The power of the baseline

The Power of the Baseline

TL;DR: Establishing a starting point for students' abilities with the curricular competencies (a base line), is the first step to not only assessing what they've learned, but also the first step to growing their skills in your curricular area(s). 

If you are reading this in the hopes of a post regarding the righteous baselines of The Red Hot Chili Peppers, you are going to be disappointing. The title was misleading, I'm sorry. However, if you are tuned in for a post regarding assessment practices with the curricular competencies and some standards based assessment, then boy do I have a treat for you!

Some background information to start. When the new curriculum for BC came out,  I wasn't a big fan. It taught too little, there wasn't enough detail, the content was ambiguous, overall I thought it was  'bleh!'. As I've worked through the new mandate from the ministry of education, I've grown to appreciate it. The following are my reasons for the turn around.

1. Memorization is not Science. While it is true that you need to know things in order to practice science, it is not true that the focus should be memorizing facts. 
2. I have been teaching the scientific method for years, and this curriculum is heavily influenced by it
3. I am a huge nerd and this allows me the freedom to go into the areas both my students and I find interesting. 

The only issue I've had (up until recently) was how to assess the curricular competencies (CC). Neither the district I work for, nor the ministry of education itself, were of any help here. So this is what I've come up with...

Step 1: Baseline assessment (experiment like gyrocopter lab, non-curricular, but opportunity to explore the CC

Step 2-5: Graduated Release of the Inquiry process (focus on how it relates to the CC) 

Step 6: Open inquiry

Steps 1-5 are almost entirely student assessed with teacher support, step 6 is an interview based assessment with the questions supplied in advance of the interview. 

Assessment is done with a single point rubric (what students are working towards) with a growth mindset emphasis, that students are not expected to exceed expectations in all categories (or any really for that matter) but rather are expected to address where they are, and how they can improve. The goal, I tell them, is to fully meet expectations for all of these items by the time you graduate high school. 

The beginning of the year, which previously was reserved for "teaching the scientific method" is now "introducing the CC". Throughout the year, I have students do labs/inquiry projects with decreasing involvement from myself. The first project I guide the CC heavily (direct questions, check lists, etc) but as we progress through the curriculum, I provide fewer and fewer scaffolds, and allow them to be independent with the CC more and more. My hope is that they can reflect on their CC and see how their skills have developed over the course of the year. Below is what it looks like in general for science 10.

Intro lab: Galileo's rolling ball experiments- how does the height of a ramp and slope of a ramp impact the final velocity of a ball. - students self assess on CC

Start the question journal: Students are informed that they will learn a lot of interesting things this year, many of which are half-truths. There will be a lot of room for questions, and those questions are encouraged. They are asked to keep a journal of any questions that come up for them, and time is given at the end of most classes for students to reflect and record these questions. 

First guided lab: Foam insulation and marble roller-coaster. - Students build a roller coaster out of foam insulation, marbles and tape. They first model it using a phet "physics skate park" and I ask them questions directed to address ALL the CC directly (major headings, but not the sub-headings)

Second Guided activity:- Students measuring pH of soil sample. I provide a back story that describes how I have begun the inquiry process, students complete the process, then reflect on any CC that have grown. 

Question journal check in : Class discussion regarding the questions they've developed and how they can be moved to an inquiry question.

Third Guided activity: - Students address the question "If the Canadian space agency wants to colonize a new solar system, what star should they target" - students develop criteria, I give resources for students to develop understanding of star-cycles to help them frame their questions further. Students then present their information as a bidding war to the agency as to why their solar system is the best choice. 

First unguided activity: - Students are asked to investigate the questions they've had throughout the year. This is a formally assessed project, and students will engage in a double blind assessment of the draft product

Fourth guided activity: - Are Mr. Smith's children his own? Students use their understanding of basic Mendelian inheritance to develop and ask questions to explore the problem. *Special focus on ethics in this section*

Final inquiry project: Students are told to "mine" their journals for a question to research. They are expected to go through the CC for guidance on what their research should include. The final assessment will be in the form of an interview, where they look at where they started off in their CC and make claims on their growth, using their learning portfolio (Freshgrade) and their final inquiry project as evidence of that growth. 

All of this is done with the typical classroom activities which will develop their CC as well as their curricular content skills (and core competencies of course), but the steps described above are typical classroom activities that have been adapted for the purposes of illustrating their CC.