Читать книгу Pathways to Proficiency - Eric Twadell - Страница 5

Acknowledgments

A long time ago, the old Yankee Stadium was called “The House That Ruth Built.” We don’t think it would stretch our credibility in the least to suggest that Adlai E. Stevenson High School is “The House That Doc Built.” Stevenson High School has been noted as the most recognized and celebrated school in America and the birthplace of the professional learning community (PLC) movement. Under the leadership of former principal and superintendent Rick DuFour (also known as Doc), Stevenson has become a model of education reform and a lighthouse to those looking to implement best practices and create a PLC culture in their own schools. Although Rick retired from Stevenson in June 2002, we owe him great gratitude, and his legacy lives on in the culture of continuous improvement that permeates every aspect of our school’s daily life. The PLC process is well embedded into the DNA of our school culture.

We feel blessed to be working at a school that has been on the leading edge of reform for more than twenty-five years, and Solution Tree has been sharing our stories along the way. Many thanks to all our friends at Solution Tree, including Jeff Jones, Ed Ackerman, Douglas Rife, and Shannon Ritz. Claudia Wheatley has been our champion and advocate, continually pushing us to clarify our thinking about proficiency and share the next chapter in our school’s story of continuous improvement. And last, but most certainly not least, we are grateful for our new friend and editor Christine Hood, who has been supportive and patient as we tried to translate our experiences with evidence-based grading in our school into a story that will guide and help other schools and teachers create new and improved evidence-based grading and reporting systems.

Stevenson’s administrative team works relentlessly to ensure that faculty and staff have the tools to guarantee high levels of learning for all students, and the team comprises passionate protectors of our school’s mission, vision, and values. Likewise, we must thank Adlai E. Stevenson High School District 125’s board of education for its continued service and support: Steve Frost, Gary Gorson, Sunit Jain, Bruce Lubin, Terry Moons, Merv Roberts, and Dave Weisberg. Our board is unrelenting in its expectation that we improve each year as we move closer to our mission of success for every student.

Finally, and most important, we owe special thanks to the Stevenson High School faculty who are leading the evidence-based grading journey. As we endeavor to build on the strong foundation of excellence here at Stevenson, we find that if we are truly going to realize our vision and values, we need to upend the traditional grading and reporting system used at Stevenson and across the United States for many years. To our amazement, our faculty have tackled the challenge head-on, rethinking and reshaping grading and reporting practices.

While it certainly isn’t easy work, our faculty have demonstrated a steadfast commitment to improving teaching and learning conditions for students that is truly inspiring. This book represents faculty members’ journey through implementing evidence-based grading and reporting. We stand in awe of their willingness to set aside personal interests, convenience, and individual autonomy to do the hard work of creating an evidence-based grading and reporting system that actually helps and supports student learning and achievement. We are merely their storytellers.

Solution Tree Press would like to thank the following reviewers:

Tyler Auer

Mathematics Teacher

Fay School

Southborough, Massachusetts

Tyler Hartl

Principal

Sagewood Elementary School

Casper, Wyoming

Jodi Leimkuehler

Business and Technology Teacher

Solon High School

Solon, Iowa

Jill Maraldo

Associate Principal for Instruction

Buffalo Grove High School

Buffalo Grove, Illinois

Jim Pardun

Mathematics Teacher

Vernon Hills High School

Vernon Hills, Illinois

The authors intend to donate all their royalties to the Stevenson High School Foundation.

Visit go.SolutionTree.com/assessment to download the free reproducibles in this book.