Classroom Practices

The BCSD Classroom Practices represent those things master teachers do that research and experience have found to help students acquire knowledge. They are designed to assist parents, teachers, and students in providing quality learning for all children.

Attendance	Discipline
Homework	Testing
Eligibility	Retesting
Grading

Attendance Practices:

DEFINITION: Regular and timely presence at school

ATTENDANCE IS TO:
- Promote academic and social growth.
- Mirror the individual and group responsibilities demanded by society.
- Develop confidence and success.
- Provide structure.
- Increase time on task and maintain continuity.

ATTENDANCE IS NOT TO:
- Affect grades.
- Create an emotional or physical hardship.

TEACHER RESPONSIBILITY IS TO:
- Inform students and parents of responsibilities and consequences for non-attendance.
- Follow up on consequences.
- Model attendance behavior.

STUDENT RESPONSIBILITY IS TO:
- Adhere to attendance/tardiness requirements.
- Display self-discipline and responsibility.
- Understand the importance of continuity in the learning process.
- Demonstrate awareness of consequences.

PARENT RESPONSIBILITY IS TO:
- Promote regular and timely attendance.
- Model importance of regular attendance.
- Understand attendance policy and consequences.
- Understand the importance in the continuity of the learning process.

Discipline Practices:

DEFINITION: Expectations and consequences for responsible behavior

- Establish common behavioral expectations that provide a safe and healthy school environment.
- Create an atmosphere that maximizes teaching and learning.
- Foster self-discipline and individual accountability by promoting responsible thinking and actions.
- Develop social responsibility and citizenship.
- Develop and maintain an environment of mutual respect.

DISCIPLINE IS NOT TO:
- Control through fear and intimidation or act upon personal prejudices.
- Respond to non-school related circumstances.
- Affect grades.

TEACHER RESPONSIBILITY IS TO:
- Teach and model responsible thinking.
- Conduct class meetings on an ongoing basis.
- Assume the role of advocate.

STUDENT RESPONSIBILITY IS TO:
- Behave responsibly in all interactions.
- Contribute to a positive school environment.
- Engage in self-directed learning.
- Demonstrate understanding of the discipline process.
- Resolve conflicts appropriately.

PARENT RESPONSIBILITY IS TO:
- Model responsible behavior.
- Follow through on behavioral expectations.
- Support district-wide discipline plan.

Homework Practices:

DEFINITION: Independent practice or extensions

HOMEWORK IS TO:
- Foster responsibility.
- Assist in preparation for the next day.
- Reinforce learning.
- Provide for formative assessment or extension opportunities.
- Reinforce the home/school connection.
- Encourage independent learning.

HOMEWORK IS NOT TO:
- Provide busy work.
- Be used as punishment, revenge or control.
- Be used solely for grading.
- Be a source of new learning.
- Set students up for failure.
- Appease parents or colleagues.

TEACHER RESPONSIBILITY IS TO:
- Provide homework with clear purposes, directions, expectations and consequences.
- Communicate and collaborate with colleagues.
- Individualize assignments.
- Provide consistent, timely and meaningful feedback.

STUDENT RESPONSIBILITY IS TO:
- Complete and submit quality homework on time.

PARENT RESPONSIBILITY IS TO:
- Provide a positive learning environment.
- Support teacher/school homework policies.
- Monitor student progress and communicate with teacher, if necessary.

Testing Practices:

DEFINITION: Assessment to establish student mastery of critical learning

TESTING IS TO:
- Evaluate student learning of the district curriculum.
- Ensure that the student has mastered material.
- Assess student achievement.
- Plan for future instruction.

TESTING IS NOT TO:
- Test uncovered material.
- Punish or compare students.

TEACHER RESPONSIBILITY IS TO:
- Evaluate student learning.
- Inform students of test criteria prior to testing.
- Assess effectiveness of instructional and testing process.
- Provide adequate time for individual needs.
- Provide an appropriate assessment.

STUDENT RESPONSIBILITY IS TO:
- Give best effort and actively participate in instruction.
- Communicate with teachers when help is needed to understand material.
- Prepare for and study presented or assigned objectives.
- Adjust to various expectations of teachers.
- Be accountable.

PARENT RESPONSIBILITY IS TO:
- Communicate with the teacher and child.
- Assist child to prepare for test.
- Require accountability from child.
- Encourage appropriate behavior and attitude for success.
- Help student be prepared - emotionally, physically and mentally.
- Partner with the school and advocate for the child.

Eligibility Practices:

DEFINITION: Qualifying for assessment by meeting requirements and providing readiness

ELIGIBILITY IS TO:
- Provide evidence of having worked on skills or concepts prior to a test.
- Ensure that students don't test before ready.
- Give students an opportunity to learn information and earn the right to take a test.

ELIGIBILITY IS NOT TO:
- Provide busy work.
- Punish.
- Make concepts harder.

TEACHER RESPONSIBILITY IS TO:
- Evaluate readiness to test.
- Test students on material covered in class.
- Use instructional process to teach knowledge base.
- Ensure students have met eligibility requirements.
- Provide a positive learning environment.

STUDENT REPONSIBILITY IS TO:
- Pass eligibility requirements to the best of his or her ability.
- Do all assigned work.
- Meet deadlines.

PARENT RESPONSIBILITY IS TO:
- Support teacher and school requirements.
- Monitor progress and communicate with teacher, if necessary.
- Encourage students to meet requirements.
- Provide a positive learning environment.

Retesting Practices:

DEFINITION: Additional assessment, when necessary, to establish student mastery of critical learnings

RETESTING IS TO:
- Provide additional time to achieve mastery.
- Test material not previously mastered.
- Show understanding of critical concepts.

RETESTING IS NOT TO:
- Foster irresponsibility.
- Allow students an excuse to come unprepared .
- Give another chance without reteaching or becoming eligible.
- Give busy work, put students down, or punish.
- Create a practice of unlimited testing.

TEACHER RESPONSIBILITY IS TO:
- Ensure that critical learnings are mastered.
- Implement reteaching and correctives before testing.
- Ensure that students meet eligibility requirements before retesting.
- Retest non-mastered critical learnings.
- Provide alternative modes in reteaching and retesting.
- Set the conditions and scoring standard of the retest.
- Provide a positive learning environment.

STUDENT RESPONSIBILITY IS TO:
- Attend class and be responsible for mastering critical concepts.
- Actively participate in relearning.
- Ask questions when needed.
- Qualify to take retest within an established time frame.

PARENT RESPONSIBILITY IS TO:
- Communicate with the teacher and student.
- Monitor student progress and assist as needed.
- Provide positive learning environment.
- Support homework/school.

Grading Practices:

DEFINITION: Measurement of progress and effort in mastery of critical learning

GRADING IS TO:
- Provide feedback on students' academic progress and effort toward mastery of the curriculum.

GRADING IS NOT TO:
- Compare, control, discipline or belittle.
- Provide the primary motivation for students and parents.
- Measure individual worth.

TEACHER RESPONSIBILITY IS TO:
- Clearly communicate objectives, criteria and expectations.
- Use valid and varied assessment practices to determine grades.
- Align assessments with critical learning.
- Ensure that the grade reflects the degree of mastery.
- Communicate achievement across grade levels.
- Give appropriate feedback in a timely manner.

STUDENT RESPONSIBILITY IS TO:
- Understand grading expectations and take responsibility for his or her own learning.

PARENT RESPONSIBILITY IS TO:
- Help student understand significance of grades.
- Understand grading expectations.
- Foster child's own responsibility in learning.
- Communicate with teacher and child.