During his teaching career at the University of Virginia, Robert received the Phi Delta Kappa Distinguished Service Award, the Outstanding Professor Award in the School of Education, and two universitywide awards for distinguished teaching and service. In 1997, the Virginia Association of Secondary School Principals presented him the Lamp of Knowledge Award for his contributions to the field of education. The Virginia Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development named him 1998 Educator of the Year. In 2004, the Virginia Association of Elementary School Principals presented him with the Pathfinder Award in recognition of his years of leadership in enhancing the quality of education in elementary and middle schools across the Commonwealth of Virginia.
In addition to publishing numerous articles in educational journals, Robert has served as general coeditor of seven books relative to teaching strategies designed for block schedules, and he has coauthored five books related to school policy and block schedules.
He received his bachelor of science degree from Austin Peay State University, his master of arts degree in curriculum and instruction from Peabody College, Vanderbilt University, and his doctorate in education from the University of Tennessee, where he majored in administration and supervision with collateral studies in educational psychology and industrial and personnel management.
To learn more about Robert’s work, visit www.robertlynncanady.com.
Carol E. Canady, PhD, is a literacy consultant, having consulted with school districts in Alabama, Connecticut, North Carolina, Ohio, Tennessee, and Virginia. Her passion is empowering educators with strategies that reduce student failure, primarily by institutionalizing administrative and literacy practices that produce accelerated reading gains. Her consulting focus includes: (1) teaching teachers how to use various assessment measures and instructional strategies within response to intervention; (2) using word study and fluency instruction as bridges to effective reading comprehension; and (3) scheduling and implementing small-group literacy teams to accelerate reading achievement in the early grades.
Carol develops primary-grade curriculum and makes curriculum recommendations aligned with standards with a focus on accelerating reading foundation skills. In her private consulting practice, she provides diagnostic services and then develops and demonstrates how to implement individual lesson plans for students who are reading below grade level to help them progress at an accelerated pace of two to three years in one school year. In schools with an intervention and enrichment period, Carol recommends enrichment units for students who are reading proficiently, with a goal of having those students move to advanced reading and writing levels.
Carol was an assistant professor of early childhood and teacher education at three universities in Ohio. She has also taught undergraduate and graduate courses in literacy assessment and instruction and in children’s literature, with a focus on prekindergarten through third grade. Prior to teaching in higher education, Carol was a teacher, counselor, and literacy coach in grades K–8 for thirteen years. As a literacy coach, she pioneered literacy teaming and assisted schools in high-poverty school districts to experience accelerated reading progress.
Carol received her doctorate in reading education from the University of Virginia. She has also published in various educational journals. Her 2012 Educational Leadership Online article coauthored with Robert Lynn Canady, “Catching Readers Up Before They Fail,” describes strategies for accelerating reading gains to get all students reading on grade level by third grade. She currently serves as an elementary school reading specialist.
To learn more about Carol’s work, visit www.CanadyEd.com.
Anne Meek, EdD, taught kindergarten, summer Head Start, and first grade, and then became a Title I reading specialist in Memphis, Shelby County, and Knoxville, Tennessee. In Knox County, Tennessee, she became an elementary principal, then an elementary supervisor, conducting more than one thousand classroom observations and follow-up conferences. She chaired the state curriculum committee to develop the first set of basic skills in reading for the state of Tennessee. She also served as editor of Tennessee Educational Leadership for the Tennessee Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development.
Anne then became managing editor for Educational Leadership at the Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development (ASCD) in Alexandria, Virginia. In addition to reviewing both solicited and unsolicited manuscripts and then preparing the selected manuscripts for publication, she contributed numerous columns for Educational Leadership and authored, acquired, and edited several books, including her own Designing Places for Learning and Communicating With the Public. She presented sessions at ASCD annual conferences and state and regional meetings throughout the United States. She later served as director of publications for the Developmental Studies Center in Oakland, California. Subsequently, she became an assistant superintendent for the Virginia Beach City Public Schools in Virginia, directing central office communications and providing executive services to the school board and superintendent. Later, she served as senior program specialist for the Education Statistics Services Institute in Washington, DC.
Anne has provided grant writing services for several projects in Virginia, as well as developmental editing services for ASCD books. She served as grant writer and coordinator for the Commonwealth Educational Policy Institute at Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond throughout the implementation of LEADERS Count—In Virginia Schools, which the Council of Chief State School Officers administers and the Wallace Foundation funds.
Anne received her bachelor of science from the University of Tennessee at Martin, and both her master’s degree in elementary education and her doctorate in education in curriculum and instruction from the University of Tennessee, Knoxville.
To book Robert Lynn Canady, Carol E. Canady, or Anne Meek for professional development, contact [email protected].
I have come to a frightening conclusion. I am the decisive element in the classroom. It is my personal approach that creates the climate. It is my daily mood that makes the weather. As a teacher I possess tremendous power to make a child’s life miserable or joyous. I can be a tool of torture or an instrument of inspiration. I can humiliate or humor, hurt or heal. In all situations it is my response that decides whether a crisis will be escalated or de-escalated, and a child humanized or dehumanized.
—Haim G. Ginott
Introduction
Beyond the Grade: Refining Practices That Boost Student Achievement is not just another book about grading. It builds on the urgent need for increased student achievement that promotes college and career readiness, highlighting the need for a major paradigm shift from traditional to innovative thinking. Within this fundamental shift, implementing procedures for constantly assessing student growth, crafting schedules that include daily time for student support, and changing traditional grading practices are critical first steps for making the necessary and significant changes.
The timing is right for examining traditional or long-standing grading practices. Although not all states have adopted the National Governors Association Center for Best Practices (NGA) and the Council of Chief State School Officers’ (CCSSO) Common Core State Standards (CCSS), many, like Indiana and South Carolina, have similar versions. In the 21st century, more schools than ever have standards in common. Schools