Taking the Guesswork Out of Student Evaluation GRADING Taking the Guesswork Out of Student Evaluation Michelle Rammel, Ph.D.

Communication Why Do We Grade? Primary purpose Student achievement Administrators Colleges and universities Potential employers Students and parents

Why Do We Grade? Guidance Select, identify, or group students for certain educational paths or programs

Motivation Why Do We Grade? low grade will motivate a student to try harder high grade will motivate a student to maintain effort Research indicates that grades do not motivate students!

Administrative purposes Why Do We Grade? Administrative purposes Promotion and retention Determine course placement for student transfers Class rank Credits for graduation Honors standing

Instructional planning Why Do We Grade? Instructional planning Form cooperative groups

Program Evaluation Why Do We Grade? Evaluate the effectiveness of an instructional program

Components of grades Effort Attendance Behavior Homework Extra credit Late work

Effort, participation, and positive attitude Components of grades Effort, participation, and positive attitude Highly valued attributes Difficult to define and measure

Components of grades Grades are distorted when factors not related to achievement are included. To have real meaning, grades must be pure measures of each student’s achievement of the course objectives.

Ineffective grading practices Assigning a zero Motivate students? No research supports this practice

Ineffective grading practices Fixes for Assigning a Zero Require students to complete the assignment The idea of “working with students until they achieve success” is promoted by HSTW. Throw out the lowest mark in a grading period

Ineffective grading practices Average vs. median Averaging assumes learning at the beginning of the term is as important as the learning at the end of the term Consider student X: 100% 100% 100% 100% 0% Average is 80% Is this appropriate? Does this show the learning that occurred? Consider student Y: 85% 80% 75% 80% A 0% on the fifth test results in 64% average Does this fairly represent student Y’s learning for the term?

Ineffective grading practices Average vs. median Averaging grades negatively affects student motivation because one low score during a term has such a detrimental effect on the student’s grade. (Guskey, 2002)

Ineffective grading practices Average vs. median Remember Student Y? 0% 75% 80% 80% 85% Median = ? Average vs. median??

Ineffective grading practices Semester Killer Single test, lab, paper, or project that makes or breaks a student’s grade

Ineffective grading practices Grading Scales An A can be as low as 80% or only 95% The lowest failing grade can range from 49% to 74% An A is not the same from school to school

Ineffective grading practices Grading Scales Majority of grading scales are biased. 10 point scales This disparity raises concern regarding the meaning of grades. No research supports any one grading scale over another.

Ineffective grading practices Grading on a Curve Affects students’ relationships Learning becomes competitive Helping classmate may reduce the student’s chance of earning an A

Effective grading practices Standards-based Grading Assesses how well a student has mastered course objectives Reduces meaningless paperwork Helps teachers adjust instruction Teaches what quality looks like Requires teachers to work with students until they are successful…a key practice of HSTW

Effective grading practices Feedback Accurate Specific Timely

Effective grading practices Page (1958) 3 groups Group 1 – numerical and letter grades only Group 2 – also included standard comments, such as Excellent or Let’s try to raise this grade Group 3 – Teachers wrote individualized comments that pertained to the teacher’s own feelings and instructional practices Which group do you think improved?

Effective grading practices Feedback Not effective if the comments are judgmental (Brookhart, 2008)

Grading in CTE Every day, academic teachers test students’ knowledge of a particular subject, but never truly assess their students’ comprehension. (Backes and Brown, 2009)

Traditional tests Grading in CTE Allow teachers to assign grades Determine a student’s knowledge level Verify whether the learning objectives were met Only check for lower level understanding… recall Do not support the purpose of common core standards of preparing students for college and career.

Grading in CTE Career technical teachers utilize more innovative techniques to assess student learning: presentations portfolios writing samples field experiences

Presentations Grading in CTE Allow students to demonstrate and discuss their understandings of a variety of concepts Learning and assessment occur in all three domains: cognitive, psychomotor, and affective. Offer students experience in problem solving, critical thinking and independent learning especially when ends with Q & A Instruction is more student-directed

Presentations Grading in CTE Provide clear guidelines: time limit require an outline before presentations are given offer substantial feedback require interaction with the audience Have one of the best presenters give presentation at the end of class the day before the other students Provides other students an exemplary model presentation Utilize a rubric in order to assess each presentation http://rubistar.4teachers.org Provide every student a copy of the rubric

Writing samples Grading in CTE Excellent way to evaluate a student’s content knowledge and understanding of successful writing Examples: Reflections Research reports express analytical thoughts to most students, is the act of opening an encyclopedia or a webpage and copying its verbiage without mention of the author clearly articulating one’s thoughts demonstrates an understanding of the content

Writing samples Grading in CTE Use writing samples often and vary the style of samples Provide constructive feedback – comment on grammatical, spelling, and punctuation errors Use a rubric Permit students the opportunity for individuality and personal reflection

Writing samples Grading in CTE Do not have to grade every skill for every writing assignment Must clearly state what skills will be graded Collins Writing = Focus Correction Areas (FCAs) three students focus on a smaller number of skills at one time students practice and master numerous FCAs during school year significantly improves their writing abilities

Field Experiences Grading in CTE More unique to career technical education Examples: Observations Shadowing Service learning Actual practice Real world connection of learning for students and teachers CT educators assess students in similar way to how employers evaluate their employees

Field Experiences Grading in CTE Suggestions: match the field experience to the course objectives match the placement to each student use journals, reflections, and logs to record observations hold an orientation session before sending students to the location

Individualized Productivity and Achievement System for Students (IPASS) An individualized, self-paced, competency based, and project/assignment driven system Students are given assignments each with a given point value. Assignments must be large enough to require a student at least one lab period, or 2.5 hours, to complete, and should be worth a minimum of ten points.

IPASS The teacher evaluates the work upon completion. If the work meets or exceeds the teacher’s standard, the student receives the number of points assigned and continues to the next assignment. If the assignment does not meet the pre-determined requirements, the student revises the work until the assignment meets expectations. Students may not continue to the next assignment until they have achieved competency on that given assignment.

IPASS Once an assignment is mastered, the student marks off the number of points received from the completed assignment on the IPASS Progress Chart. The student’s grade is based on how many points they earn during the grading period. The grade chart is a valuable visual tool for the student to see how missing school or not working diligently every day affects his or her grade.

There are no vague daily grades for working or not working in lab. IPASS There are no vague daily grades for working or not working in lab. There are no weighted grades Confuse parents and students The responsibility of the student’s grade is placed on the student’s shoulders.

Mistakes made over the course of the semester were not failures. IPASS Mistakes made over the course of the semester were not failures. The teacher is a facilitator similar to a boss running an office or shop. Everyone has their assigned work and it is the boss’s job to see that the employees have the resources to complete the assigned work.

References Backes, C., & Brown, P. (2009). Going beyond the test! Using alternative assessments in career education. Techniques: Connecting education & careers, 84(3), 34-37. Brookhart, S. M. (2008). How to give effective feedback to your students. Alexandria,VA: ASCD. Brookhart, S. M. (2009). Grading. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson. Collins Education Associates. (2010b). Focus Correction Areas. Retrieved from http://www.collinsed.com/focus_correction_areas.htm Guskey, T. R. (2002). Computerized gradebooks and the myth of objectivity. Phi Delta Kappan, 83(10), 775-780. Retrieved from ProQuest Education Journals. (Document ID:123590181). Guskey, T. R. (2003). How classroom assessments improve learning. Educational Leadership, 60(5), 6- 11. Guskey, T. R. (2004, October). 0 alternatives. Principal Leadership, 5(2), 49-53. Guskey, T. R. (2006, May). Making high school grades meaningful. Phi Delta Kappan, 87(9), 670-675. Kohn, A. (1999, September). Grading is degrading. The Education Digest, 65(1), 59-64. Marzano, R. J. (2000). Transforming classroom grading. Alexandria, VA: ASCD. O’Connor, K. (2011). A repair kit for grading: 15 fixes for broken grades. (1st ed.). Portland, OR: Educational Testing Service. Willis, S. (1993). Are letter grades obsolete? Education Update, 35(7). Retrieved from http://www.ascd.org/publications/newsletters/educationupdate/sept93/vol35/num07/Are-Letter- Grades-Obsolete¢.aspx

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