Reeves makes an interesting point in his argument against
the common grading system on a 100-point scale. If a student failed to submit
an assignment, does he/she deserves a zero? Reeves questions the need to
analyze the appropriate consequence for failure to submit an assignment. He
also mentions that some educators erroneously believe that providing a low
grade will somehow motivate students to perform better.
I really like the alternative proposed by Reeves of
requiring the student to complete the assignment. I would dare to suggest
implementing a detention in an after school or Saturday program designed to
allow students to complete missing assignments. At North Lawndale College Prep
High School where I am observing they are implementing a block schedule that
allows students to have a free period specifically designated to visiting the
classrooms of subjects in which they might be missing work. From what I been
able to observe and in my conversations with the staff the approach really
benefits struggling students and allows instructors to provide support on a
more personal level.
We must consider life circumstances the student might be
experiencing outside the classroom and that might be an impediment for an on-time
submission. Perhaps providing opportunities to turn in late work can be an
option allowing students to earn points, even if a certain percentage of the
grade is reduced for the late submission. Another important factor to consider
is the long-term impact our grades can have on the student’s academic career.
Accumulating zeros might damage the overall grade point average (GPA) of the
student and can even lead to dropping out of school. The negative consequences
might be greater than what we think. Particularly if we consider that very
often, adolescents are very sensible and emotionally developing which makes
them prone to having low self-esteem and at-risk for negative peer pressure and
lack of motivation.
Some educators have argued that there might be great
benefits to eliminating the grading system in high schools, what do you think
about this proposal? In addition, what
do you think is an appropriate and accurate punishment for failure to submit an
assignment? What is your standpoint on curving grades?
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ReplyDeleteAs mentioned in class before, I think the best type of ‘grades’ are the ones where the teacher provides good feedback: the pros, the cons, what the student is doing good on and mentioning that to give them that sense of self efficacy and confidence, and talking about what the student lacks or can improve on to make. This overall not only makes better teachers, but better students. This way can allow students to see what exactly they need to work on and have a better idea of what the teacher is looking for. What I liked a lot that one my teachers did was gave students the options of turning in multiple drafts at specific dates to provide this feedback. In this way, by the time the actual date came for the final, students were working on areas they lacked, creating stronger works instead of scurrying to finish an assignment last minute. What the teacher also did was that he did not give complete zeros for assignments not turned in on time, but rather points taken off each day it was late, no matter how small the assignment.
ReplyDeleteRosa,
ReplyDeleteI’m not sure what benefits might come from eliminating the grading system and what exactly would be instead of the grading system. Grades are important, however I don't’ agree with tracking because it is a way to have students at the same achievement level together. Relating this to a study that was done in Britain in 1960 over a course of a three month period when a group of tracking students at D level were given A’s and told that they were smart and great , and interestingly enough at the end of the three months, the students performed at an A level. They also took another group of students at A level and gave them D’s and treated the students as such. The teachers didn't know about the actual level of students, so it happened that many students who were A students dropped out of school because of the way they were treated. So the grade impacts a student and might even affect a student to drop out, just like Stiggins mentions, “just two or three zeros are sufficient to cause failure for an entire semester, and just a few course failures can lead a student to drop out of high school, incurring a lifetime of personal and social consequences.” So the grades we as teachers give have an impact on students. We do need grades because how else would you evaluate! I think it’s more important to help the student understand the content and material in class, rather than focusing or explaining to a student the grades they get. We use grades as an evaluation tool, but students shouldn't focus so much on the grade. That’s why we should teach our students that grades do matter, but it’s more important for them to remember the material than the grade they get.
To answer your second question about punishing for failure of an assignment would be to deduct points. I think we should give students the option that if it happens that they don’t turn in an assignment on the due date, then they could still turn in it later but points will be deducted. It would still be better to turn in an assignment even if it’s late rather than not turning it in at all.
Rosa,
ReplyDeleteI fully support the idea of requiring students to complete all of the work for class, even if that work is turned in late. There is value to both the teacher and student to complete the assigned work, as it gives the student the chance to work the skills required to complete the assignment, and it gives the teacher the opportunity to assess what the student understands, and is capable of. When I was a professor at the Air Force Academy, there was an Academy-wide rule in place that required students to complete all of the work assigned for their classes, and if they did not, the students would receive an 'I', or 'Incomplete' for that course.
Now, I understand that high school is different, and there can be all kinds of extenuating circumstances that students may face, but there should be some kind of system in place that allows the student the opportunity to complete the work, whether that is detention, an after school session with a teacher, or coming in on Saturday, there is a benefit to completing the work.
Getting rid of the grading system as is sounds like it could be a solution to some of the problems facing students, especially those that are disadvantaged in some way, but the reality of the situation is that colleges base a lot of their admissions on the standard letter grading system, and to get rid of it would not be something that could be done overnight. I am not sure what a good alternative would be, however.
The punishment for not completing work should require the student to finish the work, even if it is only for a failing grade. As far as curving grades, I have never done it in the past on regular assignments (but have on final exams), and don't expect to do so in the future. Unless someone can convince me otherwise?
Hi Rosa,
ReplyDeleteI'm also at North Lawndale College Prep, and the free period/block schedule is something that seems to work really well with some of the students. The whole validity or invalidity of the "zero" is an interesting issue. I feel that while it is crucial for students to complete homework and class work, it isn't completely necessary for learning. I've observed many students who are still learning and possess many academic attributes, but are somewhat rebellious in nature and fail to do assigned work. Should we give these students zeros? What if they are still grasping the material? It's also an important factor to account for what students may be experiencing outside the classroom. Sometimes homework and projects are the last focal points of emphasis in the grand scheme of things for impoverished students. I don't believe it is fair to give these students zeros. If students are willing to make up the work i think we must take that into account and do away with "zeroes". "Zeroes" can be a major gate keeper for students who already face many other obstacles, and it would be counter productive for teachers to add more.
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ReplyDeleteI think students should be allowed to complete missing work. I think not allowing them to do so and just giving them a zero is counterproductive to their learning. As mentioned by others, a lot of times students do not turn in work because they have personal issues or problems at home. We should not deprive these students of their opportunity to learn-a student who receives a zero might be discouraged from trying his or her hardest in future assignments for fear that his or her grade will already be negatively affected by that previous zero. Allowing students to receive at least some type of points for their assignments will help them. Furthermore, it will help us assess the areas in which they are struggling.
ReplyDeleteI like the approach the school you are observing at is taking. I think it is a great way to encourage students to learn. I also like your idea of detentions to have students makeup missing work or work on class assignments. However, I would fear students viewing turning in this missing work as a punishment when really it is for their own benefit. I'm not sure I have a better alternative though.
Great post Rosa,
ReplyDeleteI am glad you are seeing an alternative to gading and work completion at your school. I really like the idea of making the student complete the work regardless. I think that the article makes a good point about the punishment of not completing work being to complete the work. When you think about it, there are many reasons why a student might not complete the work. However, sometimes these assignments are necessary to see how our students are doing and giving them some independent practice. Giving students the time during school, after or on a Saturday to complete the work may be a good option. Yet, assigning a grade for any work is an entire different story.
My freshmen year in high school was a “grade free” year. Instead of letter grades we received an alternative: not yet, proficient, and exceeding. Yet, there was never a conversation with any students about what each category meant, except that we all knew that a “not yet” meant that you could always turn in some work and move up the scale. My school, like a lot of CPS schools, went through some principal and administration changes and by sophomore year we all had grades again. Nevertheless, switching those categories into grade was a logistical nightmare. I am sure many students received higher grades than what the teachers had thought about when they assigned us into the proficient category. Yet, for the new administration those categories were only helping the slackers stick around longer than they should and students needed to know where they stood.
After, that experience I have always been very confused by grades. As a student I had a great relationship with grades; I live for a good grade and loved report cards. Grades provide me with a weird, unexplainable satisfaction of achievement. But it does not provoke the same feelings on everyone. So, I guess the big question that I am left with is, if we cannot get rid of grades how can we make them mean something valuable to each individual student?
Hi Rosa,
ReplyDeleteWell done post. In response to the grading system, should eliminate it from our high schools then we would be creating a drastic change in our society. Our way of life has been based around the measurement of everything from aptitude to behavior. We love measurements, we love data. To get rid of the grading system would be a dramatic change; however, I believe that it may be for the best. If we were to create a new system that simply certified students in a subject all the way through to a career without measurement, then we can eliminate a lot of the negative attributes that come with attempting to measure merit such as described in the reading. In addition, this would help enforce the use of descriptive feedback by not allowing teachers to use a point system or scale.
What's up Rosa-
ReplyDeleteI agree with you about how we must consider students' life circumstances outside of the classroom. Their school life is a small part of their greater lives, and we must be aware that assignments might be a low priority compared to other conflicts/situations they are involved in. I love the idea of discarding grades entirely. I think students have become completely seperated from their work, where assignments are simply done and turned in for a numerical grade instead of furthering learning. They rarely appreciate what an assignment does, what it means, and why teachers are assigning it, because at the end of the day their work is reduced to a number or a letter. It's not their fault, this is how the academic system works. However, I think if we assessed students with more written feedback, and give them much more agency with their learning (as to what they are learning, when, and how) there would an entirely different purpose to learning. It would be learning for learning's sake, rather than to pass a test/class.
Rosa,
ReplyDeleteI completely agree with Reeves's article about the case against zero being the score a student receives upon failing to turn in an assignment. I As a student that went through high school not so long ago, I remember how me and my classmates would state how "getting a zero brought our grade down drastically, then when we would achieve 100's it would only bump our grade up" this is true as educators we should consider every student and have alternatives is students can't meet our required deadlines for assignments. I believe the curving of grades can make a difference but we are basically comparing every student to the highest achieving student which I don't believe is fair, but it does have its pros. I personally don't believe bad grades will motivate students but rather hinder their self-esteem in a class that will ultimately lead them to give up and not try. Also grades in general don't help students, a letter or number will not get students to think where they went wrong but providing great feedback and allowing for re-submission is a great way for students to actually achieve in any class.
I think that having the student complete the assignment is better than handing out a zero. Where I observe, there is a student who constantly misses consecutive days of classes because of her behavior. She keeps getting detentions and suspensions which makes her miss multiple assignments. It even went as bad as missing the whole document based question (DBQ) unit. She had to do all these assignments by herself or she would receive zeroes for all of them. What I think that could fix this would be having more in school suspensions rather than out of school so the student at least receives the work.
ReplyDeleteRosa,
ReplyDeleteYou reiterated all my favorite points made in this article and I really appreciate your thoughtfulness is your suggestion about considering students' life circumstances. I also agree that students should be required to turn in assignments and teachers should avoid administering zeros whenever possible. You bring up something which wasn't directly mentioned in the article which is considering the self-esteem of our students. Slapping them with a zero can be more of a punishment than we as teachers would expect it to be. My mentor teacher displayed her refusal for giving out zeros perfectly a few weeks ago. As the class approaches the end of the unit, my MT noticed a lot of missing assignments in her grade book. So instead of watching the film adaptation of the novel the class was reading, they had a work period to complete and turn in all missing work. Many students were able to catch up on all missing assignments, and, overall, I would say her decision to do this helped students realize that they had been slacking and that she wants them all to do well.
Your suggestion reminded me of UIC College Prep where I used to work. Any freshman student who did not complete their homework for any classes were required to stay after school for about an hour and complete their homework. This was meant to encourage these students to stay on track and get a good start to their high school careers. I liked the idea of this requirement because it gave students the opportunity to complete their assignments and get back on track with their classes. They weren't given zeros, but rather were given the opportunity to get credit for their work. I think this is important because, as you mentioned, there are multiple negative consequences for giving students a zero or no credit for incomplete or missing assignments. I'm glad you mentioned the idea that we must be aware of the circumstances of our students' lives outside of school and the way it can affect student performance. Therefore, I believe accurate punishment for failure to submit an assignment can be something along the lines of a deduction of points for every day that the assignment is late so that students will still be given the opportunity to receive a grade for their work instead of a zero.
ReplyDeleteI do not think it would be beneficial or possible to eliminate grades completely, but I do think students should focus more on feedback than grades. Immediately, students look to see their grade on a returned assignment and pay less attention to the feedback. The feedback on the assignment is more valuable than a grade and will help the student achieve that higher grade (if the teacher provided valuable feedback). The high school I am observing at does "round up" at the end of every quarter. About two weeks before the end of the semester, students with missing assignments are pulled out of their lunch and must complete work until they are caught up. It seems to be something that students dread, but I do not think they realize that this is for their benefit. They are getting a second chance to turn in work that they missed and raise their grade. I like the idea of allowing students to complete missing or late work. If they want to complete a missing or late assignment then, as a teacher, I am happy to provide the opportunity.
ReplyDeleteI, too, am in favor of the option for students making up assignment; yes, we do want to instill a sense of discipline, a sense that not everything is going to go your way, Johnny; it's a damn rough world out there and deadlines are part of the cold hard fabric that help things get done in they way they do. But school is sort of a halfway house: a place where the rules can be bent a little so you can actually learn from your mistakes. The trick is not to become a push over. If ya got a kid that just thinks "Oh, hell! That Mr. McKenna! That fellow will accept it when I give it to him," then there's a problem, there's no respect. And not respect in the sense of "How dare you disrespect me? Me! What with my lanyard and my Dockers and my gingham long sleeve! I'm an immovable force here, bub!"No, that's not the problem. The problem is between a student who believes they can act however they want, turn in an assignment when the mood suits itself, without thinking of the ramifications it may have on another. It's selfishness, essentially. Maybe I had a nice jog lined up, but now I have to grade Johnny's paper, and boy, it's a doozie, but I don't think I'll give it a zero, just a lot of red pen.
ReplyDelete