Novak Education part 1
Novak Education is a teacher training consulting firm that started by Katie Novak. The company has many public school clients in MA and across the US.
Novak Education teaches Universal Design for Learning - UDL. This is an extreme version of deleveling, that does not allow for honors or accelerated courses. It also does not allow for differentiated instruction within a classroom.
Too often, schools and districts discuss the importance of inclusive practice and equitable opportunities to learn and support structures that prevent all students from learning at high levels and accessing advanced coursework. One of these structures is the leveling, or tracking of learners. Leveling can be assigned within the classroom (within class groups) or by assigning students of different levels in different classes. Both these systems prevent many learners from accessing advanced coursework with their peers.
Katie Novak, What You Need to Know About Deleveling.
Katie Novak explains that that honors/advanced courses are unfair because students are expected to “perform above grade-level, speak English, behave…”
Novak Education also does not believe in homework.
Assigning homework for a grade is simply not an equitable practice. The ability to do homework assumes that a student will have the necessary time and means to do the homework outside of school. That means that there will be a safe, comfortable place that has heat, light, a stable work surface and often, technology. It also means that there won’t be any distractions, competing obligations, and there will be time to do the work.
Katie Novak, Do homework grades reflect learning, or privilege?
Novak Education also promotes “standards based grading”, rather than grading individual assignments. Here is the Novak Education example of best practices:
Here is what I did. The student who had demonstrated mastery was one who loved “creative writing”, so I challenged her to go back to her personal narrative from earlier in the semester and rewrite with a different narrator. And the student who hadn’t demonstrated mastery in anything yet? We meet to develop a plan for the next three weeks, and, as part of that plan, we agreed to use the upcoming winter break as an extended time to demonstrate mastery. I didn’t have to submit grades until after the break, even though the semester technically ended on the last day before break.
Chris Bronke, Standards-Based Learning
The ideal Novak Education school does not have advanced classes, eliminates homework, and gives students endless do-overs until everyone earns an A.