Quick Recap of Math Essay #1:  What’s in Your Assessment Wallet? Part 1

I had walked home late the night before a bit steamed about the lack of apparent assessment support for my first year of middle school math teaching neighbor. She was writing an end of unit math test by herself at the last minute. She had no help or support from the other members of her 7^th grade math collaborative team. She was not aware of any tests from previous years – hard copy or digital. And she was not aware of the school’s expectations for rigor in the mathematics program. Not a good start. 

The middle school principal was also my neighbor. She lived on the same street about 10 houses away. I wasn’t a stranger then, when I called her at work that next morning and asked to see her after school. I walked into her office promptly at 3:30 pm ready to have a conversation about the 7^th grade math teams’ digital assessment wallet.

Yet, I had been taught by my mentor it is always better to assume good intentions on the part of others. Be less judgy and seek to understand first. With those thoughts in my head, I entered her office, where the three 7^th grade team members were waiting for me.

The five of us sat at a round table. Good move by the principal, I thought, as there was no us vs. them feeling. Just five colleagues trying to understand best practices and routines.

Years before, I had read Kerry Patterson’s book Crucial Conversations and developed a personal pathway for conversations that might be uncomfortable: Engage quickly. Separate the people from the practice. Give the benefit of the doubt. Say honestly how you feel.

So that’s what I tried to do.

Thus, I did not wait. It is why I asked to meet with the principal and the teacher team the very next day.

I thanked everyone for taking the time to meet with me, and I let them know that my math assessment questions weren’t about the members of the team or the principal being good or bad (a judgment of them) people. Rather it was about whether or not their current practices were supportive of a new teacher to the team, and whether their current team assessment practices caused potential inequities for student learning in 7^th grade.

I made sure not to exaggerate the facts. I stated them as I knew them and without judgment. I explained I knew Tammy (not her real name) was a first-year math teacher at the middle school and new to the 7^th grade team. I also knew that the middle school was pursuing the PLC process. I revealed that both Tammy and their principal were my neighbors as well.

I then explained that the night before, I met with Tammy to help her create an end-of-unit test she needed for today. I had asked her several questions, for which she was not sure of the answers as her 7^th grade math team had not yet met this year:

Does the team have a common assessment folder for each unit of the 7^th grade math course? How do they equitably score or grade their assessments? Is the guidance for scoring math assessments available to teachers and support personnel on the team? Can we compare the end of unit tests each teacher used? Does she believe those unit 1 math tests have the same level of rigor? Why should it be a priority to agree on essential standards for each math unit and use the same common math assessments?

That day, I just let them know that my experience the night before with this new teacher on the 7^th grade math team had left me both sad and upset. Sad that the 7^th grade math team had not yet found the time to meet. Surprised that in a PLC school, a first-year teacher had found herself creating a high-quality end of unit math assessment – at the last minute and, alone. I was concerned that the student role in 7^th grade math assessment as part of the learning process seemed unknown.

As you can imagine a lot of conversation followed about barriers to improving current math assessment routines. I asked the principal how she could better support this team in securing the time needed to complete the assessment routines discussed and volunteered to support the team if it would be helpful.

I left them with one challenge:   

In their pursuit of becoming a more effective collaborative team within a PLC school, their math assessment wallet could no longer be empty. Common unit assessments, common scoring of those assessments, common expectations for student feedback and action on those math assessments needed to become vital parts of the digital wallet for every unit of the 7^th grade course.

I left them with these thoughts for future discussion.

What students need to know and be able to do—and what evidence will demonstrate that learning—shouldn’t depend on which seventh-grade teacher they happen to have. I reminded them that:

Students don’t take an individual teacher’s version of seventh-grade mathematics. They take seventh-grade mathematics.

Thus, ensuring your students are equally prepared for what comes next week, month, or next year is something you owe them and your colleagues, collectively.

Thus, in order for their students to move on to the next grade level of mathematics equally prepared, their assessment wallet needed to contain the common math assessment documents discussed, but more importantly needed their collective agreements about how to score and use those documents.

What happened with this team over the next eight months are essays for another day.

Sometimes, I said, the best way we move toward a different assessment view is simply to show ourselves a better way.

My Front Porch Math Question:

What part of your unit-by-unit math assessments, collective agreements, or conversations need to fill your Assessment wallet today?!