Assessment and Grading

How to Tie Content and Standards to Grades

Todays Objectives
O Teachers will raise their awareness of

various grading practices and their effect on student learning and achievement -byO Defining grades, reading articles, discussing findings, and sharing ideas.

Non-Objective for today:

O Require teachers to change what they are

currently doing O Discuss Gradebook issues O Discuss formative assessments, including benchmark tests and universal screeners

Norms based on feedback

O Be honest without being crabby O Share ideas O Calm discussions O No writing on chart paper/silly games O Interact with each other O Keep to time limit O Honor each others learning style

Survey Results: Current Practice

Big Ideas from Last Week

O Most use district default grading scale O Lots of different late work policies O Differences in how teacher weight

categories

Questions to Answer:
O Grading option ideas O Fairness

O How to do it best
O Consistency O What is standards-based grading?

O How to make learning more important than grades.

O Why change what works?

Reflection-Think, Pair, Share

O Think about a time in your education when:
O You received a good grade in a class but

didnt really learn much. O OR O You received a low grade in a class but felt it was unfair because of how much you did learn.
O Turn to an elbow partner and share your

experiences

Quotes About Grading:

Of all the policies and practices affecting students, the schools approach to grading has the greatest potential to affect students futures, both within the school and beyond it.

Quotes About Grading:

Furthermore, a schools grading policy will often have a lot of baggage associated with it, as it is an aspect of school life about which everyone teachers, students, and parentsfeels strongly.
O Charlotte Danielson, Enhancing Student

Achievement: A Framework for School Improvement, pg. 56.

Quotes About Grading:

. . . (grading) practices are not the result of careful thought or sound evidence, . . . Rather, they are used because teachers experienced these practices as students and, having little training or experience with other options, continue their use.
O Gusky, Thomas R. (editor), Communicating

Student Learning: The 1996 ASCD Yearbook, ASCED, Alexandria, VA, 1996, 20.

What is a Grade????
O . . . A grade (is) . . . An inadequate report O Of an imprecise judgment O Of a biased and variable judge O Of the extent to which a student has attained O An undefined level of mastery O Of an unknown proportion O Of an indefinite amount O Of materials.
O Paul Dressell, Michigan State University

Define each grade

OA =

OB =
OC =

OD =
OF =

What grade would you assign this student?

O Imagine a school that has a ten-week

marking period, with students being given a grade each week.

C B MA D C B MA MA B A

O What grade would you give this student?

Group 1
A=95 B=85 C=75 D=65

Group 2
A=4 B=3 C=2 D=1

Group 3
Any system you choose (explain your reasoning)

Why Do We Grade?
O Provide feedback O Document progress

O Guide instructional decisions

O Motivate

O Punish
O Sort students

What about incorporating attendance, effort, and behavior in the final grade?

Premise
O A grade represents a valid and undiluted

indicator of what a student knows and is able to do mastery.

O With grades we document progress in

students and our teaching, we provide feedback to students and their parents, and we make instructional decisions.

Pre-reading Questions:
O What is the purpose of grading? O What is the difference between traditional

grading and the method you will read about? O How do grades correlate with learning? O How does the method you will read about allow the teacher to know who is getting it and who is not?

Shared Learning
O BEFORE READING: O Identify a facilitator in your group O Each of you will receive an article O Read the article silently. While

reading, make brief notes or highlight key ideas.

Making Meaning Protocol

O AFTER READING: O Designate a scribe to keep track of

your discussion O Discuss the article using the guiding questions in the protocol O Designate a presenter to share your ideas with the whole group.

Questions to Answer:
O Grading option ideas O Fairness

O How to do it best
O Consistency O What is standards-based grading?

O How to make learning more important than grades.

O Why change what works?

Averaging vs. the Curve

Teaching to Mastery

Todays Objectives
O Teachers will raise their awareness of

various grading practices and their effect on student learning and achievement -byO Defining grades, reading articles, discussing findings, and sharing ideas.

O Dont change your Gradebook mid-stream

O it will affect past grades and wont be able to

compute current grades accurately

O You cant switch between a point-based

grading scale and a letter-grading scale (choose one or the other) O Default for missing work=0
O You can set it up as 50% of total, but must be

done globally

Grading Practice Site

O http://devgb.graniteschools.org
O Allows teachers to experiment with grading to

see how it impacts student achievement O You can do whatever you want and it wont mess up your real Gradebook. O Updated every 2-3 weeks (will override what you have done)

Standards-based teacher
O Jacob Griffin
O Fort Herriman Middle School O Jacob.griffin@jordandistrict.org O http://mrgriffinsbiology.weebly.com

O Willing to answer questions about moving to

standards-based grading

What questions do you have?

Next steps . . .

Setting Up a Gradebook
O Avoid setting up gradebooks according to

formats or media used to demonstrate mastery: tests, quizzes, homework, projects, writing, performances O Instead, set up gradebooks according to mastery: objectives, benchmarks, standards, learner outcomes.

Set up your gradebook into two sections:

O Formative

Assignments and assessments completed on the way to mastery or proficiency

Summative Final declaration of mastery or proficiency

Matching Assessment to Objectives

Assessment Map

Marking Period 3 Data:

Formative Assessment
ul as g ru ct ur es on di n ic al Fo rm Bo nd in g nt B R ul e St

Test Performance
ru ct ur es on di n Bo nd in g R ul e ic al Fo rm C he m nt B St ul as g

bo ls

C ov al e

bo ls

2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2

2 2 1 2 2 2 1 2 1 2 2 2 2 2 1 1 2 2 2 1 2 2 2 2 1 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2

2 2 1 2 2 2 0 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 1 2 0 2 2 2 1

2 2 1 1.5 1.5 2 0.5 2 1.5 2 1.5 2 2 2 2 1 2 2 2 2 2 1 2 2 2 2 0.5 1.5 1.5 2 0 2 2 1 1

2 1 2 2 2 2 0 2 0 2 2 1 1 1 1 2 2 2 2 0 2 1 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 1 1

2 0 0 2 1 2 1 2 1 2 2 2 2 2 2 1 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 0 0 1 2 0 2 2 0 0

2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 1.5 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 1.5

2 2 2 2 2 2 1 2 1 2 2 2 1 2 1 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 1.5 2 1.5 2 2 2

2 1 0 2 2 2 0 2 1 2 2 1 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 1 2 2 2 2 2 2 1 2 2 1 2 2 2 2 1.5

2 2 0 2 2 2 0 2 1 2 1 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 1 1 2 2 2 0 2 2 2 1

C ov al e

At om ic

At om ic

C he m

O ct et

O ct et

Io ni c

Io ni c

Sy m

Sy m

2 0 0 2 2 2 0 2 1 2 1 1 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 0 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 1 2 2 2 2 2

2 1 1 2 2 2 1 2 1 2 1 1 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 1

Record Keeping: Summary

0 or 50 (or 60)?
O 100 pt. scale:

0, 100, 100, 100, 100 % 50, 100, 100, 100, 100 % When working with students, do we choose the most hurtful, unrecoverable end of the F range, or the most constructive, recoverable end of the F range?

Imagine the Reverse:

O What if we reversed the

A= 100-40 B= 39-30 C= 29-20 D= 19-10 F= 9-0

proportional influences of the grades? Then an A would have a huge, yet undue inflationary effect on the overall grade. Just as we wouldnt want an A to have an inaccurate effect, we dont want an F grade to have such an undue, deflationary, and inaccurate effect. Keeping zeroes on a 100-pt. scale is just as absurd as the scale seen here.

Be Clear:
O Students are not getting points for

having done nothing. The student still gets an F. Were simply equalizing the influence of each grade in the overall grade and responding in a way that leads to learning.

10 Practices to Avoid: They dilute a

Grades Validity and Effectiveness
O Penalizing students multiple attempts at

O O

mastery Grading practice (daily homework) as students come to know concepts [Feedback, not grading, is needed] Withholding assistance (not scaffolding or differentiating) in the learning when its needed Group grades Incorporating non-academic factors (behavior, attendance, and effort)

O Assessing students in ways that do not accurately

O O O

indicate student mastery (student responses are hindered by the assessment format) Grading on a curve Allowing extra credit Defining supposedly criterion-based grades in terms of norm-referenced descriptions above average, average Recording zeroes on the 100.0 scale for work not done.

Allowing Students to Re-Do

O Always at teacher discretion. O It must be within reason. O Students must have been giving a

sincere effort. O Require parents to sign the original assignment or test, requesting the re-do. O Require students to submit a plan of study that will enable them to improve their performance the second time around.

Allow Students to Re-do

O Identify a day by which time this will be
O O

O O

accomplished or the grade is permanent. With the student, create a calendar of completion that will help them achieve it. Require students to submit original with the redone version so you can keep track of their development Reserve the right to give alternate versions. No re-dos the last week of the grading period. Sometimes the greater gift is to deny.