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This book brilliantly illuminates the key role played by social-emotional learning in each student's development and it challenges the tradition of relegating the SEL/EQ observations to the back of the report card. If we want to develop better communities, this book shows the way. Author: Dr. Neil MacNeill PhD, EdD - Head Master Published On: 2015-03-29

The ultimate goal of misbehavior is attention. When children don't get the attention they need through the proper behavior, they will get it any way they can. Children want to be loved and cared about. When teachers incorporate SEL and character development it helps students learn the proper ways to get attention. It will also help teachers better understand the misbehaviors and redirect students toward positive behavior. Author: Pamela L. Opel - Teacher, Intervention Specialist Published On: 2015-03-20

"The Other Side of the Report Card is a complete implementation guide to help school districts develop or improve how they convey to families the social, emotional, and character strengths and needs of their children in a culturally appropriate way. With the use of takeaway points, examples, checklists, research, and resources, district teams have the "soup to nuts" process to document that other side of the report card and share information needed to support the success of every student." Author: Susan Gorin, CAE Published On: 2015-12-23

"The Other Side of the Report Card by Maurice Elias, Joseph Ferrito, and Dominic Moceri is a rich resource for educators who want to figure out how best to report on students' social, emotional, and character development. Most teachers are used to simply selecting from a menu of comments to?? describe a student's behavior on a report card. Dr. Elias et al suggest that it should be much more than that. Rather than simply accepting the premise that "what gets measured is what's important," Dr. Elias argues that if it is important, it should be measured. The book is full of examples, research, case studies, and, what I really liked, a nice framework for faculty discussion. Each chapter begins with key takeaways and reflection points that will help focus a faculty committee determined to improve its evaluation system. Chapter 7 is particularly useful as it gives a checklist of important considerations. The authors focus on both SEL and character, acknowledge their differences, but show that each could be part of a school's evaluation system. As we all strive to educate future citizens and recognize that focusing on academic achievement is not enough, The Other Side of the Report Card looks to be just what educators need to focus and assess on those elements needed for success in school and in life."

Author: Becky Sipos, President & CEO Published On: 2016-02-08

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the other side of the report card: assessing students′ social

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sel; grading; whole child; behavior; assessment; emotional intelligence; casel

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The Other Side of the Report Card: Assessing Students′ Social, Emotional, and Character Development

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To better serve the whole child, look at the whole report card. Although parents and teachers spend more time in conferences talking about behavior than they do about rubrics and test scores, too many teachers are still guessing when it comes to using outdated behavior ratings and comments to des...

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Christina Torres

I don't remember a time before standardized assessments.

California had been playing with different forms of standardized tests long before I entered the school system as a student in 1992. Long days devoted to filling in bubbles, relearning the virtues of process of elimination, and my parents poring over scores were the norm.

I didn't think much about it until I became a teacher in 2009. California was deep in difficult debates about education reform and testing. "Assessment" and "data" became words that education consultants, administrators, and the government loved, but many educators seemed to despise. I heard some educators reminisce fondly about the days when classrooms were "fun" and "free." As someone who had been tested her whole life and now struggled to get students to meet proficiency on various benchmarks, it sounded like a magical time.

I wanted to avoid being "assessment-based" and "data-driven"-those types of teachers didn't truly care about students' hearts as much as their ability to pass a test.

Data Informs Everything

In my second year of teaching, I had a shift of consciousness. Skimming articles on "checks for understanding," I saw a few that argued it was important to not just check students' understanding of concepts, but also to "assess" their mood and behavior as we progressed through a lesson.

Then, it clicked: I had been assessing students-and, actually, everyone-on a range of indicators in nearly every interaction of my life.

It turns out that life is really a series of data-informed assessments and actions. As a kid, I collected data on my parents' moods when they came home from work ("Is Mom talkative and happy? Or is she quiet and terse?") and assessed whether to ask for extra cookies after dinner (answer: always a no). As an adult, I looked at the data that showed I left my school ID at home most days, and then decided to leave it at school.

As teachers, we're collecting data the moment our students enter our classrooms: Do lots of students have questions about the homework? Are they calm and present, bouncing off the walls, or do we need to address any hidden tension?

Data and assessments don't need to be cold-hearted tools that reduce my students to weaknesses and numbers. Instead, they can be another way I build deeper and more loving connections with students.

Taking Back the Term

I am still concerned about overtesting students and the biased and problematic ways the U.S. education system focuses on standardized tests. Some first-year teachers I coach are reluctant to give diagnostic assessments or share assessment data with their students. They worry the scrutiny will make their students feel unworthy or incapable.

That's a fair concern. There are times, though, when assessing a student can be an act of love, validation, and care.

One year, I started the first day of school asking my students to choose an adjective to describe themselves. I let them think for a moment, then called on the first student. His eyes went big, and he looked scared, which perplexed me-after all, we were just getting to know each other. Then, another brave student raised their hand and asked, "Ms. Torres, what's an adjective?"

I laughed at myself, apologized, and asked if anyone could explain the term adjective for the class. One did, and the rest of the day went great. Many students simply have a summer brain lapse. Still, I asked myself, what if I had done a quick, thumbs-up or -down diagnostic of my students? Could I have spared that first kid a moment of terror?

"Data" is a broad word that, for many, has come to mean points on a chart and numbers on a spreadsheet. If we only collect the kind of data that shows proficiency in a single skill or idea, it can make students feel like another cog in the machine of standardized education. We must get content- and skill-based data and socioemotional information to best support our students. Discovering and supporting your students' needs, allowing students to share their strengths, and asking them about their emotional state shows we care about what they think and how they feel. Data doesn't have to reduce students to a number, but the way we treat our students can.

A Lens for Love

Yes, assessment can show students their deficiencies. But it can also be a way to ensure we are giving students the tools and skills they need and perhaps even to look for the gifts they bring to the table. What if we designed assessments that didn't just test students on a standards-based concept or right answer, but also showed their abilities and understandings of their communities and cultures? A multiple-choice test is easy to grade but asking students to compare a character in a novel to someone in their community enables them to show their content knowledge and demonstrate cultural assets. Assessments could be the tool that students know is not just testing what they learned, but also inviting them to share the wonderful gifts they already have.

Each year, I am reminded how much power I have in my classroom-not necessarily just over the content or skills I teach. I am in charge of the mindset with which I treat my students. The lens through which I view my classroom colors the relationships I build and how I engage my students in the practical, day-to-day realities they are learning to face. So, when I approach the seemingly nitty-gritty and clinical world of "data" or "assessment," I can either do so with dread, or I can approach it the way I do all things in my classroom: with love.

Each year, ASCD names a new class of emerging leaders-a group of younger educators selected for their capacity to improve learning, teaching, and leadership. We're asking the 2018 class to share their advice and inspiration. Responses have been edited lightly for length and clarity. Learn more about the program at www.ascd.org/emergingleaders.

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Christina Torres I don't remember a time before standardized assessments. California had been playing with different forms of standardized tests long before I entered the school system as a student in 1992. Long days devoted to filling in bubbles, relearning the virtues of process of elimination, and my parents poring over scores were the norm.

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Logic Model and Measurement Framework (2)