Presentation Transcript

1. Grades, Grading, and Assessment

2. Can We Agree That……. 1. People want to be successful: a) students want to learn b) teachers want their students to excel 2. Grading scales/systems vary widely from school to school and even from classroom to classroom 3. Grades are important as they determine class rank, academic honors, college admissions, and scholarships 4. The grade is often a matter of which teacher a student is assigned to 5. Grades are a form of feedback 6. Feedback is a very powerful instructional technique
3. What are the purposes of grading? Primary purpose: To communicate student achievement to students, parents, and others. Grades are artifacts of learning; thus must reflect only student achievement. Secondary purposes: Information for instructional planning Information for placement
4. Grades: 4 Guiding Principles 1. Grades must be accurate * they reflect the academic performance of the student 2. Grades must be fair/consistent * not influenced by behaviors or any other factors unrelated to academic performance 3. Grades must be specific/meaningful * all stakeholders understand what can be done to improve a student’s performance 4. Grades must be timely to support learning * students should receive a steady stream of feedback – well before a final grade is posted
5. Ensuring Grade Integrity 1. Only include performance & achievement data A grade must tell us exactly what a student can and cannot do. 2. Do not use/include the following: Extra credit, participation grades, grades for following rules, taking away points for late work, planner checks, and attendance Why? a) they distort the grade’s representation of student achievement b) accumulating penalties lead students to conclude it no longer makes sense to do that work c) penalties don’t change behavior – the student who is late with a required assignment in week 2 is often late in week 12 and 18. d) having absolute deadlines (and penalties) does not prepare students for the real world as there are many times these are negotiated
6. Late Work Teachers often penalize late work by reducing points. This practice distorts the integrity & accuracy of the grade. Key question to be asked: Was the achievement of the student’s work reduced? It is possible that a B quality paper receives a C score due to a behavior issue rather than a lack of ability on the student’s behalf? Is this acceptable?
7. Suggestion 1. Accept late work, assess the student’s achievement, & record lateness on a different form. Thus we separate achievement from behavior yet we communicate both. Ex: Provide a separate report on participation, rules, etc. (6 P progress report) Tip: Visit with the student, a relationship may be established – if so the odds of that student having a late paper again is greatly diminished
8. Real World Examples Real Estate, Legal Matters, Contractors, Utility Companies, Mortgage Companies, Credit Card Companies - if you don’t make a payment, they don’t give you a zero balance (they still expect to be paid) - they will work with you on a new date and/or amount to be paid As adults, if we can’t meet a timeline, we communicate to whom we are responsible to arrange a new timeline. This is seen as being responsible. We need to encourage (teach) students to take this same approach rather then deduct points or give a zero. Soooooooo……….
9. rather than trying to penalize students into compliance provide support to reach the goal – if the assignment is not done on time then homework club or the morning study should be used to re-teach and assist in order to meet the performance standard. This saves and/or enhances the teacher-student relationship
10. Academic Dishonesty Often students are given a zero if they cheat. This distorts the integrity and accuracy of the grade. Cheating is a behavior thus it should not be included as it does not reflect/communicate student achievement What should we do differently? Define clearly what Academic Dishonesty is and how it will be handled. Prevention is better than the cure approach Students must be afforded the opportunity to demonstrate their performance level. The “when” can be determined by the teacher or principal.
11. Group Scores Cooperative Learning is an effective and important teaching strategy. It is meant to be a learning tool not an evaluation method. Group scores should not be included in grades because they do not indicate individual achievement, which is the primary purpose of a grade. Group scores have been challenged in court – usually the parents win because judges followed the principle that no students grade should depend upon the achievement (or behavior) of other students. What should we do? Use Cooperative Learning as the teaching tool it is and provide individual performance tasks to measure achievement later.
12. Grade Book Programs Dividing your grade book into categories such as tests, quizzes and homework does not provide a measurement of student progress. What should we do? Select your categories based upon your curriculum standards. Collect only evidence of achievement (summative assessments).
13. Clear Descriptions of Performance Standards The traditional number=letter grade format is poorly defined. The percentage system is not mathematically precise. (What really is the difference between a 69% and a 70%?) What should we do? A rubric based 4-3-2-1 system with clear descriptors is ideal. Cut offs would be clearly defined and not arbitrary.
14. Individual Achievement Curving grades means comparing students to each other rather than looking at individual performance. Makes learning a highly competitive activity as it pits student against student. Ask the question on page 79-80 What should we do? Students earn what they earn – period.
15. Garbage in Garbage out! Much of what is currently used to assess student learning is low quality. (Worksheets, puzzles, art projects, etc.) What should we do? - Clarify learning targets. What should students be able to do? - Design: what method will most effectively measure your target? Are high level questions being utilized? Is a sufficient sample being gathered? Is there bias? - Clarify the purpose of the assessment. How will the results be used and by whom?
16. Mathematics of Grades The mean, or average, over emphasizes the outlier scores. It is not a true representation of achievement. Is usually not fair nor is it accurate -the use of the mean reminds me of the person who drowned while wading across a river with an average depth of three feet Example on page 91 Teachers should be determining grades rather than calculating grades
17. The Big Zero Are utilized when lacking evidence, as a punishment, and/or for teacher convenience. Zero, or an F, is more powerful than any B. A zero can be impossible to recover from 1 zero can destroy student motivation Combine these last 2 together and enjoy your next 16 weeks of the semester with this student and his/her possible effect upon other students
18. 3 Fundamental Errors with Zeroes They give a numerical value to something that has never been assessed They can have counterproductive effects upon student motivation They involve inappropriate mathematics (Page 40-41 in Elements of Grading “A zero has an undeserved and devastating influence, so much so that no matter what the student does, the grade distorts the final grade as a true indicator of mastery. Mathematically and ethically this is unacceptable.” “Teachers regularly use and leaders tolerate grading systems that may appear to be accurate but are devoid of the most basic elements of mathematical reasoning and are neither fair nor effective.”
19. Suggestions Other measures of central tendency include the median (middle) and the mode (most frequently occurring score) 2. Using either method would give a clearer picture of what a student has achieved than the mean does. 3. Use an “I” when sufficient evidence to determine a grade is missing. a) this places the responsibility upon the student b) “I” has the same impact as an F (no credit) but it accurately communicates what the problem is c) “I”s can be most often be made complete
20. More Suggestions 4. A zero is only recorded when it is earned (0 out of 10 on a quiz a student took) 5. When an assignment is missing – track the student down - provide outside opportunities for students to provide the needed evidence. 6. Do not use grades as a punishment
21. Teachers talk about high expectations and holding students accountable, yet when a zero is entered for any reason other than that is the score a student earned, students are allowed to get away with not completing the assignment (this is not holding students accountable nor does it involve high expectations). In addition, such an action is often for teacher convenience as entering a zero is easier than tracking down a student who needs to complete an assessment.
22. The “Power of Zeros” Is an F worth the same as other grades? Is it harder to recover from in F in all scales? What are all these scales based upon?
23. Find the grade
24. What if we graded on total points instead of averages??? Assume that a TOTAL of 500 points can be earned for the grading period.
25. Grading on TOTAL points vs. Using Averages Which system is least punitive? Which system more accurately reflects what the student achieved?
26. 2 Categories of Assessments Formative assessments * designed to help students improve * assessment for learning * should not be used in determining grades 2. Summative assessments * designed to measure student achievement * assessment of learning * should be included when determining grades
27. Other Grading No-No's… 1. Including formative assessments in final grades. a) Grades are broken is scores for everything students do find their way into report card grades ex: pre-tests and assessments for modifying instruction b) Students rarely perform at high levels on challenging tasks at their first attempt, deep understanding is achieved only as a result of trial, practice, adjustments based upon feedback, and more practice. c) Sports & Band: practice is clearly separate from a performance or contest
28. d) assess students regularly but not everything needs a score and not every score need be included in the grade. Some student work must be for practice only! ex: homework can be checked but not graded/entered in the gradebook. Checking it is formative assessment – when it enters the gradebook it becomes summative
29. 2. Summarizing learning over time for a final grade. This system punishes students as they grow. The final achievement is what we should focus upon and record. If students demonstrate that past assessment information no longer accurately reflects their learning, that info must be dropped and replaced with the new information 3. Not involving students. Students must understand 1) the expectations of teacher/class and 2) how their grades are determined. Most will meet the goal if they know what it is.
30. Grades as Punishment and Reward People are motivated to learn by success and competence. When students feel ownership…in their learning, they are more likely to invest time and energy into it. Assessments can be a motivator, not through reward and punishment, but by stimulating students’ intrinsic interest. Manitoba Education (2006)
31. Grades a Punishment and Reward Emphasizing progress and achievement rather than failure; Providing feedback to move learning forward; Building confidence in students so they can and need to take risks; Providing the scaffolding that students need to genuinely succeed. Manitoba Education (2006) Assessment can enhance student motivation by:
32. What I want you to consider isStandards Based Grading Based on demonstrated learning of standards. Standards are criterion-referenced and proficiency based. Targets and proficiency criteria are clear, known, owned, and used by all. Measure only achievement. No penalties or bonuses. Includes individual evidence only. Use primarily summative assessment…let formative assessment shape your teaching not your grading! Emphasize the most recent evidence of learning when grading. Consider using such measures as the MODE vs. mean to determine grades. Effectively use only QUALITYassessments. Discuss ALL aspects of grading with your students.
33. District Level Suggestions At the school and district levels, there must be a shared vision of the primary purpose of grades (policies which exist on pages 23, 30, 36, 66, 77, 81, 88, 94, 103, 117 and 125) An effective standards-based system should be built on a limited number of clearly described levels based on proficiency or quality – this means that to be consistent with a standards-based system, the use of the percentage system should be eliminated. This kills me to suggest – utilize Marzano’s wisdom much later – we need to get crawling – his book is Usain Bolt on steroids.