Overview

Clark Street Community School (CSCS) is an innovation lab school for the Middleton Cross-Plains Area School District. The Clark Street model focuses on establishing high levels of student engagement and college readiness through personalized learning practices, increased student agency and voice, and project and place-based learning. Students participate in a variety of interdisciplinary seminars that change on a quarterly basis and are made up of students in 9th-12th grade. Seminars such as Zombie Epidemiology, where students study Zombie culture, epidemiology, and math; and Clark Tank, where budding entrepreneurs learn to develop, iterate, and pitch their best ideas while also learning from local business people, are all centered on high-interest topics which create the context for deeply engaged learning.  Through the creation of artifacts in these seminars and independently designed learning experiences, students demonstrate mastery over time within mastery credit areas.

Graduation from CSCS requires students to complete multiple proficient artifacts in reading, writing, communication, research, and mathematical models while also demonstrating an understanding of a defined set of content area standards, called elements. These requirements are documented through mastery credits in student’s Mastery Transcripts. 

Technology Tools Used for Assessment and Reporting

Clark Street Community School uses the Mastery Transcript from MTC to create learner transcripts, report credits for competencies and share a portfolio of evidence. Educators and students also use spreadsheets to keep track of progress on a quarterly basis. 

Outcomes: What is assessed?

Outcomes at Clark Street Community School are called Elements. They reflect content area standards for high school.

Below are a sample of the elements for physical science and language:

As students plan their pathway to graduation, they choose seminars and design personalized projects to match their personal needs and passions while fulfilling their graduation requirements. In addition to demonstrating competency of each element, students are required to complete a specific number of artifacts each year. 

The following description for the Zombie Epidemiology seminar shows how each seminary takes an interdisciplinary approach, teaching and assessing elements from a variety of credit areas and providing opportunities for specific artifacts:

Levels of Proficiency: How is Progress Marked? 

Students are assessed on elements using a binary scale of:

• Met 

• Not Yet Met

Student’s artifacts are assessed for proficiency using rubrics that define 4 levels of proficiency: 

• Emerging

• Developing

• Proficient

• Exemplary

In this example rubric, the 4 proficiency levels are defined for comprehension, a key piece of assessing a reading artifact. This rubric can be used for reading literature or informational text and with different text types.

Reporting: How is Progress Documented?

Students receive a High School Report Card each quarter that shares their Synergy Course grades and their Mineola High School Course grades, which are graded on a traditional 0-100 scale.

There are multiple graduation requirements for students at Clark Street Community School including a number of artifacts completed each year and a number of foundational credits they must earn. 

First, they must complete a portfolio of artifacts of reading, writing, research, communication (public speaking) and mathematical models. Every seminar that students participate in results in at least one artifact or product of learning and students can design their own independent projects that would create a qualifying artifact. In the Zombie Epidemiology description above, it shares that the following artifacts are part of the seminar: Math Model (Algebraic), Reading Literature, Argument Writing. This specific seminar gives students the opportunity to complete 3 artifacts across 3 different areas. The table below shows how many required artifacts students must submit each year per area (9th-12th grade): 

In addition to completing artifacts, students must demonstrate proficiency on a number of them using rubrics like the example shared above. The table below describes the number of artifacts in each area in which they are required to earn a proficient score: 

These requirements are translated into credits for a student's Mastery Transcript. The Mastery Transcript captures foundational and advanced credits.  At CSCS,  students must earn a specific number of foundational credits. Foundational credits are either earned by a student scoring proficient on an artifact or by students completing all required elements in an area (see sample list of elements above). For example, students will earn a credit called Informational Writing-Proficient when they submit the two required informational writing artifacts in which they receive a score of proficient on the shared writing rubric. If a student in 9th grade submits an artifact that receives a score of emerging or developing, this is considered a normal part of their growth. The artifact would count towards the required number of artifacts for graduation but does not earn the student a proficiency credit. 

When students complete artifacts during a seminar or an independently designed learning experience, they are assessed using the shared rubrics for reading, writing, research, communication, and numeracy using the 4 proficiency levels. Artifacts that receive a proficient score are marked as credits for students. This is distinct from a traditional, time-based crediting system based on the Carnegie unit where a learner completes a course and earns a credit. In this case, students must still complete the seminar or course and submit their artifact for their portfolio, as a part of their graduation requirements. However, they only earn the foundational credit when they demonstrate proficiency on the competency in that artifact. Some foundational credits require students to complete 2 proficient artifacts. 

Other foundational credits, such as algebra, are not tied to artifacts but instead, students earn them by completing all of the associated elements. Below is a table of the elements students must show proficiency in to earn the foundational algebra credit: 

To earn advanced credits, which is encouraged for students who will apply to 4-year colleges and universities, requires that students either earn an exemplary score on an artifact or they can earn this by submitting one additional artifact at a proficient level more than is required. Students can earn up to 5 advanced credits for exemplary-level artifacts in each area but only 1 advanced credit for an additional proficient-level artifact. 

There are also advanced credits that are earned by students demonstrating advanced elements. For example, below is a list of the elements students must show proficiency in to earn the advanced algebra credit: 

There are additional credits in the Personal Excellence and Impact category that can be earned by students such as Interdependent Learner, a foundational credit, that is earned through participation in the advisory program, and Advanced Community-Based Impact, an advanced credit, that is earned through actions students take outside of school such as volunteering or earning a black belt. The list of each foundational and advanced credit Clark Street Community School offers and the requirements for students to earn that requirement is documented here. 

Students and teachers track individual progress on elements and artifact requirements and scores in a spreadsheet:

Once credits are earned, through completing elements or earning proficient or exemplary scores on artifacts, that is documented in the student’s official Mastery Transcript at the end of each quarter. 

Sharing with Families

Students host a student-led conference twice a year to update their families and other supporting adults on their progress, their successes, their challenges and their goals.  Families are able to track progress toward graduation at a high level, through the current student information system.  CSCS is preparing to roll out the MTC Progress Tracker to improve the access to current progress levels for families.  

Crediting, Promotion and Admission to Secondary/Post-Secondary

The following is an excerpt from the school profile that is shared along with the student’s Mastery Transcript and describes Clark Street Community School’s approach to crediting and admission to post-secondary institutions: 

Instead of traditional grades and Carnegie units, all Mastery Transcript

Consortium schools, including Clark Street Community School, measure student achievement using mastery credits. Each mastery credit represents a specific set of skills that may be discipline-specific (Elements) or cross-disciplinary. To earn a credit, students build a portfolio of evidence from a variety of learning contexts, which is reviewed by school staff. Learners are then either awarded the mastery credit or given feedback on how to advance their portfolio in order to demonstrate mastery.

Mastery credits are divided into two levels:

• Foundational credits are graduation requirements. To earn a diploma, learners are required to earn all foundational credits. 

• Advanced credits (ACs) are optional and recommended for those applying to 4 year colleges and universities.

Here are some stats for the credits at Clark Street Community School: 

• Max achievable foundational credits (FC): 27

• Max achievable advanced credits (AC): 50

• Typical number of ACs earned by most learners prior to graduation: 5

• Threshold number of ACs that is unusually high and relatively rare: 25

There is not a one-to-one relationship between mastery credits and courses. Learners gather the evidence needed to earn each mastery credit from a combination of course, extracurricular, and flexible pathway learning. While many mastery credits draw heavily on specific discipline-based learning, other credits can be earned with evidence from a wider variety of experiences. At CSCS, assessment of mastery in our core areas is based on a common set of rubrics which are used by all staff in all learning experiences. Our Personal Excellence and Impact Mastery Credit Area allows learners to dig deeply into areas of personal interest and requires that they reflect upon the connection of their work to the impact on their school, local, or global community.

Learn more about Learner-Centered Collaborative's approach to partnerships here