In 100 words or more, comment on the following:
What is your experience with standards-based grading? What do you see as the strengths and weaknesses of such an approach? What effect do you believe standards-based grading would have on instruction in your classroom? Or, if you're already using this system, how has it changed your teaching?
Don’t forget to comment (in 50 words or more) on another participant’s comment on this question.
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12 comments:
I have little experience with standard-based grading. I see huge benefits for this type of grading. Standard based grading clearly allows students, parents, and teachers alike to know what skills they have and have not mastered. Assessments mean more and students are truelly accountable for their knowledge rather than them just working the system by doing the homework, squeaking by on tests, and handing in extra credit to improve their averages. A weakness of this approach…getting the teachers, administrators and schools to changing “their” systems would be a daunting task. How would a student that is evaluated in a school with standard-based grading transition to a school that relies on traditional grades? If I used strictly standard based grading it would definitely have an effect on my instruction. More kids would be held accountable for mastery on a daily basis rather than during assessments. How nice would it be to have a finite answer to what my instruction would need to look like to benefit my students?
I have no experience with standards-based grading, other than some reading I did for one of my master’s degree classes. One obvious strength of this approach is that a grade is directly tied to learning. I had a professor in college who would put questions on her tests about things like, what color frosting was on the cookies I brought to class last Friday? That type of question has nothing to do with learning, but was a part of our grade anyway. A weakness might be how the standards/objectives are set and measured. I am glad that the author mentioned modifications for special ed students, as those are the only students I teach now and I know how it important it is find different ways for each student to demonstrate their learning.
A: response to Sheri
I also wonder how standards based grading would work with teachers who only use electronic grading. When I think of standards based grading, I think of rubric type grading which doesn't really work with a multiple choice bubble sheet test. With multiple choice, it's either all right or all wrong and impossible to measure different levels of proficiency.
I don’t have a lot of experience with standards based grading, though I do often use the standards as my learner outcomes. I think there are more strengths than weaknesses in this approach. By measuring students’ actual level of mastery of a standards based objective, it is more likely that a student will become proficient in a particular skill before moving on to the next level. This is important because each skill builds on the previous in a subject, and this will help ensure future success as the student moves along.
Using standards-based grading would positively impact instruction in the classroom by giving a truer picture of the students’ understanding. The current grading systems more often give a measurement of how well a student conforms to the expectations in the classroom, not how much they actually understand. This can allow students who seem to be doing well to slip through the system without a solid grasp of necessary skills and information. By using standards-based grading, teachers can adjust their instruction more effectively according to their students’ learning.
A:Response to Amanda and dstark
Interesting that in a district that is absolutely standard driven none of us have any experience with standard based grading! We all see the value in reaching and teaching to the standards, its just the grading system does not directly relate to them.
I have never used standards based grading. I know that we carefully looked at our standards when creating the curriculum implementation guide for language arts, but as far as singling out the specific areas and having them comprise the grade, we never gave it a thought. I think that I already do something similar in my classes by reteaching a skill when students do not seem to understand the first time, allowing test re-takes after re-teaching, and by constantly reinforcing the previous skills learned in every lesson. I then look at the results on the following tests to measure student mastery of required standards. Another way in which the standards based assessment can be done in the current system is in giving completion grades for homework with low point values, keeping extra credit opportunities rare, and making sure that tests measure standards. If I were to exclusively use standards based grades, I think my classroom would change in a negative way. Many students would choose not to do their homework, and more parents would be wanting explanations about how to decipher the grades. I suppose I'm coming off as a little resistent to change, but I think this is something best used in addition to the current grading procedures and not in place of them.
Sheri;
You are absolutely right. I feel like the grading system might not apply directly to the standards as much as the curriculum does. We know that we are to teach based on what the standards mandate, but then we don't necessarily assess the students' ability to meet the standards.
response to Sheri Moore
I do admit that there are many students who squeak by. I am also suspicious of homework that earns A's followed by tests that score C's or D's but the average only says that the student is a B student. This is a definite weakness of the current system. I would actually like this approach if the entire grading system and pass/fail system were overhauled. I agree that this would be a much more accurate picture of true student achievement; I simply don't see it working as an independent grading system with no other changes made to the current educational model.
Initial Response to Question 4B
I have studied standards-based grading in my master's coursework through Walden University. One of the courses discussed standards-based grading in detail. While this approach is a bit unrealistic with the quantity of students that I teach each week, it has caused me to rethink the ways in which I assess student learning. For example, I now plan my lessons in reverse. First, I determine what information will be included on the quarter test. Next, I design my lessons to thoroughly cover all of the material that will later appear on the test. And finally, I set my students up for success by explaining to them what the learning objectives will be for each unit. I reached a very important conclusion during this course--it is unfair to test students on something you have not taught them. If they can see the learning target, they will be much more likely to hit it! I would like to modify my grading system in a few classes that have a great diversity in the learning population. I definitely see the advantage of being able to tailor a lesson to the needs of my individual students--challenging the gifted, reteaching the lower academic achievers. How I would convert the end results to the current grading system would take some careful consideration.
Responding to Amanda,
I can't help but wonder if a standards-based approach would help in the area of retention. In our department, we are always amazed at how quickly students forget previous skills. Perhaps the students do not have as thorough of an understanding as we hope they do. By requiring mastery of each skill, students would have a better foundation on which to build new skills.
4B
The strength of standards-based grading lies in its effect of connecting standard based assessments (such as those required with NCLB) to the classroom. Scriffiny stated that prior to her use of standards-based grading, a student had the potential of passing her class without the use of general knowledge needed to progress to the next level. It does not make sense for a student to pass a class, then fail an exam that assessed the information they supposedly passed. However, with extra credit, or homework assignments, the student may pass the class without knowing the content. The standards-based grading could eliminate this event.
The weakness of standards-based grading exists in the potential for misguided rubrics and subjective grades. Figure 1 on reason five gave an example of potential subjective grading. With words such as proficient and near proficient, the defined lines of expectations were not given. Unless the teachers gave clear expectations of the desired outcomes, the true grading is weak.
A: to all
This was a great post to comment on.
One of the benefits to writing my comments very last, is the perspective of getting to view all comments together.
How interesting that very few of the commentors have experienced, or had exposure to standard-based grading. It will be interesting to see the direction our school district and state will direct our schools in this respect.
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