Monthly Meeting Prep - November
Hi there,
Welcome once again to Monthly Meeting Prep - a monthly message with ready-to-use resources on relevant topics for your professional development needs. They might serve as a “PD Moment” at the beginning of a faculty meeting, discussion material for a late start or early release time, or thought-provoking content for leadership meetings.
As a quick reminder, we always try to include the following:
An editable PowerPoint file with pre-loaded prompts or discussion questions
A video that offers a unique perspective and can always be applied in the classroom or improve professional practice
Links to resources to extend the session as needed, including things like:
relevant articles
additional videos
recommended discussion protocols
On to this month’s content …
November Monthly Meeting Prep
Topic: Promoting Mastery Learning
Overview: Now, if you’re familiar with mastery learning (ML), you’re probably wondering how it can be addressed in a “brief and accessible” PD session. And if you’re unfamiliar with ML, you’re probably questioning how you can understand it, introduce it, AND cover it in said short session.
Fear not. We will hit a brief history and overview of ML to get everyone on the same page. And today’s PowerPoint, video, and activity will serve as an excellent jumping-off point for increased student learning whether you have your ML merit badge or not. Newbies and veterans alike can benefit.
“Few strategies have been implemented more broadly or evaluated as thoroughly during the last 40 years.”
What is Mastery Learning?
In the early 1970s, Benjamin Bloom (Yes, that Benjamin Bloom) claimed that, although students learned at differing rates, almost every student could produce significant achievements given the right learning conditions. While teachers had conventionally planned units and assessed learning only after each unit was finished, Bloom argued for assessing students during the unit and offering appropriate activities to address learning difficulties along the way.1
The strategy he developed to incorporate this feedback and re-learning cycle was termed mastery learning. In oversimplified terms, it works something like this:
Teachers plan important skills and concepts into a unit of study (about 1-2 weeks of instruction).
Following instruction, students take a formative assessment meant to identify concepts mastered and those requiring additional learning.
Teachers provide correctives - targeted suggestions and activities - that address any identified learning difficulties.
After completing the corrective - perhaps two class periods later - students take a second assessment that covers the same concepts but includes slightly different questions.
Students who have already mastered the content may move on to enrichment activities.
According to researcher Thomas Guskey, “Few strategies have been implemented more broadly or evaluated as thoroughly during the last 40 years. The core elements of mastery learning also provide the foundation for many innovations that teachers are implementing in classrooms today.”
Indeed, practitioners of Understanding by Design and RTI will see heavy influences of ML woven throughout the frameworks. The fundamentals of this strategy have also become so commonplace in current best practices that you and your teachers likely already use many components without realizing their lineage.
Why I chose this topic:
Now, many of you are probably saying, “Duh, Mike. We’ve known this model for years.”
Fair enough. But I find that many, many educators who know it’s an effective way to teach still find it difficult to implement for obvious reasons - it’s time intensive and logistically complicated.
For our purposes, we’ll focus more on a diet version of ML - The Mastery Quiz (TMQ). I first heard about this brand of mastery learning from Robert Calbeck, a veteran math teacher from Littleton, Colorado. Loved by his students and a runner-up for Schomp’s Denver Teacher of the Year, Calbeck regularly uses humor, mnemonics, and mastery learning in his classroom to help his students reach impressive academic milestones.
In this video, Calbeck reviews his use of mastery quizzes in his math classes. Mastery quizzes differ significantly from Bloom’s idea of mastery learning in that Calbeck’s approach is focused on a small, single chunk of learning - something that’s deemed “essential” to success in the rest of the course.
And while this is not pure mastery learning, it is an easy onramp for folks who are either unfamiliar with the framework or have struggled to effectively use it in their classrooms. Think of it as a trial run … with huge potential benefits for kids.
How to use this content:
The easiest way to understand TMQs is to review the video below. In about eight minutes, Calbeck gives a very thorough overview of how he uses mastery quizzes in his classroom. What I really like about this conversation is that we cover the benefits as well as the constraints. There’s no denying that it takes time, but the benefits are significant, and the logistical challenges can often be reduced with a little creativity.
Now, I realize that this video may be a bit controversial in some respects. But don’t let the all-or-nothing nature of TMQ get in the way of the point. Even if you’re a “no-zero” convert or a proficiency-based evangelist, the goal is still the same as it is with mastery learning - to offer repeated attempts to exhibit learning and to provid support along the way.
And, of course, you’ll have to iron out the moving parts with your teachers. This will require a bit of creativity in finding the time to retest. Many schools have tackled this conundrum with some effectiveness - consolidated retest times, a centralized proctor for retakes, etc. But, again, don’t overcomplicate things. These are short quizzes that take a couple of minutes. It’s possible to administer them during a warm-up or wrap-up or while other work is being done.
I’m not saying it’s easy, but neither is it impossible.
If you’ve got 25 minutes or less:
Show the video
Download this PowePoint file (Note: I highly recommend downloading the file and opening it in PowerPoint rather than Google Slides)
Peruse (including the presenter notes)
Edit as needed
Present away
Resources for extensions:
Mid-length article from Education Leadership on the history of mastery learning and how it intersects with several other related disciplines.
“Feedback for Teachers: What Evidence Do Teachers Find Most Useful?”
Scholarly article on masterly learning and methods of analyzing formative assessments. Great for schools that have already implemented ML on a larger scale, with some practical suggestions on how to assess and track student difficulties.
Unconventional Math: Getting Kids Unstuck Course
The video featuring Robert Calbeck is taken from our full course. If you think your math faculty would find it helpful, respond and let me know. I’ll work on getting your teachers access at a drastically-reduced, subscriber-only rate.
Possible Discussion Protocols:
You’ve probably noticed by now that I enjoy the occasional out-of-the-box discussion protocol, but when time is limited, nothing beats a quick whip-around or think-pair-share. That said, I’ve added a couple here that can be used if you have more time and want to prioritize interaction among teachers.
To answer the question “What are the barriers to Mastery Learning?” (slide 4), I recommend keeping it quick with a Think-Pair-Share (TPS). It’s fairly quick, and the answers are predictable, so there’s no use in physically moving staff around just yet. I recommend keeping the thinking and sharing time to a minute or two max.
For the “General Discussion” (slide 6), you could do another TPS or, if time allows, consider Compass Points. This is a great tool when there may be a variety of viewpoints and proponents and opponents of an idea.
I hope this has been helpful. As always, let me know if you have any suggestions for improvement or additional questions. Thanks again for your continued support!
Talk soon,
Mike
Guskey, Thomas. “Lessons of Mastery Learning.” Educational Leadership, v. 68, issue 2.