7:00 a.m. – 8:00 am

Registration and Continental Breakfast (provided)

8:00 a.m. – 8:15 a.m.

Setting the Stage for Success – Steve Ventura

8:15 a.m. – 9:45 a.m.

What does Effective Grading Really Mean—and How Can we Get There? – Dave Nagel

The term “Effective Grading Practices” has been used quite frequently in research, evidence, and philosophy. This keynote will set the stage for what specific elements must be part of the filters for teachers and leaders to embrace and implement specific practices, not just form policy. Dave Nagel will help shape the “why” and empower the audience for the rest of the day to plan for “how” in terms of specific actions to effectively implement grading and “feedback” practices that will improve teaching and learning.

9:45 a.m. – 10:15 a.m.

Break and Bookstore

10:15 a.m. –11:30 a.m.

Morning Breakout Sessions

• Effective Grading Practices at the Secondary Level – Dave Nagel
  Secondary grades are a challenging topic in public education. David Nagel, former assistant principal at Ben Davis High School (3,500 students 10-11-12), will share the story of how his former school made systemic adjustments in their use of feedback and grading practices that improved their graduation rate by 18% in just 5 years through a multi-faceted credit recovery and failure prevention system. Specific examples from other successful credit recovery programs from high schools across the country will be shared. Dave will share evidenced-based practices and examples for on-line as well as more traditional systems and practices that are taking place in high schools all across the United States and Canada. Practical examples and suggestions for immediate and long-term implementation in your schools will be the focus of this work session. Participants will be able to create a draft of specific actions to take back to their schools/districts. Other specific strategies and practices aimed at the secondary level will be shared and discussed related to ensuring students are mastering necessary concepts and skills needed for success past grade 12.
   
• Effective Grading Practices-Creating a Compelling Case for Improvement – Steve Ventura
  Changing grading practices is not just about implementing a new grading policy or scale of progression. To demonstrate professional respect for educators, we must first ask ‘why’ before we implement a new strategy or grading initiative. Making a case for change is absolutely necessary when adjusting grading practices and policies. This is especially true since many existing practices will need to be adjusted based on higher levels of rigor contained within the Common Core State Standards. During this solutions based, interactive session, participants will learn how to identify practices that distort student performance. Participants will also receive and evaluate actual grading policies to determine if they meet the four critical elements of effective feedback: accurate, fair, timely, and understandable. If you believe your organization’s current grading practices are inaccurate, late, and unspecific, then learn how to preserve teacher independence and professionalism while adhering to the fundamental principles and values of grading and feedback.
   
• Finding Alternatives to Ineffective Grading Practices – Kris Nielsen
  This session will focus on widespread grading practices that can interfere with student learning. Participants will be asked to self-assess their own practices (building or district) and will be presented with alternatives to common practice. Participants will leave the session with action steps identified to improve their own district and building  practices.

11:30 a.m. – 12:30 p.m.

Lunch (provided)

12:30 p.m. – 1:45 p.m.

Afternoon Breakout Sessions

• Effective Feedback as a Grading “Practice” – Dave Nagel
  Applying the notion that practice trumps policy, Dave will share the evidence related to feedback as an effective assessment and grading practice. For feedback to be effective it needs to be specific to a criterion, corrective in nature, timely enough for students to use, and applicable for students to adjust to their own practice. This session will address all four of these elements with specificity and detail. As a result of this session, participants will learn specific actions to implement immediately in their classrooms, data teams, and professional learning communities. Leaders attending will have an opportunity to see concrete examples to help in planning to implement, monitor, and coach teachers in their buildings and districts to successfully utilize these strategies to impact achievement and improve quality and accuracy of grading and assessment practices.
   
• Staying the Course as a District/Implementing Effective Grading Practices in Your School – Steve Ventura
  Grading practices need to produce an accurate reflection of student proficiency while supporting learning. In many schools, the same work by the same student can receive wildly different levels of feedback and achievement simply because of the idiosyncratic grading policies of the individual teacher. This engaging and thoughtful session focuses on creating and developing guiding principles for an effective classroom, school, or district grading policy. Classroom and district grading policies should be so clear that students ought to be able to tell teachers what their grade will be even before the teacher calculates it. If we can improve our grading practices, we can reduce student failures, improve discipline, and increase faculty morale. Participants will have an opportunity to identify their most urgent needs in terms of grading, feedback, and accuracy while looking at ways to implement some of the best leadership and teaching behaviors to improve overall grading.
   
• Action Research to Change the Grading Culture in Your School – Kris Nielsen
  This session will focus on changing the culture in your school/district and building from the “ground up” using simple teacher-direct action research to change grading and assessment practices and to implement incremental change. Examine research that leads to improved student learning and brainstorm ways to help teacher teams implement new and improved grading practices.

1:45 p.m. – 2:15 p.m.

Break and Bookstore

2:15 p.m. – 3:00 p.m.

Creating an Action Plan – Kris Nielsen, Dave Nagel & Steve Ventura

3:00 p.m. – 4:00 p.m.

Engaging Teachers, Parents, and Community Members about Grading – Douglas B. Reeves

4:00 p.m.– 4:30 p.m.

Questions and Answers with Douglas B. Reeves

4:30 p.m.

Reflection & Conclusion