CHAPTER 6: A new vision of grading
1. Review your classroom’s current grading policies through the pillars of our vision: How accurate are they? How bias-resistant? How motivating?
2.How much does this book’s vision for equitable grading align with your own, personal vision for grading? What concerns do you have about this vision? What are your hopes? How much does this vision match against your school’s overall vision? How likely is it that your school community could agree on this vision?
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1. Review your classroom’s current grading policies through the pillars of our vision: How accurate are they? How bias-resistant? How motivating?
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed learning about the three pillars of the book’s vision. It was a clear way to understand the importance of an equitable grading system.
Each of my summative assessments are evaluated using a subject-specific rubric that demonstrates competency of the Middle Years Programme Arts Criteria: A) Knowing and understanding B) Developing skills C) Thinking creatively D) Responding. Because there are task-specific indicators and benchmarks for each rubric level, I believe that my grading policy is fairly accurate and clear. However, there is subjectivity in the rubric language for the level indicators such as whether a student demonstrates “excellent” use of musical elements or “substantial”, “adequate”, or “limited.”
Our school’s grading policy is informed by best practices of the International Baccalaureate program and does a good job of ensuring that it is bias-resistant. For example, there is no grading based on student behavior and social status (e.g. extra credit for bringing in supplies). As mentioned before, our summative tasks are scored using task specific rubrics and awarded based on the attainment of the objectives and standards as indicated by the criterion-based rubric.
I do believe that our assessment policy needs to do a better job of motivating students with intrinsic factors. We have the entire spectrum of learners from highly motivated to highly unmotivated. I will reflect more deeply on how I can change my practice in encouraging all students to be highly reflective in their learning. I will be more aware of students who choose not to accept support from peers. I will have one-on-one conversations with struggling students and pair them near supportive classmates who they feel comfortable with in learning alongside one another. I will emphasize that it’s okay to have the answer as long as they are willing to collaborate with others to seek a response.
2. How much does this book’s vision for equitable grading align with your own, personal vision for grading? What concerns do you have about this vision? What are your hopes? How much does this vision match against your school’s overall vision? How likely is it that your school community could agree on this vision?
I have always been highly critical of traditional grading practices but after reading the book so far, I am questioning whether I should learn how to work within the grading system that we have. I agree with the three pillars of the book’s vision. I am hopeful that my school culture will support equitable grading and that I will be able to encourage my administrators, teachers and students to embrace this philosophy. One of my concerns is that I am unable to convince very traditional minded colleagues to reimagine their current grading beliefs. I am looking forward to the monthly discussions where we can collectively brainstorm innovative solutions to support a more equitable grading system. I talked with a couple close colleagues from different grade level teams and departments and they felt like our school was scattered in our grading alignment but also believed in the three pillars from the book. We’re hoping to have more informal and formal discussions with other colleagues.
Hi Zachary! I noticed that your grading process for your Art curriculum seems like it fits the 3 pillars of equitable grading by being accurate and bias-resistant. You said that the grading could be more motivational and that seems to be my area of concern as well when trying to make learning more intrinsic. I feel like everyone needs to have something to motivate them. I always say that I love my job and feel so lucky to have it, but what if I did not get paid for the job. Would I still do it? Probably not since I also need money to survive. I wonder if we can also look at having rewards as a good thing. A way to make sure the students know we support them, find learning the content rewarding, and feel good about what they learned.
DeleteAloha Zachary- I noticed that you mentioned that while your rubrics allow you to grade accurately, there is subjectivity in the rubric language for the level indicators such as whether a student demonstrates “excellent” use of musical elements or “substantial”, “adequate”, or “limited.” I wonder what other words we can use in rubrics to make the language and grading more objective.
DeleteZach, like you, I am in the same situation. I noticed you mentioned that at NVMS, we grade only Summative, no behaviors or participation grade. I think that is fair. The challenge we have is motivating students. It is the intrinsic abilities that will take them far. Being an all inclusive elective, I wonder if they should make it more equitable and give us another teacher in the room for student who need support. They started that with math and science, why not art? I think this would improve our learning environment.
DeleteReview your classroom’s current grading policies through the pillars of our vision: How accurate are they? How bias-resistant? How motivating?
ReplyDeleteMy grading policy is difficult to determine if it is motivating. I believe that they are accurate because I take consistent data on the goals and standards I have for my students. In special education preschool we do not have grades. I do have goals on their IEPS and rate my students using the Hawaii Early Learning Development Standards. I also believe that my goals and standards are bias-resistant since they are specific standards set for Hawaii children. Students in Hawaii are diverse and have so many different cultures. My students do not know about these standards and goals, that is why they would not be motivating to the students. Students in preschool are motivated to learn because we make it fun and they learn through play.
How much does this book’s vision for equitable grading align with your own, personal vision for grading? What concerns do you have about this vision? What are your hopes? How much does this vision match against your school’s overall vision? How likely is it that your school community could agree on this vision?
I believe that this book’s vision for equitable grading aligns with my personal grading because the standards I use are accurate for my students and bias-resistant. The concerns I have about this vision are that my students are not motivated by grades, but instead motivated by having fun while learning. My hopes for my school would be to support the general education teachers in using the 3 pillars of equitable grading to primarily support a bias-resistant way of grading our students. Our school has a very diverse population that ranges from very effluent students to very poor or homeless students. The vision does match the school’s overall vision because our school uses the 7 habits of happy kids to support intrinsic motivation to learning. It's likely that my school community could agree on this vision.
Aloha Beth! I noticed that at your school there is a very diverse population that ranges from very effluent students to very poor or homeless students. I think it's so awesome that your school uses the 7 habits of happy kids to support intrinsic motivation to learning. I know you mentioned you are in an early childhood setting and that these students learn because you make it fun and they learn through play. I wonder if you have seen this type of learning happening in the high school level or if you have ever worked with secondary teachers to implement this type of learning that you described. I would love to have my high school students become more intrinsically motivated to work and to have them still have a lot of fun while cultivating a love of learning. At the high school level most kids just totally dread school and classroom time.
DeleteHello Beth, fellow special educator! First, I applaud you in working with such an impressionable age group. I have only had the privilege to teach preschool during ESY about 20 years ago and it was quite a "fun" time for me as well; I've been in secondary ever since.
DeleteI like to use IEPs to teach my fellow colleagues about the relationship between state standards and measurable goals. We then moved our conversation to goals and/or objectives for all students. I have noticed, for our ELA grade level cohort at least, that goals lead to standards-based instruction and we are finding a purpose for what we teach. Eventually, we can converse about standards-based grading =)!
I wonder if I will ever develop faith in my school's efforts to grade with equity. As Feldman states on page 68, "if we can make adjustments to how we grade to be more equitable, we can alter how our schools function." I hope my school will want to alter our function for the better and I am willing to be that advocate for change! Thank you for sharing your thoughts with us!
I noticed you stated, “Students in preschool are motivated to learn because we make it fun and they learn through play.” I strongly believe that learning is motivating in itself because it’s fun and can be learned through play. I wonder what that looks like at upper grades, intermediate, and high school? If we could figure out a way to make learning motivating and fun through play at every age level. Thank you for the insights!
DeleteHi Beth. I notice you struggle to determine if your grading system is motivating due to your subject matter. This is completely understandable. We are definitely blessed with a variety of cultures here on the Hawaiian Islands. This can serve to create challenges and also to benefit from: students need to learn to adapt to other cultures and languages. I wonder how you incorporate cultural activities to your young students that help them learn more about each other's ethnic backgrounds. Mahalo for sharing!
DeleteHi Beth, I noticed you said you were worried about your student motivation but said preschoolers are motivated to learn through play. I think play is a very important part of the learning process. I try to incorporate "Fun Fridays" into my weeks to have time for students to play. I wonder how you incorporate intentional play in your classroom to promote learning and motivate your students.Thank you for sharing your thoughts!
DeleteReview your classroom’s current grading policies through the pillars of our vision: How accurate are they? How bias-resistant? How motivating?
ReplyDeleteI think my grading policies have much to be improved on when it comes to accuracy, bias-resistant, and motivating. I honestly never consciously took these factors into consideration when I established my grading system, I just went with the traditional grading system of 0-100 across the board for all students. I felt like it was accurate because students get graded on correct/incorrect answers and work. I didn’t give too much thought to whether my grading was bias-resistant because I graded all students on the same scale. As for how motivating my grading policies are, I felt that the achievement of getting a good grade and the displeasure of getting a low grade was motivation enough.
2.How much does this book’s vision for equitable grading align with your own, personal vision for grading? What concerns do you have about this vision? What are your hopes? How much does this vision match against your school’s overall vision? How likely is it that your school community could agree on this vision?
From the reading of chapter 6 I learned that there are 3 parts or pillars to equitable grading: Accurate, bias-resistant, and motivational. When I analyze my personal vision for grading, I can see that I would like to have all 3 of these components but that I have never looked at my grading system through these 3 elements. My hope is to change my grading system and to implement a new one in which I will be able to serve my students and myself better. I believe that this vision matches up with my school’s vision, we would all like to see a more effective grading system. However, I think that it will be a challenge to get everyone to change over and to use a common grading system, as teachers have their own grading systems and philosophical beliefs on how and why they grade students.
Aloha!
DeleteI noticed that you had mentioned that probably after learning more about the 3 pillars you are going to analyze your own vision. I too would like to do the same and apply what I am learning about those pillars. I wonder if the change would be embraced by my own schools' leadership?
Hi Charme.
DeleteI notice you have been using a traditional grading system of 0-100 for all learners. This chapter has really forced us to reflect on how we are actually motivating our students to achieve success. I wonder how students would react if we were to adapt a new grading scale for the upcoming fourth quarter.
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DeleteCharme, it seems that change will be difficult for all even if we can all agree with the premises. I noticed you mentioned that individuals have their own philosophies and that is so true. It is difficult to get a large group of people on the same page, and individually want to be on that same page. We are talking about long held beliefs people are holding onto at the core of their practice and to break those down will be very difficult.
DeleteAloha Charme!
ReplyDeleteI appreciate your thoughts and insights in this post. It shows vulnerability and willingness for continued learning and application.
What I noticed, here at my school, is that our teachers wear "rose-colored lenses" when we reflect on our current practices in regards to grading and such. This was told to us by an Educational Officer in our district. I happened to agree with her 100%.
I wonder, for my school, of how long we are going to wear these lenses. I know it is important that we put into action the changes we only speak about. It begins with me (at least that's what I tell myself); to be an advocate for change and perhaps I can start with a better and more teachable attitude. Then we can get to work!
Aloha Charme, like you I went in to teaching and just did the grading thing. I noticed that you said you did not have biases and just graded the work. When I started teaching also, I felt t the same way and just used whatever system the school wanted me to. However, in art I noticed sometimes I would apply some bias. I would think, wait this student drew this? I wonder if not looking at my student name and just the work itself will be a better method of grading. This way the student is anonymous and teachers would just look at the work.
DeleteAloha Charme, I noticed you worried that everyone at your school might have difficulties changing their grading system. I feel the same way. Grading practices can be such a sensitive subject for teachers and its not always easy to change mindsets. I wonder how teachers can encourage others to implement better grading practices that are uniform school wide. Thanks for sharing! :)
Delete1. Review your classroom’s current grading policies through the pillars of our vision: How accurate are they? How bias-resistant? How motivating?
ReplyDeleteOh, boy! Current grading policies are a continuous headache for me. There is a grading policy in place but I am always uneasy about it. Having read Chapter Six of Feldman’s Grading for Equity, I am certain that our grading policy is questionable.
I am not a teacher-on-record in our grading system, therefore, I am not responsible for inputting grades onto the digital platform. However, I do work closely with my team to collaborate on our grading policies.
We use weighted-formula for grading and a 4-point rubric for the “questionable” student performance (students turning in at least 1 assignment all year). This practice alone is inaccurate, biased and demotivating. Even worse, students nor their parents are fully aware of what is done to socially promote their child using weights/rubrics and single-letter grades.
Yet, this is the struggle we have had for decades and it boggles my mind that we (including myself) are unable to come together to improve on this practice as a school. AND our Strive HI report shows “on-time” status of 98% for both 9th grade promotion and graduation.
Feldman uses the word truthful, “dignifying our students by telling them exactly where they are academically and what they need to be successful” (pg. 65). This’ll never happen if we don’t change our practices immediately!
2. How much does this book’s vision for equitable grading align with your own, personal vision for grading? What concerns do you have about this vision? What are your hopes? How much does this vision match against your school’s overall vision? How likely is it that your school community could agree on this vision?
My vision for grading is to use standards-based grading but it seems out of reach. I often hear that we don’t use standards-based grading at the high school level and my school has remained in this mindset for way too long.
Feldman talks about being coherent as opposed to being identical in our grading policies; allowing for minimum deviation as needed or “wiggle room” as he called it (pg. 67); but first we must get on the same page. That in itself will be a feat when different teachers have their own grading systems and we don’t articulate enough to seek commonalities.
There must be one or more individuals of our large number of teachers who may know what works with grading. We must invest in meeting together to have conversations on improving vertical alignment between grade levels.
Feldman says that when we are accurate, bias-resistant and motivational in our grading practices, we provide reliable and trustworthy information to our colleagues about all students (pg. 68). Maybe at that point our Strive HI reports are authentic and something we can truly be proud of!
I noticed that you envision a standards based grading platform and that the only way to create that possibility or change is to debate with the idea of traditional grading. Change is inevitable, as they say, but this change requires a loud voice from the crowd, led by a powerful leader. I wonder if change can come from within the school first, then spread into the community and district. It has to start from somewhere; it just needs to happen. Thank you for sharing!
DeleteHi Ceslee... I notice that you shared about how your school's grading practices are questionable. I am curious to know what policies you feel could be revised. I know at my school we have a fairly equitable assessment policy, however, ensuring that all of our teachers understand and implement the policy accurately is a whole different story. Although I agree that classroom teachers can do a lot by making changes to their personal grading practices, I also know that there becomes pushback from students who say that other teachers grade differently. Like you, I wonder how we will ever get on the same page with standards based grading. I think the DOE needs to take a firm stance and require that all middle and high schools implement standards-based grading policies. There is too much confusion in our current state.
DeleteCeslee, I noticed that you acknowledge that what is needed to accomplish this hard work is time. Administrators and educators alike must invest the time and commitment to having the conversations that allow for change to take place. In order for these philosophies and visions that Feldman speaks of to come to fruition, people need to be willing to commit to being open-minded and must let go of their egos.
DeleteGrading in my classroom is based on achieving proficiency, provided multiple attempts at learning the skills. In the elementary school setting, grading is based on accurate academic output, and not based on an average of scores, curves, or extra credit. I grade my students very similarly in that I collect data, so I can provide accurate evidence when assigning a grade to my students. The outcome is clear and concise so students/parents have no misunderstandings.
ReplyDeleteIn terms of the bias-resistant vision, I would like to say that my grading is solely based on performance, but I can’t say that 100% accurately. I mean, how do you not allow biases to cloud your judgment and perception of one student compared to another? I would like to continue grading based on performance and not biases, so it’s a good reminder to keep in mind.
I believe I am a very strong proponent for self confidence and motivation when it comes to encouragement in my students. I have always provided positive praise of work ethic and effort, as well as learning from mistakes to be a better person.
I agree that grading should be based on the three pillars; accuracy, bias-resistant, and motivation. As I mentioned in question 1’s response, grading should be based more on a standards based perspective; did the student meet proficiency or not, allow opportunities for the skill to be learned and performed, and focus just on students’ output and not who they are on the outside. I am humbled to hear my grading philosophy closely reflects the three pillar’s vision. At the same token, my school motivates students by utilizing the growth mindset mentality, which eases the anxiety of grading and focuses more on “why” they are in school, compared to feeling pressured to perform using grades.
Aloha Matthew,
DeleteRight when I read your comment I related to it probably because I teach in the elementary school setting too! I remember averaging students scores when I began teaching but don't really do that anymore as I just look at how they are performing to the standard. Giving them multiple opportunities to show what they learn is always been the hard thing for me as a major factor hindering this practice is time.
Matthew,
DeleteI noticed that you stated that you provide accurate evidence when assigning a grade, so students and parents have no misunderstandings. I wonder, how you go about sharing the final grade & evidence to back it up? Do you have portfolios and rubrics or do you have another system? I am very interested in finding a simpler way to collect and share data with students/families in correlation with each student's grades.
I notice that although you are striving to be bias free, you are very realistic about the possibility that you are not. I think this is what the book in this section is really trying to get us to realize. That although we have goals of being bias free, to assume that we alone are able to reach that and to not take into consideration that we might have some bias tucked away subconsciously would be doing a disservice to our students. It is important that we can objectively look at ourselves and recognize that we many not be perfect, but as long as we are striving to improve then we can be proud.
DeleteI wonder what your school's culture is like to promote the growth mindset mentality and how we can transfer this to other schools so that all students can have the opportunity to be in a school like that.
Review your classroom’s current grading policies through the pillars of our vision: How accurate are they? How bias-resistant? How motivating?
ReplyDeleteAs I look at my own art grading policies, there is room for improvement to align with the pillars. In Art, students are graded on 1 thing, Summative Projects. No grades for homework, participation, or small assignments. All formative tasks just get a mark, either a check (ok), plus (met and more), or minus (did not meet). So the students know, or are told that the summative work is the only grade that “counts.” In this way I think it is very accurate and clear. There are no shenanigans. No homework or participation grade. To help the student understand what grade they will get, each summative has a rubric with 2 descriptors. One descriptor is the International Baccalaureate designation, and the other the Niu Valley one. They describe in some detail what performance goals need to be present to get a certain grade. So, with this, I really like it because you can always compare the artwork to the rubric. Sometimes, the student will disagree with you, but in most cases you can say, ‘you are missing this and this.’ So, I feel as long as the rubric is clear and I can show art samples of work that are exemplars, students have an accurate view of what they need to do to get a desired grade. As far as being bias-resistant, in art, I try not to think of who created it, but only look at the artwork. This way, I am only judging the art, so in general, I do feel I don’t hold strong biases in class. Lastly, is my grading policy motivational? That is difficult to answer. I really feel most kids come into art class wanting to do well and have a good time. They feel less stressed in art but are motivated to create aesthetically pleasing things. I think most have an intrinsic motivation, not motivation from the grading policy.
How much does this book’s vision for equitable grading align with your own, personal vision for grading? What concerns do you have about this vision? What are your hopes? How much does this vision match against your school’s overall vision? How likely is it that your school community could agree on this vision?
I’ve been working at an International Baccalaureate school for about 10 years. So I kind of had to transition to how I looked at grading art. Overall, I think the equitable grading system aligns in some ways with my personal vision. I like the fact that it is bias resistant and motivational. I think these 2 things are very critical in art making. I really believe in trying to support students as much as I can with challenging and meaningful projects. This in itself engages students to work hard and not be so fixed on a grade, but making something they believe is beautiful. The only concern I have with art is accuracy. Since art can be very subjective, the objectives must be clear so that students understand what skills must be met. I think at my school, they are trying to be progressive. We give out an International Grade, a number, and the students also get a DOE report card. (A-F) At Niu Valley only summative works affect your grade. Participation, homework, or behavior has no impact on your grade! So I think that we are striving to make our school relevant and meaningful to students as we work around being a state school.
Hi Jeff! I noticed that you teach art and make challenging and meaningful art. This in itself shows that you are motivating your students with the work that they are doing and not by the grade they are getting. Everyone can see Art and I would not want to anything put on display that is not my best work. I wonder if we put other types of work on display that students would be more motivated to make it their best. I also think that all students work should be displayed and not just the top of the classes work. Then this would take away from the competition aspect since we do not want others to think that their fellow classmates have to lose so they can win.
DeleteReview your classroom’s current grading policies through the pillars of our vision: How accurate are they? How bias-resistant? How motivating?
DeleteUpon reviewing my classroom’s current grading policies, I realize I have a few considerations to modify for the benefit of all student learners. My grading policies are inconsistent and skewed. Currently I use a point system for all assignments. Class work activities, homework, and group assignments tend to be valued much less than projects, presentations, quizzes, and exams. Students have the opportunity to earn more points for presenting in the target language because as a level one language class I truly believe that is the most valuable aspect of second language acquisition- speaking. The bias comes with my inconsistency when students are absent and submit late work. Sometimes I award full credit to students because they had an excused absence, and other times students earn partial credit. I recognize that this needs to be adjusted immediately. I think my students are more motivated to perform to higher standards when they are given a project or presentation. Some feel a bit shy to present in front of an audience, especially in a second language, so this forces them to prepare more.
How much does this book’s vision for equitable grading align with your own, personal vision for grading? What concerns do you have about this vision? What are your hopes? How much does this vision match against your school’s overall vision? How likely is it that your school community could agree on this vision?
Feldman’s explanation of the three pillars to equitable grading include: accuracy, bias-resistant, and motivational. This book’s vision makes perfect sense to me. This chapter really forced me to reflect on my grading practices as a teacher and realize that I need to adapt a more equitable grading policy. I am a bit concerned on how to properly approach the bias-resistant pillar of equitable grading. Sometimes students really do suffer from things beyond their circle of control, and therefore need a break on a particular assignment. Hopefully I can figure out a way to make this clear and consistent for all learners. My hope is that my grading improves and that after this course I am able to share what I have adopted with other coworkers. The only group of teachers at my school that are all one hundred percent aligned with grading is our freshman academy. I would like to sit down with them and have them explain to me how the students we share can be passing with a C grade, although their percentage is only 55%. For my scale, that would be an F grade. I highly doubt our entire school community would ever be able to come to any consensus, since some veteran teachers refuse to even have this discussion. I strongly feel the only way the entire school community would agree on a new grading system is if it were mandated from the State.
Hi Melissa,
DeleteI noticed that you stated that it would be all most impossible for a school community to agree on one grading systems and I totally see that. Just trying to create a team syllabus took a lot of debate and compromise. To do it on a larger scale would be very difficult. With that said, I do think most teachers want their grades to be accurate, free from bias, and to help motivate their students. The question really is how do we do that effectively? This is where it will be hard to agree.
Review your classroom’s current grading policies through the pillars of our vision: How accurate are they? How bias-resistant? How motivating?
ReplyDeleteMy grading system includes rubrics, checklists, reflection, goal setting, student/teacher conferences, redos and retakes, attempted portfolios (need to work on this), and recently changed to grading categories based on standards. I believe that these parts of my system help my grades to be accurate, less bias, and help motivate my students. I think I am heading down the right path, but still have some work to do. I would like to work on making grades simple to understand for all stakeholders. Also, find a way to instill the necessary “soft skills,” but at the same time have my grades reflect what the students know and are able to do.
How much does this book’s vision for equitable grading align with your own, personal vision for grading? What concerns do you have about this vision? What are your hopes? How much does this vision match against your school’s overall vision? How likely is it that your school community could agree on this vision?
The vision of accurate, bias free, motivating grades is an easy vision to get on board with and I think most of the school community could agree to the vision. The hard part is figuring out a way to put this vision into practice in a way that aligns with your teaching philosophy.. How would teachers have to change their current practice to meet the visions expectations? My concern with the vision is that it might not necessarily match the realities of the society in which we live in and we are trying to prepare our students for. My hope is that what students learn in my class will help to prepare them for their futures and I would like my grades to reflect this learning.
Aloha Christine, thank you for sharing.
DeleteI noticed how you're keeping your grading is simple and obtainable, which is a great aspiration to have and touches all three pillars. You're blazing the path that we can strive to follow, amazing!
I wonder if your school's vision can be changed? My school went through a mission and vision change, first starting within our department and then to the whole school. It took about a month of staff meetings to finally settle on a new vision that moved with 21st century advances, versus our older vision which was created before technology was accessible in the classrooms. It doesn't hurt to ask for an updated version, just dodge or hide when they may ask you to find other teachers to brainstorm. teehee.
Hi Christine,
DeleteI noticed this sentence that you wrote "My concern with the vision is that it might not necessarily match the realities of the society in which we live in and we are trying to prepare our students for" and I really agree with you on this. I wonder if the idealism of Mr. Feldman actually aligns with his personal experiences, because his idealism does not align with my experiences and because of that I wonder what impact the implementation of his philosophies could have in the long run.
Review your classroom’s current grading policies through the pillars of our vision: How accurate are they? How bias-resistant? How motivating?
ReplyDeleteI feel that as far as my grading in my classroom goes they are as accurate as my data collection is. In the elementary school setting grades are all based on how close or far students are to “meeting proficiency.” Students are given opportunities to show their understanding of standards through many different avenues such as chapter tests, quizzes, observations, exit passes and projects. I’d like to say that my grading system is cleared from being biased but I don’t think I could say that with a clear conscience. Motivation I feel is found in more of the delivery of my lessons. I try to give them choice in their learning and also in assessment. At such a young age making learning a “fun” thing to do helps to motivate students in their learning.
How much does this book’s vision for equitable grading align with your own, personal vision for grading? What concerns do you have about this vision? What are your hopes? How much does this vision match against your school’s overall vision? How likely is it that your school community could agree on this vision?
I love reading this book so far. In many ways it puts my ideas and beliefs into words in better ways than I could explain. My actual application of the vision may not reflect what you see in my class but feel that it is because of a lot of restrictions put on because of school vision or practices. Starting within my own classroom and grading systems is a place that I think that I could make a difference. I am hoping that after learning more about the 3 pillars and how to adapt them better in my grading system, I can make changes that are necessary. There are many things at my school that go against the vision that is found in this book. Finding the right balance I guess would be what I would have to plan to do. It is very hard when there are strict schedules in place and also restrictions on what and how it is taught at my school. I feel that this book would help me to find ways around these roadblocks. Introducing this book to key individuals in our leadership group would help to get the vision across to my school community.
Hi Dayton,
DeleteThanks for sharing. Looks like we have the same feelings about what effective grading should look like. I noticed that you mentioned frustrations in our restrictions at school. I totally agree that teachers as professionals should have more of a voice in their schedules and how lessons are taught and graded in their classroom. Do you think that with more trust in faculty and background on this vision our admin would be more open to change?
Hi Dayton... I notice you shared that making learning "fun" helps to motivate students in their learning. I wonder what learning activities you have used to make learning fun for your students. With so many of my middle school students bored with school, I am always seeking creative ways to engage them. I also notice that you shared about how there are strict restrictions on scheduling and curriculum at your school. I was hopeful that through the pandemic we would come up with more flexible learning schedules to best meet the needs of our students. At my school, we have students in 80 minute periods four days out of the week. 60% of our faculty like this schedule and nothing against our students but I know for a fact that many students are not using the time appropriately.
DeleteVal Shindo-Uehira
DeleteHi Dayton,
Thank you for sharing your thoughts. I also feel that the policies created by our schools restrict us from incorporating some of the strategies found within this book. I think in order to be effective, it should start at the top and therefore, I also agree that this book should be shared with our administrators. Finding the right balance between our school policies and what we are currently learning in this class is a great start that will lead to greater student performance.
Review your classroom’s current grading policies through the pillars of our vision: How accurate are they? How bias-resistant? How motivating?
ReplyDeleteThrough the three pillars of vision: accuracy, bias-resistant, and motivational, I believe my classroom’s current grading policies could be improved. I grade through performance based assessments, self-assessments, individual conferences, interactive notebooks, and discussions, which I believe provides an accurate and bias-resistant grade for my students. I work towards creating a growth-mindset in the classroom and hope this provides motivation for my students. I say that my practices could be improved because I would like to be completely transparent with my students in a way that is easy for them to understand.
Recently, I have been including self-assessments for students to reflect on. I use these self-assessments in hopes students will become more motivated to grow. I have found that it has increased student motivation and helped me provide a more accurate account of student growth.
How much does this book’s vision for equitable grading align with your own, personal vision for grading? What concerns do you have about this vision? What are your hopes? How much does this vision match against your school’s overall vision? How likely is it that your school community could agree on this vision?
I believe that the book’s vision for equitable grading aligns with my own vision for grading and what I hope grading to be. I understand the weight society places on student grades and how they can impact individual student’s lives. Grading should reflect the growth of the individual and their proficiency in the learning targets. Sadly, I think many are unclear about the implications of grading and do not know how to begin to implement this vision in their current grading practices. I worry that this vision may intimidate many who are comfortable with the traditional grading system. I hope that our educational system could support the three pillars the book mentions.
I think the vision matches what my school hopes to accomplish, but not what my school is currently practicing. We still fall into the same traditional grading. Many students feel demotivated by grades and expect to fail. I believe that my entire school community would agree on this type of mission. I think we all want the best for our students and hope to give them the greatest opportunities for success.
Hi J,
DeleteI noticed that you mentioned that you use self-assessments and that you have seen an increase in student motivation. I have also used more self-assessments at the end of my lessons as well. I also try to have my students reflect on their current progress, so that they are constantly thinking about their growth. I see that you also mentioned that your school is sadly still doing a lot of traditional grading. Like my school, I think majority of the faculty would agree about the vision of grades, however somewhere along the way conversations get lost and there is other things that teachers need to take care of. I hope that we can start to move towards this new frame of mind and provide more opportunities for students to be successful as well.
Aloha J,
DeleteI noticed that you and Krystin both use self-assessments and reflections. I'm wondering what kind of questions you ask and how you model to students that you really want them to think deeply on the reflection instead of writing cursory and short answers to the questions just to get it done. How do you get them to value the reflection process as well, instead of seeing it as more work to do? Do you feel like all students across the board respond well, or that there are still certain populations that have a harder time completing the reflection too? How do you motivate those students if you have any?
My current classroom grading policies are by far from perfect. However, I must say that my grading vision has been something that I am working to improve. With this course and by reading this book I have gained a little more understanding and confidence of how my grading must shift. Equitable grading includes 3 important pillars: grading that is accurate, bias-resistant, and motivational. I can confidently say that currently my grading meets all 3 pillars. I constantly assess my students' understanding of what they are learning before, during and after they have learned new material. We have conversations and conferences together about setting goals and thinking of ways that they can improve in their understanding of their learning. My feedback on their daily exit slips are very specific and after identifying their misconceptions and needs, I work with them to grow from their starting point. I do use a point system in some of my grading, but it is mostly just to upkeep grades on my Google Classroom. However, I do use the Advanced, Proficient, Partially Proficient, and Novice grading labels as private comments. I also use specific and targeted rubrics for grading assignments and projects that align with our state standards. I would also say that my grades are bias-resistant, where I give equity to all students. The one area of my grading that I am working to improve is motivation. With many students this year and last year I had difficulties with having them stay motivated. After I started to incorporate goal setting into my teaching, I have found that more and more students have become more successful than they were at the beginning of the school year.
ReplyDeleteHow much does this book’s vision for equitable grading align with your own, personal vision for grading? What concerns do you have about this vision? What are your hopes? How much does this vision match against your school’s overall vision? How likely is it that your school community could agree on this vision? Personally, I love reading this book so far. There are many times where I say to myself, “That is exactly what I was thinking!” The vision for equitable grading totally fits my personal and professional standards of how grading should be. I do have concerns about the pillars and how bias-resistant, motivation and grade level to grade level coherence might clash against my school’s current vision. Currently there are so many things that are happening to our curriculum at the same time. I feel that due to WASC and Administrations beliefs, much of the great things that I have learned in this course may never be implemented or even considered. Our school community is a work in progress, and there are many ways that I think that equitable grading could help build back our community if we are to agree and hear teachers' voices on what is currently going on in our classrooms. I would say that relieving the pressure of focusing on test scores and many other things takes away from creating an environment where students are not afraid to make mistakes and move forward from where they are. I can honestly say that our school community needs to have these types of conversations and professional development help in order to make things happen and change for the better at our school.
Aloha Krystin, thank you for sharing.
DeleteI noticed how confident you are in your grading and how you structured your lessons with covert and overt strategies. Great work! I find myself struggling with motivational formatives to create student engagement. Hopefully, as a new normal is created so will their behavior in academics. I wonder if at your school's next WASC discussion for assessments, ideas and practices from this book could be brought up to help create a new school vision. I agree that teachers can and should be more involved with PTA and SCC to strengthen your school community needs. I often wonder if parents fully understand how to read their child/ren's report card if there wasn't a parent teacher conference.
I notice that we share many ideals for how our own grading system can be improved by focusing on things like grading equity and motivation. Motivation has been a tricky thing for me this year as well, it seems that many students aren't motivated by much of anything, whether it is learning to learn or grades.
DeleteI wonder how we could communicate the necessity of this topic to a school going through WASC and so many other challenges. It seems like it should fit in pretty well, but clearly many schools and communities have other things to worry about right now.
Part 1:
ReplyDelete1. Review your classroom’s current grading policies through the pillars of our vision: How accurate are they? How bias-resistant? How motivating?
I’ll share one of my three lines that I teach this year. I learned over the years of teaching Ukulele, that I couldn’t grade with letters if I didn’t have any goals/standards that matched the grades. Currently, I’ve been using a Rubric I’ve created two years ago to set goals for the students to reach perfection/mastery. I’ve seen students join my class having no music experience and then finish the semester learning how to play more than fifteen songs from start to finish with less than 5 errors/mistakes per song. My students appreciate the rubric because they’re able to see in detail where they need to improve on versus me verbally telling them. They can retake any performance assessment as many times as they would like during testing week or scheduling an appointment after school to better their scores on the rubric. They feel motivated to do well and master the goals/standards once they see what they’re being tested on - which I give to my students at the start of each term and mid-term. They receive a copy of the rubric in their Google Classroom, the songs they’ll be learning in Ukulele/Guitar, How to videos for each song and digital copies of the songs - along with their music folders to mark up their music sheets (graphic organizer).
Changes to my practice were from trial and error of grading my students. I went one semester grading my students on task completion - it seems I was biased, I would give better grades to students who knew how to play than those that didn’t, until I had to take a class on how to create assessments. Sitting with a mentor we went over what I expect my students to accomplish each term and how I needed to create standards if I wasn’t able to find any Hawaii State standards for Ukulele. This mentor helped me prepare lesson plans, formative and performance assessment (summative). I was able to move away from being biased about my grading and score everyone equitably.
I will implement in the future an advanced Ukulele/Guitar class rubric for my students. My class is growing with incoming numbers for next school year and I’m able to expand and advance my class - which means, creating new standards/goals for Ukulele II & III, Guitar II & Guitar III courses.
Part II:
ReplyDelete2. I learned in this chapter that having accurate, bias-resistant and motivational grading is like a trinity all teachers strive to achieve in their teaching and grading practices. But do we act like ‘borromean rings’ and each ring is an equal part or is one or two parts greater than the other - like a ‘conway sphere’. I often find myself tipping in the direction of a ‘conway sphere’ where motivational grading carries more weight than accurate and bias-resistant. But we’ll learn more about this in the next chapter.
Changes to my practice will be how to figure out this balance of all three pillars. That when all three pillars or rings meet in the central point - like a ‘venn diagram’ will this form of grading fit all of my students equitably or will I have to adjust for the various levels of academics, cognitive thinking, physical disability, etcs? After reading this chapter, it made me think of how my course alike creates our rubric for each summative. Were we creating our grading style like this because it fit the criteria of what our school wanted? Does our rubric meet the checklist of the three pillars? “I propose that we envision grading not as identical from teacher to teacher with no deviation, but as coherent across teachers who share a common understanding about grading and use a comment set of practices that allow reasonable wiggle room.” (Ch. 6, pg. 67)
I will implement this vision because it is worth creating an equitable grading platform for all students, period. It will take a lot of ‘wiggle room’ or ‘adjustments’ because no class is the same for each semester/term. As a teacher, you’ll gain the gift of discernment in knowing what supports and services your students need to succeed.
Aloha Shantell! I noticed your wondering about how much value you should give on each of the three pillars of equitable grading practices. I like your analogies and they are great aha's for me. I agree with you when you said you need to be figuring out how to balance the three pillars in your context. I agree that we really need to be taking into account the different student population that we are working with, which poses adjustment and tweaking in everything that we do, so as to achieve and reflect equity. In addition, almost everything about grading is accounted for by teachers on record. I just wonder how could all in the schooling community be on board in this pursuit of equitable grading since most of the time, what wins is the norm and deviating from the norm is tagged as being radical. I also wonder how this equitable grading system can possibly be streamlined in all grade levels. Mahalo for your insights!
DeleteVal Shindo-Uehira
DeleteHi Shantelle,
I noticed your wondering about how to balance the three pillars and whether this will create a grading policy that is fit for all students. Sometimes one size does not fit all. I also share your thoughts about having some "wiggle" room to accommodate those students for whom our revised grading policies are still not equitable.
1. Review your classroom’s current grading policies through the pillars of our vision: How accurate are they? How bias-resistant? How motivating?
ReplyDeleteThe pillars of the vision are Accurate, Bias-Resistant, and Motivational. My grading system is currently weighted, about 10% for labs and activities, about 40% for homework and about 50% for tests and assessments. This does complicate the math aspect of my grades, and through this class I am starting to realize how this can be complicated and misleading. This quarter I have not added many homework grades, and I can see how that has positively impacted how my students' grades more closely reflect their grades on assessments. In terms of how Bias Resistant, I would hope they are, but I know they are not fully because the same groups of students who typically do poorly are still doing poorly. Namely my Micronesian students struggle the most as well as my Special education students. Many of the reasons for this are multiple absences, which causes them to then be behind, but also the fact that these students rarely ask for help and sometimes won't even accept help also complicates this. This is still an area of my teaching that I am working on to improve. In terms of Motivational, I am undecided. I recently gave my students an assessment on Gravity and Projectiles. Although many students did well, there were some students who failed. However, the students who failed (except for 1) are still passing the course, so I am wondering how motivated they will be to do quiz corrections, although I am planning on making them mandatory so that they don't have a choice to simply take their grade as is, which is what I know many of them would do. We can change our grading policies all we want, but it is still ingrained in most of our students who be grades and points motivated and 1 year of science class won't completely undo 9 years of schooling.
2.How much does this book’s vision for equitable grading align with your own, personal vision for grading? What concerns do you have about this vision? What are your hopes? How much does this vision match against your school’s overall vision? How likely is it that your school community could agree on this vision?
I am very optimistic that I will be able to find ways to improve my grading so that I will have a very clear understanding of which students can master the standards and which can not. However, I am starting to become very aware that this can not simply be done with grading alone. This kind of grading is no better than any other kind if the class is not rigorous, if the assessments don't actually assess the standards, and if the grading allows to lots of wiggle room which may include cheating to "prove" that you know how to complete a standard. This is an area which I am very interested to see what this book has to say in terms of recommendations for practice. When the book idealizes having all teachers in a grade, school, or district grading the same way I think they are assuming that all teachers are the same, meaning they all have a thorough understanding of their own standards, how to teach the standards, and then how to assess them correctly. Just like students, teachers are not all the same, they do not all have the same understanding of their content, the same understanding of good teaching practices, or the same understanding of effective and informative assessments. Without a standardized way to assessing students that objectively says whether or not the students have met the standard (meaning the same tests or projects with the same rubrics), I don't actually think that this type of grading would accomplish anything.
Aloha Jessica,
DeleteI noticed you teach science too! I also feel like there are certain groups of students (special education being one population) that is less motivated than others. I literally had one of my students say that he's ok with failing and repeating the grade, and another told me today that their parents are ok with them failing a quarter as long as they don't fail the year!
I wonder what's the best way to motivate these students who have learned over the past years that they're "not smart", or whose parents say it'll even out in the end so it's ok to try sometimes and not try others. and again, I know handfuls of students who are cheating and sharing documents in order to get the work done, they don't necessarily care about their own learning as long as it means less work for them (maybe because they've been disappointed over and over and grades have told them they can't do it so why bother to try?). While we can't control what beliefs they carry into the classroom, how can we inspire and motivate them in healthy ways to want to achieve and to believe that they can?
You brought up a good point--I agree with you that it's easy to adjust the rigor to get a satisfactory grade, and that teachers with varying degrees of knowledge will grade differently. We are not cookie-cutter schools, but perhaps if we all have a similar grading philosophy, it will help teach our students the things that are more important--that it's ok to make mistakes, and it's good to try and better yourself (and we would hope, by extension, society)?
Review your classroom’s current grading policies through the pillars of our vision: How accurate are they? How bias-resistant? How motivating?
ReplyDeleteMy classroom’s current grading policies are changing through the process of this course, so I will reflect on my grading practices prior to reading the book! Before this class, I was of the mindset that deadlines are important to teach students how to manage their time better, and that if they turn something in late, a minor late penalty would motivate them to turn it in on time (although I don’t actually bring the penalty over to their quarter grades), and also teach them how the “real world” works (for instance, late penalties with financial institutions, or meeting deadlines at work). I also thought that students should not be allowed to redo summatives because it teaches them how to study and manage their time well. Primarily with tests, I didn’t want students to look at the test, then realize what they should study for, and then have to take a second version of the test. I wanted to encourage them to learn how to study since they will need to for things like a drivers test, or in numerous jobs there are tests for certification or promotion. Because we’re a standards based school, students were not penalized for mistakes in their formative learning, and the Next Generation Science Standards actually encourage students to make mistakes and then revise their thinking. It also allows room for teacher discretion if students trend upwards or or have extenuating family circumstances. We also grade according to an 8 point rubric for all summative assessments, so I do feel like it was relatively accurate for that reason (again, the penalty didn’t carry over to their quarter grade). Although penalties motivate some (for the wrong reasons), it also demotivates others who don’t turn things in if it is late or incomplete. It also doesn’t allow students to take the time they need to demonstrate quality learning, since some students would rush. Late penalties also lead to bias as well, and formative learning and participation do contribute to bumping a student’s grade up if they’re borderline, so it leads to additional bias.
That said, I am currently allowing redo’s in formative assessments, and I have moved away from penalties for late summative work. Students now are asked to bring in a parent note so we all understand what happened, however, in typing this I see how it could be biased as well (penalizing students whose parents are less involved, or who work the night shift).
How much does this book’s vision for equitable grading align with your own, personal vision for grading? What concerns do you have about this vision? What are your hopes? How much does this vision match against your school’s overall vision? How likely is it that your school community could agree on this vision?
It is definitely a shift in thinking for me, however, I can see how the changes are beneficial and allow students to feel safe in making mistakes and taking risks, which are very important skills to learn. A concern I have is that we’re not setting them up well for success in high school and in college, and later on in life there are generally penalties for turning in work late, or especially for turning in financial matters late. I suppose they can continue to learn those lessons through making mistakes, but those mistakes can be costly and I’d rather them learn it in a safe environment where the stakes are low. I think on the whole, my school’s vision does align with the vision of the book--there is no late work policy, we don’t use points or have participation grades, and formative work is for the most part not tied into their grades (though it can be).
Val Shindo-Uehira
ReplyDelete1-Review your classroom’s current grading policies through the pillars of our vision: How accurate are they? How bias-resistant? How motivating?
When reflecting upon my current grading policies through the pillars, I feel that my grades are moderately accurate as they do not include any behavioral aspects. I also allow students to turn in late work (up until the end of a unit) as well as provide timely feedback and opportunities for improvement (revisions). I do not assign extra credit because I feel that the students who need this opportunity are not the one who will complete the extra work. As for being bias-resistant, I try not to read student names as I am grading work. This helps to reduce the chance of having preconceived ideas of what the student should or cannot do. I would also hope that my grading practices motivate students to do their best. Students are encouraged to complete revisions on both formative and summative assessments. I feel that students should be given opportunities to show growth in their learning.
2-How much does this book’s vision for equitable grading align with your own, personal vision for grading? What concerns do you have about this vision? What are your hopes? How much does this vision match against your school’s overall vision? How likely is it that your school community could agree on this vision?
I feel that this book’s vision for equitable grading, for the most part, aligns with my own personal vision for grading. As in the book, I do not include soft-skills in student grades, I do allow late work to be turned in without penalty and I also provide students multiple opportunities to demonstrate proficiency on a benchmark. It was reassuring to know that my grading policies and vision are moving in the right direction. The one concern that I continue to struggle with is the 50% minimum score. As a school we currently have a 4 point grading scale based on standards (4-exceeds, 3-meets, 2-approaching and 1-well below) and I have assigned scores below 50% to students who could not demonstrate their understanding of concepts and/or application of the skills being taught. My question is if the student is unable to meet the requirements set forth in the rubric or respond correctly to the prompts/questions, how can that be 50%. By assigning a 50% that indicates that a student has some understanding but may still need help, a student who is unable to answer any questions or proficiently meet the criteria in the rubric shows a lack of understanding. Therefore, I am still struggling with this concept. I think over time my school may be able to agree on a common vision in regards to grading. I can see where teachers in my school may not agree on policies that address late work or 50% minimum scores. My hope is that whatever model is agreed upon in the future is equitable and will help to motivate students and support their success in school
Aloha Val! I noticed through your entry that you try not to read students names when grading a student output because of preconceived notions. I also do this when I grade students because I don't want my implicit bias to interfere with my objectivity in grading and that I always have my rubrics side by side with the student work so I could grade it accurately. I also noticed in your response to the second question that your school's grading scale's descriptive details include 4-exceeds. I then wonder if it could be another equity issue because of the fact that students in subgroups like EL and Sped most probably could not reach 4-exceeds and thus, hindering them to receive an A. Mahalo for your insights!
DeleteHello Val, I notice you do many of the things I also do in my classes (and for the same reasons); "When reflecting upon my current grading policies through the pillars, I feel that my grades are moderately accurate as they do not include any behavioral aspects. I also allow students to turn in late work (up until the end of a unit) as well as provide timely feedback and opportunities for improvement (revisions). I do not assign extra credit because I feel that the students who need this opportunity are not the one who will complete the extra work. As for being bias-resistant, I try not to read student names as I am grading work. This helps to reduce the chance of having preconceived ideas of what the student should or cannot do. I would also hope that my grading practices motivate students to do their best." I wonder if you are able to share your grading practices with colleagues who may struggle or who use points and penalties (to change behavior, not check for content mastery/standards proficiency).
Delete1. Review your classroom’s current grading policies through the pillars of our vision: How accurate are they? How bias-resistant? How motivating?
ReplyDeleteIf I am the only one reviewing my current grading policy, I would say that it is somehow aligned to the three pillars, but would need modifications based on the following: I am teaching a Content-based ESL (ELA) and that there has really been no directives as to how students are to be graded and what criteria need to be included. As of now, since I am teaching ELA, I have the ELA criteria: Reading, Writing, Speaking and Listening and Language with 25% weight for each. However, if taking the ESL lens, as aligned to WIDA, the criteria could be Reading, Listening, Speaking and Writing and percentages may again vary. In spite of that confusion, I still have the elements of accuracy with the presence of rubrics, redo and retakes, multiple and varied opportunities to show mastery of the standard and I grade based on the standards without the attributes like participation, attendance, behavior, etc. As to being bias-resistant, I try my best not to become biased, but often question since I am grading a homogeneous class, not a heterogeneous class. I still wonder what difference would it make on how I grade students’ outputs when English Language Learners are in my class with their non-English Learner peers.
I can say that my grading policy is motivating because although the ELs in my roster are below grade level in reading and academic performance, I am still delivering academic rigor and that I see the students have a “productive struggle”. I have students develop their listening, reading, speaking and writing skills and make sure that they have opportunities to revise and redo whatever work they have submitted to meet the rubrics set. I also don’t let the students consider grade as the end goal, rather focus more on the journey. I also have them focus their thinking on having mistakes, errors and failures as great learning opportunities and that every single achievement, no matter how small, is already a success.
2.How much does this book’s vision for equitable grading align with your own, personal vision for grading? What concerns do you have about this vision? What are your hopes? How much does this vision match against your school’s overall vision? How likely is it that your school community could agree on this vision?
I am a great advocate for equity and student agency which is directly aligned with the book’s vision for equitable grading. I envision everyone working towards standards-based grading to achieve equitable teaching and learning.
My concern with this vision is on how we could encourage everyone to be on board with the grading shifts because admit it or not, the most difficult to change is the mindset and it takes a complete shift of mindset before one could be open at even examining his current grading practices and reflecting on what is currently wrong so he can set it right. I am just hoping that the HIDOE will focus more on the grading element of education, determine what pieces serve as barriers in achieving an accurate, bias-resistant and motivating grading system and resolve them and create a streamline all throughout the educational community so that everyone will be following the same thing at the same time.
I believe our school is working towards standards-based grading, however with the limitations set by just having one teacher per grade level in the elementary and one teacher per content area in the secondary level, vertical and horizontal articulation is not carried out effectively. Our school will surely agree on the vision of providing an accurate, bias-resistant and motivating grading system but it would need to provide all teachers PD courses on this kind of more efficient grading and there should be a good system of implementation and monitoring if this thing is carried out with fidelity across grade levels and content areas.
Pinky Grace Francisco
ReplyDelete1. Review your classroom’s current grading policies through the pillars of our vision: How accurate are they? How bias-resistant? How motivating?
If I am the only one reviewing my current grading policy, I would say that it is somehow aligned to the three pillars, but would need modifications based on the following: I am teaching a Content-based ESL (ELA) and that there has really been no directives as to how students are to be graded and what criteria need to be included. As of now, since I am teaching ELA, I have the ELA criteria: Reading, Writing, Speaking and Listening and Language with 25% weight for each. However, if taking the ESL lens, as aligned to WIDA, the criteria could be Reading, Listening, Speaking and Writing and percentages may again vary. In spite of that confusion, I still have the elements of accuracy with the presence of rubrics, redo and retakes, multiple and varied opportunities to show mastery of the standard and I grade based on the standards without the attributes like participation, attendance, behavior, etc. As to being bias-resistant, I try my best not to become biased, but often question since I am grading a homogeneous class, not a heterogeneous class. I still wonder what difference would it make on how I grade students’ outputs when English Language Learners are in my class with their non-English Learner peers.
I can say that my grading policy is motivating because although the ELs in my roster are below grade level in reading and academic performance, I am still delivering academic rigor and that I see the students have a “productive struggle”. I have students develop their listening, reading, speaking and writing skills and make sure that they have opportunities to revise and redo whatever work they have submitted to meet the rubrics set. I also don’t let the students consider grade as the end goal, rather focus more on the journey. I also have them focus their thinking on having mistakes, errors and failures as great learning opportunities and that every single achievement, no matter how small, is already a success.
2.How much does this book’s vision for equitable grading align with your own, personal vision for grading? What concerns do you have about this vision? What are your hopes? How much does this vision match against your school’s overall vision? How likely is it that your school community could agree on this vision?
I am a great advocate for equity and student agency which is directly aligned with the book’s vision for equitable grading. I envision everyone working towards standards-based grading to achieve equitable teaching and learning.
My concern with this vision is on how we could encourage everyone to be on board with the grading shifts because admit it or not, the most difficult to change is the mindset and it takes a complete shift of mindset before one could be open at even examining his current grading practices and reflecting on what is currently wrong so he can set it right. I am just hoping that the HIDOE will focus more on the grading element of education, determine what pieces serve as barriers in achieving an accurate, bias-resistant and motivating grading system and resolve them and create a streamline all throughout the educational community so that everyone will be following the same thing at the same time.
I believe our school is working towards standards-based grading, however with the limitations set by just having one teacher per grade level in the elementary and one teacher per content area in the secondary level, vertical and horizontal articulation is not carried out effectively. Our school will surely agree on the vision of providing an accurate, bias-resistant and motivating grading system but it would need to provide all teachers PD courses on this kind of more efficient grading and there should be a good system of implementation and monitoring if this thing is carried out with fidelity across grade levels and content areas.
Hi Pinky!
DeleteI notice that you use the term "productive struggle" which I think is a great way to describe students who are on a steep learning curve. There is often a negative connotation with the term struggle and it is implied that students must not struggle if they are doing well in the class. I will agree that in order for students to grow and elevate their learning, they need to learn concepts that are slightly above and outside of their comfort zone! Keep pushing them, I am sure you aren amazing teacher!
I wonder if there are any schools that truly enforce one grading style across the entire campus? As far as the public school and the HDOE, I don' t think there are any official guidelines that instruct a teacher on how to grade, however there are many principals that strongly urge their teacher to use a certain type of structure. I will agree that schools will agree on accuracy based grading, but Im not sure if one type of method has the capabilities of making everyone happy.
Review your classroom’s current grading policies through the pillars of our vision: How accurate are they? How bias-resistant? How motivating?
ReplyDeleteMy current classroom grading policies are 40% summative, 40% formative, 10% listening and participation, 10% homework. I think they accurately reflect how the students are performing in my classroom. I’m not sure about the motivation factor. I think that some students care more about their grades than learning and I think that some students just don’t care that much about school in general. While I know that some of the points of this book were that all students want to do well, I take a certain amount of umbrage with that statement because I was a student who wanted to pass. I didn’t want to do well because to me, the majority of what I had to do was busy work and it was tedious. The juice wasn’t worth the squeeze.
How much does this book’s vision for equitable grading align with your own, personal vision for grading? What concerns do you have about this vision? What are your hopes? How much does this vision match against your school’s overall vision? How likely is it that your school community could agree on this vision?
At this point in the text, I think that arguments are still being made and that the vision this book has for grading isn’t totally clear. As of right now, we are only halfway through the book. My hopes for continuing is that the author will provide his actual vision, because what he’s doing is throwing things up and then shooting them down. I don’t know that my school community could agree on any one vision for grading. I think even if it’s standards based, summative only grading you have a good portion of teachers who don’t have a fundamental understanding of their content standards - but maybe that’s a whole other conversation.
Hi Nicholete!
DeleteI notice that that we have varying ways to weigh summative and formative. I think it is interesting that you have categories for listening and participation along with homework. As someone who teaches a wide variety of students in a Title 1 school, I will agree that doing what it takes for students to pass also needs to be factored into the equation.
I wonder if the author himself feels contradicted by his own thoughts sometimes too? I know that I myself waver between different types of grading and get frustrated when there isn't the out come that I expect. You make a good point that many of the teachers themselves don't have a fundamental understanding of their content standards as well. It would be almost hypocritical for the students to need to show mastery that is higher than their teachers.
Hello Nicholete, I notice you have listening and participation as a category in your grading. I'm not sure how this is measured, so I don't do it myself. I also notice you say some teachers don't have a mastery of their content and content standards. Yes, this is a HUGE problem in our classrooms and in assessment approaches. I always say assessment is not given enough time in teacher training programs, and part of this MUST be the content standards in someone's field and assessing these standards. Having a degree in something does not prepare a teacher for assessing all the standards in that field.
DeleteMy classroom’s current grading policies are on the point grading scale where the final grades result in 90=A, 80=B etc. The pillars in the textbook primarily look at 3 main principles which are accuracy, bias resistance and motivating. In regard to accuracy, I believe that my grading scale is easy to understand by the students and is also mathematically sound. As the book states, I also grade based on an individual's achievement and not the groups. Even on group projects, I have individuals assess one another to determine how much work was truly contributed by each member. During presentations I assess based on each individual’s speaking skill and strengths, not the entire group. Our whole department uses the traditional grading scale, but many other departments use the four points scale. I believe that this scale is motivating because it encourages students to do more than half the work to receive a passing grade. It also pushes students to perform well and not just do the bare minimum.
ReplyDeleteThe book's vision of equitable grading is somewhat different from my own so taking this course has caused me to question many of the beliefs that I have held for a long period of time. For example, a vision of the book is that it is based on required content and not extra credit. On every test I usually add a challenge question for extra credit which is a high level question. I now question if this is something that's inaccessible for my lower achieving students? Another part of the vision is that grades are bias resistant. I think as a whole our community may not entirely get behind this vision purely because I know many teachers at my school reward effort, especially in a student's senior year of high school. Although, I do hope that in the near future gradually grading can be more equitable when departments come up with systems as a whole that are more mathematically sound and easy to navigate for the students.