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Standards-based Grading in the Secondary Science Classroom. Presented by Tara Richerson for WERA March 27, 2008 Welcome! Please take a moment to complete the survey on the first page of the packet before we begin. Session Outline. Overview of Motivation Overview of Grading
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Standards-based Grading in the Secondary Science Classroom Presented by Tara Richerson for WERA March 27, 2008 Welcome!Please take a moment to complete the survey on the first page of the packet before we begin.
Session Outline • Overview of Motivation • Overview of Grading • Connections Between Motivation and Grading • Classroom Implementation and Challenges
What motivates students? • Rewards (gold stars, good grades, free time, money…) • Punishments (losing privileges, detention, loss of credit) • Self-improvement (learn for the sake of learning)
What classroom behaviors would you see if motivation is positive and intrinsic?
Current Theories of Motivation • Ability/Effort:I can succeed if I try. or It doesn’t matter what I do. • Intelligence:I can make myself smarter. or People are just born smart. • Goals:I learn for the sake of learning. or I learn in order to get a grade.
Mastery goals are most often desired by teachers. • Mastery goals have been shown to increase the following behaviors: • Development of new skills; risk-taking • Trying to understand work • Improved level of confidence • Preference for challenging work • Intrinsic interest in learning activities • Increased time on task • Persistence in face of difficulty
Patterns of Adaptive Learning (PALS) • Developed by Carol Midgeley, et al. from University of Michigan • Designed to measure goal orientations • Has strong presence in research literature
Interpreting Your Survey Which goal orientation does your classroom reflect? • You have a mastery approach if you believed that items 2, 4, 5, and 8 were true of your classroom. • You have a performance approach if you believed that items 1, 3, 4, 7, and 9 were true of your classroom.
How do we communicate these goals to students? Think-Pair-Share In what ways are school staff either overt in their communication or “hidden” with their goal message to students?
The Hidden Culture of Evaluation • “Often the most important and revealing behaviors in a culture are the least noticed” (Wiggins, 1988). • Teachers guard their grading practices “with the same passion with which one might guard an unedited diary or ‘sacred ground’” (Kain, 1996).
Classroom Grading • Norm-referenced practices are more common than criterion-referenced at the secondary level • Many teachers have a “hodgepodge” approach…and are unwilling to let these go
Grading and Motivation • If grading is based on rewards and punishments, which type of motivation are schools promoting? • Are our classroom policies in congruence with our goals as educators? Why or why not?
Establishing Mastery Goals in Student Evaluation • Communicate Your Philosophy Ms. Richerson’s Philosophy of Grading In this classroom, students are graded upon their progress toward meeting the state standards in science---specifically those identified by CKSD as being relevant for Biology. Grades will never be assigned while students are in the process of learning, although feedback will be provided. Finally, a more equitable grading scale will be used in order to apply the median scores and determine a final grade.
Establishing Mastery Goals in Student Evaluation Communicate the Rules to Students and Practice with Them Is there a difference in treating students fairly vs. treating them equally?
Establishing Mastery Goals in Student Evaluation Communicate with Other Stakeholders: • Parents • Counselors • Administrators
Record-Keeping • Standards form the categories • Scores of I(ncomplete), and 1 – 4 fill the boxes • Summative assessments are tracked in boldfaced type
Grading, Like Life, Is Messy • Grading will always be a subjective process, no matter how fair it is. • There is no simple way to convert between a 1 – 4 scale and an A – F scale; but a grade is just a symbol. • How do we deal with reporting?
Moving Forward • One-way trip to best practices in grading • Completion of doctoral study in Spring 2008
Questions/Feedback • What are your questions? • What would you like to share with others who are here? With your school or district? • What would you like to tell me?