Category: Portrait of a Graduate

Making Learning Matter

On By LaurenMKaufmanIn 1. Mission, Vision, and Core Values, 3. Equity and Cultural Responsiveness, 4. Curriculum, Instruction and Assessment, performance-based assessments, Portrait of a Graduate1 Comment

For much of my time as a student, learning often felt like the consumption of information. Read the chapter. Listen to the lesson. Take notes. Study for the test. Repeat. Can you relate? To be clear, knowledge matters. Learners need background knowledge. They need vocabulary. They need the foundational literacy skills of reading, writing, speaking, …

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Simple Moves, Significant Thinking

On By LaurenMKaufmanIn 1. Mission, Vision, and Core Values, 4. Curriculum, Instruction and Assessment, 5. Community of Care and Support for Students, 6. Professional Capacity of School Personnel, Portrait of a Graduate, Professional Standards For Educational Leaders

In education we live in a sea of choices and resources. Each day can bring a new strategy to consider, a digital platform to explore, or a framework to unpack. As educators, we care deeply about getting it right for our students, so we read, we listen, and we reflect on what will continue to …

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When Assessment Becomes Learning

On By LaurenMKaufmanIn 4. Curriculum, Instruction and Assessment, 7. Professional Community for Teachers and Staff, assessment, learning, performance-based assessments, Portrait of a Graduate, teaching

How can students show what they truly understand, not just what they can remember? This question sat at the center of our recent work with sixth-grade ELA teachers, and it pushed us to rethink what meaningful assessment should look like. While there is an important place for both formative check-ins and traditional multiple-choice measures, we …

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