While I am usually happy with short readings like the ones
for this week, chapter 8 Grading and Reporting Achievement and "The Case Against Zero,” it was hard to go through them due to my elevated heart rate and my own boiling blood. The authors’ goals are to improve a faulty system by suggesting that grades
should be based on: clear, quality learning-goals; performance standards; and
on evidence that is in concordance with the learning objectives; They argue that effective
grading should avoid averages. The question that should be asked is whether we should have grades at all, not focusing on making grading more efficient
The authors “contend
that sound grading and reporting practices can be a natural extension of a
rich, differentiated curriculum and a seamless part of the instructional
process". I contend that as long as we have grades teachers will always
end up using them as a leverage to get students to complete their work and will
give grades too big of a role in the process of education, making them more
important than the actual learning. For students grades are either a source of stress or meaningless.
There are alternatives to grades. One of the best
methods of assessing and evaluating students’ learning that I know of comes
from a Lindblom teacher Molly Myers. Molly replaced grades with 4 levels of
learning: at level 1 students show competency of basic terms and concepts from
the lesson, at level 2 students show a deeper understanding of terms and
concepts, at level 3 students can apply the terms and concepts to a situation
or a case study with help from peers or teacher, at level 4 students can apply
terms and concepts to a new situation or in a synthesis argument. After they
finish a level assessment, the students reflect on how well they did on the
test and what needs improvement. Her method is more meaningful and successful
for all the students than putting a grade on a student’s work. Besides Molly,
there are many schools that are using a similar alternative to grades, most of
them elementary schools
What do you
think? Are grades something we should hold onto? Why or why not?
I don't think grades/averages are a necessity. I think that if students are truly engaged and want to learn a skill or gain knowledge on a topic, they won't necessarily care about their grade as much as they will care about the work and effort they put forth. The challenge would be to engage them on that level.
ReplyDeleteBart I agree with you to a certain extent. I do think homework and its grades enable students to accept responsibility and accountability for their learning. For the class that I'm observing, students don't have homework that is checked by my mentor teacher. So by the time the test comes, most of them struggle and do poorly because they haven't been investing in doing the chapter reading because it wasn't assigned and graded homework. Therefore, I think these grades and assignments are just housekeeping.
DeleteNice post!
Saarah Mohammed
I think that grades are necessary to judge understanding and even the example you used from Molly is essentially grades. I think that her method is sort of what the chapter was talking about. If we have clear objectives and content standards we are trying to get the students to learn, then we can judge the students work according to those standards, which would resemble Molly's grading system. I also think that grades should not be the only motivating factor for getting students to study and do their work. We must get students to understand the core principles of education, or why we teach them in the first place. Without some understanding of the point of education, students can only use grades as a source of motivation.
ReplyDeleteI agree that grades are a source of stress for some students, which is why I don't think the sole focus of learning and education should be to get a certain grade. I think that teachers and students should focus on the learning process, ensuring that students are understanding the material. Yet, I don't think that we should/or can get rid of grades entirely. I think that Chapter 8 suggests great ways that we can make grades meaningful and not just apply an A, B, C, D or F without any real feedback that can motivate students and allow for improvement.
ReplyDeleteAlthough this is not what you probably want to hear, I do feel that grades are necessary. I do however think you make a great point about the stress that can follow from providing students letter grades to summarize how they are doing in school. I feel that because of the school, district, state, and national requirements, there is simply no way around it, and we indeed will always need some way of "judging" our students and summarizing these judgments in the form of letter grades. However, I feel these readings presented a good foundation and powerful ideas on how we can merge our grading systems with the factors that actually matter. I actually would advocate for multiple grades to be provided to the students and parents for any single course, which would focus on the 3 core areas as suggested in chapter 8.
ReplyDeleteFor me the only reason grades would be necessary is because we are too lazy to change our way of thinking. We utilize grades as a placeholder for success. If you get an A you're the best and if you get an F, well you failed. Our perception of success is so warped that we can't see how useless grades are. The fact of the matter is that we have to look at what the goal of education is and for many it is to get a good job. Awesome. Good for you. If this is the goal of education and schooling then there is no point to grades because employers don't look at your grades and even if they do it'll be the first job you get and then after that its all about experience. If your goal of education and schooling to better yourself and learn and grow then once again grades are not necessary. If you couldn't already tell I don't think grades are necessary but I believe that we hold on to things like grades and grade point averages so that we can fit people into boxes so that when it comes time for some to succeed economically we have an idea of the people we want to join the club. Education and learning shouldn't be about an end goal it should be about constantly growing and with grades that is impossible.
ReplyDeleteI completely agree with Andrew. I think that is it is hard to read the article, “The case Against the Zero” and decide to give your students a zero anyway. The point of the article is simply to be fair with the ways in which we as teacher assign value to student work. I also think that it is important to be transparent with our students about how you are grading them so that they can all have an equal opportunity at a “good grade.” As teachers, grading is a huge part of our job and something that is probably not going anywhere. Therefore, we need to find the best way to deal with it that fits our own ideals. At the end of the day, there is different ways in which teachers assign value to work, this includes: homework assignments, in-class assignments, participation, presentations, extra credit etc. All of which can be averaged out. Giving deadlines before quarters grades on late work can help students catch up. Grades may not mean something to every student but they are not going away, in some job places you get some kind of grade for your work in different categories. So, for me the best policy is to be transparent, open and fair about the expectations and what I can do to help them get there.
ReplyDeleteOana,
ReplyDeleteJust as Nate has mentioned in his comment, grades are used as a way to fit people into boxes because we depend on them and someone cares enough that getting a job might be based on the grades or even getting into a good school. We focus so much on grades, but I also think that it’s beneficial that we tell our students why they get the grades they get. It’s important that we give feedback to students and find ways for them to improve. I watched a ted talk a while ago where Rita Pierson came up with the idea of putting +2 instead of -18. The student missed 18 questions, but the fact that he didn’t miss them all made the student believe in himself that he can do better. Finding ways that could help the students be better and also motivate them not to give up is key. Just as it is mentioned in Ch. 8 that “... a single grade cannot effectively report all that we need to say about a student’s learning. We join other advocates of grading and reporting reform in proposing that at least two, and preferably three, separate factors be reported: (1) grades for achievement of goals, (2) progress toward goals, and (3) work habits.” All these factors influence a student’s grade so that is why it’s essential that we utilize all those factors in order to determine a grade for each factor.
There is a deeper agenda as to how we implement our grading system. Most progressive teachers, will agree that education should serve the purpose for an individual. Education should link a student to their future well being. With that being said, how can grades (a competitive education market based on numbers) defy how well a student is doing in his/her life. There may be some grades that can be held to give feedback to a specific skill that must be mastered. However, in classes where we are trying to differentiate for each individual student, then competition among students should have no place in that classroom.
ReplyDeleteI think grades themselves are confusing. How does a teacher assign students letters of the alphabet? Many students will find this meaningless or overall confusing. What's the difference between an a or b? What if a student thinks they turned in an a paper but got a d? I really liked the system the the teacher used. I had a high school teacher that did the same thing and it made students more confident about their work.it was impossible to fail the class unless you did not turn assignments in. It was a less intimidating approach then grades.
ReplyDeleteI agree, grades as far as A,B,C are not a necessity. But, unfortunately we have been raised in this grade system. Some people think pass/fail would be good enough, but then how would we justify who fails and who passes? If they get it they pass, if they don't they fail? Then how many pass/fail grades do our students need to pass/fail? It becomes a mess this way too. There has to be some sort of grading system to let students know where they are. For the most part, I feel that when students see their letter grade they strive to do better. I feel that it is more of a warning system. I guess I have a Love/Hate Relationship with grades.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you and some of the other bloggers as giving grades to students based off their work can be intimidating to some, as some students may feel comfortable with an assignment and when they receive the assignment back with a big D on it, it can really end up taking a toll on the student. This system that you mentioned as an alternative to the scale that we have all grown up with gives students more knowledge on what their grade signifies and also what they can do to better themselves. Grades honestly makes students so pressured and stressed but it depends on each class and the teacher to make a different scale that would be more meaningful to each student instead of just assigning a letter or number.
ReplyDeleteI think the biggest thing that a grade illustrates is not what a student has learned, but rather what they have memorized. Hence, it seems that grades in actuality just reduce the quality of a students learning. When gaining new material, student will think 'will this be on the test?' rather than thinking how the information will benefit them in the future. The information is not relevant to them, because they want to know what will help them pass now? I remember reading one article that researched that student who thought they were getting graded missed the main points of a social studies article. But students who were told were not going to be graded were more likely to know these points. As mentioned above, grades puts pressure on students to memorize the 'important' facts and find what they 'need', which diminishes the quality of their learning.
ReplyDeleteI think that I would love to hop on this "no grades" bandwagon because it seems like the "right" thing to do. However, speaking for myself as a student, grades give me a sense of place. If I don't know what my grade is in a class I feel lost and I don't really know if I should be doing more or less. There is definitely a place where both these mindsets can meet in the middle and I think chapter 8 really addresses that. Grading is fine actually good! As long as its accompanied by meaningful feedback and not an abstract representation.
ReplyDeleteI think the way Molly Myers applies a level instead of a grade is an effective way of evaluating students, however to me, it is just another way to evaluate. Grades show where students are at and their progress, just like assigning these levels would do. I would be on board to using these, however I think that no matter what number or letter you use there is still stress associated to all of them since students all want an "A" or a "level 4." This level process is definitely a better way to facilitate student progress as there is more descriptive feedback, so this sort of system would be helpful, however I don't believe we should do away with all types of grading or scoring.
ReplyDeleteMaggie,
DeleteMolly's level 4 is not an A, it's the target that all students need to reach and I think that ultimately they do, some sooner than others. What Molly's system does is take that possible A as a motivator out of the equation. The students learn to understand not for a grade.
I had never heard of this method used by Molly Myers and in theory I like it. I'd like to know how effective it has been in the classroom since she has been using it. As far as doing away with grades altogether, I do not believe that is the appropriate answer. However as most of us have agreed throughout the semester, curriculum, instruction and assessment/grading need to be constantly assessed by us as educators and modified based on student needs. I believe it's important that students are held accountable, as they will have to be when they get out into the real work/college/etc world. I do like the idea of assessing other factors besides achievement, such as progress and work habits. The question is how much weight should each factor have, and more importantly, how can we make sure these are assessments are assisting and not hindering students?
ReplyDeleteHow does Myers method differ from an A/B etc or a point grade system? These are somewhat silly semantics. So, all you are doing is eliminating the F? maybe D? so level 1 is a C or D anhd you go up from there. Yeah... we're all WINNERS! Yeah! everyone is here for the "joy of learning".. I mean seriously.. can we get serious? for a moment? We can have a discussion about the merits of a particular sort of grading system (I do like the authors' three tiered suggestion but that won't be my decision to make and I won;'t be fighting windmills to change the status quo.
ReplyDeleteIf school is (at least somewhat) preparing you for life, then your workplace annual "work reviews" (where are you "de facto" grade won't come as a huge shock and surprise. Then, let's once again tackle this "joy of learning" nonsense. KIds go to school because it's a social spot/hangout place, because they see their friends.. because their parents make them.. or because the law says so (hey why do we require kids to go to school? aren't they supposed to go there on their own??? for the "joy of learning"???? How many classes were you involved in where you actually felt "the joy of learning" (I am sure we all had some.. where we liked the content.. perhaps the teacher. etc but there were always the classes that were "necessary evils". So let's please accept the concept. Perhaps grades fall into this category. The more relevant question, IMO, is "what constitutes a grade exactly? (the authors of course go into this and I like their suggestions). and the more provocative/ controversial idea/suggestion that Prof. Julie Peters makes about grading based off personal "baselines" (which would have completely screwed me as a kid) where you're graded based on your own "personal progress" (interesting, but brings up its own issues/problems)
Bogey,
DeleteWhat I think ends up constituting "silly semantics" is that these authors, take grade letters, evil but not necessary, give them a 6 principle makeover (which could have been just 2 ore 3) and suggest that grading is fixed. They don't really say how should we apply these principles and more importantly they omit the fact that as long as you have grades there will be all kinds of obligations. For example CPS requires 3 grades per week, it used to be 2. My conclusion for this week, for every week actually, is that there is a big gap between practice, theory, and policy in education. About the "joy of learning," you can mock it as much as you want, it's one of the reasons many of us are here, plus our desire to serve and maybe our hope of producing some change (even if minuscule).
fair enough. But then I'll simply have to assume that in order for you to be consistent, you will abolish mandatory school for children until whatever the age is these days (16?) I will also have to assume you will strongly disapprove of those "back to school" billboards and even school generated calls home before school begins. Strong armed persuasion or coercion doesn't quite fit with a "joy of learning" environment, does it now?
DeleteGetting ride of grades altogether is not what should happen. Instead grading should be modified a little. Students should be given a grade and also be grades on achievements and working habits. Overall what teachers should do is give feedback. Not just for students that handed in the assignment but also for students that have failed to do the assignment. Show the students that have failed to do the assignment that if you complete the assignment your grade would improve and by how much. Overall assigning grades is part of the teachers job no matter what kind of method they use.
ReplyDeleteI think that we could argue about it all day, but the reality is, traditional grades are not going anywhere. I think that evaluation is key for accountability and even though in some aspects they are oppressive, in a lot of ways they are like an evaluation from your boss at work. If that evaluation does not happen then there is just no way to know if students are succeeding.
ReplyDeleteThe two main areas that stress me out about becoming a teacher are dealing with parents and grades. In my utopian world, as a student, I would like to complete an assignment, say an essay, and have opportunities to improve my grade. In other words if said teacher gave me a B, explained why I got a B and told me the steps I would need to take to make it an A, then it's up to me to decide if I'm going to put forth the effort to improve my grade. I'm not a fan of "well you got this grade and you're stuck with it." As a teacher, I would also like to implement that system. Give the student a grade, show them, teach them ways to improve their grade and have an on-going discussion with the student to make sure learning is taking place. Technically, in that framework, everyone should have an A by the end of the class. Only the students motivation would deter them from receiving that A. A wrench gets thrown in the works, however, when you understand that the article was about students not turning in their homework at all. Now we're back to square one. UGH.
ReplyDeleteOana,
ReplyDeleteGreat post! Unfortunately, I'm going to have to disagree with you. Grades, when arrived at through thoughtful, meaningful consideration of students' growth and development, will prove an essential component of quality instruction and assessment. The trick, of course, is to design grade-yielding assessments that promise to facilitate, rather than simply measure, learning. Also, I'd like to echo Andrew's sentiments -- Molly's system produces grades, even if it appears to constitute a novel approach to assessing students' progress.
Though you do bring up important points about the negative effects grades can have on students, I do believe they are necessary. They can be used to give students and teachers an idea of what areas in learning or instruction can be improved as well as an idea of which students may need more assistance and which students have the potential to advance to another level. Grades can also help us as teachers modify our instruction to best accommodate our students needs. And so, traditional grading should not be completely wiped out, but rather should be re-structured in a way that encourages high student achievement and participation through authentic feedback and an accurate reflection of students' abilities.
ReplyDeleteHey Oana,
ReplyDeleteThis article didn't have my blood boiling like it did for you, but it certainly had me feeling conflicted for a couple of reasons. One quote I thought was particularly intriguing from this article was "rewards and punishment are part of the psyche of schools, particularly at the secondary level" (Reeves 325).
We are all future secondary educators, and we will all be dealing with the issues of assessment, grades, and measuring proficiency. We will also be interacting with students who have gone through years of school feeling the weight of this collective "reward/punishment" psyche. There will be students on one end of the spectrum--students who have been constantly rewarded, who may be what we know as "grade-grubbers," and don't really have any say in evaluating their own work; therefore, they aren't as engaged in the process or learning nor assessing their own learning, even if the evaluation says they did well. There will also be students we encounter who have consistently punished and become less and less motivated by the threat of punishment due to feelings of incompetence and failure. Reeves makes the essential argument that students who are punished with 0's can be quickly led down a road that ultimately leads them to a "lifetime of personal and social consequences" (Reeves 325).
Here's where I don't agree with Reeves--I think that "giving" students 50 points for an assignment they just straight up didn't do doesn't really make sense. Here's why. When myself and my classmates in high school were threatened with a 0 for not doing a critical project or paper, it was obvious that was something we wanted to avoid--it would have significantly brought down our grade and negated a lot of the better work we'd done all semester. The incentive to just COMPLETE the assignment was strong. Even if we didn't do that well--e.g., earned 50 points--we wouldn't be hit that hard.
If a student who is consistently earning D's and C's--that is, has a 60-80 point average--decides not to turn in big project or paper that the entire class has been preparing/working on for a month, then the 50 points they receive probably won't hit them that hard. They won't do the assignment, won't participate in ANY of the learning nor the assessment of the learning, and their grade will not reflect that they failed. This is obviously not acceptable--some assignments should be required, and should be high-stakes.
The educators who state that assignments SHOULD be required to be completed, and that the completion of assignments should correlate with freedom and privileges, seem to be on to something. So does Molly Myers. Engaging students in learning and the process of learning is the ultimate goal, and Molly Myers' model of level assessment procedure makes a lot of sense. Of course, then there's the issue of...what if a student's work lands right in between 1 and a 2? How would you MEASURABLY structure what this difference looks like? And how can you simultaneously emphasize the importance of an end product while also emphasizing the process it takes to get there? I think I need to sit down with Molly Myers and talk this over with her. (By the way, for those of you who haven't met her, she really is awesome--she came into History 420 last semester and discussed her philosophy of teaching which was really eye-opening.)
Obviously I'm conflicted and confused and divided on this issue...is anyone else?
Grades are implemented because they are a way to hold students accountable. I do not think that a grade on an assignment should be set in stone or that students should receive a zero. If a student is going to put effort forth, they should be allowed to re-do work to receive the desired grade. Students learn at different rates, so it may take one student longer to master a task than another. Instead of assigning extra credit, I would allow students to re-do past assignments to earn back missed points. Even though this system is still grading, I believe it is meaningful and provides more opportunities to continue learning than the traditional way grades are thought about.
ReplyDeleteHi, Oana!
ReplyDeleteYou do bring up some great points about grades and the effect it can have on students. This reminded me of the times when I was younger and how my dad used to reward me with money every time I would bring him an A. Of course, this made me super happy! However, when I used to bring him a B, he would be very disappointed. I would feel disappointed. Although grades can cause stress and disappointment sometimes, I do believe they are necessary, because ultimately, it is a way to evaluate a student overall. Could there be a better way? Yes!
Hi Oana
ReplyDeleteAlthough I carry similar issues with the stigmas grades create and how they are sometimes simply motivators for students to memorize rather than learn, cheat, etc. I do feel like they are necessary. I don't think they are necessarily the end all be all of assessing student success/learning but I do believe they are effective check-ins to keep the teacher, student, and parent on the same page.
I do believe grades can sometimes cause worrying in students, and teachers .. where either side can become too focused on the letter instead of the knowledge. Teachers for administrative purposes and building their confidence as "good" teachers and vice versa for students for their parents and building their confidence as a "good" "smart" student.
I don't agree with the stigmas that come behind grades or the motivations sometimes, but I think when done effectively or even sometimes informal, it can have a greater affect on the teacher/student relationship. It helps the teachers adjust and make adaptations and it helps the students find clarity and understanding of content.
Grades are necessary. Unfortunately, it becomes so much of a determining factor for our students' futures. Like ACTs, they can make or break a student's future. Getting a low grade can break them down, make them feel unintelligent, and like failures. This could simply happen with one grade and create a downward spiral. Especially with those students that perform at a high level that have expectations to succeed by themselves, their family, friends, teachers, etc. Grades are needed to track student success, but something needs to change.
ReplyDeleteHi Oana,
ReplyDeleteLove seeing a teacher's blood boil - means you give a care. Ultimately though, it seems that the grade alternative you suggest matches up with what Reeves does. Only, you didn't account for zero. If 1 is basic competency in your formulation, what do we do when students turn in nothing?
I agree with you, grades manifest themselves as really problematic, especially in the era of hyper-accountability and data. ("It's for transparency! For the children!," they say.) However, I too ran into this troubling thing with the zero when observing. I would be putting in grades for my cooperating teacher and notice that some students had answered zero questions. Do they get a zero?
Well, I asked my cooperating teacher, and she told me that, in fact, at her school (Manley) students are not allowed to receive zeros. They always get credit no matter what. A 1/2 point on say, a 4 point assignment.
And why is this exactly? Because CPS doesn't want to fail people because it reflects poorly in their numbers? So much for transparency.