Learning Outcomes

Mitch, Andrea and I have been putting our heads together about the process to develop Learning Outcomes and review the curriculum over the course of this year, and we've arrived at an approach that really excited me!

We began by thinking about how to conceptualize Learning Outcomes. Right now, the school's outcomes are embedded in two places - the K-8 curriculum guide, and the criteria that are assessed in the twice-yearly progress reports that teachers send home. We want to have a more explicit presentation of TBS' learning outcomes that can be interacted with at different levels, from more abstract to more concrete, and that contains both qualitative and quantitative metrics or benchmarks to define whether those outcomes are being achieved by our students. Our framework has five sections, which we've arranged in a pentagon - the lines around the outside have arrows pointing in both directions, and each point has two-directional interior lines to the other points as well. At first we played with a pyramid visualization, but we decided that we wanted to a) represent the systems-nature of the outcomes we develop, as opposed to emphasize a hierarchical nature among the components, and b) liked how the five-pointed system mirrors the Cycle of Connection (play, practice, mastery, recognition, connection) that Mitch has been talking about with parents and faculty all year.

Moving from more abstract to more concrete, our model of learning outcomes begins with the Disposition of a Learner (skills, awareness, and motivation) and the Cycle of Connection (as mentioned above). We want TBS students to develop their understanding of what it means to be a successful learner, and these two ideas capture the foundation needed for that to occur. The second point in the system is one of core competencies - ideas like "effective oral and written communication across cultures" or "the ability to find and synthesize information in service of problem solving" - an idea discussed at length in Tony Wagner's great book "The Global Achievement Gap". The third point in the system is a Vision of the Student in terms of these core competencies at each grade level. The fourth point in the system are the actual benchmark skills and knowledge and behaviors that demonstrate understanding in each intellectual and creative discipline that we teach - in some cases this may look similar to what is in the progress reports from last year, and in others it might be different. The fifth and final point in the system is the curriculum, or classroom events and experiences that lead to the performances of understanding on the part of the students. The entire system is encompassed and held by the school's mission: to ignite curious minds, awaken generous hearts, and engage a changing world.

At yesterday's faculty meeting (Wednesday 10/6), we kicked off the process of developing these learning outcomes as a faculty. Below are some pictures of the faculty working in small groups, creating Y-charts of what each proposed competency would look like, sound like, and feel like in a TBS graduate. As the year goes on, we'll move through each point of the system with the faculty, eventually arriving at a rewrite of the curriculum that will allow it to more accurately reflect the learning outcomes towards which the whole school will be working. This process actually creates a frame within which to revise the K-8 curriculum - and develop a consistent ECC curriculum - rather than doing so based only on the individual preferences and desires of administrators and faculty, and that is important for establishing the institution's stability.