Too often, educational tests, grades, and report cards are treated by teachers as autopsies when they should be viewed as physicals. (Reeves 2000, 10)

All learners need a balanced success to effort ratio Struggling Learners: Heavy Effort Little Success Advanced Learners: Great Success, Little Effort

Why Do We Grade? Provide feedback Document progress Guide instructional decisions Motivate Punish Sort students

Teacher ActionResult on Student Achievement Just telling students # correct and incorrect Negative influence on achievement Clarifying the scoring criteriaIncrease of 16 percentile points Providing explanations as to why their responses are correct or incorrect Increase of 20 percentile points Asking students to continue responding to an assessment until they correctly answer the items Increase of 20 percentile points Graphically portraying student achievement Increase of 26 percentile points --Marzano, CAGTW, pgs 5-6

Potential distractions on assessment day: growling stomach, thirst, exhaustion, illness, emotional angst over: parents/friends/identity/tests/college/politics/ birthday/sex/blogs/parties/sports/projects/ homework/self-esteem/acne/holiday/report cards/future career/money/disease It’s reasonable to allow students every opportunity to show their best side, not just one opportunity.

Students can be assessed or checked on many things they do… BUT everything that is assessed and/or checked does not need a score… AND every score should not be included in the grade.

To Avoid Over-Grading Never grade pre-assessments – Students have had no opportunity to learn Grade on-going assessments sparely – Students need opportunity to practice, analyze work, & learn from errors in a safe context Use summative assessments as primary data for grading – Make sure assessments are squarely focused on the criteria specified to students

Measure What you mean to Measure If you want to determine a student’s ability to demonstrate the relationship between density & buoyancy, results shouldn’t be clouded by: – Lack of proficiency in writing in English – A missing name on a paper – Difficulty following directions – Rewards for unused bathroom passes

When we assess students through more than one format, we see different sides to their understanding. Some students’ mindmaps of their analysis of Renaissance art rivals the most cogent, written versions of their classmates.

Assessment types Assessment type is determined by when it’s given and how the data is used Formative feedback holds up a mirror to reflect back to students what they did. (Don’t judge: narrative, ‘smoke score” feedback.)

Tomlinson

Item Analysis Charts ItemTopic or Proficiency RightWrongSimple Mistake Really Don’t Understand 1 Dividing Fractions  2  3 Multiplying Fractions  4  5 Reducing to smplst term  6 Reducing to simplst term  7 Reciprocals  8  9 

Summative Assessment Name_____________ OutcomeTest, part 1 ProjectObserv.Test part 2 Perf. Task Most Consistent level CC.1 Writing Traits 3.5 CC.3 Writing Process CR.1 Reading- Elements CR.2 Comp Strategies 3.5 CR.6 Reading fiction

Responsive Report Format #1 Adjusted Curriculum Approach Grade the student against his own progression, but indicate that the grade reflects an adjusted curriculum. Place an asterisk next to the grade or check a box on the report card indicating such, and include a narrative comment in the cumulative folder that explains the adjustments.

Responsive Report Format #2 Progression and Outcomes Approach Grade the student with two grades, one indicating his performance with the standards and another indicating his own progression. A,B, C, D, or F indicates the student’s progress against standards, while 3.2.or 1 indicates his personal progression.

Responsive Report Format #2 Progression and Outcomes Approach Grade the student with two grades, one indicating his performance with the standards and another indicating his own progression. A,B, C, D, or F indicates the student’s progress against standards, while 3.2.or 1 indicates his personal progression.

Report Cards without Grades Course: Outcome Outcomes Rating ELA 8 Indicator (1) (2) (3) (4) Outcome1Usage/Punc/Spelling Outcome2Analysis of Lit Outcome3 6+1 Traits Outcome4 Reading Comp Outcome5Research Skills