Giving students a simple A, B, or C letter grades, percentage points, or even a completion check. Has been proven to be the least effective way to help students learn. The most effective way is providing feedback for students to improve. The purpose of assessment should be on what skills students have learned or showed proficiency in. This is good for the teacher teaching the student and the students themselves. Also other specialists that work with the student. If everyone is able to see what that student can do in a class, it makes it easier to diagnose where problems could arise with student work.
One recent example of this is I had a conversation with a math teacher about a student who seemed to be struggling in the class. When I went to meet with the teacher, I asked probing questions i.g., what is the student struggling with, can the student solve the problem, etc. The problem wasn’t the teacher, but the system which gives an artificial corresponding letter grade with a subjective point total. Ultimately that point total can magically be put into a 0-100 scale. Of course most teachers and students grow up in an archaic grading system such as this but we can do better.
This situation pushed me to try and figure out a way to improve my teaching and ultimately student learning. A few weeks ago I came across this post by Caitlin Tucker.
I am personally trying to move away from this system to a performance based grading system where the students will have to self assess their work and provide evidence for their learning based on certain skills and standards for that unit. This will give me the opportunity to provide feedback individually and the students will be able to see where the are improving or what specifically needs to be improved.
This has been a messy process of me analyzing prioritized standards that my district has created for 6-8 ELA. Then trying to break down each of those standards into smaller chunks that my students and I will be able to measure based on different assessments. For some of the skills I will incorporate language that is commonly used in WIDA language rubrics. These rubrics and assessments are used to assess EL students language development.
As of right now I am still in the process of figuring out what will show understanding for each skill or standard. I am open to allow students to create their own assessment, but I think some more traditional options through or a google form could be used. As I continue through the process this will continue to change.
Another area that I am working on is deciding on what rubric should be used to show growth. I have thought about a more traditional three or four point rubric. However, I recently saw a one point rubric which really made an impression on me for its simplicity.
I think it’s time for for educators, parents and, students to shift their mindset on the issue of grades. I think it has the ability to enhance the learning experience for teachers and students.
dreaming big... 