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Implementation of Grading For Learning

Final Project for EDU 6600

April M. Simon

Seattle Pacific University

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School Improvement Goals

Educate teachers how to grade for student learning

Create a standards based grading scale to improve communication between teachers, students

and parents.

Choose and paint a picture of this setting

The Everett School District is a diverse district that serves a variety of students. Currently I

work at the alternative high School Sequoia. 60% of our student population struggles with

poverty, and for many students coming to school is a daily struggle. The teacher student ratio is

about 15:1 and class sizes are no larger than 17 students. This enables teachers to reach as many

students as possible. In a fifty

minute class period, teachers can

spend about 2 ½ minutes with

each student. Even though the

cap for class size is 17, because

of a variety of reasons,

oftentimes the class size is more

like 10-15.

Student Demographics from

OSPI

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Teacher Demographics OSPI

Present level of performance

Many students do not pass the

classes the first time they enroll in

them at Sequoia. They have to take

the same classes more than once. At

times, the reasons they do not pass

their classes are out of their hands. These issues include: medical issues, housing issues, and

transportation issues. Attendance is also another barrier that impedes student learning and

growth. Some of the teachers within the Everett School District have a growth mindset, and a

grading for learning mindset. However, others choose to give zeros and grade based on

compliance. Although it is important for students to learn to turn work in on time, one has to

think what skill are we assessing? A push for a growth mindset methodology is a frequent topic

of discussion in education. This mindset has been part of several professional development

opportunities throughout the school year. At the onset of the school year, I attended a

professional development conference. At this conference a district personnel mentioned that a

goal of hers was to not have teachers give points for turning in the syllabus.

Sequoia’s Level of Performance Compared to Other High Schools Level of Performance in the District and the State

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Information from OSPI and a Staff Meeting on August 27, 2014

Analyze a Need or Two

One need is to create a grading scale that is truly standards based. It is somewhat difficult with

the program we have. This scale is needed to truly demonstrate student growth and learning at

our school. I need to help teachers understand the importance of grading for learning so that

students have an understanding of what that means. Grading for learning in my class should

translate and be somewhat similar to what grading for learning looks in other English classes and

classes throughout the building. This of course does not impede on what teachers teach, because

many of our teachers already teach to the common core state standards. This is what our

students will be tested on this spring. Students need to be familiar with the standards and the

types of tasks they will be asked to complete on this test. Studies have shown that if students

know where they are going, then they perform better. If students knew the learning targets, or

standards that are being addressed on a daily basis, then they may be more willing to attend

class, knowing that if they miss a day, they truly are missing an important day of learning.

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Standards Based Grade Scale

Standard Categories as “I can” statements

Plan to mediate or implement a solution

During term two (October-early November) I tested out the

standards based grading scale that I created. Standards based grading

is something that I truly believe in and I am willing to work out the

kinks in my grading scale. After sharing the scale with some colleagues, several helpful

suggestions were provided. One was to change the NC to NE. This is because NC translates as

no credit for many of our students, when all I really want to indicate that there is no evidence for

that standard. Another suggestion was to combine the NC (No Credit) and Inc (incomplete

category) into one category. In order to do that I would have to change the range of scores for

Inc. category; which currently ends at one. It would need to be changed to include a zero. These

discussions took place between: October 31-November 7th.

What I need to do now is let more teachers in on how to grade for learning. About once a month,

the English department and sometimes the social study department, gathers together for a PLC

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meeting. During one of those Fridays, I can bravely take on a leadership role and help teachers

understand how to grade for learning. I can use some of the reasoning presented by O’Connor,

and Stiggins, to help back up my reasoning. One or perhaps both of these authors explain the

harms of using percentages. I remember reading that one noted, what really is the difference

between an 86% and 87%? I figure the more teachers I have on board with me, the more our

students will benefit from grading for learning. In my presentation I can also include the benefits

for teachers. The grading scale can be used for TPEP as well as the Pro-Cert, because it is an

accurate measure of student growth and learning. Grading for learning also helps teachers be

clear about learning objects, both daily and the end of term objectives. Backwards design

supports grading for learning. I need to make sure that I emphasize that grading for learning

does not lower our expectations for students, instead it actually raises them. If students truly

understand what our goals are as teachers, they will rise to the occasion.

Stiggins cites a review of studies conducted by Paul Black and Dylan Wiliam. In their review

they discovered that, “certain formative assessment practices increased the achievement of low-

performing students to the point of approaching that of high-achieving students.”(Stiggins, 2012

p. 22). Sitggins goes on to cite, “Opportunities for students to express their understanding should

be designed into any piece of teaching for this will initiate the interaction through which

formative assessment aids learning.” (Stiggins, 2012, p. 22). At least once I week as part of an

entry or exit task, I ask students to write about what they have learned in English and if they have

any questions. This assignment allows me to adjust my own teaching if necessary, and to answer

any questions they may have. This ties directly into grading for learning, it helps me clarify any

misconceptions early, and this is especially helpful for Sequoia’s fast paced term system. The

example above and others will help convince some of the naysayers of grading for learning.

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Another valid point that O’Connor makes in his book How to Grade For Learning is that

“numbers can be crunched in a variety of ways. They also demonstrate that depending on the

distribution of the students’ scores and the method chosen, students can receive very different

grades from the same set of scores.“ (O’Connor, 2009, p. 41).

As suggested by several peers, I will also design a professional development day to introduce the

idea of a study group/ lesson study, as well as another day to introduce the grading scale to the

entire staff. First, a professional development day will have to be used to introduce the scale to

my PLC, which includes a total of eight members. Norms will be established to emphasize a

trusting environment, and ideas about the scale will be discussed. At the end of term four, the

idea of a lesson study will be introduced during one of our LIF Friday’s. LIF Friday’s are days

designed for collaboration. This is a perfect opportunity for a lesson study to occur. During this

meeting, team members will collaborate and use the results of the scale and categories to

determine the lessons that provided successful growth for our students.

A professional development day to introduce the grading scale to the entire staff will have to

occur at the onset of term five in order to help teachers understand the components of the grading

scale as well as the philosophy behind standards based grading. On this day, I will describe the

success and necessary areas for improvement. These successes and areas of improvement will

be based on the English Department’s and Social Studies analysis of the use of the standards

based grading scale during term four. The results of the lesson study will also be discussed

during this meeting.

Then to take the lesson study to the entire staff, some more time during one of our call-back days

can be used to discuss this idea with the entire staff. This will help teachers understand the

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importance of a lesson study and what a lesson study looks like. We complete a version of this

when we have data team meetings about success time. Many teachers may be willing to

participate because Sequoia is a school that focuses on growth. I will again have to emphasize

the need to help our students grow and the importance of developing and analyzing best

practices.

Plan as assessment/evaluation of how to monitor goal, action progress

At the end of term four (late December-February 2), the teachers who have agreed to use the

scale will print off grade reports which will demonstrate by standard what students have learned

and the lessons or assignments that have helped them reach the proficient level. We can then

analyze these reports to help us determine the best practices and strategies that helped our

students learn. In essence we can come up with a lesson study or studies to help propel student

learning. (Zepeda, 2012).

At the conclusion of term four (late December-February 2), we can also pull out our attendance

reports and compare and contrast attendance based on the use of the grading scale, to see if the

grading scale had any impact on attendance. We can look at the attendance of our students

during term three and compare that to the attendance of our students during term four. Of course

given that many holidays and other state testing occurs during term four, there may be other

variables that we have to consider when examining attendance. The re-vamped grading scale

may not be the only contributing factor to an improved attendance or a decline in attendance.

Find and collect evidence or describe as you go and demonstrate the progress change.

As other English teachers use the grading scale and categories, I will see if the standards based

grading scale contributes to an increase in attendance and understanding of what is being learned

throughout the year. It will help to be a predictor of how students will perform on the new

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Smarter Balanced test as well as other district wide tests this year. Additionally, because the

language I use in the grading scale

corresponds to the rubrics used to assess

student learning which comes from the

adopted textbook, our team can more

readily determine if the new textbook

adoption is suitable for our student

population and school design.

Rubric provided by Springboard

The only difference is that excellent has

been changed to Above Standard on my

grading scale. This is to prevent confusion in coding the scale. If I had two “E’s” in my scale

students may not know if they scored excellent or emerging. The textbook we are using was

written by the College Board and is very rigorous. All the activities in the textbook are aligned

with the Common Core State Standards (CCSS), and each unit has essential questions to explore

throughout the unit. Learning targets which pinpoint components of the CCSS are the focus of

the lessons within the book, which help guide student learning so that they will be successful on

the summative. Each summative for the unit is a different essay, and these scores on the essay

are what the district will examine to see if students have successfully mastered the content of the

unit.

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At the end of each monthly

term, teachers can run

reports that generate how

students performed on the

various standards. This

will give us a nice

overview of what and how

much knowledge students

are acquiring in our

classes. These reports are

easily emailed to staff,

parents, as well as

community members.

Each report is accessible

by district personnel as well.

The various strands are color coded, red for the reading strand, yellow for the listening and

speaking strand, blue for the writing strand and green for the grammar strand. The score directly

to the right of the standard is the average score for that standard. As one can see, some standards

have several assignments assigned to them. This gives students several chances to master the

same standard. The different chances usually appeal to a variety of learning modalities.

Currently students have to complete all of the assignments in the category. This may change as I

continue to develop this grading system. For example, if one examines summarizing a text, there

are three assignments that fall under that standard. One is a video, another is from a test and a

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third is an actual summary. Each assignment addresses the standard at a different depth of

knowledge level, as well as a different learning modality. The system is far from perfect, I hope

through collaboration and communication to continually improve throughout the school year.

Collaborate with staff and administration for this project and work towards excellent in the rubric/framework

In order to implement the grading scale I have communicated with my principal in order to

approve the scale. I have also exchanged email and had a meeting with the individual at the

district level who pushes grading scales into the program so that all teachers have access to the

scale as well. Because I communicated with these individuals, the grading scale will be available

all year, and for each monthly term for any teacher who works at our school to use. When I make

the revisions to the grading scale, I now know who I can contact and the people who will support

and help me with this process.

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References

Bishop, P. Challancin, S. Crisp, B., DeMaret, P. et al. Springboard: English language arts grade

10. United States: Collegeboard.

O’Connor, K. (2009). How to Grade for Learning (3rd Ed.) Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin.

Stiggins, R. J., Arter, J. A., Chappuis, J., & Chappuis, S. (2012). Classroom assessment for

student learning: Doing it right - Using it well. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson

Education, Inc.

Washington State Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction. (2014). PB105B Report for

Sequoia High School (8284) for 2012-2013. Retrieved from https://eds.ospi.k12.wa.us

Zepada, S. J. (2012). Professional development: What works. (2nd ed). New York. Eye on

Education.