Post on 27-Mar-2015
Making the Grade
Assessment & Grading Philosophy and Practice
Sheila HuckabeeRichard Melzer
Who are the major researchers for grading & assessment practices?
Thomas Gusky (1996) Communicating Student Learning
Robert Marzano (2006) Classroom Assessments and Grading That Work
O’Connor, Kenneth (2002) How to Grade for Learning: Linking Grades to Standards
Douglas Reeves (2005) Accountability in Action: A Blueprint for Learning Organizations
What is the “GIST” of the Research?
The current grading system is over 120 years old
It is mismatched with today’s new standards-based mastery accountability system
Problems: It allows teachers to include at their own discretion
different non-achievement factors It allows teachers to weight assessments
differently It focuses on accumulating points/averages for
activities instead of on results
Essential Questions
Is grading essential for learning and teaching?
Should we count everything a student does toward a grade?
What should a final grade reflect?
Grading for MasteryWhat does it mean to grade for mastery?
Linking grades to learning goals
Using criterion-referenced performance standards as reference points
Eliminating non-achievement-based value attributes
Using formative feedback along the way to a summative evaluation
O’Connor, K. (2002). How to grade for learning. Alexandria, VA:
Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development
What about Effort, Participation, & Compliance?
Factoring Effort into the grade sends the wrong message to students
Effort is defined differently by individual teachers
Effort is difficult to measure
Participation is often a personality or cultural issue (inherent bias)
Positive attitude is difficult to define and can be faked
Compliance grades gives no indication of student mastery
Stiggins, R.J., Arter, J.A., Chappuis, J, & Chappuis, S. (2004). Classroom assessment
for student learning: Doing it right—using it well. Portland, OR: ETS Assessment
Training Institute.
Grading Percentage ExampleRHSD 3
Tests 30%
Quizzes 20%
Class Participation 25%
Homework 20%
Journals 5%
Grading Non-Achievement Factors
Grades have some value as rewards but NO value as punishments
-Thomas Gusky, 1996
Using non-achievement factors can mean extra benefit for some and instant death for others
-Ken O’Connor, 2002 These factors SHOULD be assessed
regularly, but reported separately from a students grade
-O’Connor, Stiggins, Gusky, Marzano, Reeves
Affinity Activity
SAY SOMETHING SILENTLY
Use the Sticky Note to record your thoughts about CLASS PARTICIPATION & EFFORT GRADES and how they should be included in the district’s grading policy
Okay so far?....Well, Let’s Turn It Up a Notch
The Sacred Cows
Homework
Purpose for HW should be identified
Practice – structured around content with which students have high familiarity
Preparation – structured around new content not studied yet
Elaboration – structured around newly introduced content for extension
Harris Cooper (1989) meta-analysis HW study
Grades 4 -6 ES=.15 percentile gain 6
Grades 7-9 ES= .31 percentile gain 12
Grades 10-12 ES=.64 percentile gain 24
Amount of HW should differ from lower to higher grades
Marzano, R. (2001). Classroom instruction that works. Alexandria,
VA: Association of Supervision and Curriculum Development.
Homework
Use of Homework
No. of Effect Size (ESs)
Average ES Percentile Gain
Homework with teacher’s comments as feedback
2 .83 30
Graded Homework
3 .78 28
Assigned HW with no grade or comments
47 .28 11
Figure 5.3
Research Results for Graded Homework
Walberg, H.J. (1999). Productive teaching. In H.C. Waxman & H.J. Walberg (Eds). New directions for teaching
practice and research, 75-104. Berkeley, CA: McCutchen Publishing Corporation.
General Findings on Homework
If Homework is assigned it should be commented on
Homework is a formative assessment and best used to give students feedback on learning not as a summative grade
Giving a grade for HW with no feedback only teaches students that grades are about pleasing teachers not about learning
(Marzano, Heflebower, O’Connor)
Affinity Activity
SAY SOMETHING SILENTLY
Use the Sticky Note to record your thoughts about Homework and how it should be included in the district’s grading policy
Late Work, Make-Up Work, Retakes
Assessments should not be a one shot – “do or die” experience
When teachers follow assessments with high-quality corrective instruction, students should have a second chance to demonstrate competency/mastery
Late Penalties Distort achievement Become a
Disincentive to complete work after a period of time
“It is best to do it right and on time, but it is better to do it right and late than the reverse.”
Joel Barker
Guskey, T.R. (2000, December). How’s my kid doing? A parents’ guide to grades,
marks, and report cards. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass
Affinity Activity
SAY SOMETHING SILENTLY
Use the Sticky Note to record your thoughts about LATE WORK, MAKE-UP WORK, TEST RE-TAKES and how they should be included in the district’s grading policy
Measures of Central Tendency
Mean is the total of the values divided by the number of values
The median is the middle value Mode is the most frequently occurring
value What is most commonly used? Problem with Mean = outliers impact
the score
What is this Student’s Final Grade If All Grades are Equal?
Mean Median Mode100 100 100100 100 100100 100 100 90 90 90 80 80 80 60 60 60 0 0 0
What is this Student’s Final Grade If All Grades are Equal?
Mean Median Mode100 100 100100 100 100100 100 10090 90 9080 80 8060 60 600 0 0
75.7
90
100
Zeros Zeros have a large effect when the MEAN is
used as the measure of central tendency There is a lack of proportionality between 0
and 70 passing score; other grading ranges have smaller scales
Zeros can convey inaccurate information: Are you sure the student knows nothing about the topic?
Zeros rarely teach “responsibility;” more often they demotivate students
Heflebower, T. (2008). Quality Grading Practices. Reporting on research from O’Connor, K.
(2002) and Marzano, R. (2000). Bloomington, IN: Solution Tree.
Consider this Alternate View
Instead of assigning a grade of zero, why not simply note that the evidence is missing with a blank space in the grade book? When it is time to determine a grade, decide if there is sufficient evidence to make a valid judgment. If there is sufficient evidence, determine the grade regardless of the missing evidence. Concern about missing assignments or other evidence should be communicated prior to grading through phone calls home, email, and so on and also on the narrative or expanded format section of the report card. If there is insufficient evidence to determine a grade, the student receives an I for “incomplete” or “insufficient” on his or her report card. This communicates accurately what the problem is and puts the responsibility where it should be—on the student. It gives students a second chance at success since arrangements can be made to complete the missing assignments.
O’Conner, K. in Reeves, D. (2007). Ahead of the curve. Bloomington, IN:
Solution Tree.
Sample 8th Grade Teacher Grading Policy in Course Syllabus
“I will not include zeros for late or missing assignments in achievement statistics, because zeros do not describe learning, and they are extreme values. I will use the median average (or middle score) as a general indicator of achievement unless there is an unusual circumstance. In that case, I will consider the relative importance of the learning goals achieved and the recency of scores. If there is insufficient evidence of achievement, I will assign an incomplete and expect the student to make arrangements to make up or repeat the learning experiences that were missed.”
Hugh O’Donnel, Hillsboro, Oregon
Affinity Activity
SAY SOMETHING SILENTLY
Use the Sticky Note to record your thoughts about ZEROS and how it should be included in the district’s grading policy
Today’s Task
CategoriesWhat do we grade?
DescriptionHow do we describe this task?
PercentageWhat percentage do we give that
category? How many work samples in this
category?
REMINDER:Percentage Grading
Parameters
For percentage grading categories to work, you must have a sufficient number of assignments in the category
EXAMPLE: Tests = 40%Tests Quizzes Performance Assessments Papers67 72 89 8589 88 93 77
83 98 82 68 84 80