The term “teaching” holds cultural images and schema that many us quickly tap into. I encourage anyone to google “teaching” or “teacher” and see the majority of images that pop up. You will most like see an individual at the front of the room, pointing to something on a board while talking to students. We know it isn’t like that all the time, and we also know this doesn’t work for our students. Many teachers have been pushed into a role where they are not being utilized for their expertise and skills. Through highly standardized curricula and pacing guides, teachers are told exactly how to teach, rather than being empowered to differentiate instruction and create engaging learning environments to meet the needs of their students. How do we not only clarify what teachers can and should do in the classroom and re-frame this conversation on the role and expertise of a teacher?

We use many terms to describe the work of teachers. From curriculum designer to facilitator of classroom work, there are many roles that teachers take on in the class. I believe there is one term that encapsulates and re-frames the work teachers do in the classroom:

Learning Designer. You might notice the clear parallel to the role of game designer. Just as game designers have a unique skills set and aptitude for designing games, teachers have specific skills and knowledge for designing learning. This term also reframes the role and expertise of teachers.

Teachers must intentionally think about the “big picture.” The objectives of the instructional unit are set and teachers must guide students to those objectives with creative, research-based strategies. Good teachers constantly reflect on their practice and use formative assessment to inform instruction. Through this, they use their creative skills and their instructional tool belt to try and innovate in the classroom, all with the focus of engagement and student achievement. Teachers use their knowledge of best practices and of their students to create instructional environments and assessments that meet their needs. Great teachers are allowing for voice and choice in performance assessments and projects, as well as games and technology. Teachers view the classroom, whether virtual or physical, as a place for possibilities to engage all students.

If you are teacher and you are trying to explain what you do, say, “I am a learning designer!” Teachers need to be empowered with a variety of instructional designers to meet the needs of all students. They need to be honored for their expertise to create creative and engaging learning environments. We can re-frame the concept of “teaching” to truly encapsulate all that teachers can and should do!

With all the education action around Standards-Based Instruction, Understanding By Design, Assessment for Learning, Grading for Learning, Project-Based Learning, Competency-Based Instruction and more, we need to have a frank conversation about formative assessment and grading. This may be a difficult conversation to have.

Educators may end up mourning the loss of past practices and frameworks. It is a paradigm shift, and consequently, we need to have empathy for all stakeholders as transitions occur.

Grades for Everything?
Let me start off by making a clear distinction between two ideas, assessment and grading. They are not the same; they are related. We grade assessments, and assessments reflect learning that has occurred. However, the concept of grading and assessment is complicated, and has further been complicated by the many ways that education reform has manifested itself in the classroom.

Secondly, I want to be honest with all of you about my journey with this concept. When I first started teaching, I utilized both what I learned from my experience in the classroom as a student and from my student teaching. Everything was graded — and I mean everything. Why did I do this? Well for one, that was my leverage to make students do the work I know they needed to do in order to be successful. The intention was good. In addition, this practice was normal for students, and they understood the routine. We know that routines provide stability, so I thought I was doing them a service by continuing to grade everything. I developed an elaborate system of weights to create what I thought was a clear system for parents, students and other stakeholders. Parents understood it, because it was the same system most them had experienced.

So what was the problem? Where do I start? I had no time. I was grading everything. I had so much paperwork because I was trying to give great feedback on everything in addition to grading and inputting the grades. Perhaps even worse, I wasn’t focused on the larger problem. My students cared more about the points than they did about the class. They weren’t engaged, and whose fault was that? It was mine. I was “cattle-prodding” them into doing work. It was punitive. “Don’t do the work and your grade will suffer.” I should have been focusing on my instruction and creating engagement lessons and projects for students to do.

Instead, I was clouding the issue of instruction with grading. I was putting the blame on students rather than on myself. That is a key reflective moment that every teacher should engage in when students are doing the work: What did I instructionally do, or not do, to engage all learners? Not, how can I make them do the work?

Changing the Conversation
What has changed? I don’t grade formative assessments. Yes, you read that correctly. What do I do with them? I document them in the grade book, because I need evidence of progress for students, parents and myself. I give specific, focused feedback on the assignments I collect. I have students reflect on their formative assessments and set goals. I have conversations with students after completing a summative assessment; we reflect on the grade of the summative and how the formative relates to the grade they received on the summative. I facilitate moments where students and I connect a seemingly irrelevant assignment, like a comma worksheet, to a more authentic, relevant and engaging summative assessment. These are all things you need to be doing instead of grading.

Why don’t I grade formative assessment? For one, a grade is supposed to answer the question: “Did the student learn and achieve the learning targets or standards?” If this is the case, then the summative assessment primarily represents achievement. Formative assessment is practice. It is part of the journey. I would feel evil if I punished a kid during practice and then, literally and figuratively, brought that punishment to his or her “A-Game” in the final match (summative assessment). We’ve all seen that happen. A student achieves on the summative assessment, but because of a mediocre performance on the formative assessments, they get a lower grade. Ethically, that is just plain wrong. If a student ended up achieving in the end, he or she should be rewarded for that achievement, not penalized for a failure during practice.

The Payoff
A couple of important notes: I do use formative assessment in two ways. If students don’t do well or complete the summative, I use the formative to create a “progress” grade to input. It is good evidence, and can be used this way. In addition, if I am assessing the 21st century skill of Work Ethic, formative assessment can be utilized as part of that grade. If one of the quality indicators, for example, is “turning in work on time,” then I can leverage formative assessment as part of that grade. You will notice, however, that the intent is different. The learning target is different.

I’m not saying this is an easy transition; it is a paradigm shift for everyone. Parents need to be educated, stakeholders need to be educated, students need to be educated, and teachers need to be educated — and provided the space to wrestle with these ideas. I took a while to get to this place. However, the payoff feels better, both from an instructional and ethics standpoint, and also from a student achievement standpoint. My students often asked, “Wait, so you are only going to reward us at our best, not necessarily when we tried and failed?!?” Then they’d say, “Hmmm, I guess that makes sense” as the idea sunk in.

Is it time your grading practices made a little more sense? Formative assessment is about ensuring equity for all students. Thank you readers for being open to this conversation. Cognitive dissonance is healthy. As I like to joke in my workshops, “If I have made you a little uncomfortable, I’ve done my job.”

I had the privilege of attending (and presenting) at the National Association for Multicultural Education International Conference last week in Chicago. Moreover, I got to sit down many of the influential and founders of the organization including activist and multicultural education advocate William Ayers and “founder supreme” of NAME, Dr. Cherry Ross Goodin. My goal was not only to learn the overall trends and themes for Multicultural Education, but also practical tools that teachers can use in their classroom. In my opinion, you need to have a crucial understanding of the underlying pedagogical and historical frameworks of multicultural education to be able to institute culturally responsive strategies and lessons in your classroom.

Increased Interest

Attendance approached 1000 people, a continued increase, signaling a revitalization in the conversation and interest. Leadership programs have been formalized with a mentor/ mentee format with specific objectives to help new members get involved. Personally, I was able to meet with almost every single person involved in the leadership of NAME, from the founders and president to keynote speakers and committee chairs. It was a rare conference where you can meet the leadership up close and personal and engage in authentic and courageous conversations. Institutes and workshop topics targeted all audiences and needs from a session on the challenges of implementing GLBTQ children’s literature in the elementary classroom to a session on an innovative teacher evaluation matrix that included quality indicators for culturally responsive teaching.

Below are some tips and ideas from the two aforementioned leaders on real strategies you can become a culturally responsive education and utilize practices of multicultural education.

1. Know your students.
Of course this is a given, but Dr. Goodin expressed that knowing about the background and culture of your students is crucial to building the relationship you want so that students can achieve. Ask them questions about their culture. Find moments to have students share. In order to build achievement, you have to build respect for who your students are.

2. Analyze Jacob Lawrence’s paintings.
Ayers notes that Lawrence’s famous paintings can provide fruitful discussion about African American culture, depiction and historical representations. Art is a great tool to engage in critical conversations about race.

3. Have students create a slang dictionary.
Ayers also suggested that slang is a great window culture. I have actually done this with my students. It can provide an opportunity for students not only to share their culture with each, but create their own. It honors their knowledge about their own cultures and empowers them by letting them know, your ideas matter. Example: Scrapper (n): a low riding Buick or Cadillac, that has an amazing sound system.

4. Use the standards as your framework and then find opportunities to embed multicultural ideas, literature, and materials.
Embedded multicultural education should be the focus, noted Dr. Goodin. Start with you learning targets and see what possibilities there are to engaging in multicultural themes, literature and more. That’s the best part of standards in my opinion, they are just the start. Let’s go beyond standards to create great multicultural classroom discourse.

5. Get them going with teen poetry competitions.
Ayers mentioned the documentary Louder than a Bomb, which chronicles the journey of a high school team through competitions. At the conference, we were even privilege by students from a local high school demonstrating their own. Inspiring. It is a great opportunity to build literacy skills and honor student voice. Students have amazing stories to tell, let them tell them.

6. Controversy is coming to you. Teachers often spend time closing it off.
I think that Ayers, like Dr. Goodin, was trying to express that becoming a multicultural educator is not as hard as it seems. Subjects, issues and controversy are all around us. Allow it into the classroom. Students are already talking or thinking about them. Use it to engage students in conversations on culture.

7. Don’t ask permission.
I appreciate Dr. Goodin’s authenticity with her statement. When you do what is right, you don’t ask permission. At the same time, if you are going to engage in controversy or potential courageous conversations, find and recruit allies in administration. In fact, there may be policies in place at the district level that protect you.

All in all, I left inspired to continue my work as a multicultural educator and scholar. Just remember, it is not as hard as you think. Culture encompasses so much of who we are, and can easily be leveraged in the classroom learning. If we seek to know our students and truly value them, our classrooms in turn will reflect it in practice.