|
December
Graphing Average,
Number and Percentage
When charting and graphing progress, it is
important to determine whether a class
average, number of students, or percentage
provides the best method to accurately
reflect progress.
In a stable classroom, recording and
graphing the number of students reaching
mastery will work.
A classroom with high student
mobility, or attendance issues, should use
the percentage of students mastering the
work.
The following examples illustrate the
difference between class average, number
reaching mastery, and percentage of students
reaching mastery.
It will also show the difference
between bar and line graphs.
Graphing the Number of Students that Reached
the Class Goal
Class Goal:
By the end of the semester, 100% of the
students will score at least 80% or higher
on the weekly vocabulary quizzes.
In the graph that follows, the red control
line is based on the 20 students that were
enrolled and attended the first week.
As noted in the table, the actual
number of students enrolled or attending
varied from 18 to 20.
Graphing the number of students reaching
mastery each week indicates that while
progress has been made, the number of
students reaching mastery has flat-lined for
four weeks.
| Week |
# of Students |
Mastery |
| 1 |
20 |
12 |
| 2 |
20 |
14 |
| 3 |
19 |
12 |
| 4 |
18 |
13 |
| 5 |
18 |
14 |
| 6 |
20 |
16 |
| 7 |
18 |
16 |
| 8 |
19 |
16 |
| 9 |
18 |
16 |
Graphing by Class Averages
Another common practice is to record and
graph class averages.
The following example illustrates the
flaw in that practice.
|
Student
|
Week 1
|
2
|
3
|
4
|
5
|
6
|
7
|
8
|
9
|
|
1
|
80
|
82
|
80
|
84
|
90
|
92
|
X
|
92
|
88
|
|
2
|
82
|
80
|
90
|
88
|
84
|
88
|
90
|
88
|
X
|
|
3
|
84
|
84
|
94
|
88
|
90
|
88
|
86
|
90
|
82
|
|
4
|
80
|
86
|
96
|
82
|
86
|
92
|
X
|
90
|
80
|
|
5
|
82
|
90
|
94
|
80
|
80
|
82
|
80
|
X
|
80
|
|
6
|
80
|
96
|
98
|
94
|
82
|
80
|
80
|
80
|
82
|
|
7
|
86
|
92
|
92
|
94
|
80
|
80
|
84
|
82
|
80
|
|
8
|
80
|
80
|
94
|
92
|
86
|
82
|
86
|
84
|
80
|
|
9
|
82
|
84
|
98
|
90
|
82
|
80
|
82
|
88
|
80
|
|
10
|
84
|
86
|
90
|
94
|
84
|
88
|
80
|
80
|
82
|
|
11
|
86
|
88
|
88
|
82
|
88
|
84
|
80
|
84
|
80
|
|
12
|
80
|
94
|
72
|
80
|
80
|
82
|
80
|
80
|
80
|
|
13
|
50
|
80
|
64
|
80
|
82
|
80
|
82
|
82
|
80
|
|
14
|
62
|
80
|
76
|
74
|
80
|
80
|
82
|
80
|
82
|
|
15
|
70
|
64
|
64
|
66
|
X
|
80
|
84
|
84
|
80
|
|
16
|
54
|
72
|
70
|
66
|
64
|
82
|
80
|
82
|
80
|
|
17
|
60
|
56
|
58
|
X
|
X
|
60
|
82
|
80
|
80
|
|
18
|
68
|
62
|
62
|
X
|
62
|
64
|
84
|
72
|
72
|
|
19
|
70
|
72
|
66
|
64
|
60
|
58
|
56
|
60
|
X
|
|
20
|
72
|
74
|
X
|
72
|
68
|
66
|
60
|
62
|
62
|
|
AVG
|
74.60
|
80.10
|
81.37
|
81.67
|
79.33
|
79.40
|
78.88
|
78.67
|
79.44
|
Comparison of Class Average vs. the
percentage of students that have mastered
the content:
|
Week
|
Class Average
|
Mastery Percentage
|
|
1
|
75
|
60
|
|
2
|
76
|
70
|
|
3
|
81
|
63
|
|
4
|
78
|
72
|
|
5
|
75
|
78
|
|
6
|
76
|
80
|
|
7
|
79
|
89
|
|
8
|
78
|
84
|
|
9
|
79
|
89
|
Graphing by Percentage of Students
Graphing the percentage of students that
mastered the content each week shows that
the percentage of students mastering the
content has improved from 60% to 89%.
Considering only the class average may give
the impression that no students have reached
the 80% mastery level.
A few observations from an analysis of the
data:
-
In Week 3 the average went up, but actual percentage of students meeting the standard decreased.
-
In Week 3 the average implies that everyone had at least 80% (Mastery), but only 63% actually mastered the content.
-
In Week 4 the average decreased, but the percentage of students mastering the content increased.
Other considerations and factors that
influence class average:
-
One specific child can heavily influence class average by scoring very poorly or being absent and not making up the test.
-
One or two students who score significantly higher than others may cause the average to rise, while the percentage of students actually at mastery may be stagnant or even decreasing.
-
The class average is fairly consistent, but doesn’t represent the real growth progress in the number of students mastering the content.
-
There is no positive correlation between the class average and the percentage of students meeting the standard.
Graphing by percentage is usually the best
method of visually presenting and analyzing
data.
It eliminates the variables of class
mobility, absences, not making-up tests,
poor performance by one or two students, or
just lack of effort.
While all of those variables can be
addressed for future tests or quizzes in a
short conference with the student, the data
usually cannot be adjusted.
November
It Will Just Be Something New Next Year!
In business and
education a common concern is that training
initiatives are the “flavor of the month or
year”.
Most people that have worked in a
business or school have experienced the
transition of a new leader’s new program(s)
or initiatives.
Regardless of
leadership’s programs or initiatives, Choice
Theory® And Reality Therapy (also known as
the Questioning Process) are not things that
can be taken away.
Choice Theory explains “how” and
“why” people behave.
It is simply a way to examine or
explain motivation.
Therefore, no matter who is in
charge, you can still process information
from a Choice Theory point of view.
By doing so, you will have a better
understanding of yourself, your boss,
co-workers, customers, clients, or students.
The Questioning Process
is simply a way of talking to people, mostly
through questions, that promotes
self-evaluation and responsibility.
Regardless of leadership, you will
always have conversations with people.
How you talk to them cannot be
dictated.
Your knowledge of Choice
Theory and Reality Therapy will always be
with you and available to you.
Related Archived Thought
from May 2009 You don't DO Choice Theory.
Click Here
October
Evaluations/Data Driven Decisions
Last week during a Choosing Excellence (Choice Theory, Questioning Process, Quality, Quality Tools, and Responsibility Education) training in Lee County, FL, an experienced teacher said that she always believed that she was doing a good job, but she now realized, that until recently, there was no data to provide evidence of whether she was effective or not. That is why management by fact is so important.
Of course, as Dr. Deming stated, you must ask the right questions to get the right answer.
If we are looking at customer satisfaction in training (Customer and Market Focus), the data we want are based on the information/content, handouts/materials, presenter skills and overall quality (satisfaction).
Here are the results from Choosing Excellence (well over 90% of which are from Lee County) over the past 2 ½ years.
| Rating |
5 |
4 |
3 |
2 |
1 |
Average |
4's / 5's |
% Success |
# of Scores |
| Content/Information |
521 |
146 |
25 |
4 |
|
4.7 |
667 |
96% |
696 |
| Handouts/Materials |
491 |
165 |
37 |
4 |
|
4.6 |
656 |
94% |
697 |
| Presenters |
580 |
100 |
17 |
|
|
4.8 |
680 |
98% |
697 |
| Overall Quality |
530 |
146 |
19 |
2 |
|
4.7 |
676 |
97% |
697 |
We also include a Plus/Delta that allows
participants to provide us with great
suggestions to adjust and improve our
content, teaching and materials.
|
+ I liked…
|
Δ Suggestions for Improvement
|
|
It was helpful to…
|
It would be more helpful if…
|
|
I learned…
|
It would be more valuable if…
|
|
I enjoyed…
|
I’d like more of….
|
-
Activities
-
Content
-
Delivery
-
Discussion
-
Practice
-
Process
-
Readings
-
Style
|
|
Based upon data from the end of
course Customer Feedback Form and the daily
Plus/Delta, we have implemented several
changes.
Examples include:
·
adding page numbers
to the slides to indicate the corresponding
page in the binder
·
providing additional
forms and other resources in the back of the
binder
·
adapting group size
on some activities
·
adjusting the amount
of time spent on various topics, such as
AYP, Questioning Process and Class Meetings.
To some, these changes will seem small or
insignificant.
Yet, anything that helps the customer
have a better experience is a favorable
trend with continuing.
Bob Hoglund
September
Teachers MAY Be the
Worst Behaved Students
When my son Daniel was
about 10 or 11 years old, I took him on a
trip with me to a small town in Minnesota.
When any of my three
sons went on a trip with me, they generally
attended whatever training I was presenting.
In this case, I was doing a workshop
for approximately 30 teachers, counselors,
and administrators.
Daniel attended the
teacher training for the first time.
At lunchtime, we went to a Wendy's,
ordered our food, and took it to the table.
As soon as we sat down, Daniel started
talking about the morning session. His first
words were, "Dad, those teachers were doing
everything they tell us not to do!
Some of them were talking while you
were talking, a bunch of them were chewing
gum, and two people even passed a note." He
was quite surprised when I told him that I
saw all that going on. "Why didn't you yell
at them or tell them to be quiet?”
I explained that almost all adults
talk to a neighbor when a teacher or
workshop presenter is talking.
As long as it isn't too loud or too
long, I just ignore it. "If you saw the
teachers passing the note why didn't you go
take it away and rip it up, or read it out
loud?"
My answer surprised him. “First of
all, passing a note is quieter than talking.
Secondly, if I had made a big deal about it
the teacher or teachers would probably be
embarrassed and then probably not listen to
me or not respect me for the next three
days.”
Daniel persisted. "But that's what my
teachers do when kids pass notes." "I know,”
I said. “There are some teachers that do
that. I just don't agree that embarrassing a
student in front of the class creates or
maintains a positive learning environment."
At this point Daniel was
satisfied with, and agreed with, my answers.
As a professional
presenter, it is always interesting to watch
teachers choose behaviors that they would
not tolerate from their own students. It is
something I think educators would find
valuable to discuss and evaluate.
Bob Hoglund
August Thought and Tip
Vision,
Mission and Values
“Vision without
action is a daydream. Action without
vision is a nightmare.”
Japanese Proverb
Vision
The vision of an
organization is a broad, general statement
of purpose.
Here are three examples:
Bob Hoglund, Inc.:
Creating
Better
Results,
Healthier
Relationships, and
Increased
Responsibility.
The School District of
Lee County (Fort Myers, FL):
To become a world class school
system.
Tropic Isles Elementary
(North Fort Myers, FL):
Investing in a quality future.
Mission Statements
A Mission Statement
provides more detailed information about the
purpose and the processes or behaviors
necessary to accomplish the mission.
It is, in essence, the process of
attempting to align the Quality Worlds of
each group member.
It is an expression of what people
want to create.
It can, and should be used to
maintain focus and to evaluate if current
behaviors and/or processes are helping to
accomplish the mission.
In education, a well-written mission
statement can replace class rules.
However, it is not a tool to control
behaviors.
Bob Hoglund, Inc. Mission
My
purpose is to provide outstanding workshop
content, activities and materials in a fun
environment, in order to help others develop
the knowledge and skills that they can
implement immediately.
One method of creating a
mission is to answer the following three
questions.
1.
Why are we here?
2. What do we need to
accomplish?
3.
How will we make it happen?
These questions can be
answered using affinity diagrams or by
mind-mapping.
Tropic Isles Elementary (North Fort
Myers, FL) is a Florida Governor’s Sterling
Award recipient and a Glasser Model Quality
School.
Their Mission
Statement is
as follows
Tropic Isles
will provide a quality learning environment
to meet the varied needs of all students,
through high expectations, parental
involvement and real-world experiences.
A breakdown of the Tropic
Isles Mission Statement identifies the
answers to each of the three questions.
1.
Why are we here?
To
provide a quality learning environment
2.
What do we need to accomplish?
To
meet the varied needs of all of our students
3.
How will we make it happen?
Through high
expectations, parental involvement and
real-world experiences.
Classroom Mission Statements
can provide three major benefits.
They help:
-
Clarify Purpose
-
Set Direction
-
Build Ownership
The Class Mission Statement should be
The following are some
examples of Class Mission Statements.
Our class will get an education, be
successful and meet new people by working as
a team, doing our best and being positive.
We are here to learn.
We want to be ready to go to first
grade.
We will get ready by being good
listeners, doing our best, and having fun
working together.
Core Values: Core values are the
operating philosophies or principles that
guide and organizations internal conduct as
well as its relationship to the external
world. Core Values are usually
summarized in the Mission Statement, or in a
statement of core values.
Source:
http://www.businessdictionary.com/definition/core-values.html
An excellent reference for the
importance of, and explanation of core
values can be found in Built to Last (1997)
by Jim Collins and Jerry Porras. In
their book, they cite examples of ideologies
that drive great companies. Those
(values) were sacred tenants, to be pursued
zealously and preserved as a guiding force
for generations.
Bob Hoglund, Inc.
Values:
The effective use of knowledge and skill
creates power and opportunities.
Having fun - taking what we do very
seriously, but not taking ourselves too
seriously.
Building
long-term, professional,
customer relationships.
Continuous improvement - seeking
excellence in everything we do.
Tropic Isles Values:
Listening…Supporting…Encouraging…
Respecting …Trusting…
Accepting…Lifelong Learning…Managing by
Fact…Continual Improvement
July
The Dynamics of
Leadership-Team Behavior
An
excerpt from How the Mighty Fall by Jim
Collins
How managers
interact says a lot about the state of the
company
|
Teams on the way down
|
|
Teams on the way up
|
|
People shield
those in power from unpleasant
facts, fearful of penalties and
criticism or shining light on rough
realities
|
|
People bring
forth grim facts - "come here and
look, man, this is ugly" - to be
discussed; leaders never criticize
those who bring forth harsh
realities
|
|
People assert
strong opinions without providing
data, evidence, or a solid argument
|
|
People bring
data, evidence, logic, and solid
arguments to the discussion
|
|
The team leader
has a very low questions-to-
statements ratio, avoiding critical
input and or allowing sloppy
reasoning and unsupported opinions
|
|
The team leader
employs a Socratic style, using a
high questions-to-statements ratio,
challenging people, and pushing for
penetrating insights
|
|
Team members
acquiesce to a decision, but
don't
unify to make the decision
successful-or worse, undermine it
after-the-fact
|
|
Team members
unify behind a decision once made,
then work to make the decision
succeed, even if they vigorously
disagreed with it
|
|
Team members
seek as much credit as possible for
themselves, yet do not enjoy the
confidence and admiration of their
peers
|
|
Each team member
credits other people for success,
yet enjoys the confidence and
admiration of his or her peers
|
|
Team members
argue to look smart or to further
their own interests rather than
argue to find the best answers to
support the overall cause
|
|
Team members
argue and debate, not to improve
their personal position but to find
the best answers to support the
overall cause
|
|
The team
conducts "autopsies with blame,"
seeking culprits rather than wisdom
|
|
The team
conducts "autopsies without blame,"
mining wisdom from painful
experiences
|
|
Team members
often fail to deliver exceptional
results and blame other people or
outside factors for setbacks,
mistakes, and failures
|
|
Each team member
delivers exceptional results, yet in
the event of a setback each accepts
full responsibility and learns from
mistakes
|
June
Results, Reflection,
& Refocus
Sir Winston
Churchill said,
“However
beautiful the strategy, you should
occasionally look at the results.”
The school year is
winding down in all parts of the country
and it seems appropriate to examine the
results.
Every
organization (school or classroom) is
perfectly designed to get the results it
gets.
The last 4 to 6
weeks is a great time to reflect on this
year’s growth, prepare the students for
the expectations of next year, and to
begin planning how you want the first
month of school to go next year.
In other words, this can be a
productive time or a wasted opportunity.
While educators have
a school-year created assessment time,
now that 1/3 of the year is past it is
also a great time for everyone else to
evaluate resolutions, personal, business
or employer related goals.
Here are 10
Questions to help you evaluate
results, reflect
on your progress, and
refocus your plan to help you
achieve your goals.
Reflection:
-
Is the goal
still important?
-
Did I follow the
plan to reach my goal?
-
How satisfied am
I with my progress?
-
On what evidence
am I basing my decision?
-
In what ways
have I been successful?
-
What are the
opportunities for improvement?
If you need to
adjust the plan:
-
What action
steps do I need to address the
opportunities for improvement?
-
What knowledge
or skill will I need?
-
What resources
will I need or are available?
-
How will I
measure my growth?
May
You Don’t
"DO" Choice Theory!
Choice Theory is not
something you apply or do. It is simply
an explanation of how and why people
behave.
When someone says
that they do Choice Theory®, it is the
equivalent of saying that a cyclist does
aerodynamics. Certainly a cyclist will
do better if they understand the theory
and effects of aerodynamics, but the
actual behavior is that of cycling.
When someone is
using the Reality Therapy questioning
process, it is certainly helpful to
understand Choice Theory. Understanding
that the quality world is our
representation of how we satisfy our
basic psychological needs, and that our
perceptions are our reality helps a
counselor/teacher select more effective
questions for the situation.
March
Internal Motivation and Pride
The Phoenix Coyotes (National Hockey League)
chances of making the playoffs are not good.
They are in 14th place and
only 8 teams get into the playoffs.
The following is an excerpt of an interview
with
Coyotes coach Wayne Gretzky.
From
the Arizona Republic Sports Page.
A key element at this juncture is keeping a
positive mindset, and Gretzky said it’s up
to the players to accomplish that goal.
“I think that (former Buffalo Bills coach)
Marv Levy said it best,” he said.
Someone asked him, ‘you get to four
Super Bowls in a row – how do you motivate
players?’ “The
reality is professional athletes at this
level motivate themselves.
So there’s a lot of pride in our
locker room, coming to work hard every
night.”
Coaches have to keep pushing players, but
Gretzky said that ultimately it’s up to the
individual.
“You have to have that personal
pride.” He said.
-----
-
How do you relate
this article to your situation?
-
How are performance
and pride ultimately up to each
individual?
-
How do you maintain
your personal pride?
-
In what ways do you
encourage your
students/clients/employees to maintain
or develop personal pride?
-
What are some of the
barriers to pride in workmanship?
February
"Self
Evaluation vs. External Evaluation is NOT
the Issue"
Shared Evaluation is the GOAL!”
The
recent event of US Airways flight number
1549, which crashed in the Hudson River,
illustrates the importance of external
evaluation. Captain Chesley "Sully"
Sullenberger was required to pass a series
of tests in order to become an Air Force
fighter pilot, and later to receive a
license to fly airplanes such as the Airbus
320. Additionally, external
expectations
required that he
spend hours in a simulator practicing
emergencies in order to be prepared to face
a variety of problems, including the loss of
both engines. Because he had an internal
expectation of being a pilot, Capt.
Sullenberger willingly accepted the external
expectations and evaluations required to
earn his pilot’s license.
In cases such as this, when internal
and external expectations match, they have
became a shared expectation.
When expectations are shared,
the external evaluation process can be very
powerful, as it can provide an outside
validation of an individual’s
self–evaluation, or it can cause the
individual to re-examine his
self-evaluation.
As often as Capt. Sullenberger surely
self-evaluated his piloting ability, I would
imagine that he, and all of the people on
Flight 1549, are very happy that he met the
required external evaluations, as well.
In order for
external evaluation to be most effective, it
must meet three criteria:
1.
Is it wanted and/or
asked for?
a.
Does the
learner respect the evaluator?
b.
Does the
evaluation, grade or test mean anything to
the learner?
2.
Does it help?
a.
Does the
learner receive the information that is
needed to make the improvements?
b.
How will the
information be used?
3.
Can it be improved?
a.
Is there an
opportunity to improve the evaluation?
b.
Can the learner
correct, redo or retest?
The flaw of self-evaluation is, if
all one does is self-evaluate, how does one
know what one doesn't know?
Many years ago I was asked to speak to
a small school district in Estherville,
Iowa. I worked with the elementary
teachers and administrators in the morning,
the secondary teachers and administrators in
the afternoon, and then did a a 7:00 p.m. to
8:30 p.m. parenting session for the
educators and the community.
As the
parenting session was coming to a close, a
gentleman in the back row by the door raised
his hand, stood up and said, "Bob, I have a
question for you."
He said, "I liked what
you were saying about self-evaluation and I
believe it is good for my daughter. But,
she's a junior in high school and will be
going to college in another year. I don't
think her professors are going to be asking
her to self-evaluate. And, she probably
won't return to this community. Her boss in
the city is not going to ask her to
self-evaluate. So, how does your emphasis on
self-evaluation match the world that she
will be living in?"
The question
caught me off guard, but it was a good
question. I thought for a minute and then
answered it this way:
"My experience is that the people who
get the best external evaluations are the
people who self-evaluate on a regular
basis."
That statement still holds true
today.
Bob Hoglund
January
“Conventional Wisdom
is NOT Always Correct!”
Management and quality guru Peter Drucker
said that, “Most
people think they know what they are good
at. They are usually wrong…And yet, a
person can perform only from strength.”
That statement is backed up by research from
the Gallup Organization and published in
Strength Finders 2.0.
The data (ten million people over ten
years) shows that building on one’s talents
produces better results than focusing on
weaknesses.
Rath (2008, p. i) writes,
“We
had discovered that people have several
times more potential for growth when they
invest energy in developing their strengths
instead of correcting their deficiencies.”
The Gallup studies (Rath, 2007, p. iii)
also
found that people who do have the
opportunity to focus on their strengths
every day are
six times more likely to be
engaged in their jobs
and
more
than three times as likely to report having
an excellent quality of life in general.
The research from three Gallup studies and
published in Vital Friends (2004), Strengths
Finder 2.0 (2007) and First, Break All the
Rules (1999) supports Choice Theory
concepts, and leadership.
For more information on Vital Friends, click
HERE to
read the September, 2007 Thought:
Motivation, Morale, and the Basic Needs.
The Research Supports What I Have Been
Teaching About Leadership for Over 15 Years!
Buckingham and Coffman (1999, p. 32) offer
the following insight from their research,
“We
had discovered that the manager – not
pay, benefits, perks, or a charismatic
corporate leader -
was
the critical player in the workplace.
The manager was the key.
It tells us that people leave managers, not companies.”
In the 1990’s, I wrote that Boss
Management and Lead Management are not
opposites.
The opposite of Boss Management is
Laissez-Faire Management.
A Laissez-Faire Manager takes a
hands-off approach, rarely offers help,
suggestions or encouragement, and lets the
workers do everything on their own.
There is little, if any, feedback and
data collection or measurement of progress
is left up to the workers.
Consider the following data (Rath, 2007, p.
iv).
|
If your manager
primarily:
|
|
The chances of your being
actively disengaged
are: |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Ignores you
|
|
40% |
|
|
Focuses on your
weaknesses
|
|
22% |
|
|
Focuses on your
strengths
|
|
1% |
|
As you can see from these results,
having a manager who ignores you is almost
twice as detrimental as a manager who
primarily focuses on weaknesses.
Additionally, Rath (2006) provides other
feedback from workers in his book Vital
Friends.
“Just 17% of employees report that
their manager has made “an investment in our
relationship” in the past three months”,
which implies that
there are more Laissez-Faire Mangers than
one would think.
Bob Hoglund
This concept continues in the
January Tip.
Click
HERE to continue reading.
For a FREE copy of the entire article, click
HERE!
|
