BEYOND
the Grade
Refining Practices That
BOOST Student Achievement
ROBERT LYNN CANADY
CAROL E. CANADY
ANNE MEEK
Copyright © 2017 by Solution Tree Press
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Canady, Robert Lynn, author. | Canady, Carol E., author. | Meek, Anne, author.
Title: Beyond the grade : refining practices that boost student achievement / Robert Lynn Canady, Carol E. Canady, and Anne Meek.
Description: Bloomington, IN : Solution Tree Press, [2017] | Includes bibliographical references and index.
Identifiers: LCCN 2016051339 | ISBN 9781943874040 (perfect bound)
Subjects: LCSH: Academic achievement. | Achievement motivation. | School improvement programs.
Classification: LCC LB1062.6 .C25 2017 | DDC 371.2/07--dc23 LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2016051339
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Edmund M. Ackerman, President
Solution Tree Press
President and Publisher: Douglas M. Rife
Editorial Director: Sarah Payne-Mills
Managing Production Editor: Caroline Weiss
Senior Production Editor: Tonya Maddox Cupp
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Acknowledgments
Robert Lynn Canady wishes to acknowledge and thank hundreds of educators, parents, and colleagues who for over forty-five years have listened, commented, critiqued, and encouraged him to continue his work with improving educational opportunities for thousands of students. That work includes crafting creative, data-driven schedules for elementary, middle, and high schools that include (1) academic supports for students during the school day, (2) balanced workloads for both teachers and students, (3) blocks of time that provide opportunities for students to actively engage in learning, and (4) strategies for providing teachers with small instructional groups by employing the principles of parallel block scheduling.
In 1989 he coauthored an article, published in the Phi Delta Kappan, titled “It’s a good score! Just a bad grade.” Based on the reception of that publication and the workshops that followed, he began an examination of the history of grading policies and learned that many such policies have a negative influence on student motivation and achievement. One of the most influential concepts he discovered is that it is important for grading policies to allow students to learn from failure—not just be sorted and graded. In fact, success often depends on a person’s being resilient and persistent in analyzing how and why failure occurred and being able to start over. If we want to succeed in increasing the number of college- or career-ready graduates, we must have policies that help students begin again, providing opportunities and supports such as those illustrated in this book.
The authors thank Tonya M. Cupp for her skills in organizing the manuscript and for her editing. It has been a pleasure working with her. We also want to thank and acknowledge the work of Kimalee Dickerson, a second-year PhD student in educational psychology at the University of Virginia, who assisted by researching and editing this book.
Solution Tree Press would like to thank the following reviewers:
Jonathan Cornue
Staff and Curriculum Development
Madison-Oneida Board of Cooperative Educational Services
Verona, New York
Kevin Ericson
Special Education Teacher
Nevada High School
Nevada, Iowa
Kendra Hanzlik
Instructional Coach
Prairie Hill Elementary School
Cedar Rapids, Iowa
Jeremy Heeringa
Instructional Coach
Bettendorf Middle School
Bettendorf, Iowa
Michael Huber
Director of Curriculum and Professional Development
Portage Public Schools
Portage, Michigan
Benjamin Kitslaar
Assistant Principal
Jackson Elementary School
Elkhorn, Wisconsin
Kirsten Mahoney
Science Department Chair
York Community High School
Elmhurst, Illinois
Andy Pattee
Superintendent
Cedar Falls Community School District
Cedar Falls, Iowa
Tara Reed
Fourth Grade Language Arts and Social Studies Teacher
Hawk Elementary School
Corinth, Texas
Kim Timmerman
Principal
Adel DeSoto Minburn Middle School
Adel, Iowa
Maranda Van Cleave
Principal
Greene County Intermediate School
Grand Junction, Iowa
Dave Versteeg
Superintendent
Montezuma Community Schools
Montezuma, Iowa
Matthew