Grades and the Grading Process Chapter 9

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Grades and the Grading Process Chapter 9

• Taylor and Nolen

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• how you sell yourself out to get good
  gradesSchool is just work and control. Like I
  said before, you can learn nothing and get an A
  and learn everything and get and F.
• p. 283 of your text.

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• http//www.ctf-fce.ca/en/press/1998/PR30.HTM

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Why Grade???

• One to communicate with students, parents etc.,
  about students achievement
• Two to make gatekeeping decisions

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3 Models for Grading

• Norm-referenced
• Relative to other students
• Criterion-referenced
• Absolute level of performance
• Standards-based
• Measured against a set of performance standards

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Norm-referenced Compare to other students

• Advocates say it is the most fair
• Reliance on aptitude rather than instruction
• Teachers are not good at making tests
• Creates same scale
• Criticism
• Aptitude might be home environment
• Competitive
• Only show rank
• Limits types of assessments

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Lets go learn!

• http//www.robertniles.com/stats/stdev.shtml
• http//psych-www.colorado.edu/mcclella/java/norma
  l/normz.html

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Criterion-Referenced Meet Criteria

• For
• Sufficient time and practice all students can
  learn
• Identify what students are to learn
• Effective instruction
• Communicates expectations

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Criterion-Referenced Meet Criteria

• Against
• Teachers cannot control quality
• Lowered expectations
• Lowered cut points
• Look at your text for sample on page 268

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Standards-Based Grading teacher and students
work together

• Assumptions
• Establish important learning objectives
• Naturally want to learn
• All subjects have something
• All students meet the standard
• Grades are based on the end
• No one shot chance
• Tools to communicate
• Everyone is a partner

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Standards - based

• Same as other grading but!
• Teachers replace lower grades with higher as
  student becomes more proficient
• Teacher provides lots of feedback
• Student learns to how to work with feedback

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Standards-based

• Critique
• Set the standards too low
• Teachers do not know subject matter well enough
• Doesnt recognize differences in students

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Authors argument for Standards

• If schools are intended to sort and identify the
  brightest students, then standards-based grading
  practices are not appropriate. However, if, as
  we believe, schools are intended to help all
  children be successful in life beyond school and
  to participate knowledgeably in a democratic
  society, then teaching to, assessing for, and
  reporting successful achievement of standards
  through a standards-based grading policy is
  appropriate for all students.

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• Summary Grades Effect Students Persona
• Think about yourselves!

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Creating a Grading Policy

• Grading Policy how you will combine assessment
  information to make grading decisions
• Communicate expectations
• Sets tone of classroom

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Six elements of grading policy

• Introductory statement
• Types of work
• Essays, projects, outlines, etc.
• How work will be evaluated
• Rubrics, checklists or other criteria

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Continued

• How much weight
• Seven considerations
• Importance debrief students on the importance
  of practice
• Time
• Control you have
• Sufficient evidence
• Philosophy
• Effort and citizenship connection between
  effort and grade
• Gut feelings
• Clear guidelines on absences, late work and the
  like
• Appropriate alternatives
• Quality v quantity
• Information about how scores will be combined

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Summarizing Grades

• Common scale
• Weights
• Summarize the weighted scores into a total score

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Make it professional

• Made in advance
• Public
• Logical and ethical