Post by: Will Brunkhorst
In a traditional classroom setting students perform their work, instructors talley scores, and assign a grade. At CRTC rather than “grading” students, we prefer to think of the process as a “performance review”, much like a performance review at work.
This is the fourth year of our SPUR (Student Performance upon Understanding Review) process. Our staff invented the SPUR in response to their dissatisfaction with the traditional review process. We believe the SPUR process has evolved into a genuine process that prepares students to be college and career ready.
Our website has extensive information about the SPUR process (under the assessment tab) and we urge all readers to check it out. A few highlights of the process include:
- Four times a year students formally meet with their instructor for a 15 minute, one to one, “SPUR Conference”. During these private sessions, performance is discussed, feedback provided, and goals for future accomplishments are set or modified. Moreover, instructors and students really get to know one another.
- Students are not handed a grade by instructors. At CRTC students actively participate with the establishment of a grade, and also with the content and direction of their education. Personal responsibility and daily attention to education is expected of students.
- Students must gather data and present their performance against clearly defined competency rubrics.
- Students assess themselves against hard and soft skills. Our Soft Skills Rubric parallels industry expectations.
Our staff has completed extensive professional development to refine the SPUR Process. This year we will be adding a peer review element.
Please click here to check out our assessment website for much more information. Feel free to contact program coordinator Will Brunkhorst (wbrun@concordnhschools.net) to learn more.
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