MAKING STANDARDS BASED GRADING WORK IN YOUR WORLD LANGUAGE CLASSROOM Jenni Highfill Kim Lackey Denise Pahl Eureka High School, Rockwood School District All presentation materials available at

“NO MATTER HOW LOFTY OUR ESPOUSED EDUCATION GOALS, OUR GRADING PRACTICES REVEAL WHAT WE TRULY VALUE.” -Tony Winger “WHAT WE KNOW TODAY DOES NOT MAKE YESTERDAY WRONG. IT MAKES TOMORROW BETTER.” -Carol Commadore

WHERE ARE WE COMING FROM?  Rockwood School District / Eureka High School  All Spanish teachers / PLCs incorporate the same standard-based grading practices.  RSD has a grading and reporting policy that is a work in progress.  Disconnect between grading and reporting system  Our focus is on Standards Based Grading and Feedback – NOT Standards Based Reporting.  We are not experts. We are learning everyday. Our practice is constantly evolving.

WHAT POWER DOES A GRADE HAVE?  Think  Pair  Share

WHAT ARE THE 15 FIXES FOR BROKEN GRADES?  Ken O'Connor, a.k.a. The Grade Doctor, is an independent consultant who specializes in issues related to the communication of student achievement, especially grading and reporting.  Rockwood School District has used Ken O’Connor’s book as a starting point for book studies and common language about standards based grading.  Please refer to your packet for an overview of the 15 fixes – our presentation is based on these ideas.  Suggestion: Do a book study with your colleagues.

1. WHICH OF THE FOLLOWING ARE CURRENTLY REFLECTED IN GRADES IN MOST CLASSROOMS IN THE U.S.? A. how well students behave in class B. how well students can take tests C. if students are responsible and do their homework D. if students participate in class E. what students know and are able to do F. group work and projects that students do G. student attitudes towards the class H. extra credit I. if students bring their materials to class each day J. all of the above

2. WHAT DO YOU THINK GRADES SHOULD REFLECT? A. how well students behave in class? B. how well students can take tests? C. if students are responsible and do their homework? D. if students participate in class? E. what students know and are able to do? F. group work and projects that students do? G. student attitudes towards the class? H. all of the above?

3. WHAT DO WE THINK GRADES SHOULD REFLECT? We believe grades should reflect what students know and are able to do.

What should count in a grade? What shouldn’t count in a grade?  Vocabulary Assessments  Grammar Assessments  Speaking Assessments  Listening Assessments  Reading Assessments  Writing Assessments  Work that is graded  Work that shows what a student knows and is able to do  Participation  Behavior  Homework completion  If you brought your book to class  Extra credit for extra work  Extra credit for bringing in a box of Kleenex, etc.  Attendance  Group work grades

EHS SPANISH GRADEBOOK CATEGORIES AND WEIGHTS SpanishIII Practice Work (where feedback is given) 10%5% Vocabulary Quizzes 30%25% Grammar Quizzes 20%25% Communicative Skills 40%45% Spanish III, IV, & AP Interpersonal Communication Speaking ↔ Listening Writing ↔ Reading 20% Presentational Communication Speaking Writing 20% Interpretive Communication Reading Listening Viewing 20% Linguistic and Cultural Competence Vocabulary Assessments Grammar Assessments Pronunciation Assessments Culture 40%

WHAT DO WE DO ABOUT NON-ACADEMIC BEHAVIOR ISSUES?  Failure to complete assignments  Turning work in late  Coming to class unprepared  Attitude problems; lack of cooperation  Not working up to potential  Falling asleep in class

WHAT DO WE DO ABOUT NON-ACADEMIC BEHAVIOR ISSUES? We deal with them as BEHAVIOR issues with behavioral consequences.  Talk to the student  Behavior modification tools (getting planner signed, reward system, physical proximity, seating chart adjustment, etc.)  Phone call or home  Mandatory academic tutoring  Detention

HOW IS IT FAIR TO MAKE THE ENTIRE GRADE BASED ON ASSESSMENTS ONLY?  We believe that ALL students can learn, just not always at the same rate.  Students need to be held accountable for learning the material.  Students who do not demonstrate proficiency are given opportunities to learn the material and re-assess.  See “Contract for Reassessment, Delayed or Make-up Assessment”

OPPORTUNITIES FOR RE-ASSESSMENT  Designed for students who do not demonstrate proficiency (not prepared to move forward in their learning)  Same format with different prompts or words.  Must be done outside class time – generally before or after school  Students must complete additional practice prior to reassessment.  2 nd grade counts – most recent evidence of what students know and are able to do

HOW DO YOU DECIDE WHAT TO ASSESS?  Unit Plan (backward design)  Based on district curriculum / national standards  Unpack the standards for each unit  For each assessment….  Reflect on which specific skills should be tested  Create assessments on which students demonstrate those skills  Create a rubric that communicates the differences between performance levels

TAKING THE MYSTERY OUT OF ASSESSMENT  Share unit goals with students at the beginning of the unit.  Share rubrics with students before assessments.  Provide practice and feedback before the assessment (practice quiz, skills practice, etc.)  An example from The Cosby Show An example from The Cosby Show

WHAT SHOULD BE ASSESSED IN A WORLD LANGUAGE CLASSROOM?

USE QUALITY ASSESSMENTS  What should be assessed in a World Language classroom?  Are the purposes for your assessments clear? Are they clear to the students?  Do your assessments match the goals you have for your students?  What do quality assessments look like?  What are some of the problems with using assessments produced by textbook companies?

SMALL CHANGES  Start thinking in terms of Performance Standards and not just letter grades (and get your students to start thinking that way too)!  Integrate some ideas from Standards Based Grading and Reporting into the constraints of your district’s grading system (must give letter grades, percentage cut offs for letter grades, quarter grades, grading policies, etc.)

POSSIBLE TITLES FOR PERFORMANCE STANDARD LEVELS Advanced Above Standard ExceptionalConsistently Proficient At StandardProficientUsually PartialApproaching ProgressingSometimes MinimalBelowWell BelowBeginningSeldom How to Grade for Learning, Ken O’Connor, 2002, page 72

EHS WL DEPARTMENT TITLES FOR PERFORMANCE STANDARD LEVELS  Used by some Language Arts teachers in our school  common language for students  Each gives a description of the student’s performance / ability related to the standard Advanced Proficient Developing Minimal

LINK TO PERCENTAGES Traditional School Approach Linking Performance Standard Levels to Traditional Percentages %Outstanding / Excellent %?Advanced 80-89%Above Average / Good 85-94%?Proficient 70-79%Average / Satisfactory 75-84%?Developing 60-69%Below Average / Poor 74% or below?Minimal 59% or belowFailing / Unacceptable Far Below Basic?

SET THE BAR HIGH, BUT HELP THEM REACH IT  Use clear standards/goals/performance expectations  when creating,  explaining,  giving,  grading assessments  Frequent, intentional formative work  Practice assessments, modeling, talking about the scoring guide – these are all key steps to encouraging student success.  High quality feedback on formative and summative work

INTRO TO SCORING GUIDES (SEE GOLD PACKET)  PALs rubrics from Fairfax County (p. 2)  This was our starting point for using descriptive standards-based rubrics department-wide   Various levels, Speaking, Writing, Interactive Tasks  Note: The lowest grade is a 50% (not a zero)

WHY USE 50% AS THE LOWEST GRADE?  A grade below 50% for work that was completed involves inappropriate mathematics. With the common grading scale where 59 and below is an F, there are  A=11 points (90-100)  B=10 points (80-89)  C=10 points (70-79)  D=10 points (60-69)  F=60 points (0-59)  The range for an F is six times greater than the other grades.  Using 50% as the lowest grade “evens things out.” A=11 points (90-100) B=10 points (80-89) C=10 points (70-79) D=10 points (60-69) F=10 points (50-59)

DO I HAVE TO DO MATH? (P. 1)

COMMUNICATION RUBRICS  PRESENTATIONAL COMMUNICATION  WRITING  SPEAKING  INTERPERSONAL COMMUNICATION  SPOKEN  WRITTEN  INTERPRETATIVE COMMUNICATION  READING  LISTENING

PRESENTATIONAL WRITING RUBRIC

PRESENTATIONAL SPEAKING RUBRIC

INTERPERSONAL SPEAKING RUBRIC

INTERPERSONAL WRITING RUBRIC

INTERPRETATIVE READING RUBRIC

READING TEXT

INTERPRETIVE COMMUNICATION LISTENING RUBRIC

OTHER RUBRICS  GRAMMAR  PRETERITE AND IMPERFECT CONJUGATIONS  INFORMAL COMMANDS  VOCABULARY  COMPREHENSION  PRODUCTION  PRONUNCIATION  LIFE-LONG LEARNING PROJECTS (COMMUNITIES STANDARD)

GRAMMAR RUBRIC

VOCABULARY COMPREHENSION QUIZ RUBRIC

VOCABULARY PRODUCTION QUIZ RUBRIC

PRONUNCIATION

LIFE-LONG LEARNING PROJECTS (COMMUNITIES STANDARD)

WHAT DO STUDENTS THINK OF STANDARD-BASED GRADING AND REPORTING? Comments from our students…

WHAT IS YOUR TAKE-AWAY? WHERE DO YOU GO FROM HERE? WITH WHOM WILL YOU DISCUSS THESE IDEAS?

MAKING STANDARDS BASED GRADING WORK IN YOUR WORLD LANGUAGE CLASSROOM Jenni Highfill Kim Lackey Denise Pahl Eureka High School, Rockwood School District All presentation materials available at