Grading the Top End Ty Duncan Senior Specialist Region 17 Education Service Center

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“I haven’t got the slightest idea how to change people, but I keep a long list of prospective candidates just in case I should ever figure it out.” ---David Sedaris

What Do Grades Communicate? Failure? Laziness? Lack of Content Understanding? Perseverance? Family Support? Great Teaching? Great Learning? “Playing the Game”? Memorizing?

Student AStudent B HW HW Quiz HW HW Quiz HW HW Quiz Participation Unit Test Week Ave Quiz –daily grade; Test = 3 daily grades Ms. Smith’s 9 th Grade Algebra Class – 1 st 6 Weeks What do/should grades measure? How much of a role do/should attitude and effort play in a grade? What role does/should homework play? What is the purpose of a report card grade? Do/Should report card grades and TAKS scores be similar?

Becoming a Great High School

Examining Highly Questionable Grading Practice The Practice of Giving Students Zeroes The Practice of Combing Academic Performance with Citizenship and Work Habits The Practice of Giving Extra Credit Becoming a Great High School, pgs , 2009

Doing the Wrong Thing Under the Guise of the Real World THE REAL WORLD IS LEARNING FROM FAILURE. Lesson from the Video Game Industry Have you ever been late to a faculty meeting or turned in lesson plans late and been fired for it. We maybe teaching children a “real world” that simply does not exist.

The Bell Curve Norm-Referenced Tests e.g. ITBS, SAT, GRE, LSAT, Stat9, NAEP Purpose: To sort, select, classify, compare Information: How one compares with others Results: reported as percentile (%) rank Always yields a bell curve Assumes a non-aligned curriculum

% Demonstrating Skill Criterion-References Tests e.g. TExES, TAKS, license/ certification, teacher-made Purpose: To determine knowledge of defined criteria Information: How well an individual performs Goal is to yield J curve Assumes an aligned curriculum Assumes most people can learn most things in time. The J Curve

Bloom’s Taxonomy

The Structure of Knowledge Concept Topic Principle Generalization FACTSFACTS FACTSFACTS FACTSFACTS FACTSFACTS FACTSFACTS FACTSFACTS FACTSFACTS FACTSFACTS Lynn Erickson -- Concept-Based Curriculum and Instruction for the Thinking Classroom, 2007

FactsTopicsConceptsGeneralizations/ Principles Complexity of Content Complexity of Processing Remember Create Understand Evaluate Apply Analyze

FactsTopicsConceptsGeneralizations/ Principles Complexity of Content Complexity of Processing Remember Create Understand Evaluate Apply Analyze 4 th Math TAKS QuestionSTAAR Question

FactsTopicsConceptsGeneralizations/ Principles Complexity of Content Complexity of Processing Remember Create Understand Evaluate Apply Analyze 6 th Reading TAKS QuestionSTAAR Question

FactsTopicsConceptsGeneralizations/ Principles Complexity of Content Complexity of Processing Remember Create Understand Evaluate Apply Analyze 8 th Social Studies TAKS QuestionSTAAR Question

FactsTopicsConceptsGeneralizations/ Principles Complexity of Content Complexity of Processing Remember Create Understand Evaluate Apply Analyze Biology TAKS QuestionSTAAR Question

Grading the Top End 5) History. The student understands the challenges confronted by the government and its leaders in the early years of the republic and the Age of Jackson. The student is expected to: (E) identify the foreign policies of presidents Washington through Monroe and explain the impact of Washington's Farewell Address and the Monroe Doctrine; What layers of learning are in this SE?

5) History. The student understands the challenges confronted by the government and its leaders in the early years of the republic and the Age of Jackson. The student is expected to: (E) identify the foreign policies of presidents Washington through Monroe and explain the impact of Washington's Farewell Address and the Monroe Doctrine;

(5) History. The student understands the challenges confronted by the government and its leaders in the early years of the republic and the Age of Jackson. The student is expected to: (E) identify the foreign policies of presidents Washington through Monroe and explain the impact of Washington's Farewell Address and the Monroe Doctrine;

(6) Force, motion, and energy. The student knows that energy occurs in many forms and can be observed in cycles, patterns, and systems. The student is expected to: (B) demonstrate that the flow of electricity in circuits requires a complete path through which an electric current can pass and can produce light, heat, and sound;

6) Force, motion, and energy. The student knows that energy occurs in many forms and can be observed in cycles, patterns, and systems. The student is expected to: (B) demonstrate that the flow of electricity in circuits requires a complete path through which an electric current can pass and can produce light, heat, and sound;

Grading Problems Many assignments are not as “objective” as teachers would like. Rigorous work is going to take a change in the way we grade. Grading a standard and not “work” takes increased teacher sophistication. TIME

Assessment Rubric: A scoring system that allows teacher to place value on components of a given assessment product. States the criteria to be examined and assessed; Usually contains a scale (ex. 1-4) of different points possible per criterion; Provides students with expectations about what will be assessed and standards that need to be met; Increases consistency in the rating of student mastery; Provides students with “road signs” - information about where they are in relation to where they need to be.

A Different Kind of Grade Book 8.1.b8.2c8.4b8.5f8.7d8.7e4 Point Scale 100 Point Scale Ty Larry Tony Frank Oscar Kyle Average the 4 point scale and multiply by 25 to create the hundred point number for grade reporting. This also becomes your targeted intervention document for students who are failing to grasp the content. The learning is also not complete on this document as I would be willing to go back and change the grade if they demonstrated greater understanding during the six weeks.

Dare to Strike Out and Find New Ground

Ty Duncan

Bibliography Tim Westerberg, Becoming a Great High School, 2009 Robert Marzano, Standards Based Grading and Formative Assessment, 2009 Rick Wormeli, Fair Is Not Always Equal, 2006 Marilee Springer, Learning and Memory, 1999 Creating a Compulsory Learning Environment