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Tales of Horror and Non-Congruence

Tales of Horror and Non-Congruence. A Highly Personal Take on Grades and Homework. Steve Unruhe, sunruhe@dpsnc.net. We need great teachers. More importantly, we need good schools . Horror Story #1: Una lecci ón de baile en Ecuador. Salsa for two left feet? 6-count? 8-count?

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Tales of Horror and Non-Congruence

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  1. Tales of Horror and Non-Congruence A Highly Personal Take on Grades and Homework Steve Unruhe, sunruhe@dpsnc.net

  2. We need great teachers More importantly, we need good schools.

  3. Horror Story #1: Una lección de baile en Ecuador • Salsa for two left feet? • 6-count? 8-count? • Dancing towards the exit

  4. Horror Story #2: Lily • Single mom, often working two jobs • Mom’s ex-partner intermittently involved • Unmotivated, easily frustrated, but not hostile • Frequently missed school • Failing math due to zeroes for homework and projects

  5. Should Lily Repeat Algebra I?

  6. Part I: Grades • What are we trying to accomplish through our grading practices?

  7. Goal for Grading: A fair assessment of content knowledge • Should student advance? • Into which course?

  8. Congruence Problem #1 • Do grades accurately reflect content knowledge? • Scenario - student does B work on three assignments; fails to turn in fourth assignment

  9. Three Grading Schemes - Three Grades

  10. Which grading scheme accurately reflects content knowledge?

  11. Horror Story #3: How Estelle FailedLunch Duty • What if teachers were evaluated the way students are evaluated?

  12. Congruence Problem #2 • What does a student learn by repeating a course? • What does a student learn from a zero? • Why do we put a kid in another teacher’s classroom who already knows enough material to pass the class?

  13. My grading practice • Use A-F scale, translated into numerical points (60-100) • Students fail for not passing assessments (tests, quizzes) • Students do NOT fail for missing work; they fail for not knowing content (or, more to the point, pass if they know enough content)

  14. Part II: Homework • What are we trying to accomplish through our homework practice?

  15. Goals for Homework • Practice • Learn new material • Learn responsibility

  16. Congruence Problem #3 - Homework Reality • Copied • Scribbled • Wrong • Time-consuming to grade

  17. Solution • Give more, harder, homework • Grade all homework, every night • (Just kidding)

  18. Horror Story #4 • “Calculate the lateral area of an octagonal prism lying on its side…”

  19. My homework practice • All homework problems have answers • Homework is practice • Homework counts for a grade only to help a student

  20. Data Imperviousness • Teachers (all humans?) resist data • Teachers (all humans?) learn by anecdote • Math teachers live for the counter-example (“What about…?) • Data “slides off” when it hits anecdotal counter-example

  21. Still, here’s the data…. • Retention: “In summary, the research indicates that grade retention provides limited or no academic/social advantages to students”(Retention: The Balanced View: Social Promotion & Retention; Prepared by Westchester Institute For Human Services Research. Available at http://www.sharingsuccess.org/code/socprom.html. Undated) • Homework: “No research has shown that homework is necessary to help students learn….Nor is there a shred of evidence to back up the folk wisdom that homework builds character, promotes self-discipline, or teaches good work habits.” (Homework: “The Tougher Standards Fad Hits Home” Alfie Kohn in Rethinking Schools, Vol 21, No.1; Fall 2006)

  22. In search of congruence • Teachers are heroes - we will go to almost any length to help a student succeed • Teachers are martyrs - and this is not a good idea • We must connect homework and grading practices to realistic goals

  23. We need great teachers, and we need good schools

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