographic Cultural Studies. Courses and curriculum are always works in progress. This course has been successful so far and I am very happy with the rigor it has added to our curriculum, however, there are some adjustments needed to make it better. Some of the adjustments were related to content, so that it aligns better with our 10th grade World History course, and others are related to prioritization of the C3 standards and unit structure to support a transition to standards-based / competency-based instruction and assessment.
Should AP exam scores count as a grade?
I came across an interesting chart from a school where AP exam scores seem to be used as a factor in a student's final grade. It's pictured below. The summer logistics of this aside, I was intrigued by the intended and unintended consequences of such a policy.
Standards-Based Grading in AP World History
Standards-based grading and assessment can work in an AP class. It requires a shift in mindset about the role of skill and content as well as clear systems to protect the integrity of each. I favor simplicity to prevent the danger of over-engineering the grading infrastructure.
Scaffolding Historical Thinking Skills
In the race to cover content it is easy to overlook the importance of scaffolding historical thinking during instruction. It is easy to ask students to analyze causes and effects, make comparisons, or effectively source documents; but harder to make sure students have a clear path to showing proficiency. Without clear scaffolding, without a system for teaching historical thinking, students are more likely to fall into "kitchen-sinkism." That is, they are more likely to think that copious amounts of detail and content, regardless of its relative significance, constitutes good history. Some students will always get to the goal on their own, but scaffolding helps all students have a clear path forward.
Standards-Based Grading in History: Vertical and Horizontal Alignment
Curriculum is not an add-on task that occurs in meetings, over summers, or acts as a distraction from teaching and instruction. Curriculum is at the heart of teaching and teachers should own it and live it. Vertical and Horizontal alignment is an oft mentioned, but less fine-tuned component of curriculum.
Historical Thinking begins with Primary Sources and Evidence
The use of primary sources has become increasingly common in history classrooms. Educators and researchers have been broadly pushing for this years. Specifically, this has been part of a call for the explicit teaching of historical thinking skills alongside prioritized content. Interestingly, the largest barriers to increased use of primary sources in the classroom that I have witnessed are not student reading ability, but a lack of teacher training and experience as well as access to materials.
Geography Proficiency Scales
This post contains my first draft and thoughts on the proficiency scales I've written on the C3 Geography standards. These will be used in a new interdisciplinary 9th grade course we are rolling out called Geographic Cultural Studies.
Providing Useful Feedback in the Classroom
Providing quality feedback, and setting aside time for students to read it, reflect on it, and revise with it pushes back against the desire to go fast instead of focusing on mastery. Doing this frequently and consistently also helps build a positive classroom culture; Students can tell the difference between a classroom where feedback is being used as a justification for the grade they received and a classroom where feedback is the pathway to both learning and the grades that reflect that learning.