Fearless Grading

When grades are accurate and fair, students and teachers will see immediate improvements in academic performance, student behavior, and attendance. But when schools cling to toxic grading practices that are demonstrably inaccurate and unfair, then failures persist. Douglas Reeves, the author of more than forty books and 100 articles on leadership and education, believes the choice is clear – and in this book, he argues for grading systems and feedback that have an immediate and positive impact on the performance of students, teachers, and leaders. Get answers to questions such as: What are grading policies about beyond student performance? How can grading policies help teachers collaborate to improve student outcomes? Why do grading policies among teachers vary so much? The author observes that in the context of grading, you will routinely see classes in which student backgrounds are the same, but one class has a 50% failure rate and another class in the same grade and same subject has a 10% failure rate. Almost always, the difference is not in the performance of the students but in the grading policies of the teachers. Join the author and explore how to improve achievement, discipline, and culture through Fearless Grading.

When students are afraid, they cannot learn. In “Fearless Classrooms,” Dr. Douglas Reeves explains how teachers and school administrators can provide psychological safety for every student and staff member. In a fearless classroom, students can make mistakes and learn from those mistakes without being afraid of embarrassment and humiliation. Rather than toxic practices such as evaluating students based on mistakes made months in the past, fearless classrooms evaluate students based on their performance at the time the grade is awarded. Every mistake is not a disgrace, but an opportunity to learn. “Fearless Classrooms” provides a guide for every educator and school leader to create a safe environment for every student to learn and grow both intellectually and emotionally.

Students learn better when they aren’t afraid to take risks and make mistakes. In this book, teacher and popular blogger Joli Barker shows you how to make K-8 students fearless in the classroom so they can engage in deeper learning. You’ll discover how to abandon the notion of the teacher as the primary source of information, and instead create a classroom environment in which students can explore problems, test theories, and play games through curiosity, imagination, adaptability, and a passion for learning. Find out how to... Create fearless learning environments; Engage in fearless planning and lesson design; Use fearless grading and assessments; Teach fearless gamification; Develop fearless parent relations; and Get students to ask fearless questions. Throughout the book, you’ll find suggested activities for science, social studies, language arts, and math, as well as tools such as rubrics to assist you on your journey.

Schools need psychological safety, resilience, and trust now more than ever. These are the essential prerequisites of learning for both students and staff. If we are truly going to make schools inviting places where all students can flourish, then educators must be fearless as they build trust and set high expectations. In this book, Douglas Reeves outlines the conditions for such fearlessness, which include refusing to tolerate mediocrity, confronting reality, listening, being candid, and learning from mistakes. He also answers questions such as: • Why is trust so essential to learning? • What are some examples of fearless organizations characterized by high levels of trust? • How can schools support the emotional and mental health of students? Whether you’re an educator, administrator, school leader, policymaker, parent, or student, this book will help you move forward as a fearless school in a fearful environment.

This is the moment when coaching—instructional coaching, leadership coaching, and team coaching—is more important than ever. Today, education faces its greatest crisis since the Civil Rights Movement. Teachers and school administrators are leaving the profession not for lack of dedication but because they are physically, emotionally, and psychologically exhausted. They face challenges in academic performance, student behavior, and the sheer lack of sufficient hours in the day to serve students in the manner they know is essential. In this important book, Douglas Reeves and his colleagues provide practical advice that enables coaches and their clients to collaborate effectively to achieve organizational success while also ensuring the professional and personal needs of teachers, leaders, and their families. If we learned anything during the pandemic and associated school closures, we know that burnout is not a sustainable strategy. Readers of Fearless Coaching will learn: • The compelling evidence behind Fearless Coaching • Why psychological safety is essential for student and adult learning • The eleven biggest coaching mistakes—and how to avoid them • The essentials of the coach-client relationship • How passion and vision create the energy for successful coaching • The power of focus and how to avoid initiative fatigue • How to know if the coaching process is successful—measuring what matters most

This book identifies the six fearless decisions that school leaders need to make to be successful. The author analyzes the top fears that impede effective leadership and lower student achievement, then provides a step by step antidote that will change fear into intention, increase confidence, and produce positive results in your school. In this book, you’ll learn how to: • approach difficult classrooms and solve the problem of low-performing teachers • gain the strength to accept judgment when making controversial decisions during the change process • offer trust and gain it from your staff • use reflection questions and techniques to align thoughts with your best intentions • "re-wire" your thinking as you examine the risks that come with change • take action on standardized test results to improve student learning • feel comfortable making and implementing tough decisions Learn how to change fear into intention so you are able to act with confidence and get the results you really want.

The author, with over three decades of focused research on fear and fearlessness and 45 years as an emancipatory educator, argues that philosophy and philosophy of education have missed several great opportunities to help bring about theoretical and meta-perspectival clarity, wisdom, compassion, and practical ways to the sphere of fear management/education (FME) throughout history. FME is not simple, nor a luxury, it is complex. It’s foundational to good curriculum but it requires careful philosophical critique. This book embarks on a unique transdisciplinary understanding of The Fear Problematique and how it can be integrated as a pivotal contextual reference for assessing the ‘best’ way to go in Education today and tomorrow. Educational philosophy is examined and shown to have largely ‘missed the boat’ in terms of responding critically and ethically to the insidious demand of having to truly educate ourselves when we are so scared stiff. Such a state of growing chronic fear, of morphing types of fear, and a culture of fear, ought to be central in shaping a philosophy of fear(ism) for education. The book challenges all leaders, but especially philosophers and educators, to upgrade their own fear imaginary and fear education for the 21st century, a century of terror likely to grow in the cascading global crises.

I hope the readers will become inspired to become motivated for their family and society to improve their community and inspire people around them, think good thoughts, say good things about their neighbours and become a very positive oriented person.