A Repair Kit: Fixes for Broken Grades - gifted-talented...

A Repair Kit: Fixes for Broken Grades

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WELCOME

Please take . . .

Folder/handouts

Penny

Pink & Green Card

You will need . . .

Your cell phone (Please silence it) or wi‐fi device like an IPOD.

Pen/Pencil

An open mind and an enthusiastic attitude

PARTICIPANT PRE ASSESSMENT

Please complete the “Analysis of My Grading Practices” as a pre assessment.

Please do not discuss or share your yviewpoints with any colleagues in the room. It is important that your viewpoints or your colleagues don’t bias the pre assessment.

The group responses will be summarized.


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REFORMING GRADING & ASSESSMENTRETHINKING EDUCATOR GRADING PRACTICES

SAYS WHO?

Guskey, Thomas, Practical Solutions for Serious Problems in Standards‐Based Grading, Corwin Press, 2009.

O’C K A R i Kit f G di Fift O’Connor, Ken, A Repair Kit for Grading: FifteenFixes for Broken Grades, Educational Testing Services, 2008.

O’Connor, Ken, How to Grade for Learning, Corwin Press, 2002.

Wormeli, Rick, What’s Fair is Not Always Equal: Assessing and Grading in the Differentiated Classrooom, Stenhouse, 2006.

ADDITIONAL RESOURCES ON

GRADING & ASSESSMENT

Arter, Judith A.; McTighe, Jay; Scoring Rubrics in the Classroom : Using Performance Criteria for Assessing and Improving Student Performance, Corwin Press, 2000.

Marzano, Robert. Transforming Classroom Grading, ASCD 2001

Marzano, Robert. Classroom Assessment and Grading that Work, ASCD 2006

Marzano, Robert; McTighe, Jay; and Pickering, Debra. Assessing Student Outcomes: Performance Assessment Using the Dimensions of Learning Model, Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development, 1993

O’Connor, Ken; How to Grade for Learning, 2nd Edition, Thousand Oaks, CA, Corwin Press (3rd edition coming in 2009)

Stiggins, Richard J. Student‐Involved Classroom Assessment (3rd Edition), Prentice Hall, 2000

Wiggins, Grant & Guskey, Tom; Grades and Grading: Rethinking Grading‐Provocations and Best Practice, (DVD) Authentic Education, 2007.


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REPORTING PRE ASSESSMENT

Report the results of your pre assessment using the colored sticker dots.

For each numbered question, put a dot on q , phow you responded to each pre assessment question.

Do not be influence by your colleagues when placing the dots.

What Do These Terms Mean?

the number (or letter) "score" given toany student test or performance

MARK(S)/SCORE(S) (marking/scoring)

7 410 3

2

the number (or letter) reported at the end of a period of time as a summarystatement of student performance

GRADE(S) (grading)1

A 91 4 EB 78 3 GC 64 2 SD 57 1 N F 42

How confident are you that the grades students get in your school are:

THE ESSENTIAL QUESTION(S)

accurate

consistent

meaningful, and

supportive of learning?

InflateDeflate


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EFFECTIVE GRADING PRACTICES

-DOUGLAS B . REEVES, PH.D.

To reduce failure rate, schools don’t need a new curriculum, a new administration, new teachers, or new technology. They just need a better grading system.

Grading seems to be regarded as the last frontier of individual teacher/school discretion.

The same school leaders and community members who would be indignant if referees, judges, etc. were inconsistent in their rulings continue to tolerate inconsistencies that have devastating effects on student achievement.

“Those who experience . . . success gain the confidence needed to risk trying. . .

Students who experience failure lose confidence in themselves, stop trying, and . . . fail even more frequently.q y

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As it turns out, is the key to student success in all learning situations.”Stiggins, R., Student‐Involved Classroom Assessment, Merrill Prentice Hall, 2001, 43

WHAT IS THE PURPOSE OF

GRADING?

Communicate student achievement to . . .

StudentsPunish

Do we ever use grades to punish students?

Parents

School Administrators

Post Secondary Institutes

Employers

PunishSort/Rank

p

Do we use grades to sort/rank students?


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Distorted and inaccurate grades are little more than harsh punishment. Students want to throw down the ball and go home. They see no reason to play. Grades that reduce the negative effects of an imperfect grading system keep students in the game.

‐‐Marzano

“No studies support the use of low grades or marks as punishments. Instead of prompting greater effort low grades effort, low grades more often cause students to withdraw from learning.” Guskey and Bailey, Developing Grading and Reporting Systems for Student Learning, Corwin Press, 2001, 34-35

“Why . . . Would anyone want to change current grading practices?

The answer is quite simple: grades are so imprecise that they are almost meaningless.”

Marzano, R. J., Transforming Classroom Grading,ASCD, Alexandria, VA, 2000, 1


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DEFINE EACH GRADE

A:

B:

:

:

C:

D:

E or F:

:

:

:Failure

“Perhaps the most counterproductive aspect of schooling as we know it is the conventional system of letter grades. The problem with grades is not the use of symbols but the absence of any defensibleplan for coming up with the symbol . . . .

. . . most grades . . . reflect what is easy to count and average into a final grade.”

Grant Wiggins, “Unthinking Grading,” Big Ideas, Volume 2, Issue 2, 2006, (on‐line newsletter at www.authenticeducation.org) 2

A

B

C

I, IP, NE, or NTY

I = IncompleteIP = In Progress

NE = No EvidenceNTY = Not There Yet

Is this a better system?

Once we cross over into D and F(E) zones, does it really matter? We’ll do the same two things: Personally investigate and take corrective action


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A PERSPECTIVE THAT CHANGES OUR THINKING:

“A ‘D’ is a coward’s ‘F.’ The student failed, but you didn’t have enough

guts to tell him.”

‐‐ Doug Reeves

Student prompt:

Write a well‐crafted essay that provides an accurate overview

Let’s do an experiment . . .

provides an accurate overview of what we’ve learned about DNA in our class so far. You may use any resources you wish, but make sure to explain each of the aspects of DNA we’ve discussed.


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Student Response:

Deoxyribonucleic Acid, or DNA, is the blueprint for who we are. Its structure was discovered by Watson and Crick in 1961. Watson was an American studying in Great Britain. Crick was British (He died last year). DNA is shaped like a twisting ladder. It is made of two nucleotidetwisting ladder. It is made of two nucleotide chains bonded to each other. The poles of the ladder are made of sugar and phosphate but the rungs of the ladder are made of four bases. They are thymine, guanine, and cytosine, and adenine. The amount of adenine is equal to the amount of thymine (A=T). I t’s the same with cytosine and guanine (C=G).

(Continued on the next slide)

The sequence of these bases makes us who we are. We now know how to rearrange the DNA sequences in human embryos to create whatever characteristics we want in new babies – like blue eyes, brown hair, and so on, or even how to remove hereditary diseases, but many people think it’s unethical (playing God) to do this, so we d ’t d it Wh DNA i t b d ith thdon’t do it. When DNA unzips to bond with other DNA when it reproduces, it sometimes misses the re‐zipping order and this causes mutations. In humans, the DNA of one cell would equal 1.7 meters if you laid it out straight. If you laid out all the DNA in all the cells of one human, you could reach the moon 6,000 times!

INTERESTING:

“The score a student receives on a test is more dependent on who scores the test and how they score yit than it is on what the student knows and understands.”Marzano, Classroom Assessment & Grading That Work (CAGTW), p. 30


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CONCLUSIONS FROM

SAMPLE DNA ESSAY GRADING

The fact that a range of grades occurs among teachers who grade the same product suggests that:

Assessment can only be done against commonly accepted and clearly understood criteria.

Grades are relative.

Teachers have to be knowledgeable in their subject area in order to assess students properly.

Grades are subjective and can vary from teacher to teacher.

Grades are not always accurate indicators of mastery.

TOPICS

Behavior

Missing/Incomplete Work

Late Work

Grading on a Curve

Extra Credit

Group Scores Late Work

Multiple Attempts (Redos)

Formative Assessment

Measures of Central Tendency

Group Scores

Assessments

Standards‐Based Reporting

Involve Students

Special Populations

BEHAVIORBEHAVIOR


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“Reports on student . . . achievementshould contain . . . information that indicates academic progress and achievement . . . separate from . . . punctuality, attitude, behaviour, effort, attendance, and work habits;”

Manitoba Education and Training, Reporting on Student Progressand Achievement: A Policy Handbook for Teachers, Administrators and Parents. Winnipeg, 1997, 13

GRADING REFORM IMPACTS BEHAVIOR, NOT JUST REPORT CARDS:

“When schools improve grading policies – for example, by disconnecting grades from behaviordisconnecting grades from behavior – student achievement increases and behavior improves dramatically.”

‐‐Doug Reeves, ASCD’s Educational Leadership, 2008, p. 90, Reeves


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“Excused and unexcused absences are irrelevant to an achievement grade.

There is no legitimate purpose for distinguishing between excused and

d b

What is your district policy for unexcused absences?unexcused absences.

For educational purposes, therefore, there need only to be recorded absences.”

Gathercoal, F., Judicious Discipline,Caddo Gap Press, San Francisco, 1997, 151

unexcused absences?

Teacher: “Are you telling me that if a student has been ill and another has been skipping, that they both should be able to make up the work missed?”

Gathercoal: “(Yes) both needed an educator

Gathercoal, F., Judicious Discipline, Caddo Gap Press, San Francisco, 1997, 151 29

( )when they returned, perhaps theone who skipped more than the other.”

BETTER STUDENTS, BETTER

SCHOOL, BETTER CLIMATE! DOUGLAS B. REEVES, PH.D

Cause and effect of improved grading policies:

Student failures decreasestudent behavior improvesWhen was the last time a faculty morale is better

less resources allocated to remedial courses and course repetitions are reducedresources invested in enrichment and

other meaningful opportunities increase

single change in a school accomplished all of that?


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“Everyone who has a need to know about a student’s performance in school certainly can be told that she or he is “a ynice student who tries hard,” but they also have a right to know the specific level of her or his knowledge in a particular subject at a given point in time.”

‐‐Ken O’Connor


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TOPICS

Behavior


Late Work

Grading on a Curve

Extra Credit





Group Scores

Assessments


Involve Students

Special Populations

ZEROSZEROS


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DID YOU KNOW . . .

missing homework

Two common causes of course failures :

missing homework

poor performance on a single major assignment

‐‐Doug Reeves

101 point scale 5 point scale95 40 00 00 085 30 00 0

How many assignments would the student have to get 100% on to reflect an

A/B grade?

Does the question:“Why did the student get so

Answer:80 30 00 0

Total: 260 10

What grade should this student get?

Mean: 26 1.0Letter Grade: F D

Could this be anat risk student? Could this be a

gifted and talented student?

Why did the student get so many “0s” matter to you?28 (80.5%)

What’s the performance level on the on work completed?

90‐10080‐89

The Effect of Zeros

4 (A) 3 (B) 2 (C)

9585

101 point scale

95 (A)85 (B)

5 pt scale

80 89 70‐79 60‐69 <60

2 (C) 1 (D)0 (F)

2(C)

857565

50 74 (C)

85 (B)75 (C)65 (D)

064 (D)

If a F is weighted with the same 10 point spread.


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“Most state standards in mathematics require that fifth‐grade students understand the principles of ratios ‐ for example, A is to B as 4 is to 3; D is to F as 1 is to zero Yet theB as 4 is to 3; D is to F as 1 is to zero. Yet the persistence of the zero on the 100‐point scale indicates that many people with advanced degrees, . . . have not applied the ratio standard to their own professional practices.”

Reeves, D.B., “The Case Against the Zero,” Kappan, December 2004, 324‐325

“The use of an “I” or “Incomplete” grade is an alternative to assigning zeros that is both educationally ysound and potentially quite effective.”

Guskey and Bailey, Developing Grading and Reporting Systems for Student Learning, Corwin Press, 2001, 144

100 POINT SCALE OR 4.0 SCALE?

A 4.0 scale has a high inter‐rater reliability. Students’ work is connected to a detailed descriptor and growth and achievement rally around listed benchmarks.

In 100‐point or larger scales, the grades are more subjective. In classes in which teachers use percentages or points, students, teachers, and parents more often rally around grade point averages, not learning.

‐‐Ken O’Connor


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CALCULATE THE FINAL GRADE

FOR THIS STUDENT

Student Marks/Scores: C, C, MA (Missing Assignment), D, C, B, MA, MA, B, A

Group 1 A 100 B 90 C 80 D 70 Group 1: A=100, B=90, C=80, D=70

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

Group 3: Choose your own system but you must have a letter grade

Did anyone give this student an “A”?

TOPICS

Behavior


Late Work

Grading on a Curve

Extra Credit





Group Scores

Assessments


Involve Students

Special Populations

LATE WORK


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Dealing with Late Work

1. Support/Clarity

2. Behaviors/Learning Skills

3. Communication

If the above fails . . .

4. Minor penalties (which do not distort achievement or motivation)

What consequences could you use that wouldn’t distort achievement?


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ARE LATE POLICIES

SUPPORTIVE OF LEARNING?

Getting Work In On Time

1. Set clear and reasonable timelines with some student input.

2. Ensure that the expectations for the task/ assignment are clearly established and understood.

3. Support the students who will predictably struggle with the task without intervention

4. Find out why other students’ work is late and assist them.

5. Establish the consequences for late work, e.g.,

After school follow-up Make-up responsibility within a supervised setting Parent contact Parent contact Notation in the mark book for each assignment which is late “Grades” on a learning skills/ work habits section of the report card Comments on the report card that reflects chronic lateness

6. Provide the opportunity for students to extend timelines:

Student must communicate with the teacher in advance of the due date Student must choose situations carefully as this extension may only be used once/twice per term/semester

How to Grade for Learning: Linking Grades to Standards, Corwin, 2002.103 Figure 3.6 Adapted from Creating a Culture of Responsibility, York Region District

School Board, 1999

TOPICS

Behavior


Late Work

Grading on a Curve

Extra Credit





Group Scores

Assessments


Involve Students

Special Populations

REDOSREDOS


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The “Real World” is seldom . . .

“You have one chance at it and you’re done”.


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RE-TEACHING AND

RE-TESTING

In class re‐teaching/retesting

After school re‐teaching & extra help

Lunch/recess re‐teaching & extra help

Student accountability

Builds positive relationships with parents/students

IF WE DO NOT ALLOW STUDENTS TO RE-DO

WORK, WE DENY THE GROWTH MINDSET SO VITAL

TO STUDENT MATURATION, AND WE ARE

DECLARING TO THE STUDENT:

This assignment had no legitimate educational value.

It’ k if d ’t d thi k It’s okay if you don’t do this work.

It’s okay if you don’t learn this content or skill.

None of these is acceptable to the highly accomplished, professional educator.

GRADING PERIOD KILLER:

One Test or Project that . . .

Is heavily weighted in the final grade calculation; but not a comprehensive “snapshot” of concepts learned

Does not have enough frequent “checkpoints”

Does not allow for REDOs


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Be clear: We grade against standards, not routes students take or techniques teachers use

What does this mean we should do with class participation or discussion grades?

to achieve those standards. Homework grades?

Redo grades?

Allowing Students to Re-do

Assignments and Tests for Full Credit:

Always, “…at teacher discretion.”

It must be within reason.

Students must have been giving a sincere effort.

Require parents to sign the original assignment or test, requesting the re‐do.

Require students to submit a plan of study that will enable them to improve their performance the second time around.

‐‐Ken O’Conner


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STUDENT CONTRACT FOR REMEDIATION OF FAILING GRADE

Grading Period 1 2 3 4

_____ I, ________________________________, understand that my current grade for Reading Class is an F ( _____ % ), but will receive an “I” for Incomplete on the report card.

_____ I understand that my teacher is giving me the opportunity to complete/retake specific assignments for the expressed purpose of not making a failing grade.

_____ I understand that I have 3 weeks to improve my grade. All work, tests, and/or assignments that my teacher gives me are due on ___________________________ at the beginning of the period.

_____ I understand it is my responsibility to complete this work at home.

_____ I understand I must complete the work to get a good grade on it. I must give this work to my teacher to grade on or before the due date above.

_____ I understand at the end of the 3 weeks my teacher will change my grade on the report card from an “I” to the appropriate grade after my work has been graded.

--Doug Reeves

TOPICS

Behavior


Late Work

Grading on a Curve

Extra Credit





Group Scores

Assessments


Involve Students

Special Populations

FORMATIVE ASSESSMENT


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Formative ‐ Assessment designed to provide direction for improvement and/or adjustment to a program for individual students or for a whole class,

b ti i h k i t ti l

Diagnostic ‐ assessment which takes place prior to instruction; designed to determine a student's attitude, skills or knowledge in order to identify student needs.

Summative ‐ Assessment/evaluation designed to provide information to be used in making judgment about a student’s achievement at the end of a sequence of instruction, e.g. final drafts/attempts, tests, exams, assignments, projects, performances.

e.g. observation, quizzes, homework, instructional questions, initial drafts/attempts.

ASSESSMENT FOR LEARNING

Grades rarely used, if ever

Marks and feedback are used

Share learning goals with students from h bthe beginning

Make adjustments in teaching a result of formative assessment data

Provide descriptive feedback to students

Provide opportunities for student for self‐and peer assessment


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ASSESSMENT OF LEARNING

Still very important

Summative, final declaration of proficiency literacy masteryproficiency, literacy, mastery

Grades used

Little impact on learning from feedback

FEEDBACK VS ASSESSMENT

Feedback: Holding up a mirror to students, showing them what they did and comparing it what they should have done There’s no evaluative component!

Greatest Impact on Student Success:

Which has the greatest impact on student achievement?

– There’s no evaluative component!

Assessment: Gathering data so we can make a decision

Formativefeedback

Teacher Action

Result on Student Achievement

Just telling students # correct and incorrect

Negative influence on achievement

Clarifying the scoring criteria Increase of 16 percentile points

Providing explanations as to why Increase of 20 percentile pointstheir responses are correct or incorrect

Asking students to continue responding to an assessment until they correctly answer the items

Increase of 20 percentile points

Graphically portraying student achievement

Increase of 26 percentile points

-- Marzano, CAGTW, pgs 5-6


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STUDY ON KINDS OF FEEDBACK: -264 GRADE 6 STUDENTS IN 12 CLASSES IN 4 SCHOOLS; ANALYSIS OF

132 STUDENTS AT THE TOP AND BOTTOM OF EACH CLASS

-SAME TEACHING, SAME AIM, SAME TEACHERS, SAME COURSEWORK

-THREE KINDS OF FEEDBACK: SCORES, COMMENTS, SCORES AND

COMMENTS

Feedback Gain Attitude

S t itiScores none top‐positive

bottom‐negative

Comments 30% all—positive

What do you think happened for the students who were given BOTH scores and comments by the

teacher?

FEEDBACK GAIN ATTITUDE

SCORES NONE TOP-POSITIVE

BOTTOM-NEGATIVE

COMMENTS 30% ALL—POSITIVE

What do you think happened for the students who were given both scores and comments by the teacher?

i 30% i d ll i iA. Gain: 30% Attitude: All positive

B. Gain: 30% Attitude: top—positive, bottom—negative

C. Gain: 0% Attitude: All—positive

D. Gain: 0% Attitude: top—positive, bottom—negative

E. Something else.

ETS, 2005, from Butler (1988) British Journal of Educational Psychology, 58, 1‐14

High Final Grade Accuracy

Accuracy of the Final Report Card Grade vs. the Level of Use of Formative Assessment Scores in the Final Report Grade

Low Final Grade Accuracy

Low Use of Formative Scoresin the Final Grade

High Use of Formative Scores in the Final Grade


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What does our understanding of feedback mean for our use of homework?

Is homework more formative or summative in nature?

homework?

Whichever it is, its role in determining grades will be dramatically different.

“If we don’t count

homework heavily,

d ’ d i ”students won’t do it.”

Do you agree with this?

Does this sentiment cross a line?


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TWO HOMEWORK EXTREMES

THAT FOCUS OUR THINKING

If a student does none of the homework assignments, yet earns an “A” (top grade) on every formal assessment we give, does he earn anything less than an “A” on his report card?

If a student does all of the homework well yet bombs every formal assessment, isn’t that also a red flag that something is amiss, and we need to take corrective action?

What is the Purpose of Homework?

PRACTICE to reinforce learning and help students master specific skills—make skill permanent.PREPARATION ‐ introduces material presented in future lessons These assignments aim to help students learnlessons. These assignments aim to help students learn new material when it is covered in class.EXTENSION asks students to apply skills they already have in new situations.INTEGRATION requires students to apply many different skills to a large task, such as book reports, projects, creative writing.

Source: NCLB website ‐ Homework Tips for Parents

“The ongoing interplay between assessment and instruction, so common in the arts and athletics, is also evident in classrooms using practices such as nongraded quizzes and practice tests the writingnongraded quizzes and practice tests, the writing process, formative performance tasks, review of drafts and peer response groups. The teachers in such classrooms recognize that ongoing assessments provide feedback that enhances instruction and guides student revision.”

Jay McTighe, “What Happens Between Assessments,” Educational Leadership, Dec. ‘96‐Jan. ‘97, 11


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“The thrust of formative assessment is toward improving learning and instruction. Therefore, the information st uct o e e o e, t e o at oshould not be used for assigning (grades) as the assessment often occurs before students have had full opportunities to learn content or develop skills.”

Manitoba Education and Training, Reporting on Student Progress and Achievement: A Policy Handbook for Teachers, Administrators and Parents. Winnipeg, 1997, 9

Firm evidence shows that formative assessment is an essential component of classroom work and that its development pcan raise standards of achievement . . . Indeed, they know of no other way of raising standards for which such a strong . . . case can be made.

Black, P. and D. Wiliam, “Inside the Black Box,” Kappan, October 1998, 139

• The provision of effective feedback to students• The active involvement of students in their

own learning• Adjusting teaching to take account of the

Improving learning through assessment depends on five, deceptively simple, key factors:

j g gresults of assessment

• A recognition of the profound influence assessment has on the motivation and self‐esteem of students, both of which are crucial influences on learning

• The need for students to be able to assess themselves and understand how to improve.


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SET UP YOUR GRADE BOOK INTO TWOSECTIONS:

Summative Formative

A i dFinal declarationof mastery or proficiency

Assignments and assessments

completed on the way to mastery or

proficiency

TOPICS

Behavior


Late Work

Grading on a Curve

Extra Credit





Group Scores

Assessments


Involve Students

Special Populations

MEASURES OF

CENTRAL TENDENCY


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Whenever I hear statistics being quoted I am reminded of the

Letter to the EditorToronto Globe and Mail October 15, 2003

statistician who drowned while wading across a river with an average depth of three feet.

GORDON McMANN, Campbell River, B.C.

90

80

Which student do you want packing your parachute for your jump on day 10?

O’Connor, K., How to Grade for Learning, Skylight, 2002, 33

90


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“We know students will rarely perform at high levels on challenging learning tasks at their first attempt. Deep understanding or high levels of proficiency are achieved only as a result of trial, practice, adjustments based on feedback and more practice.”McTighe, J., “What Happens Between Assessments”, Educational Leadership, Dec. ‘96 ‐ Jan. ‘97, 11

Don’t accumulate evidence over time and use all of it when learning is developmental and g pwill grow with time and repeated opportunities; emphasize recent achievement.

“ . . . final grades should (almost) never be determined by simply averaging the grades from several grading periods (e.g., adding the grades from terms one through three and dividing byfrom terms one through three and dividing by three).”

(exception ‐ discrete standards/content)

O’Connor, K., How to Grade for Learning: Linking Grades to Standards, Second Edition, Skylight/Pearson, Glenview, IL, 2002, 135


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Consider this dreary message shared by an assistant superintendent:

I was meeting with our high school Advanced Placement teachers, who were expressing concerns about our open enrollment process and the high failure rate One mathenrollment process and the high failure rate. One math teacher said that while a particular student was now (getting marks) in the 80s, she had made a 12 on the initial test, ‘so there is no way she is going to make a passing grade for the first nine weeks’.

Grant Wiggins, “Unthinking Grading,” Big Ideas, Volume 2, Issue 2, 2006, (on‐line newsletter at www.authenticeducation.org)

The key question is, “What information provides the most accurate depiction of students’ learning at this time?” In nearly all cases, the answer is “the most current information.” If students demonstrate that past assessment information no longer accurately reflects theirinformation no longer accurately reflects their learning, that information must be dropped and replaced by the new information. Continuing to rely on past assessment data miscommunicatesstudents’ learning.

Guskey, Thomas R. (Editor), Communicating Student Learning: The 1996 ASCD Yearbook, ASCD, Alexandria, VA, 1996, 21

“The main problem with averaging students’ scores…is that averaging assumes that no learning has occurred from assessment to assessment…that differences in observed scores…are simply a consequence of ‘random error,’ and the act of averaging will ‘cancel out’ the random error…”

‐‐Marzano, CAGTW, p. 96


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CONSIDER:

Pure mathematical averages of grades for a grading period are inaccurate indicators of students’ true mastery.

A teacher’s professional judgment via clear descriptors on a rubric actually increases the accuracy of a student’s final grade as an indicator of what he learned.

A teacher’s judgment via rubrics has a stronger correlation with outside standardized tests than point or average calculations do. (Marzano)

Accurate grades are based on the most consistent evidence. We look at the pattern of achievement, including trends, not the average of the data. This means we focus on the median and mode, not mean, and the most recent scores are weighed heavier than

Measures of central tendency

and the most recent scores are weighed heavier than earlier scores.

Median: The middle test score of a distribution, above and below which lie an equal number of test scores

Mode: The score occurring most frequently in a series of observations or test data

898989 Mean or Average =208989 M di

Determine Grade

75.2

8989 Median =892089 Mode =89

Total 752

89

89


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"Grading by the median provides more opportunities for success by diminishing the impact of a fewdiminishing the impact of a few stumbles and by rewarding hard work."

Wright, Russell. G., "Success for All: The Median is the Key", Kappan, May 1994, 723‐725

“Averaging falls far short of providing an accurate description of what students have learned. . . . If the purpose of grading and p p g greporting is to provide an accurate description of what students have learned, then averagingmust be considered inadequate and inappropriate”.

Guskey, Thomas R. (Editor), Communicating Student Learning: The 1996 ASCD Yearbook, ASCD, Alexandria, VA, 1996, 21

“Educators must abandon the average, or arithmetic mean, as the predominant measurement of student achievement.”

Reeves, D., “Standards are Not Enough: Essential Transformations for School Success,” NASSP Bulletin, Dec. 2000, 10


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FINAL EXAMS

Final Exam organized and graded byconcept (all concepts for the quarter)

Final Exam serves as last retest opportunity

Scores on Final Exam, if higher, will replace previously recorded scores

Overall Final Exam score entered in grade book as a single entry (as if it were a concept)

--Doug Reeves

To evaluate or judge is to reach

“a sensible conclusion that isa sensible conclusion that is consistent with both evidence and common sense”

Robert Linn, UCLA/CRESST

“Do you run the numbers?Or do they run you?

Everyone has data. Leaders y(teachers) know what to do with it.”

Advertisement for Accenture featuring Tiger Woods, Golf Digest, May 2006


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TOPICS

Behavior


Late Work

Grading on a Curve

Extra Credit





Group Scores

Assessments


Involve Students

Special Populations

GRADING ON A CURVE

What do you think would happen if you did an outstanding job, all the t d t i l didstudents in your class did an outstanding job, and all the students received a grade of 90% or higher?


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Grading on a Curve

makes learning a highly competitive activity in which students compete against one another for the few scarce rewards(high grades) distributed by the teacher. Under these conditions, students readily see that helping others become s ccessf l threatens their o nhelping others become successful threatens their own chances for success. As a result, learning becomes a game of winners and losers; and because the number of rewards is kept arbitrarily small, most students are forced to be losers.

Guskey, Thomas R. (Editor), Communicating Student Learning:The 1996 ASCD Yearbook), ASCD, Alexandria, VA, 1996, 18‐19


39

TOPICS

Behavior


Late Work

Grading on a Curve

Extra Credit





Group Scores

Assessments


Involve Students

Special Populations

EXTRA CREDIT


40

Letter to the Editor ‐ Harrisburg, PA Patriot NewsNovember 21, 2003

Recently it was “Dress like an Egyptian Day” at my school. If we dressed like an Egyptian we got extra credit. When we didn’t (which the majority of the kids didn’t) our teacher got disappointed at us because we just ‘didn’t make the effort.” . . .

One of the most frustrating things in my mind is that we get graded on something that has no educational value. I would very much like to discontinue these childish dress‐up days.

JENNIFER STARSINIC Hummelstown

TIP TO PARENTS FOR HELPING

YOUR CHILD GET GOOD

GRADES:

Tell your child to . . . .

LEARN WHAT I AM TEACHING!

‐‐Rick Wormeli

TOPICS

Behavior


Late Work

Grading on a Curve

Extra Credit





Group Scores

Assessments


Involve Students

Special Populations


41

GROUP SCORESGROUP SCORES

“Group (grades) are so blatantly unfair that on this basis alone they sho ld ne er be sed ”should never be used.”

Kagan, S. “Group Grades Miss the Mark,” Educational Leadership, May, 1995, 69


42

1. no(t) fair2. debase report cards3. undermine motivation

Kagan’s 7 reasons for opposing group grades

4. convey the wrong message5. violate individual accountability6. are responsible for resistance to cooperative learning

7. may be challenged in court.

Kagan, S. “Group Grades Miss the Mark,” Educational Leadership, May, 1995, 68‐71

“No student’s grade should depend on the achievement ( b h i ) f th(or behavior) of other students.”

Source: William Glasser


43

TOPICS

Behavior


Late Work

Grading on a Curve

Extra Credit





Group Scores

Assessments


Involve Students

Special Populations

ASSESSMENTSASSESSMENTS

• appropriate and clear targets

• clear purpose

d d i i ht th d

Accurate Assessment

• sound design ‐ right method‐ well written‐ well sampled‐ bias avoided

Adapted from Stiggins et al – Classroom Assessment FOR Student Learning, Assessment Training Institute, 2004, 124


44

“It would be ludicrous to practice the doctor’s physical exam as a way of becoming fit and well. The reality is the opposite: If we are physically fit and do healthy things, we will pass the physical. The separate items on

DON’T CONFUSE CORRELATION

WITH CAUSATION

In plain English . . . we don’t fatten the pig by weighing it.

p p y pthe physical are not meant to be taught and crammed for; rather, they serve as indirect measures of our normal healthful living. Multiple‐choice answers correlate with more genuine abilities and performance; yet mastery of those test items doesn’t cause achievement.”

‐‐ P. 132, Understanding By Design

CLEAR AND CONSISTENT

EVIDENCE

We want an accurate portrayal of a student’s mastery, not something clouded by a useless format or distorted by only one opportunity to reveal understanding.

Differentiating teachers require accurate assessments in order to differentiate successfully.

‐‐Rick Wormeli

Problems that can occur with the student•Lack of reading skill•Emotional upset•Poor health; rest

What are Common Sources of Bias and Distortion of Assessments?

•Lack of “test wiseness”•Evaluation anxiety Problems that can occur with the setting•Physical conditions – light, heat, noise, etc.Problems that can occur with the assessment itself•Directions lacking or unclear•Poorly worded questions/prompts•Insufficient timeBased on the ideas of Rick Stiggins


45

“Nothing of consequence would be lost by getting rid of timed tests by the College Board or, indeed, by (schools) in general. Few tasks in life ‐ and very few tasks in scholarship – actually depend on being able to read passages or solve math problems rapidly. As

On timed test . . .

Howard Gardner, “Testing for Aptitude, Not for Speed,” New York Times, July 18, 2002

to read passages or solve math problems rapidly. As a teacher, I want my students to read, write and think well; I don't care how much time they spend on their assignments. For those few jobs where speed is important, timed tests may be useful.”

“ The stopwatch is for track, not for writers.”

Elaine Kaufman, author‐friendly owner of New York nightspot Elaine’s, quoted in Parade, August 8, 2004, 2

Item

Topic or

Proficiency Right Wrong

Simple Mistake?

Really Don’t Understand

1 Dividing fractions

2 Dividing Fractions

3 Multiplying Fractions

4 Multiplying fractions

5 Reducing to Smplst trms

6 Reducing to Smplst trms

7Reciprocals

8Reciprocals

9Reciprocals


46

Assessments are used to provide the ladder for the student to crawl from his/her hole. Whether it is due to immaturity behavior ordue to immaturity, behavior or cognitive readiness level, great teachers still provide the ladder.

‐‐Wormeli

TOPICS

Behavior


Late Work

Grading on a Curve

Extra Credit





Group Scores

Assessments


Involve Students

Special Populations

STANDARDSSTANDARDS


47

P ll A t l d h ld b

SETTING UP GRADEBOOKS IN

A DIFFERENTIATED CLASSROOM

Avoid setting up gradebooks according to formats or media used to demonstrate mastery: tests, quizzes, h k j i ihomework, projects, writings, performances

Instead, set up gradebooks according to mastery: objectives, benchmarks, standards, learner outcomes

THE GRADE BOOK

Concepts NOT assignments!

“Page 87” tells us nothing!

If concepts are listed in the grade book:p g

Teachers can easily tell parents, students, and administrators what concepts are mastered.

IEP goals and objectives are easily written.

Incomplete grades can be given to individual concepts‐ helping to identify areas that need more instruction.


48

“The use of columns in a grade book to represent standards, instead of assignments, tests, and activities, is a major shift in thinking . . . Under this system, when an assessment is designed, the teacher must think in terms of the standards it is intended to address. If a (test) is given that coversintended to address. If a (test) is given that covers three standards, then the teacher makes three entries in the grade book for each student ‐ one entry for each standard ‐ as opposed to one overall entry for the entire (test).”

Marzano, R., and J. Kendall, A Comprehensive Guide to Developing Standards‐Based Districts, Schools, and Classrooms, McREL, Aurora, CO, 1996, 150

Summative Assessments Student: ______________________________

Standards/ Outcomes

XYZ Test, part 1

PQR Project

EFG Observ. XYZ Test, part 2

GHIPerf. Task

Most Consistent Level

1.1 [Descriptor]

3.5 3.53.5

1.2 [Descriptor]

2.5 5.0 4.5 4.54 54.5

1.3 [Descriptor]

4.5 3.5 3.0 3.53.5

1.4 [Descriptor]

3.5 3.53.5

1.5 [Descriptor]

2.0 1.51.75

TASK METHOD(S) STRATEGY(IES) SCORING TOOL ASSESSORROLE PLAY Practice(s) Performance Ass't Performance Rubric self/peerQUIZ(ZES) Paper and Pencil Selected Response Marking Scheme Teacher

Sample Assessment Plan

Formative Assessment for Unit 1

Wormeli says, “No more than

5%”

Gusky says, “Include these as a PROCESS

grade”

Q ( ) p p gBROCHURE Draft Performance Ass't Product Rubric peerBROCHURE Near Final Performance Ass't Product Rubric self/peer

Summative Assessment for Unit 1

TASK METHOD(S) STRATEGY(IES) SCORING TOOL ASSESSORROLE PLAY Performance Ass't Performance assessment Rubric TeacherTEST(S) Paper and Pencil Selected & Constructed Reponse Marking Scheme TeacherBROCHURE Performance Ass't Product Rubric Teacher

O’Connor says, “Must have at least 3 pieces of evidence ”


49

Report Cards without Grades

Course: Standard Standards RatingEnglish 9 Descriptor (1) (2) (3) (4)_____________________________________________________________________Standard 1 Usage/Punct/Spelling ----------------------2.5Standard 2 Analysis of Literature ------------1.75Standard 3 Six + 1 Traits of Writing --------------------------------3.25gStandard 4 Reading Comprehension --------------------------------3.25Standard 5 Listening/Speaking ----------------2.0Standard 6 Research Skills ------------------------------------------4.0

Additional Comments from Teachers:

Health and Maturity Records for the Grading Period:

TEACHERS/PARENTS: MIXED

PRIORITIES

Teachers want to show how students perform against the standards and objectivesobjectives

Parents want to know, “Is my child normal, below normal, or above normal?”

(Based on comments by Grant Wiggins)

SAMPLES OF STANDARDS-BASED REPORT CARDS


50

Test

PA

“Performance standards specify ‘how good is good enough.’ They relate to issues of assessment that gauge the degree to which content standards have been attained They are indices of qualityattained. . . . They are indices of quality that specify how adept or competent a student demonstration should be.”

Kendall, J., and R. Marzano, Content Knowledge: A Compendium of Standards and Benchmarks for K‐12 Education, First Edition, McREL,1997, 16‐17


51

Performance Standards

How good is good enough? What reference points do we use?

Traditional School approaches A 90-100% - Outstanding Excellent B 80-89% - Above Average Good C 70-79% - Average Satisfactory D 60-69% - Below Average Poor F >60% Failing Unacceptable G

rade

for

Lea

rnin

g, S

econ

d

1F >60% - Failing Unacceptable

Standards-based approaches (May be described by levels or linked to %) Advanced Above standard* Proficient Meets standard Developing Below but approaching standard Beginning Well below standard

*Standard has to be defined, e.g. Ontario –“well prepared for next grade or course.”

O’C

onn

or, K

., H

ow to

Gr

Ed

itio

n, C

orw

in, 2

002,

71

Wow!

Got it!

Nearly there!

Oh no! Oops!

“The principal limitation of any grading system that requires the teacher to assign one number or letter to represent . . . learning is that one symbol can convey only one meaningonly one meaning. . . .One symbol cannot do justice to the different degrees of learning a student acquires across all learning outcomes.”

Tombari and Borich, Authentic Assessment in the Classroom,Prentice Hall, 1999, 213


52

TOPICS

Behavior


Late Work

Grading on a Curve

Extra Credit





Group Scores

Assessments


Involve Students

Special Populations

INVOLVE STUDENTS


53

BENEFITS OF STUDENTS SELF ASSESSING

Students better understand the standards and outcomes

Students are less dependent on teachers for feedback; they independently monitor their own progress

Students develop metacognitive skills and adjust what p g jthey are doing to improve their work

Students broaden learning when they see how peers approach tasks

Students develop communication and social skills when required to provide feedback to others.

‐‐ from Manitoba’s Communicating Student Learning, 2008

SEE SELF & PEER

ASSESSMENT AT WORK

View Assessment for 21st Century Learning

Disk 2

Chapter: The 3 P’s: Performance, Progress, Process

4:50

TOPICS

Behavior


Late Work

Grading on a Curve

Extra Credit





Group Scores

Assessments


Involve Students

Special Populations


54

SPECIAL POPULATIONS

GRADING SPECIAL

POPULATIONS:

Process—What effort did the student

put forth? (As shown in Formative Assessments)

Product—What did the student

achieve? Taking into consideration modifications and accommodations to standards? (Summative Assessments)

Progress—What growth did they make?

Guskey, Tom, Pratical Solutions for Serious Problems in Standards‐Based Grading, p. 46.


55

ProductAssessment Tasks

e.g. • performances• presentations

Sum total of everything students do in school/classroom

Assessment tasks,e.g. • performances

• presentations• tests/quiz

ProductAssessment taskse.g. • performances

• presentations• tests/quizzes/examinations• culminating demonstrations

Assessment of students using observation over timeProcess

e.g. • learning logs• journals• portfolios• teacher observations/anecdotal notes

Select a representative sampling of what students do

presentations• tests/quizzes/examination• culminating demonstration

• culminating demonstration

Report Card

Grading Variables

Attitude/Learning Skills/Effort• enjoys learning• questions/investigates

class participation•• works independently• completes assignments• completes research/projects• cooperates with others• respects others• resolves conflicts• attendance, punctuality ACHIEVEMENT• reflects and sets goals

O’Connor, K., How to Grade for Learning, Second Edition, Corwin, 2002, 42

Reporting Variables(Desirable Behaviors) (Standards)

A student could make significant personal growth while making limited progress at a (relatively) low level of achievement (i eat a (relatively) low level of achievement (i.e. ELL); also a student could make little personal growth while making limited progress at a (relatively) high level of achievement (i.e. GT).


56

IN SUMMARYIN SUMMARY

CONSTRUCTIVE DEBATE

With a partner, select a card.

Decide who will be Partner A & Partner B

Partner A has 1 minute to argue for or against the statementstatement.

Partner B has 1 minute to present opposition to Partner A’s viewpoints.

Partner A has 30 sec. of rebuttal to Partner B

Partner B has 30 sec. of rebuttal to Partner A

On a scale of 1‐10, where are you in agreement?

(10 we are both in agreement; 1 we are in total disagreement) 30 sec.

WWe say “NO” to this statement

We say “YES” to this statement

10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10


57

GRADING

If you have high levels of successand low failure rates, your policy is sound and should be left alone.

If you have low levels of successand high failure rates, what you are doing is not working.

The one thing I can do to make sure my students’ grades convey meaningful

Complete this statement . . .

grades convey meaningful, accurate information about student achievement is _______________________.

3

EXIT SURVEY

Please indicate your “POST “ responses on the survey. p yYou may leave your surveys on the table when you exit.


58

THANK YOU . . .

For your participation and keeping an open mind on this

topic!

Fixes for ingredients that distort achievement

1. Don’t include student behavior (effort, participation, etc) in grades; include only achievement.

2. Don’t reduce marks on ‘work’ submitted late; provide support.

3 D ’t i i t f t dit b i t k3. Don’t give points for extra credit or use bonus points; seek evidence of a higher level of achievement.

4. Don’t punish academic dishonesty with reduced grades; apply behavioral consequences and reassess.

5. Don’t consider attendance in grade determination; record only absences.

6. Don’t include group scores in grades; use only individual achievement evidence.

Fixes for low quality or poorly organized evidence

7. Don’t organize information around assessment methods; use standards/learning goals.

8. Don’t assign grades using inappropriate or unclear performance standards; provide clear descriptions.

9. Don’t assign grades based on student’s achievement compared to other students; use absolute standards.

10. Don’t rely on evidence from assessments that fail to meet standards of quality; check against standards.


59

Fixes for inappropriate number crunching

11. Don’t be a ‘mean’ teacher relying on ‘the average’ ‐ consider other measures of central tendency.

12 Don’t include zeros as a reflection of lack of12. Don t include zeros as a reflection of lack of achievement or as punishment; use alternatives, such as Incomplete.

Fixes to support the learning process13. Don’t use information from formative

assessments and practice to determine grades; use only summative evidence.

14. Don’t accumulate evidence over time and use all of it when learning is developmental and willof it when learning is developmental and will grow with time and repeated opportunities; emphasize recent achievement.

15. Don’t leave students out of the grading process‐they can play key roles that promote achievement; involve students.

Grades

should come from

body + performance + guidelinesof standards

a

evidence

i.e., professional judgmentNOT

just number crunching


60

For grades that are:

Consistent fix 8

Accurate fixes 1 2 3 4 5 6 9 10 11 12 (14)

Meaningful fix 7

Supportive of learning fixes 13 14 15

Guiding Principles of Effective Grading and Reporting

1. Grades and reports should be based on clearly specified learning goals and performance standards.

2. Evidence used for grading should be valid.3. Grading should be based on established

criteria, not norms.4. Not everything should be included in grades.5. Avoid grading based on (mean) averages.6. Focus on achievement and report other

factors separately.

Tomlinson, C.A., and J. McTighe, Integrating Differentiated Instruction and Understanding by Design, ASCD, 2006, Chapter 8, 128‐133

Givens ‐ quality assessment

‐ standards base‐ performance standards

WHAT SHOULD BE

INCLUDED IN A GRADE?

Musts ‐ academic achievement

separated from behaviors‐ summative only‐more recent emphasized

Desirable ‐ accurate number crunching

‐ student involvement


61

WHAT SHOULD NOT BE INCLUDED

IN A GRADE?

Effort

Participation

d Attitude

Behavior

Homework

Group work

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A Repair Kit: Fixes for Broken Grades - gifted-talented...

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