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Standards-Based Assessment from Dr. Thomas R. Guskey Grading for Learning How confident are you that the grades students get in your class are: Consistent, Accurate, Meaningful, and Supportive of Learning?

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1. What are the major reasons we use report cards and assign grades to students work? 2. Ideally, what purposes should report cards or grades serve? 3. What elements should teachers use in determining students grades? (For example, major assessments, compositions, homework, attendance, class participation, etc.)

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Major Exams/Compositions Class Quizzes Reports or Projects Student Portfolios Exhibits of Student Work Laboratory Projects Student Notebooks or Journals Classroom Observations Oral Presentations Homework Completion Homework Quality Class Participation Work Habits and Neatness Effort Put Forth Class Attendance Punctuality of Assignments Class Behavior or Attitude Progress Made

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1. Communicate the Achievement Status of Students to Their Parents and Others 2. Provide Information for Student Self-Evaluation 3. Select, Identify, or Group Students for Certain Educational Programs 4. Provide Incentives for Students to Learn 5. Document Students Performance to Evaluate the Effectiveness of Instructional Programs 6. Provide Evidence of Students Lack of Effort or Inappropriate Responsibility.

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That the student has mastered some aspects of a particular learning goal? That the student has mastered none of the learning goals but is performing where expected in relation to a given point of the grade- level year? That the student has mastered more aspects of the learning goal than some of his peers and less than others? That the student sometimes demonstrates mastery of the learning goal but not consistently? That the student can demonstrate the learning goal on tests but does not regularly do his homework/classwork, or come to school on time, or stay on task in the classroom? That the student has only had the opportunity to demonstrate proficiency on basic features of a learning goal but the teacher predicts s/he could not demonstrate mastery at a higher level. 1 = teacher2 = parent3 = student

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Standards-Based Grading Compared with Traditional Grading 1. Brief Description of Adequacy 2. Generally Understood 1. Require Abstraction of Lots of Info 2. Arbitrary Cut-Offs 3. Easily Misinterpreted

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Standards-Based Grading Compared with Traditional Grading 1. Provide Finer Discriminations 2. Increase Variation in Grades 1. Require Abstraction of Lots of Info 2. Increased Number of Arbitrary Cut-Offs 3. Greater Influence of Subjectivity

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although not so mathematically precise.

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StudentUnit1Unit2Unit3Unit4Unit5 AverageMedianDelete Lowest 1 596979899979.0 C 79.0 C 84.0 B 2 998979695979.0 C 79.0 C 84.0 B 3 7780 788079.0 C 80.0 B 79.5 C 4 49 989910079.0 C 98.0 A 86.5 B 5 100999849 79.0 C 98.0 A 86.5 B 6 098 9910079.0 C 98.0 A 98.8 A 7 1009998 079.0 C 98.0 A 98.8 A (are we communicating Mastery of the Standards to the students?)

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Grading and reporting are NOT essential to instruction. (Frisbie and Waltman 1992) No one method of grading and reporting serves ALL purposes well. Regardless of method used, grading and reporting remain inherently SUBJECTIVE. (Ornstein 1994) Grades have some value as rewards, but no value as punishments. (Selby and Murphy 1992) Grading and reporting should always be done in reference to learning criteria, never on the curve. (Johnson and Johnson 1989) Checking is Diagnostic Grading is Evaluative Checking is Diagnostic Grading is Evaluative

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students succeed academically only if they want to succeed and feel capable of doing so. If they lack either desire or confidence, they will not be successful. Therefore, the essential question is a dual one: How do we help our students want to learn and feel capable of learning? Rick Stiggins, 1992

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Giving Homework/Daily Grades Straight Averaging to Obtain a Course Grade Giving Zeros for Missing Work or Work Turned in Late Practicing Gotcha Teaching: Taking Credit Away for Infractions

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Why Change? The answer is quite simple: grades are so imprecise that they are almost meaningless. Marzano, R. J., Transforming Classroom Grading, ASCD, Alexandria, VA, 2000, 1

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How Do I Move Toward Standards-Based Assessment Practice?

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Standards-Based Grading Compared with Traditional Grading TraditionalChecklist of Skills Related to assessment methodsRelated to standards Norm-referencedCriterion-referenced Mix of achievement, attitude, effort, and behavior Achievement only From formative and summative assessments From summative assessments only Everything marked included (averages)More recent information only (reassessment w/o penalty) Teacher decides and announcesAll aspects discusses with and understood by students Huge variation in assessment qualityDerived from quality assessments Google

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Standards-Based Grading Compared with Traditional Grading 1. Clear Description of Achievement 2. Useful for Diagnosis and Prescription 1. Often Too Complicated for Parents to Understand. 2. Seldom Communicate the Appropriateness of Progress

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Giving Homework/Daily Grades Straight Averaging to Obtain a Course Grade Giving Zeros for Missing Work or Work Turned in Late Practicing Gotcha Teaching Are there alternatives to these Practices? Can you defend any of these Practices? Are there things you should be doing more of? Less of?

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Where to Go from Here? Adapt Dont Adopt. Start Small. Do Some Research. Work Together.

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For More Information How to Grade for Learning by Ken OConnor Fair Isnt Always Equal by Rick Wormeli Transforming Classroom Grading by Robert Marzano