What role should responsibility issues of students play within the grading structure? Are we grading all aspects of the child, or are we looking at content mastery?
Grade level standards should provide the basis for determining grades.
There should be some performance standards as the reference points when determining the grades. Given clear descriptions of the performance standards, then grades will reflect that accordingly. For instance, proficient would equal a B.
Achievement of the standards should be the sole basis of the grades. Attendance, participation, attitude, responsibility, effort or potential should be scored separately.
Due to the deadly effect of issuing zeros for the failure to acquire the desired knowledge or to complete a learning activity, the only mathematically-sound practice would be to issue 50% E scores. Never should there be a score in the grade book below the 50% score.
Think about the students that typically turn in work late. There are a couple categories of students. One group are the children who struggle with the content. Another group are the children who are capable and disorganized. And finally, there are the academically talented children who are disorganized and disinterested.
Looking at the group of children who struggle: The activity is hard, they are unsure of what to do, may not have parents to help at home, and the activity takes them longer than expected. So, contemplate the idea that the child finally turns in the activity finished. Most is not correct, but the score is scraping by at 62% D-. Now you take another 31% off for being late since the grading policy says 1/2 off late papers. What has been achieved for this child? It will only take a couple of these activities scored in this manner for the child to be unable to pull himself out of E range even if he turns in a bunch of A papers. And what is that chance? Now the child is doomed for the entire marking period, and at the end, there still isn’t any concrete evidence that he has or hasn’t learned any of the content presented.
The next group of children are capable yet disorganized. The activity has been finished with a degree of accuracy and then folded up into a book, squashed into the back of the desk, or put into the black hole of the backpack. After repeated reminders the child produces the work, probably completed at an average or proficient level. By the time the late paper policy is imposed on this child, her grades reflect D or E level which would indicate that she hasn’t learned that content. Often a child’s assignment report in this group would have A's and B's for all of the assignments turned in and E's and F's for those hit with the late grade policy. Again, the grades imposed on the report card do not reflect concrete evidence that she has or has not learned any of the content presented.
The final group of children are the academically talented children who can respond to classroom activities in a manner that seems to be disorganized and disinterested. In this scenario it is imperative to discern whether a child knows the content that is being graded. Looking at the root of the issue and the content being graded and how these relate to the performance of the gifted child will glean important insight. Often these children do not need the same amount of practice to master a skill and that manifests itself as missing assignments, which turn into poor grades, which is then related to the report card grades as not mastering the content when the reality is that a child has learned the content and is bored. These children are often heard saying, "Why should I do this? I already understand." And if the answers to this question include "Because everyone else has to" or "Because the teacher says so" or "Just play the game and do what the teacher says" then there should be some reevaluation of the assigned activity. Again, with this group of children, the grades imposed on the report card do not reflect concrete evidence that he or she has or has not learned any of the content presented.
What are some solutions to this grading dilemma?
One option is to grade only for content mastery. The grades on the report card reflect whether a child knows or does not know the content. When using this method, another assessment tool is provided along with the report card to evaluate the proficiency of life skill types of attributes such as work ethics, classroom behaviors and initiative and study skills (as seen from a rubric used by Hudsonville Public Schools.)
Another option, if late papers must be integrated into a scoring system, would be to use a policy that a late paper/assignment/project cannot ever earn the grade of an A. In this manner, the child can still prove to be proficient in the content. Most grade book programs will allow for an assignment to be noted as late. Yet, this won’t affect whether a child is proficient in content area, just not exemplary.
Another question is about redoing learning activities that do not reach the proficient level on the first try. Looking back at child development we see that children learn to walk, talk, or use the bathroom at varying ages. So why would we assume that all children can learn to perform a task in the exact amount of time?
If using grades to reflect learning, then allowing for retesting or redoing assignments and then replacing with the new score should be the standard rather than averaging the two scores together. Again, most grade book programs allow for footnoting that an assignment was redone to meet the goals. By using proficiency of content as the goal, then children achieving "not yet proficient" scores should continue to work on that assignment until proficient. Having to continue working on an assignment until it is right (even during recess) is a much better lesson for children to learn than just getting a bad grade and moving on. There are children who find it easier to just do enough of an activity or none of an activity and get the bad grade than to apply effort. The pain of a bad grade lasts for a little while, but having to continue working on an assignment until it is correct builds strong character. Soon the child will understand that it is easier to do the activity right the first time.
Grades should be a reflection of learning. The bottom line is that the grades assigned to students should be a direct reflection of the knowledge the student has acquired. Did your students perform an understanding of the content? When parents read a report card does the grade given reflect the learning that the child has accomplished?
(Ideas in this article are based on experience and the rubric mentioned is referenced from http://www.mymassp.com/content/grading_mastery_middle_level)
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Kathy, I completely agree with you. When teachers take off points for late papers they cease to grade the content and are grading the behavior instead.
This summer I took a graduate class on assessment and we discussed this very topic. If we want students' grades to reflect what they know we must stop taking off points for late papers.
This year I did. I no longer take off 5 points for every day the paper is late. Instead, I have built in a "Deadline" grade.
I teach Journalism, Photojournalism and Newspaper at the high school level. In the newspaper industry deadlines are key. If you don't meet the deadline, your story does not run. So I do feel there has to be some kind of consequence for late papers in my classes.
My deadline grade accounts for 10% of the student's overall grade for the semester. What I do is at different points in the semester I tally how many assignments the student has had due. For example, by mid-quarter my students had had eight assignments due. Whenever I entered in grades I marked in the gradebook footnote if the assignment was turned in late. So if 1 of the 8 assignments was late, the student received a score of 7 for their deadline grade.
This way the student's homework is not being docked points. But it will still be a part of their grade down the line. However it is not something that will take them from an A to an F. It will effect the overall grade eventually, but it is not something that will cause them to fail. I am able to see what they know and how well they know it through their homework and quiz percentages.
However, there are still some old-school teachers who believe that if the assignment is not in on time then they will not accept it at all. I take issues with these teachers. That is not how the real world works. If you are late getting your boss a report, the boss still wants it, but your review may not be stellar if you are late often enough. We are supposed to be grading students on what they know.
Also, so many students now are involved in so many different things they (and their parents) lack the time to get it all done on time. For example, my son did not get his homework done for the Friday deadline this week. It was not his fault, it was mine. My husband was out of state on business and I am a cheer coach and had to attend three basketball games in the evenings. We got home late and just did not have them time to get his homework done. I would rather let the homework go by the wayside than have my 8 year old up until 10 doing his work.
Times have changed and we need to change our grading practices to reflect that.
Kathy – I think that it is imperative that there are consequences that are natural and realistic for students’ actions. I believe that our country has started on a slippery slope of trying to buffer our citizens from those natural consequences in every walk of life. I think to teach our children that it is fine not to turn in assignments because it will either not effect his/her grade or effect it very little is only teaching them a very poor life’s lesson.
What are natural and realistic consequences regarding students’ grades? I think that a grade is an overall representation of several areas. Those areas that you mentioned above such as effort, skill level, behavior, etc… I think that for you to look at a child’s grade and automatically think that the grade only reflects skill level is wrong. I would never think that about my child’s own grade. If you are a disorganized person, late, or a no show, you face consequences in real life. You may be looked at as unreliable by your boss, not receive promotions, miss important meetings, lose important clients, etc… When I see my child’s grade I would want it to reflect skill level in addition to effort, timeliness, etc… If my child’s grade was a D- due to disorganization, I would want the teacher to notate that so I know what areas in which my child needs help.
In regards to cnevitt’s comments: “I take issues with these teachers. That is not how the real world works. If you are late getting your boss a report, the boss still wants it, but your review may not be stellar if you are late often enough. We are supposed to be grading students on what they know.” She has obviously never worked in the ‘real world.’ I have worked in the ‘real world’ before becoming a teacher. She is maybe right in very unique types of work. But for the bulk of jobs, and careers, if you are late or disorganized it will eventually cost you your job. I worked as a buyer for a retail company. We had deadlines for shipments, deadlines to fill orders, etc… If you missed your deadline it could cost the company a client, money lost due to pre-order discounts, etc… She is right about the fact that we are suppose to be grading students on what they know. Do they know the content? Do they know how to be organized? Do they know the importance of getting things in on time?
I was the type of student that knew exactly what was expected by my various teachers. If I knew I could turn in something late and face little or no consequences, then that was the path I chose. Why not, it was offered? This is the problem with this type of grading policy.
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