Grading Practices FLMS Presentation - June 2009
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Transcript of Grading Practices FLMS Presentation - June 2009
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Grading PracticesDouglas Reeves, Ph.D.
Deland Middle School
2008-2009
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Sample Action Research Project
Research Question
How do differences in grading policy (and not differencesin student performance) influence student failure rates?
Method
Faculty will examine identical student academicperformance and provide a grade.
Analysis
Similarities indicate consistency and fairness;
dissimilarities indicate differences based on facultydecisions, not student performance.
Complete Learning Activity
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Calculate the Final Grade for this Student
C, C, MA (Missing Assignment), D, C, B, MA,
MA, B, A
Group 1: A=100, B=90, C=80, D=70
Group 2: A=4, B=3, C=2, D=1
Group 3: Choose your own system but you
must have a letter grade
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2008 Research on Effective Grading
Practices
International sample of more than 1000
teachers and administrators
Significant differences in attitudes and
beliefs about grading practices
For copies of the latest research, go to
www.LeadandLearn.com, click on
Support, then click on Douglas Reeves
presentations
http://www.leadandlearn.com/http://www.leadandlearn.com/ -
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Grading
Grades = Feedback to Improve Performance! If you have high levels of success and low failure rates, your policy is
sound and should be left alone.
If you have low levels of success and high failure rates, what you aredoing is not working.
The Real World is not You have one chance at it and youredone.We seldom use average for anything else except grades.
Grades must never be used as punishment. It doesnt work!
Rewards for work done daily are far greater than punishment for workdone late.
The Drivers License Test example chance to re-do/re-take
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Academic Corporal Punishment
Corporal Punishment - We likedit!
American Pediatric Society ruled it was
ineffective and doesnt work in 1961.
Academic Corporal Punishment We like it!
Should we respond, Thats your opinionand well let you do it!
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Toxic (Ineffective) Grading Policies
The use of zeroes for missing work.Consequence should be to complete the work!
The practice of using the average of all scores
during the grading period, a formula thatpresumes that the learning early in the semesteris as important as learning at the end of thesemester. (Marzano 2000; OConnor, 2007)
The use of the grading period killer the singleproject, test, lab, paper, or other assignment thatwill make or break students.
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Toxic Grading Practices and Alternatives
Toxic
Zeroes for missingwork
Average/MeanGrading Period Killer:
One Test or Project
Alternative
Get Er Done, Just Do It,
complete/submit missing
work
Best representation of
work (Re-do, Re-submit)
Resilience, Personal
Responsibility (Dont let
them off the hook!)
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The Power of Zeroes Rick Wormeli, Middle Ground
Convert zeroes to 50s
Conversion necessary so that any calculatingis mathematically justified.
Not using zeroes is a more accurate picture ofthe students ability.
Zero has an undeserved and devastating effecton students and their grades so much that no
matter what student does, the zero distorts thefinal grade as a true indicator of mastery.
Mathematically and ethically unacceptable!
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Negative Impact of Zero on a 100-Point
Grading Scale
0, 100, 100, 100, 100, 100 = 83% = B50, 100, 100, 100, 100, 100 = 92% = A
Should weuse an F grade near the top of the F range, such as 50 in thiscase, or should we use the bottom, most hurtful and distorting of F grades
a zero - as the indicator of failure? What purpose does it serve to use a zero to indicate a student failed to
demonstrate mastery? Should a string of perfect papers for a grading period combined with one
paper not submitted equate to a lower grade? (NCLB-AYP) What would happen if we did not count the lowest grade?
Consider trying to find the average temperature over 5 days and recording85, 82, 83, 86, then forgetting a day and recording zero. The averagetemperature would be 67, a figure that does not accurately show the weatherfrom that week.
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Using the 4.0 Grading Scale
(NotRecommended)
4.0 grading scale is an inaccuracy.
Using a zero in the previous example would
also distort the final grade.
You must use 1.0 in place of zero as the failingand/or unscorable level on a 4.0 scale.
Using 1.0 as the bottom score will result in not
distorting a students grade average based onone incomplete assignment or failed test.
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High Expectations Todd Whitaker
Great Teachers high expectations for students and even higherfor themselves. If students are not passing, they ask what theythemselves can do differently.
Poor Teachers high expectations for students and much lowerexpectations for themselves. Also, unrealistically high
expectations for everyone else (principal to be perfect, parents tobe flawless, students to be perfect, and peers to hold them inincredibly high regard).
Is accepting/allowing a student to earn a failing grade (F) and/ornot completing the work an example of high expectations?
Absolutely not! It is the lowest expectation you can have foryour students and must be unacceptable!
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Expectations
Behavior
Students expected to
behave
Students expected tofollow/obey rules
Students expected to
follow procedures
Zero toleranceMisbehaving is not an
option!
Academic
Students expected to
complete/submit work?
Students expected tofollow directions of the
assignment?
Students expected to
pass?
Zero Tolerance?
Failing is not an option!
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Accurate Grading Policies Rick Stiggins
Determine grades using the median
(middle grade) not the mean/average.
Look for the most consistent level of
performance, not all performances.
We should not hold a students earlier
digressions in the grading period or year
against them.
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Effective Grading Practices
-Douglas B. Reeves, Ph.D.
To reduce failure rate, schools dont need a newcurriculum, a new administration, new teachers,or new technology. They just need a bettergrading system.
Grading seems to be regarded as the lastfrontier of individual teacher/school discretion.
The same school leaders and community
members who would be indignant if referees,judges, etc. were inconsistent in their rulingscontinue to tolerate inconsistencies that havedevastating effects on student achievement.
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F (Fail) vs. I (Incomplete)
Goal Student to complete the work.
WOO (Window of Opportunity) tocomplete missing assignments, re-test, re-
submit, re-do etc.
Re -Do! Re-Take! Re-Test! Re-
Submit!
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Did You Know..
Two common causes of course failures 1)missinghomework; 2)poor performance on a single majorassignment. Adjusting your policy would have a hugeimpact on student failures. (Reeves)
Assessments are used to provide the ladder for the
student to crawl from his/her hole. Whether it is due toimmaturity, behavior or cognitive readiness level, greatteachers still provide the ladder. (Wormeli)
Distorted and inaccurate grades are little more thanharsh punishment. Students want to throw down the ball
and go home. They see no reason to play. Grades thatreduce the negative effects of an imperfect gradingsystem keep students in the game. (Marzano)
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Better Students, Better School, Better
Climate! Douglas B. Reeves, Ph.D
When grading policies improve, discipline andmorale always improves!
When student failures decrease, studentbehavior improves, faculty morale is better,resources allocated to remedial courses andcourse repetitions are reduced, and resourcesinvested in enrichment and other meaningfulopportunities increase.
When was the last time a single change in aschool accomplished all of that?
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Students with Disabilities
ESE students are experts at:Disruptions
Avoiding tasks
Performing below expectations
Wouldnt you disrupt, avoid tasks, and
perform below expectations if thegrading policy was slanted against you?
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Everyone who has a need to know abouta students performance in school
certainly can be told that she or he is a
nice student who tries hard, but they also
have a right to know the specific level ofher or his knowledge in a particular
subject at a given point in time.
-----Ken OConnor
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The Grade Book
Concepts NOT assignments!
Page 87 tells us nothing!
If concepts are listed in the grade book:
Teachers can easily tell parents, students, and
administrators what concepts are mastered.
IEP goals and objectives are easily written.
Incomplete grades can be given to individualconcepts- helping to identify areas that need more
instruction.
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The ESE Teachers Grade Book
Grade books will list specific
objectives/concepts
Grade books will NOT list individual
homework/class work assignments
Grade books will NOT include entries for effort,behavior, attendance or attitude.
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What should NOT be included in a
grade?
Effort
ParticipationAttitudeBehavior
HomeworkGroup work
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What is the point of homework?
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Zero and the ESE Student
Are you saying that the ESE student
retained zero percent of your instruction?
Are you grading effort and participation or
mastery of a concept?
There has to be alternate methods to
demonstrate mastery!
Can you achieve mastery by doing page
87 numbers 1-24 even?
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Re-Do, Re-Take, Re-Test, Re-Submit!
The consequence for a student who
fails to meet a standard is not a low
grade but rather the opportunity
indeed, the requirementto resubmit his
or her work.
-- Douglas Reeves
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Re-Teaching and Re-Testing
In Class re-teaching/retesting
After School re-teaching & Extra Help
Lunch/Recess re-teaching & Extra Help
Student Accountability
Builds Positive Relationships with
Parents/Students
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What information provides the most accurate depictionof students learning at this time? In nearly all cases, theanswer is the most current information.
If students demonstrate that past assessmentinformation no longer accurately reflects their learning,that information must be dropped and replaced by thenew information.
--Guskey
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Final Exams
Final Exam organized and graded by
concept (all concepts for the quarter)
Final Exam serves as last retest
opportunity
Scores on Final Exam, if higher, will
replace previously recorded scores
Overall Final Exam score entered in gradebook as a single entry (as if it were a concept)
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Accommodations
If the idea is concept mastery, why do we
assign timed tasks?
Why do we require 25 correct
demonstrations of the required task?
Wouldnt it make sense to chunk the work
into parts and re-teach after each part?
When the student demonstrates mastery,
assess the concept formally.
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The use of an I or Incomplete grade is
an alternative to assigning zeros that is
both educationally sound and potentially
quite effective.
--Guskey & Bailey
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Incompletes
I Contracts- for both individual concepts
and final grades.
Should clearly outline the desired learning
outcomes.
Should allow time for re-teaching.
Communication with parents, students,and administration.
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STUDENT CONTRACT FOR REMEDIATION OF FAILING GRADE
Grading Period 1 2 3 4
_____ I, ________________________________, understand that my current grade
for Reading Class is an F ( _____ % ), but will receive an I for Incomplete on
the report card.
_____ I understand that my teacher is giving me the opportunity to complete/retake
specific assignments for the expressed purpose of not making a failing grade.
_____ I understand that I have 3 weeks to improve my grade. All work, tests,and/or assignments that my teacher gives me are due on
___________________________ at the beginning of the period.
_____ I understand it is my responsibility to complete this work at home.
_____ I understand I must complete the work to get a good grade on it. I must give
this work to my teacher to grade on or before the due date above.
_____ I understand at the end of the 3 weeks my teacher will change my grade onthe report card from an I to the appropriate grade after my work has been
graded.
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ESE Grading Policy
Grades will be based upon STUDENTACHIEVEMENT
Grades will be based upon MASTERY OFCONCEPTS AND SKILLS
Students should have MULTIPLEOPPORTUNITIES to demonstrate mastery
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Resources
OConnor, A Repair Kit for Grading: 15 Fixes
for Broken Grades
How to Grade for Learning
Marzano, Assessment and Grading that Works
Guskey, Practical Solutions for Serious Problems inStandards-Based Grading
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Discipline and GradingPractices/Student
Achievement
Do you want to be right or do you
want to solve the problem?-Dr. Phil
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Research Based Findings
(Gettinger, 1988) analyzed well-managed classrooms thatfunctioned smoothly with few disruptions and were wellorganized.
He then analyzed less effective classrooms that experienced
frequent disruptions due to a large amount of time spent ondiscipline and transitions that were lengthy and chaotic. Gettinger expected to find that the teachers of the well-
managed classrooms would possess more effectivedisciplinary techniques. Surprisingly, he found that both wereapproximately equal in dealing with student misbehavior. The
variance was that the successful classroom managers weremore efficient at minimizing behavioral problems byintervening before the misbehavior escalated.
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Volusia Countys Approach To Classroom
Management
CHAMPs assists classroom teachers to design (or fine tune) a proactive and positiveclassroom management plan that will overtly teach students how to behave responsibly. Easy
implementation of the strategies in the CHAMPs will:
* Reduce classroom disruptions and office referrals* Improve classroom climate
* Increase student on-task behavior* Establish respectful and civil interactions
By following the effective, research-based practices outlined in CHAMPs, teachers developmethods for clearly communicating their expectations on every classroom activity and
transition. Expectations to clarify are:
Conversation (Can students talk to each other during this activity?)
Help (How do students get the teachers attention and their questions answered?)
Activity (What is the task/objective? What is the end product?)
Movement (Can students move about during this activity?)
Participation (How do students show they are fully participating? What does work behaviorlook/sound like?)
(Sprick, Garrison, and Howard 1998)
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Our Teachers Deal with the FollowingBehaviors in the Classroom
Class or school rule violation Disruption or disturbance of a school activity (minor)
Dress code violation
False document
Horseplay Minor disruption or disturbance of a school activity,
class or campus
Tardiness
All level one offenses in the student code of conduct
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DeLand Middle School Improvement
Goal
2008-2009 - to decrease the percentage
of referrals for Male Students
One strategy - the implementation of an
I (Incomplete) vs. an F (Failure)
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I (Incomplete) vs. F (Failure) and its
Impact on Discipline
Teachers assign an I (incomplete) vs. an F(failure)
This positive approach to grading elevatesstudents self worth and gives the student a feeling
of success that many have never felt. Many behaviors are avoidance driven, and thisapproach to grading eliminates many of thebehaviors students use to avoid looking inferior totheir peers, thereby decreasing classroom
misbehaviors and increasing student achievement This, along with effective classroom managementare key to a students success
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Malesonly, 1200 Males
only, 750
Totalreferrals,
2381Total
referrals,
1741
0
500
1000
15002000
2500
3000
1 2
totalreferrals
2007-2008 2008-2009
Comparison of Referrals at Deland
Middle
Males only
Total referrals
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Percentage Change from 2007-2008 to
2008-2009 for the Target Group
2007-2008 - Male students represented
73.3% of referrals written at DeLand
Middle School
2008-2009 - Male students represented
62.5% of referrals written at DeLand
Middle School
This represents a 10.8% decrease