math leadership support network ’08-’09 a repair kit for grading 15 fixes for broken grades by...

Math Leadership Support Network ’08-’09

A Repair Kit for Grading

15 Fixes for Broken Grades

ByKen O’Connor


What should grades tell us about

students?


What factors are actually included

in grades?


The Essential QuestionHow confident are you that the grades

studentsget in your school are:consistentaccuratemeaningful, and supportive of learning?

If grades do not meet these four conditions ofquality, they are “broken,” i.e., ineffective.


Adapt don’t adopt

Start small

Work together


“Even if you are on the right track,

If you just sit there

You will get run over.”

Attributed to Mark Twain


Grades are broken when they -include ingredients that distort

achievementarise from low quality or poorly organized evidenceare derived from inappropriate number crunching,and when they do not support the

learning process.


Fixes for Practices That Distort Achievement

1. Don’t include student behaviors (effort, participation, adherence to class rules, etc.) in grades: include only achievement.

2. Don’t reduce marks on “work” submitted late: provide support for the learner.

3. Don’t give points for extra credit or use bonus points; seek only evidence that more work has resulted in a higher level of achievement.


Fixes for Practices That Distort Achievement

4. Don’t punish academic dishonesty with reduced grades; apply other consequences and reassess to determine actual level of achievement.

5. Don’t consider attendance in grade determination; report absences separately.

6. Don’t include group scores in grades; use only individual achievement evidence.


Fixes for Practices that Distort Achievement

You will be given one of the six factors to discuss. Generate a list of reasons FOR including the factor in

grades, and arguments AGAINST doing so.Once your group has debated the issue, discuss the

following position:If there are compelling arguments against including the factor, the only way arguments in favor of including the factor in the grade can win out is if the grader can act in some concrete way to eliminate ALL arguments against. It is unacceptable to know that there are compelling reasons not to include a factor and go ahead and include it anyway.


Fixes Low-Quality or Poorly Organized Evidence

7. Don’t organize information in grading records by assessment methods or simply summarize into a single grade; organize and report evidence by standards/learning goals.

8. Don’t assign grades using inappropriate or unclear performance standards; provide clear descriptions of achievement expectations.

9. Don’t assign grades based on student’s achievement compared to other students; compare each student’s performance to preset standards.

10.Don’t rely on evidence gathered using assessments that fail to meet standards of quality; rely only on quality assessments.


Fixes For Inappropriate Grade Calculation

11.Don’t rely only on the mean; consider other measures of central tendency and use professional judgment.

12.Don’t include zeros in grade determination when evidence is missing or as punishment; use alternatives, such as reassessing to determine real achievement or use “I” for Incomplete or Insufficient Evidence.


Fixes to Support Learning13.Don’t use information from formative

assessments and practice to determine grades; use only summative evidence.

14.Don’t summarize evidence accumulated over time when learning is developmental and will grow with time and repeated opportunities; in those instances, emphasize more recent achievement.

15.Don’t leave students out of the grading process. Involve students; they can – and should – play key roles in assessment and grading that promote achievement.


Fix #3Don’t give points for extra

credit oruse bonus points; seek onlyevidence that more work hasresulted in a higher level ofachievement.


Fix #4Don’t punish academic

dishonestywith reduced grades; apply otherconsequences and reassess todetermine actual level ofachievement.


Fix #5Don’t consider attendance in

gradedetermination; report

absencesseparately.


Fix #5“Excused and unexcused absences are not relevantto an achievement grade.

There is no legitimate purpose for distinguishingbetween excused and unexcused absences.

For educational purposes, therefore, there needonly be recorded absences.”

Gathercoal, F., Judicious Discipline, Caddo Gap Press, San Francisco, 1997, 151


Fix #5Teacher: “Are you telling me that if a

student has been ill and another has been skipping, that they both should be able to make up the work missed?”

Gathercoal: “(Yes) both needed an educator when they returned, perhaps the one who skipped more than the other.”

Gathercoal, F., Judicious Discipline, Caddo Gap Press, San Francisco, 1997, 151


Fix # 11Don’t rely on the mean: consider

other measures of central tendency

and use your professional judgment.


Fix #11Mean Average = 72.2

Median = 89

89898920898989208989752


Fix #11“Educators must abandon the average

or arithmetic mean, as thepredominant measurement of studentachievement.”

Reeves, D., “Standards are Not Enough: Essential Transformations forSchool Success”, NASSP Bulletin, Dec. 2000, 10


Fix #11Letter to the Editor

Toronto Globe and MailOctober 15, 2003

Whenever I hear statistics being quoted I am reminded of the statistician who drowned while wading across a river with an average depth of 3

feet.

GORDON McMANNCampbell River, B.C.


Fix #11“Grading by the median provides more opportunities for success by diminishing the impact of a few stumbles and by rewarding hard work.”

Wright, Russell G., “Success for All: The Median is the Key”, Kappan, May

1994, 723-725


Fix #11“Data should be used to INFORM, not determine

decisions”

Management Consultant, The Hay Group, personal conversation, January 2002


Fix #12Don’t include zeros in gradedetermination when evidence ismissing or as punishment; usealternatives, such as reassessing todetermine real achievement or use“I” for Incomplete or InsufficientEvidence.


101 Point Scale

90-100 11 95 9589-89 10 85 8570-79 10 75 7560-69 10 65 65 <60 60 0 50

64 (D) 74 (C)


101 Point Scale 5 Point Scale95 4

0 0 0 0 0 0

85 3 0 0 0 0

80 3 0 0 0 0

260 10Mean 26 1.0Letter grade F D


The Effect of ZerosWhat do we think are

the pros and cons of putting a zero in the grade book for missing work?

What might be an alternative, given the argument presented in the video?


Fix #14Don’t summarize evidenceaccumulated over time whenlearning is developmental and willgrow with time and repeatedopportunities; in those instances,emphasize more recentachievement.


Fix #14“Consider this dreary message shared with me by anassistant superintendent:I was meeting with our high school AdvancedPlacement teachers, who were expressing concernsabout our open enrollment process and the high failurerate. One math teacher said that while a particularstudent was now (getting marks) in the 80’s, she hadmade a 12 on the initial test, ‘so there is no way she isgoing to make a passing grade for the first nine

weeks’.”

Grant Wiggins, *Unthinking Grading,” Big Ideas, Volume 2, Issue 2, 2006 (on-linenewsletter at www.authenticeducation.org


Fix #14“We know that students will rarelyperform at high levels on challenginglearning tasks at their first attempt.Deep understanding or high levels ofproficiency are achieved only as a resultof trial, practice, adjustments based onfeedback and more practice.”McTighe, J., “What Happens Between Assessments”, Educational Leadership,

Dec. ’96 – Jan.’97, 11


Fix #14

Assessmentof

Learning

Time

Bob

Gwen

Roger

Pam


Fix #15Don’t leave students out of thegrading process. Involve

students;they can – and should – play keyroles in assessment and grading

thatpromote achievement.


“Grades are broken when students do not understandhow their grades have been determined, and when theyhave been excluded from assessment, record keeping,and communication. The fix is to ensure that studentsunderstand how grades have been determined and toinvolve them as much as possible in all phases oflearning and assessment.”

Ken O’Connor (p.114)


“As students become more involved in the assessment

process, teachers find themselves working differently….

Many teachers are spending less time marking at the

end of learning and more time helping students during

the learning.

-Davies, 2000, p. 9


What are the next directions? - the15 Fixes and what they mean for you:For each fixWhat do you think? - PMIWhere are you

(individual)/school/district now? Where do you want to go in terms of the procedure/policy?


EXIT SLIP

1. What is the most important new insight, understanding, or realization that has come to you as a result of this

session?AND/OR

2. What is the most important reaffirmation of something you already do or have always believed?

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