Math Leadership Support Network ’08-’09 A Repair Kit for Grading 15 Fixes for Broken Grades By Ken O’Connor

Math Leadership Support Network ’08-’09 What should grades tell us about students?

Math Leadership Support Network ’08-’09 What factors are actually included in grades?

Math Leadership Support Network ’08-’09 The Essential Question How confident are you that the grades students get in your school are: consistent accurate meaningful, and supportive of learning? If grades do not meet these four conditions of quality, they are “broken,” i.e., ineffective.

Math Leadership Support Network ’08-’09 Adapt don’t adopt Start small Work together

Math Leadership Support Network ’08-’09 “Even if you are on the right track, If you just sit there You will get run over.” Attributed to Mark Twain

Math Leadership Support Network ’08-’09 Grades are broken when they - include ingredients that distort achievement arise from low quality or poorly organized evidence are derived from inappropriate number crunching, and when they do not support the learning process.

Math Leadership Support Network ’08-’09

Fixes for Practices That Distort Achievement 1. Don’t include student behaviors (effort, participation, adherence to class rules, etc.) in grades: include only achievement. 2. Don’t reduce marks on “work” submitted late: provide support for the learner. 3. Don’t give points for extra credit or use bonus points; seek only evidence that more work has resulted in a higher level of achievement.

Math Leadership Support Network ’08-’09 Fixes for Practices That Distort Achievement 4. Don’t punish academic dishonesty with reduced grades; apply other consequences and reassess to determine actual level of achievement. 5. Don’t consider attendance in grade determination; report absences separately. 6. Don’t include group scores in grades; use only individual achievement evidence.

Math Leadership Support Network ’08-’09 Fixes for Practices that Distort Achievement You will be given one of the six factors to discuss. Generate a list of reasons FOR including the factor in grades, and arguments AGAINST doing so. Once your group has debated the issue, discuss the following position: If there are compelling arguments against including the factor, the only way arguments in favor of including the factor in the grade can win out is if the grader can act in some concrete way to eliminate ALL arguments against. It is unacceptable to know that there are compelling reasons not to include a factor and go ahead and include it anyway.

Math Leadership Support Network ’08-’09 Fixes Low-Quality or Poorly Organized Evidence 7. Don’t organize information in grading records by assessment methods or simply summarize into a single grade; organize and report evidence by standards/learning goals. 8. Don’t assign grades using inappropriate or unclear performance standards; provide clear descriptions of achievement expectations. 9. Don’t assign grades based on student’s achievement compared to other students; compare each student’s performance to preset standards. 10. Don’t rely on evidence gathered using assessments that fail to meet standards of quality; rely only on quality assessments.

Math Leadership Support Network ’08-’09 Fixes For Inappropriate Grade Calculation 11. Don’t rely only on the mean; consider other measures of central tendency and use professional judgment. 12. Don’t include zeros in grade determination when evidence is missing or as punishment; use alternatives, such as reassessing to determine real achievement or use “I” for Incomplete or Insufficient Evidence.

Math Leadership Support Network ’08-’09 Fixes to Support Learning 13. Don’t use information from formative assessments and practice to determine grades; use only summative evidence. 14. Don’t summarize evidence accumulated over time when learning is developmental and will grow with time and repeated opportunities; in those instances, emphasize more recent achievement. 15. Don’t leave students out of the grading process. Involve students; they can – and should – play key roles in assessment and grading that promote achievement.

Math Leadership Support Network ’08-’09 Fix #3 Don’t give points for extra credit or use bonus points; seek only evidence that more work has resulted in a higher level of achievement.

Math Leadership Support Network ’08-’09 Fix #4 Don’t punish academic dishonesty with reduced grades; apply other consequences and reassess to determine actual level of achievement.

Math Leadership Support Network ’08-’09 Fix #5 Don’t consider attendance in grade determination; report absences separately.

Math Leadership Support Network ’08-’09 Fix #5 “Excused and unexcused absences are not relevant to an achievement grade. There is no legitimate purpose for distinguishing between excused and unexcused absences. For educational purposes, therefore, there need only be recorded absences.” Gathercoal, F., Judicious Discipline, Caddo Gap Press, San Francisco, 1997, 151

Math Leadership Support Network ’08-’09 Fix #5 Teacher: “Are you telling me that if a student has been ill and another has been skipping, that they both should be able to make up the work missed?” Gathercoal: “(Yes) both needed an educator when they returned, perhaps the one who skipped more than the other.” Gathercoal, F., Judicious Discipline, Caddo Gap Press, San Francisco, 1997, 151

Math Leadership Support Network ’08-’09 Fix # 11 Don’t rely on the mean: consider other measures of central tendency and use your professional judgment.

Math Leadership Support Network ’08-’09 Fix #11 Mean Average = 72.2 Median =

Math Leadership Support Network ’08-’09 Fix #11 “Educators must abandon the average or arithmetic mean, as the predominant measurement of student achievement.” Reeves, D., “Standards are Not Enough: Essential Transformations for School Success”, NASSP Bulletin, Dec. 2000, 10

Math Leadership Support Network ’08-’09 Fix #11 Letter to the Editor Toronto Globe and Mail October 15, 2003 Whenever I hear statistics being quoted I am reminded of the statistician who drowned while wading across a river with an average depth of 3 feet. GORDON McMANN Campbell River, B.C.

Math Leadership Support Network ’08-’09 Fix #11 “Grading by the median provides more opportunities for success by diminishing the impact of a few stumbles and by rewarding hard work.” Wright, Russell G., “Success for All: The Median is the Key”, Kappan, May 1994,

Math Leadership Support Network ’08-’09 Fix #11 “Data should be used to INFORM, not determine decisions” Management Consultant, The Hay Group, personal conversation, January 2002

Math Leadership Support Network ’08-’09 Fix #12 Don’t include zeros in grade determination when evidence is missing or as punishment; use alternatives, such as reassessing to determine real achievement or use “I” for Incomplete or Insufficient Evidence.

Math Leadership Support Network ’08-’09 The Effect of Zeros 101 Point Scale < (D)74 (C)

Math Leadership Support Network ’08-’09 What grade should this student get? 101 Point Scale5 Point Scale Mean Letter grade FD

Math Leadership Support Network ’08-’09 The Effect of Zeros What do we think are the pros and cons of putting a zero in the grade book for missing work? What might be an alternative, given the argument presented in the video?

Math Leadership Support Network ’08-’09 Fix #14 Don’t summarize evidence accumulated over time when learning is developmental and will grow with time and repeated opportunities; in those instances, emphasize more recent achievement.

Math Leadership Support Network ’08-’09 Fix #14 “Consider this dreary message shared with me by an assistant superintendent: I was meeting with our high school Advanced Placement teachers, who were expressing concerns about our open enrollment process and the high failure rate. One math teacher said that while a particular student was now (getting marks) in the 80’s, she had made a 12 on the initial test, ‘so there is no way she is going to make a passing grade for the first nine weeks’.” Grant Wiggins, *Unthinking Grading,” Big Ideas, Volume 2, Issue 2, 2006 (on-line newsletter at

Math Leadership Support Network ’08-’09 Fix #14 “We know that students will rarely perform at high levels on challenging learning tasks at their first attempt. Deep understanding or high levels of proficiency are achieved only as a result of trial, practice, adjustments based on feedback and more practice.” McTighe, J., “What Happens Between Assessments”, Educational Leadership, Dec. ’96 – Jan. ’97, 11

Math Leadership Support Network ’08-’09 Fix #14 Assessment of Learning Time Bob Gwen Roger Pam

Math Leadership Support Network ’08-’09 Fix #15 Don’t leave students out of the grading process. Involve students; they can – and should – play key roles in assessment and grading that promote achievement.

Math Leadership Support Network ’08-’09 “Grades are broken when students do not understand how their grades have been determined, and when they have been excluded from assessment, record keeping, and communication. The fix is to ensure that students understand how grades have been determined and to involve them as much as possible in all phases of learning and assessment.” Ken O’Connor (p.114)

Math Leadership Support Network ’08-’09 “As students become more involved in the assessment process, teachers find themselves working differently…. Many teachers are spending less time marking at the end of learning and more time helping students during the learning. -Davies, 2000, p. 9

Math Leadership Support Network ’08-’09 What are the next directions? - the 15 Fixes and what they mean for you: For each fix What do you think? - PMI Where are you (individual)/school/district now? Where do you want to go in terms of the procedure/policy?

Math Leadership Support Network ’08-’09 EXIT SLIP 1. What is the most important new insight, understanding, or realization that has come to you as a result of this session? AND/OR 2. What is the most important reaffirmation of something you already do or have always believed?