Guiding Principles of Standards Based Grading

1. Grades and reports will be based on clearly specified objectives and assessment criteria

2. Grading and feedback practices contribute to growth in student learning

3. Academic grades reflect growth and achievement not behavior

4. Grades accurately reflect students' current levels of achievement

Student Assessment in College and Career Readiness

Students will be primarily assessed in three areas: A, B, and C.

Criteria A: Knowing, Understanding, and Interpreting Information (Demonstrating Knowledge)

Students will justify opinions and ideas, using examples, explanations and terminology making logical conclusions.

Criteria B: Applying ATL Skills, Developing & Synthesizing Ideas (Using Resources) and Organizing & Planning

Students will work through a research plan, using relevant tools and resources in order to effectively gather and synthesize information.

Criteria C: Reflecting on their Learning (Making Personal Connections)

Students will reflect on the impact of their learning by providing relevant connections made through contextual explanations, inferences, and examples.

Rubric Links for College and Career Readiness

Criteria A: Knowing, Understanding, and Interpreting Information (Demonstrating Knowledge)

• Criterion A Knowledge and Understanding, College & Career Readiness Rubric- 10th Grade (MYP Year 5) Summative: Career Exploration

• Criterion A: Knowing, Understanding, and Interpreting Information (Demonstrating knowledge) REVISED, NEW FORMAT

• One Criterion Rubric A Persuasive Technique Advertisement Activity, Knowing, Understanding, and Interpreting, College Readiness

• Criterion A: Knowing and Understanding (College Essay)

• Criterion A: Knowing and Understanding, Personal Project Expo Speech Outline

• Criterion A: Knowing and Understanding, Ted Talk Rubric, Criterion A

Criterion B: Apply ATL Skills: Research, Organization of Ideas, Planning

• Criterion B Synthesizing Ideas, College & Career Readiness Rubric- 10th Grade (MYP Year 5) Summative: Career Exploration

• Criterion B: Research Notes for Career Presentation

• Criterion B: Developing & Synthesizing Ideas (Using resources) REVISED, NEW FORMAT

• Criterion B: Developing ideas, planning (Creating a vision). --Personal Project Proposal

• Criterion B: Success Criteria

• Criterion B: Research Notes (Personal Project)

• Criterion B: Timeline for Personal Project

• Criterion B: Resume (Organizing and Formatting information)

• Criterion B: Outlining Ideas (College Essay)

• Criterion B: Reflecting on the Approaches to Learning Skills for the Personal Project

• Criterion B: Developing Proposal for Ted Talk

• Criterion B: Developing and Synthesizing Ideas (Ted Talk: Research, Works Cited, Outline)

Criterion C: Reflecting on Learning and Making Personal Connections

• Criterion C: Reflecting on Learning, SAT

• Criterion C: Reflecting on Meetings with Supervisors, Personal Project

• Criterion C: Reflecting on Learning (Making personal connections) REVISED, NEW FORMAT

• Criterion C: Reflecting on Strengths and Areas for Growth

• Criterion C: Reflecting on the Personal Project Paper Sections

  • Reflecting on Criterion A: Planning of Personal Project Paper

  • Reflecting on Criterion B: Planning of Personal Project Paper

  • Reflecting on Criterion C: Planning of Personal Project Paper

MYP Personal Project Assessment (IB Task)

Students will also be formally assessed by their Personal Project Supervisor as well which uses the IB rubric.

Assessment Criteria

24 marks

• Criterion A: Planning, 8 marks

• Criterion B: Applying Skills, 8 marks

• Criterion C: Reflecting, 8 marks

• One page rubric of personal project (assessed by supervisor)

College and Career Readiness:

Course Overview, Student Objectives, and Assessment Criteria

Description of the Course

• Overview: College & Career Readiness is a 10th grade course that offers a student-centered curriculum where students apply approaches-to-learning skills geared toward their own interests and future career paths. Overall, students will prepare and begin implementing goals towards their long-term college and career plans with a teacher acting as a mentor and a facilitator. The course emphasizes self-awareness, career and college readiness, goal setting and planning using an inquiry- based process through real life applications and scenarios.

• Guiding Questions: Students will explore and answer questions such as: What careers interest me? What are my career goals? What do I want to do in college? What are some effective habits for success? What do I need to do to prepare effectively for college?

• Career Interests: Students will explore personality and interests in a career exploration learning about advantages and disadvantages of potential careers. Students will also explore colleges based on their interests and learn the fundamentals of the college application process and the overall steps for preparation.

• 21st Century Skills: Students will gain some 21st Century Skills with technology, presentations, and learning to budget.

• Entrance Exams: Students will be exposed to two college entrance exams: the PSAT in the fall and the ACT in the spring as a mock exam.

• MYP Personal Project: Students will also be guided through the steps for planning and developing their MYP Personal Project, an independent exploration where students develop a line of inquiry and research and develop their own product and paper. The personal project formally assesses students' Approaches to Learning (ATL skills) for self-management, research, communication, critical and creative thinking, and collaboration.

Student Learning Focus

1. Criterion A: Knowing, Understanding, and Interpreting Information (Demonstrating knowledge)

2. Criterion B: Developing & Synthesizing Ideas (Using resources)

3. Criterion C: Reflecting on Learning (Making personal connections)

Student Learning Objectives

1. Students will demonstrate a detailed justification of opinions and ideas with a range of examples, explanations, and terminology.

2. Students will be expected to work through a research plan, use relevant tools and resources in order to effectively gather information and synthesize their understanding into knowledgeable products.

3. Students will reflect on the impact of their learning by providing relevant connections made through contextual explanations, inferences, and examples.

Approaches to Learning (ATL) Skills

• Students will apply approaches to learning as it relates to career & college explorations, budgeting and saving, and 21st Century skills as well the MYP Personal Project.

• They will be expected to develop questions for inquiry, engage in the research process, locate sources, and synthesize information for a knowledgeable product. ATL skills, specifically informational and media literacy, provide a solid foundation for learning independently and with others, demonstrating learning, and reflecting on the process of learning.

• They help students to become more autonomous, strategic and self-motivated and ultimately prepare students for college and career readiness. Students will show their ability to synthesize media through their analysis skills, giving a thorough justification of opinions and ideas with a range of examples, using accurate terminology.

Connection to Texas Essential Standards Knowledge and Skills (TEKS)

According to English II TEKS for ELA, students will focus on Knowledge Skills, specifically Inquiry and Research.The student will develop questions for inquiry, engage in the research process, locate relevant sources, and synthesize information from a variety of sources.

Studies in College and Career Readiness Aims

The aims in College and Career Readiness are to enable students to:

• Identify career interests and potential career choices

• Explore potential post-secondary educational options such as colleges and/or technical schools

• Identify and prepare for the college application process

• Prepare for testing programs such as ACT and SAT

• Develop 21st century skills such as business communication and presentation skills-speaking presentations

• Demonstrate financial literacy by analyzing personal spending and creating budgets

Objectives

Criteria A: Knowing, Understanding, and Interpreting

Students will justify opinions and ideas, using examples, explanations and terminology making logical conclusions. Students will explore various topics:

• information about colleges and careers

• necessary preparation for post-secondary education

• career pathways that match their interests, strengths, and values

• the components of successful applications and interviews in preparation for college and career readiness

• use of technology to research and create projects and presentations

• understand financial aid options and responsibilities

• understand soft-skills necessary for employment

• informational texts

• personal spending and creating budgets

• problem-solving strategies to a variety of relevant career and life scenarios

• An understanding and application of ways of writing and presenting in clear, logical, and persuasive ways

Criteria B: Developing and Synthesizing Ideas

Students will work through a research plan, using relevant tools and resources in order to effectively gather and synthesize information.

Students will ….

• state a learning goal for a project and explain how the personal interest led to that goal

• develop a product based on clearly identified criteria and a plan for achieving product

• apply Approaches to Learning (ATL) skills to develop learning and product: Make connections between various sources of information; Evaluate and select information sources and digital tools based on their appropriateness to specific tasks; Locate, organize, analyse, evaluate, synthesise and ethically use information from a variety of sources and media (including digital social media and online networks)

• explain the impact of the project on themselves or their learning

• evaluate their product based on assessment criteria

• reflect on personal characteristics, values, interests, and strengths

Criteria C: Reflecting on Learning

Student will reflect on the impact of their learning by providing relevant connections made through contextual explanations, inferences, and examples.

Students will reflect on a variety of areas as they ...

• Develop new skills, techniques and strategies for effective learning

• Identify strengths and weaknesses of personal learning strategies (self-assessment) throughout the states of the learning process

• Demonstrate flexibility in the selection and use of learning strategies

• Try new approaches to learning and evaluate their effectiveness

• Keep a journal to record reflections

Assessment Criteria

Criteria A: Knowing, Understanding, and Interpreting

Criterion A: Knowing, Understanding, and Interpreting

How much knowledge and understanding does the candidate demonstrate through inferences, terminology, and examples?

Student Outcomes

Justify opinions and ideas, using examples, explanations and terminology with logical conclusions

0

The student does not reach a standard described by any of the descriptors.

1-2

The student makes limited inferences and little evidence to support understanding. The student provides little analysis of the context to make conclusions, and the work rarely justifies opinions and ideas with examples or explanations, using little or no terminology in the product.

3-4

The student makes adequate inferences and uses some evidence to support understanding. The student adequately analyzes the context but may not develop logical conclusions, justifying opinions and ideas with some examples, explanations, and terminology.

5-6

Overall, the student makes good inferences and uses sufficient evidence to support understanding. The student analyzes the context to draw logical conclusions, sufficiently justifying opinions and ideas, using examples, explanations, and terminology.

7-8

The student makes perceptive inferences and uses evidence to support understanding. The student effectively analyzes the context to draw logical conclusions, justifying opinions and ideas, using examples, explanations, and terminology.

Criterion B: Developing Ideas Applying Approaches to Learning (ATL) Skills

Criterion B: Developing Ideas Applying Approaches to Learning (ATL Skills)

How well did the candidate research a plan, use relevant tools and resources in order to effectively gather information and synthesize their understanding into a knowledgeable product?

Student Outcomes

Work through a research plan, using relevant tools and resources in order to effectively gather information and synthesize their understanding into knowledgeable products.

0

The student does not reach a standard described by any of the descriptors.

1-2

Develops a limited plan and has limited strategies for selecting and using tools to locate resources, gathering little to some information to show a superficial understanding of the implications of the information.

3-4

Develops an adequate to limited research plan and outlines basic steps to follow and selects and uses some appropriate tools to locate resources, gathering some information to show a superficial understanding of some of the implications of the information.

5-6

Develops a sufficient research plan and outlines steps to follow and selects and uses tools to locate resources, gathering information to show understanding of some of the implications & synthesis of information.

7-8

Creates an organized research plan and outlines steps to follow and uses tools to locate resources, effectively gathering information & understanding implications and synthesis of information.

Criterion C: Reflecting on Learning

Criterion C: Reflecting on Learning

How well did the candidate reflect on their learning?

Student Outcomes

Reflect on the impact of their learning by providing relevant connections made through contextual explanations, inferences, and examples.

0

The student does not reach a standard described by any of the descriptors.

1-2

The student rarely identifies or states the impact on themselves and their learning and offers little personal connections through explanations, inferences, and/or examples.

3-4

The student occasionally identifies or outlines the impact on themselves and their learning by offering some personal connections made through explanations, inferences, and/or examples.

5-6

The student often identifies and describes the impact on themselves and their learning by offering sufficient, personal connections made through explanations, inferences, and/or examples.

7-8

The student consistently and independently explains the impact on themselves and their learning by providing personal, insightful and relevant connections made through contextual explanations, inferences, and examples.