CAN A MEASUREMENT OF
VALUES
ALTER THE WAY SCHOOLS
THINK
ABOUT EDUCATION?
4 PECK NEWS 2015–2016
What is a
NO DOUBT this is why
truly great schools consider character education on an equal par with academic rigor. The inherent problem is that knowledge can be more easily measured than character skills such as ethics, resilience, and curiosity
brain without a heart? Not as smart, recent research suggests.
For schools like Peck, whose motto states “We believe that, in life, knowledge must be guided by values,” it follows that we must consider the values part of the equation as carefully as we consider knowledge. It is equally important that we thoughtfully assess, measure, and strengthen the character component of Peck life as we do for our academic program. Like many independent schools, The Peck School is hoping to change this dichotomy by joining a consortium of nearly 100 institutions that conducted the Mission Skills Assessment (MSA) during the past fall semester. This widelyrespected assessment tool has been developed over a period of five years by the Independent School Data Exchange (INDEX) and Education Testing Services (ETS) to scientifically gauge each school’s success rate in promoting six character skills that are labeled essential for success in school and life: teamwork, creativity, ethics, resilience, curiosity, and time management.
The six character skills that are assessed in the MSA dovetail perfectly with The Peck School’s own Core Values: Respect, Loyalty, Perseverance, Empathy, Responsibility, and Honesty.
MISSION SKILL:
PECK’s CORE VALUES:
Teamwork
Respect, Loyalty, Empathy, Responsibility, Honesty
Creativity
Respect, Perseverance, Responsibility
Ethics
Respect, Empathy, Responsibility, Honesty
Resilience
Responsibility, Perseverance
Curiosity
Respect, Responsibility
Time Management
Responsibility
5
“The MSA has been touted by research and educational experts as the ‘most innovative, cost-effective, and reliable assessment of 21st century skills’ currently available,” explains Dr. Zan Struebing, School Psychologist at The Peck School, “We are excited for this opportunity to evaluate our efforts in teaching Character Education, as well as our Life Skills and Traits.”
A STUDY by the Rand Corporation in 2013 cites a wealth of scholarly research supporting the notion that, “intrapersonal competencies can, in some contexts, predict long-term academic and economic outcomes.” That same study indicates that the MSA provides schools with formative and summative guidance on whether they are actually meeting their mission to promote not only academic, but also inter- and intra-personal development.
The high reliability and validity of the test scores with the MSA is proving just as good, if not a better, predictor of academic outcomes, student quality, and student well being than other standardized tests like the SAT (Scholastic Aptitude Test). “The MSA has been touted by research and educational experts as the ‘most innovative, costeffective, and reliable assessment of 21st century skills’ currently available,” explains Dr. Zan Struebing, School Psychologist at The Peck School, “We are excited for this opportunity to evaluate our efforts in teaching Character Education, as well as our Life Skills and Traits.” Peck’s participation with the MSA will be a threeyear process, in which students in grades six to eight, and their faculty advisors, will be asked to annually take a brief, anonymous survey designed to assess how well our programs develop these essential skills in our students. From mid-October to mid-December this past fall, (Peck’s first year participating), over 17,000 middle school students across the country participated in the 40-minute assessment. Students were asked to self-report on their approach to and acquisition of the test’s six character skills. They also answered questions designed to assess their “situational judgment.” For example, students may have been asked to consider a time when they were stressed due to having too much homework. Did they blame themselves for having put off the homework, try to get
(Continued on p. 8)
6 PECK NEWS 2015–2016
UNPACKING THE SIX SKILLS MSA Indicators Early in the development of the MSA, the Steering Committee recognized the need to provide users a better picture of what each skill looks like in action. These indicators can be used for educators to know what to look for and how to talk about each of the MSA Six.
Teamwork Finds solutions during conflicts Demonstrates respect for feelings of others and listens well Knows when and how to include others Adapts effectively to different group situations
Creativity Generates new ideas Synthesizes information in new ways Explores new ideas eagerly Asks and answers questions to deepen understanding
Ethics Makes decisions and takes actions based on needs of community and not just self Treats people with respect, sensitivity, and fairness Demonstrates honesty and trust
Resilience Finishes what he or she begins Tries very hard even after experiencing failure Works diligently and independently Sees setbacks as temporary
Curiosity Pursues opportunities for independent learning Shows enthusiasm for trying and learning new things Asks and answers questions and knows how to ask the next question
Time Management Comes to class prepared to learn Pays attention and resists distraction Gets to work rather than procrastinates Maintains a system to complete work and prioritize tasks (From “Missions Skill’s Assessment Users Toolkit”)
7
organized and get on top of the work, blame the teacher for giving too much work, go out and buy something—or take some other approach? Data from the student’s self-assessment and situational judgments was then combined with individual and confidential teacher-rated assessments of each student. It is important to note that the findings of this program are reported only at the institutional level, rather than a student-by-student basis. There is no tracking individual student performance. The Peck School is using the MSA as a tool to evaluate how well we are teaching—not to evaluate any particular student’s sense of how “valued” he/she feels at Peck. The Mission Skills Assessment is a powerful tool. Perhaps the greatest benefit is that the schools involved are not only measuring positive character traits, they are becoming more intentional in fostering them. This feeds into the academic program as well. By including facets such as “intrinsic motivation” in the grading rubrics for projects, schools discover their students become more inventive and the curriculum, in turn, becomes more engaging. Pedagogical styles have evolved over the years and approaches to teaching and learning have gone through monumental shifts. Recent research confirms, however, that institutions like The Peck School have been on the right track since their foundation by steadfastly asserting that, “in life, knowledge must be guided by values.” For many participants, the most valuable benefit of administering the MSA is the power of participating in the network of MSA schools, coming together in conference, sharing resources and practices, benefitting from the inspiration and affirmation of shared purpose and collegiality.
School Psychologist Zan Struebing will represent The Peck School at the upcoming MSA Annual Conference in Chicago in April. She will share information and ideas with other schools that conduct the MSA, participate in workshops led by INDEX member schools, and attend keynote addresses by leading authorities in the field of social-emotional learning, mindfulness, and character education.
8 PECK NEWS 2015–2016
CAN CHARACTER REALLY BE MEASURED? This is an understandable question, and certainly the answer depends on the definition of the word character. The MSA measures six skills commonly associated with “character,” and does so in a way that has been found to be reliable across multiple administrations and to demonstrate validity when compared to particular intended outcomes. But it makes no claim to effectively predict every potential element of what we consider character generally, so like all measurement tools, it is only measuring partial aspects of the true breadth and depth of students’ character. (From “Missions Skill’s Assessment Users Toolkit”)
Curiousity ience l i s Re
tiv Crea ity
Time Mana gem e
nt
Although the results aren’t in yet from the formal Mission Skills Assessment that took place last fall, the skills were certainly on display during Peck’s first Mini-Mester in January. In the spirit of taking educated risks, faculty launched a unique learning experiment during ERB testing week in January. Following morning testing, Upper School students cycled through a series of STEAM- and Design Thinking-related activities intended to engage and energize beyond a traditional classroom approach. In a variety of project-based learning, fifth graders showed great curiosity as they built elaborate Rube Goldberg Devices. Sixth graders demonstrated teamwork and resilience as they competed to design and test working snow sleds. Seventh graders exercised creativity and time management building and programming robots, and eighth graders applied ethics to solving world issues in an activity entitled “Cities of the Future.” To read more about the Mini-Mester, visit Peck’s website.
Ethic s
Te a m work
9