Visit to Adlai Stevenson High School

Earlier this week, along with 11 other Saline Area School staff, I had the opportunity to visit and learn about the innovative programs that are a part of Adlai Stevenson High School in Lincolnshire, Illinois.  The visit was a great reminder that learning from peers can be very powerful.  It was also a reminder that while we will must always be working to improve,  we do a lot of things very well in Saline.

One of the things that they recently did at Stevenson High School is move away from letter grades in fine arts courses.  Choosing instead to develop a 1-4 rubric to assess skill relative to the course objectives.  Students can still choose to have their rubric score converted to a grade for their GPA, but it is not mandatory.

It is an interesting approach to move the conversation toward learning/skill development and away from grading practices.