Grading Practices Update

Ruth Steidinger, High School Programs

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Grading Practices

The primary purposes of grades are to: Communicate student achievement to students

and parents, Inform post-secondary institutions and potential

employers, Aid in educational and career planning, and Guide administrative decisions such as grade

and class placement, graduation, promotion, and honors.

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Grading Practices If we agree that the purpose of grades is

communication about student achievement, we must ask ourselves: How confident are we that the grades students

get in our middle and high schools are: consistent, accurate, meaningful, and supportive of learning?

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Grading Practices We know that developing meaningful and

equitable grading practices is a daily challenge for K-12 educators and administrators.

This is “… one component of education that has remained essentially unchanged since 1933…”

In many cases, teachers grade as they were graded as students.

Over the years, grading has been an unexamined and private practice.

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According to the research, the most common grading challenges are:

Distorted achievement, Low-quality or poorly organized

evidence, Inappropriate grade calculation, and Linking grades more closely to

student learning.

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Review of Elementary Journey Ten years ago, central leadership

staff led elementary school based staff, parents, and community members in a conversation about grading practices

The result was a move to standards based grading in elementary schools and a report card that separated evaluation of learning from behaviors

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Current Status of High School and Middle Schools At the conclusion of the 07-08 school year,

principals unanimously agreed to engage in a year long conversation regarding grading practices

After extensive research, we chose the work of Ken O’Connor to provide a springboard for our conversations.

We have also used the work of Thomas Guskey, Cassie Erkens, Douglas Reeves, Patricia Scriffiny, and various university professors from across the country.

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Year of Conversation – High School High school principals agreed that APIs would lead the

conversation at their schools API monthly meetings involved:

Use of protocols to solicit feedback from school-based discussions

Introduction to new activities for engaging school-based staff in conversations

High Five provided staff development on grading practices this year. Each high school sent teacher leaders to this training to give them tools to assist APIs in the discussions back at their school.

High School Central Service staff supported teacher conversations via Department Chair meetings and PLC Team Leader meetings.

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Year of Conversation – Middle School Improved grading practices has been a priority

for middle school principals for several years. Data teams served as the forum in 2008-09:

Monthly meetings with school teams. Activity-based presentations and

discussions. Parallel work with department chairs and IRTs. Engagement with elementary and middle

school counselors. Engagement with middle school media

coordinator learning teams.

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Questions we have pondered Questions we have pondered this year?this year?

Should we include student behaviors (effort, participation, adherence to class rules, etc.) in grades?

Should we report student behaviors separately?

Should we reduce grades when work is submitted late?

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Questions we have pondered Questions we have pondered this year?this year?

Should we give points for extra credit?

Should we punish academic dishonesty with reduced grades?

What alternative consequences are there for this behavior?

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Questions we have pondered Questions we have pondered this year?this year? Should we include group scores in

grades? Should we include zeros in grade

determination when work is missing? How do we provide additional

opportunities for the student to do the missing work while not diminishing the importance of his/her responsibility?

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Questions we have pondered Questions we have pondered this year?this year?

Should we summarize a student’s work over time or only the most recent achievement?

Should we use information from formative assessments and practice to determine grades or only from summative assessments?

Grading Systems Example

Clue High School

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Clue High School

• The math department PLC has decided to use the following weights for grades:

Tests 50%

Quizzes 25%

Classwork 15%

Homework* 10%

*Homework is graded for completion only.

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The Teachers

• Mrs. White allows students to take a retest on any test they fail.

• Mr. Butler drops the lowest quiz and homework grades.

• Ms. Scarlett gives a 100 point quiz grade to students who return their Interim Report signed (and a zero if it’s not!)

• Mrs. Peacock gives students classwork grades for turning in their Unit Notebooks (based on completeness).

Each teacher in the math department has some special considerations when it comes to grades (except for Colonel Mustard, he is straight by the book!):

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The Mystery

Four students, Mary, Alexis, John and Bobby, are signed up for Algebra I this semester. Whose class does each student want to be in?

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Colonel Mustard’s Grading System

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Mrs. White’s Grading System

• Mrs. White allows students to take a retest on any test they fail.

• Mary took a retest on Test 1 and made a 75.

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Mr. Butler’s Grading System

• Mr. Butler drops the lowest quiz and homework grades.

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Ms. Scarlett’s Grading System

• Ms. Scarlett gives a 100 point quiz grade to students who return their Interim Report signed (and a zero if it’s not!)

• Mary and Alexis returned their interim’s signed.

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Mrs. Peacock’s Grading System

• Mrs. Peacock gives students classwork grades for turning in their Unit Notebooks (based on completeness).

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Grading Practices

How confident are we that the grades of Mary, Alexis, John, and Bobby are:

consistent, accurate,meaningful, andsupportive of learning?

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Plans for 2009 - 2010

To engage constituents in the work. To seek assistance from national

experts. To move from conversation to action:

are there current grading practices that need to be changed?

To explore/experiment with alternative grading practices.