FIAE Reflections: Chapter 11

This chapter brings up some very controversial topics. I think that is the case with any new idea. When we turn everything on its head, there are those who are afraid of what will happen even when it is better. I’m not sure how I feel about putting a 60 or 50 in the gradebook instead of a 0 for work that was not turned in. I understand the mathematical argument that failing should be only a range of 10 points like all the other letter grades, instead of 0. At the same time, work that is not turned in fails to show mastery of 100% of the material covered. This means that if you average it into the total grade it is still an accurate assessment of the demonstrated mastery. That does not mean the student has no mastery of the subject, only that he has not demonstrated it. I like the suggestion of giving two grades, one for the grade including the missing work and another showing their average mastery aside from the missing work. MI classrooms are all about finding ways for students to show mastery in a multitude of ways besides formal assessments. It may be possible for the student to demonstrate mastery of the material in a different way in order to get partial credit. The rest of the chapter dealt with issues surrounding how to grade students that have special circumstances, either special education or GT students. The controversy is on whether to grade these students so that the grade accurately reflects the mastery of the curriculum or the progress the student has made toward mastery or the additional mastery above and beyond the curriculum mastered by GT students. It is clear that the current grading and reporting procedures now in place are totally inadequate for grading in a differentiated classroom. Some other format is needed.

FIAE Reflections: Chapter 10

This chapter discusses the pros and cons of allowing redos of tests or projects. At first look it seems to make sense if you run a differentiated classroom and allow for students to learn at different rates. Allowing them to redo for full credit seems only fair. If they have mastered the material it doesn’t really matter when. What I hadn’t thought about was the student that didn’t bother to study the first time because he knew that the redo was available. Qualifying the requirement so that habitual offenders can have the privilege revoked will take away that crutch. I also liked the idea that redos shouldn’t happen the week before the end of the grading period in order to maintain my sanity! Redos should also be prefaced by a documented study plan or it is just a waste of everyone’s time.

FIAE Reflections: Chapter 9

This chapter gave me a lot to think about. The things that I agreed with the most were that we shouldn’t be giving grades to homework, and homework should be used judiciously and with purpose. If I graded homework at all it would be a point or two to record that they actually did it. Middle or high school students that are not required by a grade to do homework are probably not going to do it because being with their friends will be more exciting than doing math problems or a science worksheet. They don’t have the ability to see beyond the moment and comprehend that if they do the homework they will get better grades on the assessments that are graded. I disagree with the idea that extra credit and bonus points are a bad idea. Everyone can have a bad day. Not every assessment is an accurate portrayal of what a student has learned. Bonus points and extra credit questions can fill that gap and generally fosters good will. Extra credit work can take the place of a poorly done assessment by allowing the student to show mastery of the material in a different way. However it should apply directly to the material that got the bad grade in the first place.

FIAE Reflections: Chapter 8

In this chapter I was struck mostly by the debate about how much emphasis participation should be given in assigning grades. It seems that there are no easy answers. There are good arguments for both sides of the issue. One thing that the book didn’t mention was the fact that for many students school is a mandatory experience and they are just trying to get through without getting an F so the can get out of there faster. Learning for its own sake is not in the equation. Regardless of how prepared a dynamic a teacher is, if a student doesn’t want to participate, they won’t listen. I think that a participation grade recorded separately from the academic grade may provide the impetus a student needs to become more engaged in the learning process this make it possible to teach them more and more accurately assess their mastery. I also propose breaking it down into specific categories, rather than just assigning a 1, 2, or 3 to the effort or participation category. This would provide more specific information to parents and the students to understand the causes for the grade. These categories could include: homework completion, engaged learning, and organization.

FIAE Reflections: Chapter 7

This chapter articulates what I have often thought about grades but was never able to describe. I have had the opportunity to grade rough draft essays for a teacher and found it very frustrating because I was not given any criteria by which to judge the work. I thought it was just my inexperience that made it so hard. I didn’t realize that there was so much variation from teacher to teacher and school to school. I ended up doing the right thing by accident. Instead of deciding what letter grade to give them I just found the errors in their work and gave them suggestions for saying things more clearly, and praising the things that were good in their work. As it turns out this was the best feedback I could give. Sometimes though the essay was so scattered I didn’t know where to begin. In those cases I suppose the best thing to do would be to have the student go back to the drawing board and rewrite with more organization in mind then try again to edit for those things the student didn’t catch.

UbD Chapter 8: Reflections

This chapter had to do with grading and how it relates to UBD and DI. The key principles are that: 1. Grades should be based on the goals and standards you have established. 2. Evidence should be valid and not be confused with learning disabilities or ELL issues. 3. Grades should not be based on how a student performed compared to the other students in the class. 4. Grades should be based on summative assessment as that reflects what learning has happened. 5. Avoiding grading based on an average which can be deceptive. 6. Grading should be based only on what the student learned, not on extra things like work habits and behavior. These should be reported separately from the grade.

I think the ideas are good for these concepts but putting it into practice is going to be difficult. The inertia of the education establishment makes it hard to make changes. Not only that, colleges and universities need to adjust what they will accept as evidence of achievement before real changes are made. As long as students have to meet certain criteria to get into college, high schools will provide the kind of reporting that colleges want. If they start requiring more valid and accurate assessment, then the High Schools will teach for it.