Grow Beyond Grades

Dr. Kelsie Reed is a nationally certified school psychologist serving elementary and middle schools in Prince George's County Public Schools, Maryland. She is the co-author of Hacking Deficit Thinking, a book that outlines eight practical reframes for fostering strength-based schools. As the founder of the Strength-Based Collective, Dr. Reed provides educators and parents with practical tools and resources to cultivate positive, strength-focused environments for all students. Her work centers on dismantling deficit-based narratives, particularly for students from historically marginalized communities. Dr. Reed is also a strong advocate for school discipline reform, neurodiversity-affirming special education practices, and addressing the unique needs of multiracial students. Resources Hacking Deficit Thinking by Byron McClure and Kelsie Reed: https://a.co/d/6B3xG5Q Strength-Based Collective website: https://lnkd.in/ecpk-Eeu Instagram: https://lnkd.in/egDr5BZz

🎯 🎯 🎯 "Being strength-based is not about ignoring challenges. It's simply seeing students for more than those challenges." Kelsie Reed, PhD, NCSP speaks with Dave Frangiosa and Michelle Cottrell-Williams of Grow Beyond Grades. https://lnkd.in/gbumpm5A

Because we work within a system that has the potential to wreck the self-esteem of just about any person, it is imperative to create a climate where we take time to celebrate what students do. — Lisa Wennerth #GBGEdu #growbeyondgrades https://lnkd.in/ep-rhDkd

Hope you'll join the conversation tonight. Listen and participate on FB, LinkedIn, or YouTube! #growbeyondgrades

Dr. Kelsie Reed is a nationally certified school psychologist serving elementary and middle schools in Prince George's County Public Schools, Maryland. She is the co-author of Hacking Deficit Thinking, a book that outlines eight practical reframes for fostering strength-based schools. As the founder of the Strength-Based Collective, Dr. Reed provides educators and parents with practical tools and resources to cultivate positive, strength-focused environments for all students. Her work centers on dismantling deficit-based narratives, particularly for students from historically marginalized communities. Dr. Reed is also a strong advocate for school discipline reform, neurodiversity-affirming special education practices, and addressing the unique needs of multiracial students. Resources Hacking Deficit Thinking by Byron McClure and Kelsie Reed: https://a.co/d/6B3xG5Q Strength-Based Collective website: https://lnkd.in/ecpk-Eeu Instagram: https://lnkd.in/egDr5BZz

That’s what’s most important about assessment: partnering with kids to tell the story of their learning journey. — Paul Emerich France (he/him) #GBGEdu #growbeyondgrades https://lnkd.in/etm8wrUA

Portfolio conferences have become one of my favourite times of the semester. Getting to speak one-on-one with students about their learning, their struggles and successes, and their goals… with a bit of physics in there too. I always learn so much about students and create great connections. Today was a great start to conferences! One student thanked me for providing them their first real opportunity to learn about how they learn. Seeing their excitement about learning something profound about themselves gave me an important reminder of why this work is important. They shared their excitement about learning how to recognize mistakes in their own work and reason out what needed to be done instead. Many students shared their pride in having done their corrections and how they improved each week as a result. The key factor to all this change was getting rid of grades. Creating a classroom environment where students feel free to make mistakes and learn from them, providing them opportunity to chart their own paths to success and explore their interests, and supporting them through collaboration have all been important, but removing the grades is what makes them all work to their utmost. I hope that by sharing my experiences with educators helps others consider doing something different so long-lasting, meaningful change starts happening. My children should not go through the same education system that I did, or even my parents did, when the rest of the world has changed so drastically in that time. Change starts with those in the classrooms and we need the support of our administrators and the families of students to make this successful.

Rather than dolling out points as rewards, we can help students understand that just because they have not received a numerical grade does not mean there is no value to the feedback. — Emily Dosmar & Julia Williams #GBGEdu #growbeyondgrades https://lnkd.in/e_BDefmG

It was contradictory for me to tell students to work on this particular skill and not worry about the results, just to turn around and put a poor grade on their work. —Dave Frangiosa #GBGEdu #growbeyondgrades https://lnkd.in/eb2Xb-8C

Bottom line, I wanted to be a coach, not a scoreboard operator. —Arthur Chiaravalli #GBGEdu #growbeyondgrades https://lnkd.in/e4bDcpiY