A Repair Kit for Grading

October 31st

“We find comfort among those who agree with us – and growth among those who do not.” Roland Barth

Goals for class

• Create a ripple • Blog/Twitter• Small group discussion – share w/ large group• Group project explanation • Challenge your current way of thinking• We will disagree and that is okay

The “fix” needed for grades to be meaningful is that they must directly reflect specified learning goals. This requires that teachers setup and organize their gradebooks around these goals.

Talk with a partner: What are the implications for your classroom?

Layout of SBG

Formative vs. Summative

Formative Assessments are designed to help students improve and for teachers to adjust teaching.

Summative Assessments are designed to measure student achievement. In a SBG world these are they only grades given.

Grades are artifacts of learning; as such, they should reflect student achievement only.

Talk with a partner: Based on the readings, what non-achievement factors do you intentionally or unintentionally include in grading.

Fix 1

Don’t include student behaviors (effort, participation, adherence to rules, etc.) in grades; include only achievement.

Talk with a partner: How does gender play a role in grading when you think about Fix 1?

Example from Winnipeg School District

http://edu.gov.on.ca/eng/document/forms/report/card/HS_semester_first.pdf

Talk with a partner:

Initial thoughts?

Fix 2

Don’t reduce marks on “work” submitted late; provide support for the learner.

Talk with partner: Respond: Grades are broken when they include penalties for late work.

“If Rory is a brilliant writer who always hands assignments in late, both aspects are hidden if she gets a C or D. But if she gets an A and the report says, “Brilliant writer, but always late.”

Talk with partner: Should grades correspond with outside assessments?

Fix 3

Don’t give points for extra credit or use bonus points; seek only evidence that more work has resulted in a higher level of achievement.

Talk with a partner: Do you give extra credit? Why? Does it provide you with extra evidence of their increased achievement?

Fix 4

Don’t punish academic dishonesty with reduced grades; apply other consequences and reassess to determine actual level of achievement.

Discussion: Giving a zero for cheating distorts actual student achievement.

Reassessment

We also must allow new evidence to replace old evidence when it is clear that a student knows or can do something today that they didn’t or could previously. Clip: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aj7legabuww#t=198Discuss:How do we balance moving forward and making sure students reach a desired level to move on?

Fix 5

Don’t consider attendance in grade determination; report absences separately.

Talk with a partner: Respond: Standards based learning is not about seat time. It is about what students know, understand, and can do.

Fix 6

Don’t include group scores in grades; use only individual achievement evidence.

Talk with a partner: How do you grade group projects?

Redos, Re-takes, and Do-Overs

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TM-3PFfIfvI#t=356

Thoughts?

Assignment

• Create a blog at www.blogspot.com • Create a Twitter account and follow me

@mdmcneff• Reflect on some aspect of todays discussion

OR pick a fix and reflect • Due November 8th • You will first class me the link or tweet it to me• Handout group project explain (Due May-ish)

“The important thing is…that everyone in the school or district…

can identify what it is that students are expected to learn.”

Fix 7

Don’t organize information in grading records by assessment methods or simply summarize into a single grade; organize and report evidence by standards/learning goals.

Discuss with partner: Communication must always report mastery by standard or by some categories derived from the standards.

Fix 8

Don’t assign grades using inappropriate or unclear performance standards; provide clear descriptions of achievement expectations.

Discuss: Achievement levels Do you show exemplars of work?

“Knowing 50 percent of the material taught can hardly be considered ‘proficient.’ Nobody wants to fly with a pilot who scored 50 percent on his or her exams in flight training school.”

Fix 9

Don’t assign grades based on a student’s achievement compared to other students; compare each student’s performance to preset standards.

Discuss with a partner:Grading students by comparing their performance to one another distorts individual achievement.

Mr. D.

Fix 10

Don’t rely on evidence gathered using assessments that fail to meet standards of quality; rely on quality assessments.

Discuss: What makes a good assessment? How do you know your assessments are good?

PAGE 87

Fix 11

Don’t rely only on the mean; consider other measures of central tendency and use professional judgment.

Discuss: Educators must abandon the average, or arithmetic mean, as the predominant measurement of student achievement .

Not everything that can be counted counts, and not everything that counts can be counted. - Albert Einstein

Fix 12

Don’t include zeros in grade determination when evidence is missing or as punishment; use alternatives, such as reassessing to determine real achievement, or use “I” for Incomplete or Insufficient Evidence.

Discussion:Grades are broken when zeros are entered into a student’s academic record.

Fix 13

Don’t use information from formative assessments and practice to determine grades; use only summative evidence.

Discussion: Grades are broken if scores for everything students do find their way into report card grades.

Assessment for learning

1) Shared the learning targets (I-can statements)at the beginning of learning.

2) Making adjustments in teaching as a result of formative assessment

3) Provide descriptive feedback from assessment

4) Provide opportunities to self and peer assess

If we want homework to be about learning, we need students to understand that it is for practice if they need it, not compliance or grading, because then the person who benefits from the homework is the learner.

Story of Nick

Page 111

Reflective learners

PAGE 114

What is the final grade?• C• C• Missing• D• C• B• Missing• Missing• B• A

Final Grade = ????

Fix 14

Don’t summarize evidence accumulated over time when learning is developmental and will grow with time and repeated opportunities; in those instances, emphasize more recent achievement.

Discussion: Grades are broken when learning is developmental, and the final grade does not recognize the student’s final level of proficiency.

Mastery

PAGE 121

Fix 15

Don’t leave students our of the grading process. Involve students; they can – and should – play key roles in assessment and grading that promote achievement.

Discussion: Grades – and assessment – are broken if teachers simple “run the show.”

Two Givens

1. All assessments must be of high quality.

2. Students must be involved in the assessment process.

Assignment

Blog:• Pick a “fix” between 7-15 reflect• Or reflect on an aspect of todays

discussion• Or reflect on your biggest

takeaway from the book • Due 12-22-2013