Math Leadership Support Network ’08-’09 A Repair Kit for Grading 15 Fixes for Broken Grades By...
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Transcript of Math Leadership Support Network ’08-’09 A Repair Kit for Grading 15 Fixes for Broken Grades By...
Math Leadership Support Network ’08-’09
A Repair Kit for Grading
15 Fixes for Broken Grades
ByKen O’Connor
Math Leadership Support Network ’08-’09
What should grades tell us about
students?
Math Leadership Support Network ’08-’09
What factors are actually included
in grades?
Math Leadership Support Network ’08-’09
The Essential QuestionHow confident are you that the grades
studentsget in your school are:consistentaccuratemeaningful, and supportive of learning?
If grades do not meet these four conditions ofquality, they are “broken,” i.e., ineffective.
Math Leadership Support Network ’08-’09
Adapt don’t adopt
Start small
Work together
Math Leadership Support Network ’08-’09
“Even if you are on the right track,
If you just sit there
You will get run over.”
Attributed to Mark Twain
Math Leadership Support Network ’08-’09
Grades are broken when they -include ingredients that distort
achievementarise from low quality or poorly organized evidenceare derived from inappropriate number crunching,and when they do not support the
learning process.
Math Leadership Support Network ’08-’09
Math Leadership Support Network ’08-’09
Fixes for Practices That Distort Achievement
1. Don’t include student behaviors (effort, participation, adherence to class rules, etc.) in grades: include only achievement.
2. Don’t reduce marks on “work” submitted late: provide support for the learner.
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.
Math Leadership Support Network ’08-’09
Fixes for Practices That Distort Achievement
4. Don’t punish academic dishonesty with reduced grades; apply other consequences and reassess to determine actual level of achievement.
5. Don’t consider attendance in grade determination; report absences separately.
6. Don’t include group scores in grades; use only individual achievement evidence.
Math Leadership Support Network ’08-’09
Fixes for Practices that Distort Achievement
You will be given one of the six factors to discuss. Generate a list of reasons FOR including the factor in
grades, and arguments AGAINST doing so.Once your group has debated the issue, discuss the
following position:If there are compelling arguments against including the factor, the only way arguments in favor of including the factor in the grade can win out is if the grader can act in some concrete way to eliminate ALL arguments against. It is unacceptable to know that there are compelling reasons not to include a factor and go ahead and include it anyway.
Math Leadership Support Network ’08-’09
Fixes Low-Quality or Poorly Organized Evidence
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.
8. Don’t assign grades using inappropriate or unclear performance standards; provide clear descriptions of achievement expectations.
9. Don’t assign grades based on student’s achievement compared to other students; compare each student’s performance to preset standards.
10.Don’t rely on evidence gathered using assessments that fail to meet standards of quality; rely only on quality assessments.
Math Leadership Support Network ’08-’09
Fixes For Inappropriate Grade Calculation
11.Don’t rely only on the mean; consider other measures of central tendency and use professional judgment.
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.
Math Leadership Support Network ’08-’09
Fixes to Support Learning13.Don’t use information from formative
assessments and practice to determine grades; use only summative evidence.
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.
15.Don’t leave students out of the grading process. Involve students; they can – and should – play key roles in assessment and grading that promote achievement.
Math Leadership Support Network ’08-’09
Fix #3Don’t give points for extra
credit oruse bonus points; seek onlyevidence that more work hasresulted in a higher level ofachievement.
Math Leadership Support Network ’08-’09
Fix #4Don’t punish academic
dishonestywith reduced grades; apply otherconsequences and reassess todetermine actual level ofachievement.
Math Leadership Support Network ’08-’09
Fix #5Don’t consider attendance in
gradedetermination; report
absencesseparately.
Math Leadership Support Network ’08-’09
Fix #5“Excused and unexcused absences are not relevantto an achievement grade.
There is no legitimate purpose for distinguishingbetween excused and unexcused absences.
For educational purposes, therefore, there needonly be recorded absences.”
Gathercoal, F., Judicious Discipline, Caddo Gap Press, San Francisco, 1997, 151
Math Leadership Support Network ’08-’09
Fix #5Teacher: “Are you telling me that if a
student has been ill and another has been skipping, that they both should be able to make up the work missed?”
Gathercoal: “(Yes) both needed an educator when they returned, perhaps the one who skipped more than the other.”
Gathercoal, F., Judicious Discipline, Caddo Gap Press, San Francisco, 1997, 151
Math Leadership Support Network ’08-’09
Fix # 11Don’t rely on the mean: consider
other measures of central tendency
and use your professional judgment.
Math Leadership Support Network ’08-’09
Fix #11Mean Average = 72.2
Median = 89
89898920898989208989752
Math Leadership Support Network ’08-’09
Fix #11“Educators must abandon the average
or arithmetic mean, as thepredominant measurement of studentachievement.”
Reeves, D., “Standards are Not Enough: Essential Transformations forSchool Success”, NASSP Bulletin, Dec. 2000, 10
Math Leadership Support Network ’08-’09
Fix #11Letter to the Editor
Toronto Globe and MailOctober 15, 2003
Whenever I hear statistics being quoted I am reminded of the statistician who drowned while wading across a river with an average depth of 3
feet.
GORDON McMANNCampbell River, B.C.
Math Leadership Support Network ’08-’09
Fix #11“Grading by the median provides more opportunities for success by diminishing the impact of a few stumbles and by rewarding hard work.”
Wright, Russell G., “Success for All: The Median is the Key”, Kappan, May
1994, 723-725
Math Leadership Support Network ’08-’09
Fix #11“Data should be used to INFORM, not determine
decisions”
Management Consultant, The Hay Group, personal conversation, January 2002
Math Leadership Support Network ’08-’09
Fix #12Don’t include zeros in gradedetermination when evidence ismissing or as punishment; usealternatives, such as reassessing todetermine real achievement or use“I” for Incomplete or InsufficientEvidence.
Math Leadership Support Network ’08-’09
101 Point Scale
90-100 11 95 9589-89 10 85 8570-79 10 75 7560-69 10 65 65 <60 60 0 50
64 (D) 74 (C)
Math Leadership Support Network ’08-’09
101 Point Scale 5 Point Scale95 4
0 0 0 0 0 0
85 3 0 0 0 0
80 3 0 0 0 0
260 10Mean 26 1.0Letter grade F D
Math Leadership Support Network ’08-’09
The Effect of ZerosWhat do we think are
the pros and cons of putting a zero in the grade book for missing work?
What might be an alternative, given the argument presented in the video?
Math Leadership Support Network ’08-’09
Fix #14Don’t summarize evidenceaccumulated over time whenlearning is developmental and willgrow with time and repeatedopportunities; in those instances,emphasize more recentachievement.
Math Leadership Support Network ’08-’09
Fix #14“Consider this dreary message shared with me by anassistant superintendent:I was meeting with our high school AdvancedPlacement teachers, who were expressing concernsabout our open enrollment process and the high failurerate. One math teacher said that while a particularstudent was now (getting marks) in the 80’s, she hadmade a 12 on the initial test, ‘so there is no way she isgoing to make a passing grade for the first nine
weeks’.”
Grant Wiggins, *Unthinking Grading,” Big Ideas, Volume 2, Issue 2, 2006 (on-linenewsletter at www.authenticeducation.org
Math Leadership Support Network ’08-’09
Fix #14“We know that students will rarelyperform at high levels on challenginglearning tasks at their first attempt.Deep understanding or high levels ofproficiency are achieved only as a resultof trial, practice, adjustments based onfeedback and more practice.”McTighe, J., “What Happens Between Assessments”, Educational Leadership,
Dec. ’96 – Jan.’97, 11
Math Leadership Support Network ’08-’09
Fix #14
Assessmentof
Learning
Time
Bob
Gwen
Roger
Pam
Math Leadership Support Network ’08-’09
Fix #15Don’t leave students out of thegrading process. Involve
students;they can – and should – play keyroles in assessment and grading
thatpromote achievement.
Math Leadership Support Network ’08-’09
“Grades are broken when students do not understandhow their grades have been determined, and when theyhave been excluded from assessment, record keeping,and communication. The fix is to ensure that studentsunderstand how grades have been determined and toinvolve them as much as possible in all phases oflearning and assessment.”
Ken O’Connor (p.114)
Math Leadership Support Network ’08-’09
“As students become more involved in the assessment
process, teachers find themselves working differently….
Many teachers are spending less time marking at the
end of learning and more time helping students during
the learning.
-Davies, 2000, p. 9
Math Leadership Support Network ’08-’09
What are the next directions? - the15 Fixes and what they mean for you:For each fixWhat do you think? - PMIWhere are you
(individual)/school/district now? Where do you want to go in terms of the procedure/policy?
Math Leadership Support Network ’08-’09
EXIT SLIP
1. What is the most important new insight, understanding, or realization that has come to you as a result of this
session?AND/OR
2. What is the most important reaffirmation of something you already do or have always believed?