Revised Recomendation #6

Revised Recomendation #6: Grading By Proficiency

Instruction, assessment, and grades should be directly aligned to course objectives.

Explanation:  Instruction should be based on course-specific learning targets, and assessments should provide evidence of student proficiency (what a student knows and is able to do) on those learning targets. Teachers should attempt to gather sufficient evidence of proficiency by assessing students multiple times and multiple ways. Students should understand and be able to articulate their own level of proficiency on each learning target.

Rationale:  Grades that are based on sufficient evidence of student proficiency in course-specific learning targets will better reflect a student’s academic achievement.

General Comments

There has been a request for a place to make general comments about the recommendations and/or our process. HERE WE GO!

Revised Recommendation #5: Learning Over Time

Please review and comment on the revision to this recommendation. The addition seems to capture the spirit of the conversation but there certain could be more.

Recommendation #5: Learning over time

Emphasize more recent achievement on individual learning targets. Don’t summarize evidence accumulated over time; learning is developmental.

Explanation: More recent evidence should count for the student’s grade.  Old, outmoded evidence should be discarded.  Students should have multiple opportunities to demonstrate their learning. This may take the form of retakes or do-overs.

Rationale:  The use of the average score for an entire grading period does not take into account student growth over time. Teachers should use most recent evidence from multiple opportunities that accurately reflect what students know and are able to do.  

Revised Recommendation #2: Homework

Please review and comment on this revised recommendation. The revised wording is in italics and underlined.

Recommendation #2: The Role of Homework

Homework and daily work that is identified as "practice" should not be a significant factor in determining course grades.  

Explanation: Homework and group work should not count for more than 10% of the overall grade, if included in the grade at all.  The only assignments that should be included in the grade are those that have been completed after enough practice has occurred for students to have reached mastery of the concepts; ungraded assignments should be given feedback instead of a grade.  

Rationale: Including work based on practice in a student’s grade may unfairly punish them for the learning process.  Homework and group work may not accurately reflect a student’s individual knowledge.

Recommendation #5 Learning over time

Emphasize more recent achievement. Don’t summarize evidence accumulated over time; learning is developmental.

Explanation: More recent evidence should count for the student’s grade.  Old, outmoded evidence should be discarded.  Students should have multiple opportunities to demonstrate their learning. This may take the form of retakes or do-overs.

Rationale:  The use of the average score for an entire grading period does not take into account student growth over time.  Teachers should use most recent evidence from multiple opportunities that accurately reflect what students know and are able to do.  

Recommendation #6 Grading Scale Philosophy

Grading scales should have equal intervals between grades.

Explanation:  If using a 100-point scale, grades that are earned should be weighed appropriately where F’s cannot be lower than 50% of those points. An alternative would be to use a rubric scale.

Rationale:  Giving less than 50 points on a 100-point scale is a disproportionate value when all other letter grades are separated by 10 points.  Students are penalized to an unfair degree that make it difficult or even impossible to recover from.  Rubric scales have equal intervals and therefore are more reflective of student achievement.

Recommendation #4 Extra Credit

Use extra credit or award bonus points only when the extra work has results in higher level of learning.

Explanation: Extra credit and bonus points can distort a students record of achievement.

Rationale: Extra credit and bonus point stem from the belief that school is about doing the work, accumulating points, and that quantity is the key rather than achieving higher standards of learning.*

Recommendation #1 Isolating Academic Achievement in Our Grading Practice

Academic achievement should be isolated and reported separately from non-academic achievement (e.g., Effort, Participation, CRLS, or Career Related Learning Standards). (Awarding effort)

Explanation:  Don’t include student behaviors such as effort, participation, adherence to class rules, etc. in grades.  Student behaviors such as effort and participation should be reported out separately to ensure more consistent grading that clearly communicates both achievement and behavioral expectations.  

Rationale: Reporting achievement separately from behaviors means that everyone can know as accurately as possible what a grade means in achievement terms.*  

Recommendation #3 Zeros in Grade Determination

Zeros are not to be used in grade determination especially for missing or incomplete work.  

Explanation:  Instead of zeros, alternative methods are used such as reassessing to determine achievement, or using “I” for incomplete.  

Rationale: Awarding zeros for missing or incomplete work assigns a numerical value for learning that has not been assessed and therefore can have counterproductive effects on student motivation.

REACTIONS TO OUR FIRST SESSION

After our session one teachers told me  she was going to make a minor alterations to her grade book setup based on the readings and discussion from first session. I thought others might have had similar responses. If so, please comment in this post with your ideas.     Rick L

Recommendation #2 Homework

Recommendation: Homework and daily work that is identified as "practice" should not be factored into grades.  

Explanation: The only assignments that should be included in the grade are those that have been completed after enough practice has occurred for students to have reached mastery of the concepts; ungraded assignments should be given feedback instead of a grade.  Homework and group work should be a small part of the overall grade, if included in the grade at all.

Rationale: Including work based on practice in a student’s grade may unfairly punish them for the learning process.  Homework and group work may not accurately reflect a student’s individual knowledge.