In 100 words or more, comment on the following:
In “Seven Reasons for Standards-Based Grading” high school math teacher Patricia L. Scriffiny describes how adopting a standards-based grading system has transformed her teaching. What kind of grading system do you currently use? What do students' final grades in your class indicate about what they have learned? How could you make your grade reports more helpful to students and parents?
Don’t forget to comment (in 50 words or more) on another participant’s comment on this question.
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12 comments:
As a kindergarten teacher I use a variety of different asssements, but when it boils down to report card time….I conform to the district and attach a G, S, or N value to children and academics. The reality is this grading system is very perplexing to parents, and truthfully for teachers as well in my grade level. There has never been a directive from our district about what skills and objectives that should be reflected in our grading categories…for example… the language grade, is that letter/sound identification? Sight word usage/identification? Language covers so many concepts. So when a child gets an S in one teachers class, then moves to a new school and she grades on something new, does it stay an S or by her interpretation of what is to be graded does it change to a G or an N? I understand that these grades are very vague for parents so I always include a very concrete objective based report for them to see. The report shows them all the letters names/sounds they can identify, the sight words they can read, examples of their writing and math work. These reports are parent and teacher friendly. They can direct and drive instruction.
I use the grading system that is required by the district. I do remember studying different models for grading in college, though, and the one that really interested me was mastery learning/grading. If a student earns an A in my class, that means that student has mastered all the skills required and met the objectives and goals I have set for every student in the class. I like the new gradebook system we have in the district because it allows for more categories, which I think is more helpful for parents and students so they can see how the student’s grades might differ from homework to tests to labs.
A: response to Sheri
You raise an interesting point with students who move to a different class or school. With the base here in Great Falls, so many of our students are very mobile, and who knows what they really learned in their previous district or what their grades really mean?
As a Literacy Resource teacher, I don’t actually grade my students’ work. Since it is necessary for me to have an understanding of their proficiency in an area, I do look to the state standards as my learner objectives. Through much informal assessment, as well as performance assessment, I measure my students’ levels of proficiency in comparison to the standards in place. By monitoring their understanding I am able to adjust my instruction according to their needs. I think that standards based grading in the general classroom would be very beneficial to the students, teachers, and parents. By measuring their progress in attaining the actual objective of the learning, students will be much more successful. This would also be more useful to parents. In traditional grading systems, a student who doesn’t understand the learning may still be getting good grades, but end up going on to the next level unprepared because they didn’t achieve proficiency in the area.
A:response to dstark
College...seems like a million years ago and was I really prepared for what was ahead of me? We also covered a variety of grading systems in our college courses but I do not believe any of them were a catchall answer for the grading delimma discussed in this article. I do agree that the new grading program the district has us using makes understanding students grades eaier for parents and more user friendly for teachers. As a parent I absolutely love the fact that I can go online any day, any time and see my own kiddos scores!!!
Well, I have to admit that many valid points were made in this article. My current system of grading tells an overall view of how a student does for each quarter. It includes some late-work, some extra credit, and raw test and homework scores. So, in reality, to see how a student is doing at a particular skill or in a particular area, a parent needs to both access the powerschool system, and visit my classroom to look at the student's portfolio. I believe that the current grading system is fairly standardized as Powerschool is in use across the district. Standards based assessment would change my grading by freeing up quite a bit of time, and providing a better view of a student's preparedness for the next grade level, but I see it as a fairly radical re-working of the current system. Also, grade school and middle school don't exclusively use skills as a reason for retaining or passing a student. They look at many other factors such as benefits for the student, parent wishes, data that would support retention, surveys that indicate a student's probability to utilize the time to grow,etc. I see this as being more effective in a high school setting where each grade level is determined by credits earned.
response to Sheri Moore
Oh, yes. I forgot about early elementary and the G, S, N marks. I always found those to be vague and in need of explanation by a teacher, so your report is a great idea. This seems to be what would be required if a standards based assessment system were to be used universally. I guess, personally, I wouldn't like to exclusively use this system. I wouldn't mind incorporating elements of it, however.
In response to Lela;
I see your point that it may be easier to use standards based grading at the high school level, and you may be right. I worry about the skills and knowledge that students may not have mastered before getting to the high school level. With the current grading system, students' true understanding is often not accurately reflected, and I wonder how often students pass through without having a true grasp of the knowledge.
Initial Response for Question 4A
The system of grading that I currently use is point-based. At the end of each quarter, the total number of accumulated points are converted into G, S, and N. The manner in which I convert these grades has always been up to me. I was given little guidance on how to assign music grades. Some teachers do this based strictly on effort. Others include behavior and skills. My approach is based on a combination of music skills, test scores, performances, and participation points. During each music class, students can earn up to 5 participation points. I also give quarterly music tests to all grade levels which range from 5 to 20 points. Journal entries are also factored into my upper elementary students' grades. I had difficulty with the GSN system, so I expanded my options to include S+ and S-. From there, I have used a basic A, B, C, D, F approach so that G=90%, S+=80%, etc. Because I am locked into this only option of reporting grades, I am unable to add comments that would better explain why "Johnny" received an S-, for example. All parents and students see is the one letter. I do explain my system to my students at the beginning of the year; however, most seem uninterested because music is not a core subject.
Responding to Sheri,
You make such a valid point, as I have seen this occur on numerous occasions: "So when a child gets an S in one teachers class, then moves to a new school and she grades on something new, does it stay an S or by her interpretation of what is to be graded does it change to a G or an N?" So much of the elementary system of grading is subjective. I really like your idea of attaching a detailed objective based report. I wish I had the time to do this with all of my students, because I think it would be very helpful.
ARTICLE 4
4A
As a special education teacher, I base my grading system on the student’s individual education plan. Each student has goals with 3 or more objectives used to achieve those goals. With data collection and observation of student progress, I am able to assess the student’s ability to make progress based on those objectives.
In giving final assessments of how students do or do not progress towards his goals, I include a summative explanation of progress that occurred with the student throughout the year.
One method of making grade reports more helpful to parents would include a graph of progress that would actually indicate in an easy to view visual of how their son/daughter is making progress. I think the visual chart gives more credence into the gains of the child, as well as the work accomplished in class. I have used visual charts for behavior, but not much for other individual goals.
A: response to Lela
I like how you incorporated ideas that were not emphasized in this article, such as benefits for the student, parent wishes, data that would support retention, surveys that indicate a student's probability to utilize the time to grow. I think that this discussion is only a jumping board, with further room for discussion. It would be interesting to talk to, or read, another author's perspective on standards based grading.
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