Grading Practices Update Ruth Steidinger, High School Programs.
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Transcript of Grading Practices Update Ruth Steidinger, High School Programs.
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Grading Practices
The primary purposes of grades are to: Communicate student achievement to students
and parents, Inform post-secondary institutions and potential
employers, Aid in educational and career planning, and Guide administrative decisions such as grade
and class placement, graduation, promotion, and honors.
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Grading Practices If we agree that the purpose of grades is
communication about student achievement, we must ask ourselves: How confident are we that the grades students
get in our middle and high schools are: consistent, accurate, meaningful, and supportive of learning?
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Grading Practices We know that developing meaningful and
equitable grading practices is a daily challenge for K-12 educators and administrators.
This is “… one component of education that has remained essentially unchanged since 1933…”
In many cases, teachers grade as they were graded as students.
Over the years, grading has been an unexamined and private practice.
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According to the research, the most common grading challenges are:
Distorted achievement, Low-quality or poorly organized
evidence, Inappropriate grade calculation, and Linking grades more closely to
student learning.
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Review of Elementary Journey Ten years ago, central leadership
staff led elementary school based staff, parents, and community members in a conversation about grading practices
The result was a move to standards based grading in elementary schools and a report card that separated evaluation of learning from behaviors
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Current Status of High School and Middle Schools At the conclusion of the 07-08 school year,
principals unanimously agreed to engage in a year long conversation regarding grading practices
After extensive research, we chose the work of Ken O’Connor to provide a springboard for our conversations.
We have also used the work of Thomas Guskey, Cassie Erkens, Douglas Reeves, Patricia Scriffiny, and various university professors from across the country.
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Year of Conversation – High School High school principals agreed that APIs would lead the
conversation at their schools API monthly meetings involved:
Use of protocols to solicit feedback from school-based discussions
Introduction to new activities for engaging school-based staff in conversations
High Five provided staff development on grading practices this year. Each high school sent teacher leaders to this training to give them tools to assist APIs in the discussions back at their school.
High School Central Service staff supported teacher conversations via Department Chair meetings and PLC Team Leader meetings.
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Year of Conversation – Middle School Improved grading practices has been a priority
for middle school principals for several years. Data teams served as the forum in 2008-09:
Monthly meetings with school teams. Activity-based presentations and
discussions. Parallel work with department chairs and IRTs. Engagement with elementary and middle
school counselors. Engagement with middle school media
coordinator learning teams.
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Questions we have pondered Questions we have pondered this year?this year?
Should we include student behaviors (effort, participation, adherence to class rules, etc.) in grades?
Should we report student behaviors separately?
Should we reduce grades when work is submitted late?
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Questions we have pondered Questions we have pondered this year?this year?
Should we give points for extra credit?
Should we punish academic dishonesty with reduced grades?
What alternative consequences are there for this behavior?
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Questions we have pondered Questions we have pondered this year?this year? Should we include group scores in
grades? Should we include zeros in grade
determination when work is missing? How do we provide additional
opportunities for the student to do the missing work while not diminishing the importance of his/her responsibility?
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Questions we have pondered Questions we have pondered this year?this year?
Should we summarize a student’s work over time or only the most recent achievement?
Should we use information from formative assessments and practice to determine grades or only from summative assessments?
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Clue High School
• The math department PLC has decided to use the following weights for grades:
Tests 50%
Quizzes 25%
Classwork 15%
Homework* 10%
*Homework is graded for completion only.
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The Teachers
• Mrs. White allows students to take a retest on any test they fail.
• Mr. Butler drops the lowest quiz and homework grades.
• Ms. Scarlett gives a 100 point quiz grade to students who return their Interim Report signed (and a zero if it’s not!)
• Mrs. Peacock gives students classwork grades for turning in their Unit Notebooks (based on completeness).
Each teacher in the math department has some special considerations when it comes to grades (except for Colonel Mustard, he is straight by the book!):
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The Mystery
Four students, Mary, Alexis, John and Bobby, are signed up for Algebra I this semester. Whose class does each student want to be in?
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Mrs. White’s Grading System
• Mrs. White allows students to take a retest on any test they fail.
• Mary took a retest on Test 1 and made a 75.
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Ms. Scarlett’s Grading System
• Ms. Scarlett gives a 100 point quiz grade to students who return their Interim Report signed (and a zero if it’s not!)
• Mary and Alexis returned their interim’s signed.
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Mrs. Peacock’s Grading System
• Mrs. Peacock gives students classwork grades for turning in their Unit Notebooks (based on completeness).
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Grading Practices
How confident are we that the grades of Mary, Alexis, John, and Bobby are:
consistent, accurate,meaningful, andsupportive of learning?