Learning to Change

There is ZERO research in the world that supports letter grading. NONE.Click To Tweet

Scott Looney talks to us about grades

Photo by Ian Schneider on Unsplash

We are thinking outside the box today about the foundational elements of grades and high school transcripts in the US educational system. Scott Looney is the Headmaster at the Hawken School in Cleveland, Ohio, and the founder of the Mastery Transcript Consortium (MTC). He discusses his attempt to get schools together and on board with a totally different way of assessing what kids do in school and how they achieve. He uses a transcript that has no numbers, but is all about competency-based achievements.

The grading model was a terrible idea when it began, and it’s only become more corrupted. --@slooney #modernlearners #clclearns #changeschoolClick To Tweet

Mastery Transcript Consortium Goal

Scott explains what MTC is all about and how it came to be. The goal is the mastery of real-world problem-solving skills and the development of assessments based on competency and proficiency, all driven by the interests, abilities, and individual strengths of each student. Scott calls the traditional high school transcript model “a broken instrument that’s only grown more corrupt.” Colleges are realizing the inherent flaws in their system and standards of student selection, as evidenced by the quality of students they are enrolling. Scott is facing this problem head-on, and has created a transcript prototype that is opening the eyes of college admissions personnel, and there are now 160 schools in 15 countries that are part of MTC, using this new model. I think you'll find Scott to be knowledgeable and passionate about this topic of our grading system and the need for change!

Kids often come to the conclusion that the system is rigged against them . . . . and they QUIT. #modernlearners #clclearns #changeschoolClick To Tweet

Resources:

The Future of Education: Why Hawken has to Lead

www.mastery.org

www.change.school Find out about Change School 4, beginning soon!

www.changeleaders.community  Find out about the FREE 30-day trial!

Imagine if the educational system allowed kids to persist to MASTERY. #modernlearners #clclearns #changeschool

Scott Looney talks to us about grades

We are thinking outside the box today about the foundational elements of grades and high school transcripts in the US educational system. Scott Looney is the Headmaster at the Hawken School in Cleveland, Ohio, and the founder of the Mastery Transcript Consortium (MTC). He discusses his attempt to get schools together and on board with a totally different way of assessing what kids do in school and how they achieve. He uses a transcript that has no numbers, but is all about competency-based achievements.

Mastery Transcript Consortium Goal

Scott explains what MTC is all about and how it came to be. The goal is the mastery of real-world problem-solving skills and the development of assessments based on competency and proficiency, all driven by the interests, abilities, and individual strengths of each student. Scott calls the traditional high school transcript model “a broken instrument that’s only grown more corrupt.” Colleges are realizing the inherent flaws in their system and standards of student selection, as evidenced by the quality of students they are enrolling. Scott is facing this problem head-on, and has created a transcript prototype that is opening the eyes of college admissions personnel, and there are now 160 schools in 15 countries that are part of MTC, using this new model. I think you'll find Scott to be knowledgeable and passionate about this topic of our grading system and the need for change!

Resources:

The Future of Education: Why Hawken has to Lead

www.mastery.org

www.change.school Find out about Change School 4, beginning soon!

www.changeleaders.community  Find out about the FREE 30-day trial!

Happy Holidays everyone, and welcome to the final Modern Learners podcast for 2017. We've really enjoyed putting these together, and we hope you've enjoyed listening to them even more.

This week, Bruce and I cover a couple of different topics. First, we pull back some of the layers around the language we use in schools, building on this week's blog post on the topic. And second, we announce our first annual ML Podcast Award winners for Word of the Year, Book of the Year, and EdTech Trend of the Year, as well as discuss what the outlook is for change in the New Year.

Remember, if you like what you're hearing, do us a favor and head on over to iTunes and give us a review. We've got a good start, but would love your help. Also, tell your friends to listen!

Finally, warm wishes for an amazing holiday from all of us at Modern Learners, Bruce, Lyn, Missy, and me. It's been an amazing year for us due in large part to your continued support of our work. So, thanks again.

We have some big plans for 2018! See you in the New Year!

Show Notes:

Scott Looney interview replay

The Importance of Common Language blog post.

Our consensus choice for Book of the Year

Bruce's second choice for Book of the Year

Audrey Watters' post

Happy Holidays everyone, and welcome to the final Modern Learners podcast for 2017. We've really enjoyed putting these together, and we hope you've enjoyed listening to them even more.

This week, Bruce and I cover a couple of different topics. First, we pull back some of the layers around the language we use in schools, building on this week's blog post on the topic. And second, we announce our first annual ML Podcast Award winners for Word of the Year, Book of the Year, and EdTech Trend of the Year, as well as discuss what the outlook is for change in the New Year.

Remember, if you like what you're hearing, do us a favor and head on over to iTunes and give us a review. We've got a good start, but would love your help. Also, tell your friends to listen!

Finally, warm wishes for an amazing holiday from all of us at Modern Learners, Bruce, Lyn, Missy, and me. It's been an amazing year for us due in large part to your continued support of our work. So, thanks again.

We have some big plans for 2018! See you in the New Year!

Show Notes:

Scott Looney interview replay

The Importance of Common Language blog post.

Our consensus choice for Book of the Year

Bruce's second choice for Book of the Year

Audrey Watters' post

Building on Bruce's post earlier this week,  in our latest podcast we dive a little deeper into the expectations we bring to keynotes and presentations at large (or small) conferences. Do we want to be affirmed? Challenged? Both?

Our feeling is that it's incumbent upon those with a platform to use it to provoke a different conversation about education and schooling at a moment where so many of the contexts for teaching and learning are shifting profoundly and quickly. While there is no question that the teaching profession is under assault from all sides, and we need to support and affirm the profession every chance we get, we also have to come to terms with the fact that the value of the school and teacher is changing and that now is the time to discuss what "the right thing to do" is in a modern context.

Don't forget to head on over to iTunes to give us a review, and tell your friends.

Next week, look for a Facebook Live Podcast session with Scott Looney, the head of the Hawken School and the founder and board chair of the Mastery Transcript Consortium, a new effort to reimagine assessment in schools. Mark your calendars!

When: Wednesday, December 19th at 3 pm Eastern.

Where: Modern Learners Facebook Page

And we've got some big plans for 2018!

Thanks for listening!

Building on Bruce's post earlier this week,  in our latest podcast we dive a little deeper into the expectations we bring to keynotes and presentations at large (or small) conferences. Do we want to be affirmed? Challenged? Both?

Our feeling is that it's incumbent upon those with a platform to use it to provoke a different conversation about education and schooling at a moment where so many of the contexts for teaching and learning are shifting profoundly and quickly. While there is no question that the teaching profession is under assault from all sides, and we need to support and affirm the profession every chance we get, we also have to come to terms with the fact that the value of the school and teacher is changing and that now is the time to discuss what "the right thing to do" is in a modern context.

Don't forget to head on over to iTunes to give us a review, and tell your friends.

Next week, look for a Facebook Live Podcast session with Scott Looney, the head of the Hawken School and the founder and board chair of the Mastery Transcript Consortium, a new effort to reimagine assessment in schools. Mark your calendars!

When: Wednesday, December 19th at 3 pm Eastern.

Where: Modern Learners Facebook Page

And we've got some big plans for 2018!

Thanks for listening!

It's an interesting time for the Internet. As I mentioned in this week's Shifting Conversations post, much of the amazing potential of the Web that many of us felt a quarter century ago now feels like it's being overwhelmed by anger and stupidity and silliness. And as the Web grows more complex, so too do the challenges that schools face in preparing kids for the worlds they are entering.

In our 30th podcast, Bruce and I riff a bit more on the past, present, and future of the Internet. We both feel that there is still great potential in our ability to connect and create and communicate online that are far superior to how we can do that in our face to face worlds. But we also both worry that unless we start attending more fully to the challenges that the Internet now poses, we may put our democracy at risk.

That's a big statement, but as you'll hear me say at the end, this is now the real work of schools. We can no longer turn a blind eye to the facts that a) the Internet will continue to become a more and more important place in the lives of our kids, 2) that most of us are illiterate when it comes to understanding these shifts at a practical level, and 3) that if schools don't attack this problem head on and with immediacy, the liklihood of things getting any better soon is slim.

We hope you enjoy listening!

(And by the way, the discount code we allude to in the podcast is "500off.")

It's an interesting time for the Internet. As I mentioned in this week's Shifting Conversations post, much of the amazing potential of the Web that many of us felt a quarter century ago now feels like it's being overwhelmed by anger and stupidity and silliness. And as the Web grows more complex, so too do the challenges that schools face in preparing kids for the worlds they are entering.

In our 30th podcast, Bruce and I riff a bit more on the past, present, and future of the Internet. We both feel that there is still great potential in our ability to connect and create and communicate online that are far superior to how we can do that in our face to face worlds. But we also both worry that unless we start attending more fully to the challenges that the Internet now poses, we may put our democracy at risk.

That's a big statement, but as you'll hear me say at the end, this is now the real work of schools. We can no longer turn a blind eye to the facts that a) the Internet will continue to become a more and more important place in the lives of our kids, 2) that most of us are illiterate when it comes to understanding these shifts at a practical level, and 3) that if schools don't attack this problem head on and with immediacy, the liklihood of things getting any better soon is slim.

We hope you enjoy listening!

(And by the way, the discount code we allude to in the podcast is "500off.")

If you've enjoyed being pushed by the conversations between me and Bruce in the past, you'll definitely enjoy our latest podcast that digs into the value of teaching, not just in the modern world, but in general.

After a couple of weeks of scintillating interviews with Joel Pelcyger and Conrad Wolfram, this week we spend about 40 minutes this week discussing Bruce's latest Shifting Conversations column and the tension between teachers being learners as much as they are teachers. And I read a quote from Carl Rogers' book Freedom to Learn (from which I stole the title of my latest book) where he grapples with the role of the teacher and, to get really heady, whether anything can actually be taught.

It's a sentiment that I've been mulling over for quite some time. (Bruce is already there.) If agency for learning resides with the learner, what can the teacher actually "teach" if anything? It's more about the adults in the room creating the conditions under which kids can learn most powerfully and deeply. And, it's about those conditions existing for the adults as well.

Some quick reminders:

We're holding our next FREE webinar on December 4 on this topic as well: "From Teaching Cultures to Learning Cultures." RSVP now as we have over 350 people signed up at this writing.

Our fourth Change School cohort starts in January, and we just got word that 14 leaders from the Surrey (BC) school district will be joining us! Why not think about getting your own team together and changing the world with an amazing community of over 150 global educational leaders? Registration opens in just a couple of weeks!

Check out our new Changeleaders Community for even more curated conversations and news centered on reimagining schools.

And finally, if you like what you're hearing on this podcast, why not head over to iTunes and give us a rating and review. (We'd sure appreciate getting into double figures at some point!) Over 15,000 unique listeners to date...THANKS!

If you've enjoyed being pushed by the conversations between me and Bruce in the past, you'll definitely enjoy our latest podcast that digs into the value of teaching, not just in the modern world, but in general.

After a couple of weeks of scintillating interviews with Joel Pelcyger and Conrad Wolfram, this week we spend about 40 minutes this week discussing Bruce's latest Shifting Conversations column and the tension between teachers being learners as much as they are teachers. And I read a quote from Carl Rogers' book Freedom to Learn (from which I stole the title of my latest book) where he grapples with the role of the teacher and, to get really heady, whether anything can actually be taught.

It's a sentiment that I've been mulling over for quite some time. (Bruce is already there.) If agency for learning resides with the learner, what can the teacher actually "teach" if anything? It's more about the adults in the room creating the conditions under which kids can learn most powerfully and deeply. And, it's about those conditions existing for the adults as well.

Some quick reminders:

We're holding our next FREE webinar on December 4 on this topic as well: "From Teaching Cultures to Learning Cultures." RSVP now as we have over 350 people signed up at this writing.

Our fourth Change School cohort starts in January, and we just got word that 14 leaders from the Surrey (BC) school district will be joining us! Why not think about getting your own team together and changing the world with an amazing community of over 150 global educational leaders? Registration opens in just a couple of weeks!

Check out our new Changeleaders Community for even more curated conversations and news centered on reimagining schools.

And finally, if you like what you're hearing on this podcast, why not head over to iTunes and give us a rating and review. (We'd sure appreciate getting into double figures at some point!) Over 15,000 unique listeners to date...THANKS!