1
Our school grappled with grade politics . . . .
. . . . and lost.
-Anonymous
2
I learned . . . that there are reasons,
historical reasons why grading exists. But I
also learned from history that there are no good
reasons, no sound educational ones, why they
should continue to exist.
-Anonymous
3
Letter grades have acquired an almost cult
like importance in American schools.
-Conklin (2001)
4
Grades are not inherently bad. It is their
misuse and misinterpretation that is
bad. -Guskey (1993)
5
Our Reporting System Does It Make the Grade?

• Becky Brandl Mitzi Hoback
• Summer 2002

6
Workshop Goals are to . . .

• Explore the advantages and disadvantages of
  various grading practices and reporting systems
• Examine current grading practices
• Review district options
• Develop sound grading practices and reporting
  systems

7
Reflection Time

• Grading is not essential for learning
• Grading is complicated
• Grading is subjective and emotional
• Grading is inescapable

8
Reflection Time

• Grading has a limited research base
• Grading has no single best practice
• Grading that is faulty damages students and
  teachers

9
Grading Issues

• Communicated to Whom?
• Communicate about What?
• Assess Achievement How? Using what Evidence?
• What Evidence of Achievement Should be Used?

10
Is it TIME to change our grading and
reporting system?
11
Developments That Make Change in Grading and
Reporting Systems Imperative

• The growing emphasis on standards and performance
  assessments makes current reporting practices
  inadequate
• Parents and community members are demanding more
  and better information about student
  learning progress
• Advances in technology allow for more
  efficient reporting of detailed information
  on student learning

12
Developments That Make Change in Grading and
Reporting Systems Imperative cont.

• Grading and reporting are recognized
  as one of educators most important
  responsibilities
• There is growing awareness of the gap between
  our knowledge base and common practice in grading
  and reporting

13
What are the main purposes of grading and
reporting?
14
Critical Aspects in Determining Communication
Purposes

• What information or message do we want to
  communicate?
• Who is the primary audience for that message?
• How would we like that information or message to
  be used?

15
Grading and Reporting Purposes

• To communicate the achievement status of students
  to parents and others
• To provide information that students can use for
  self-evaluation
• To select, identify, or group students for
  certain educational paths or programs

16
Grading and Reporting Purposescont.

• To provide incentives for students to learn
• To evaluate the effectiveness of instructional
  programs
• To provide evidence of students lack of effort
  or inappropriate responsibility

17
What are report card grades based upon . .
.. . . in a traditional classroom?
18
Traditional Grading Practice Sources

• The policies and practices they experienced as
  students
• Their personal philosophies of teaching and
  learning
• District-, building-, department-, or grade-level
  policies on grading and reporting
• What they learned about grading and reporting in
  their undergraduate and teacher preparation
  programs

19
Typical Sources of Grading and Reporting Evidence

• Homework Completion
• Homework Quality
• Class Participation
• Work Habits and Neatness
• Effort

• Attendance
• Punctuality of Assignments
• Class Behavior or Attitude
• Progress Made

20
Typical Sources of Grading and Reporting Evidence

• Major Exams or Compositions
• Class Quizzes
• Reports or Projects
• Student Portfolios

• Laboratory Projects
• Students Notebooks or Journals
• Classroom Observations
• Oral Presentations
• Exhibits of Students Work

21
Grades are Communicated to Whom?

• In the elementary grades
• Parents
• Students
• Other teachers
• Administrators

• In middle and high school
• College admissions office
• Scholarship decision makers
• Potential employers
• Juvenile authorities
• Insurance companies

22
Reflecting on . . . Your Grading Practices

• What are the principles on which your grading
  practices are based?
• What are your actual grading practices?
• What were or are the main influences on your
  grading principles and practices?
• How do your grading principles and practices
  compare with those of other teachers in your
  school?

23
How to Grade for LearningChris Browns Grade
Book Activity
24
Reflecting on . . .

• Do the grades awarded fairly reflect the results
  from which they were derived for each student?
• If you answered "yes," for which students? Why?
• If you answered "no," for which students? Why?
• What grading issues arise from this care study?
• What revisions to my grading practices do I need
  to make?
• What points of uncertainty still exist?

25
Grades Communicate about What?

• Achievement
• Class participation
• Effort
• Attitude
• Intelligence

26
Questions for Establishing Appropriate Grading
Practices

• Is it appropriate to factor the student's
  ...achievement ...intelligence
  ...level of effort or ...level of
  attitude when assigning a report
  card grade?

27
Establish Appropriate Grading Practices for Each
Question Above

• Consider arguments for and against each one
• Create a balance scale reflecting a clear
  analysis of all factors

28
If all of these are factored into a grade all
with different weights, how can we expect the
reader to factor all of those things out and
understand what we meant?

• If you think its possible, you are living in a
  dream world.-Stiggins

29
Traditionally, Evidence of Achievement has been
based on

• Test and quizzes
• Homework assignments
• Class participation
• Teachers' intuition

30
What Evidence of Achievement Should be Used?

• Test and quizzes (if they are of good quality,
  yes)
• Performance assessments meeting standards of
  quality
• Homework assignments (maybe)
• Class participation (maybe, what standards are in
  place so that all students are treated the same?)
• Teacher's intuition (maybe)

31
Q A . . .

• Should grading be based on "growth over time"?

32
Q A . . .

• Should you grade "on a
  curve?

33
Q A . . .

• When is grading counterproductive?

34
Q A . . .

• How can cooperative learning
  be graded?

35
Q A . . .

• How should extra
  credit be handled?

36
Q A . . .

• How does a teacher meet the needs of all
  students in a class including ELL, SPED,
  Inclusion, HAL and Title I?

37
Q A . . .

• How can you
  account for evaluation anxiety?

38
How is the Traditional Classroom
different than a
Standards-Based Classroom?
39
Traditional Classroom

• Primary focus on teaching
• Textbooks guide all classroom decisions
• Instruction is textbook driven
• Fuzzy curriculum
• Feedback to students is letter grades based on
  course requirements
• Occasional talk about standards
• Assessment for grades
• Responsibility for learning is on the teacher

40
Standards-Based Classroom

• Primary focus on learning
• Standards guide all classroom decisions
• Instruction based on standards
• Clear learner outcomes
• Expectation is ALL students will learn
• Feedback is specific for each student
• Assessments integrated into instruction
• Students take ownership for learning

41
What are report card grades based upon . .
.. . . in a standards-based classroom?
42
Guidelines for Grading in Standards-Based Systems

• Relate grading procedures to learning goals (i.e.
  standards)
• Use criterion-referenced performance standards as
  reference points to determine grades
• Limit the valued attributes included in grades to
  individual achievement
• Sample student performance--do not include all
  scores in grades

43
Guidelines for Grading in Standards-Based
Systems cont.

• Grade in pencil--keep records so they can be
  updated easily
• Crunch numbers carefully--if at all
• Use quality assessment(s) and properly recorded
  evidence of achievement
• Discuss and involve students in assessment,
  including grading, throughout the
  teaching/learning process

44
Examine Sample Report Cards

• Chart Strengths and Weaknesses

45
Grading and Reporting System Development

• The primary goal of grading and reporting
  is communication
• Grading and reporting are integral parts of
  the instructional process
• Good reporting is based on good evidence
• Changes in grading and reporting are best
  accomplished through the development of a
  comprehensive reporting system

46
Building an Effective Communication Timeline

• What is your district currently doing to
  encourage effective communication?
• Brainstorm additional ways to increase
  communication between home and school.

47
Multifaceted Reporting Systems may include
. . .

• Open-House
• Back-to-School Night
• Newsletters to Parents/Patrons
• Personal Letters to Parents
• Report Cards
• Notes Attached to Report Cards

• Weekly/Monthly Progress
• Standardized Assessment Reports
• Phone Calls to Parents
• Newspaper Articles
• Presentations for Community Groups
• Art Shows/Concerts
• PTA/PTO

48
Multifaceted Reporting Systems may include
. . .

• Evaluated Projects or Assignments
• Portfolios or Exhibits of Students Work
• Homework Assignments
• School Web Pages
• Parent-Teacher Conferences
• Student-Teacher Conferences
• Student Involved Conferences
• Student-Led Conferences
• Electronic Reporting Systems

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Electronic PortfoliosNot Just an Electronic File
Cabinet

• www.richerpicture.com
• www.ideasconsulting.com
• www.newtechhigh.org
• www.glef.org/classrooms.html
• www.project-approach.com

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Think about . . .

• What pieces are in place in your district?
• What do you need to add?
• Who are the audiences?
• Are they addressed by your current reporting
  system?

51
What Parents Want From a Reporting System

• More and better information
• More detailed information, but jargon free
• Practical suggestions about helping their child

52
Just Trying Hard Isn't Good Enough

• In a standards-driven system, teachers are
  responsible for maximizing students' success.

53
Sound Grading Practices
Students must

• Be clear about the achievement targets that have
  been set Content Knowledge Patterns
  of reasoning
• Know what standards they are expected to meet
• Understand the grading procedures that will be
  used
• Gather evidence over time
• Translate evidence into a composite index
• Begin instruction with a complete picture of the
  grading process (share it up front, no surprises,
  no excuses)

54
Steps for Revising Grading and Reporting Systems

• Make decision to revise grading and reporting
  system
• Hold initial planning meeting survey staff
• Form committee(s)
• report card committee
• reporting system committee
• (see committee guidelines)
• (consider parent/patron representation)

55
Steps for Revising Grading and Reporting Systems
cont.

• Study issues and view samples
• Visit other schools if appropriate
• Begin development of grading and
  reporting system
• Share draft with entire staff
• Pilot the system
• Modify and/or adopt system

56
Report Card Committee Ground Rules

• Meeting will begin and end on time
• Differences expressed in the meeting will not be
  carried beyond the walls of the meeting room
• All committee members will participate fully in
  the work of the group, including completing
  outside readings and assignments agreed upon

57
Report Card Committee Ground Rulescont.

• Every effort will be made to make decisions based
  on consensus of the group
• Each member serves as a representative and will
  take responsibility to fully represent the views
  of the constituents, to share the work of the
  committee with them, and to seek and share their
  feedback

58
Highly Recommended . . .

• How To Grade for Learning Linking Grades to
  Standards (Second Edition) by Ken OConnor
• Available online from Skylight at
  http//www.skylightedu.com
  or call 1.800.348.4474

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Also Recommended . . .

• Classroom Assessment, Grading, and Record Keeping
  by Robert J. Marzano, Barbara Zeno, and Jane E.
  Pollock, 2000, McRel
• Designing Standards-Based District, Schools, and
  Classrooms by Robert J. Marzano and John S.
  Kendall, 1996, ASCD

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Also Recommended . . .

• Report Card Grading Strategies and Solutions
  (video), by Rick Stiggins, Assessment Training
  Institute
• Succeeding With Standards Linking Curriculum,
  Assessment, and Action Planning by Judy F. Carr
  and Douglas E. Harris, 2001, ASCD
• Transforming Classroom Grading by Robert J.
  Marzano, 2000, ASCD

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Report Card Grades
Depend on so much . . . So much depends on
them! -Rick Stiggins