Standards-Based+Grading+Practices

Standards-Based Grading Practices The big issue with grading in a standards-based system is really REPORTING ACHIEVEMENT. This is precisely why Ken O'Connor wrote his book about the "15 Fixes to Broken Grades". Join the discusion above to create an interactive learning experience. There should be a lot to share on this topic.

This video is about the 15 fixes to grading and reporting grades. Currently our district is exploring sound and common grading practices that reflect achievement or learning. Take a look, and explore where we are headed.  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.  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 .  <span style="color: black; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS'; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">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. <span style="color: black; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS'; mso-bidi-font-family: Tahoma; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';"> <span style="color: black; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS'; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">8. Don’t assign grades using inappropriate or unclear performance standards; provide clear descriptions of achievement expectations. <span style="color: black; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS'; mso-bidi-font-family: Tahoma; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';"> <span style="color: black; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS'; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">9. Don’t assign grades based on student’s achievement compared to other students; compare each student’s performance to preset standards. <span style="color: black; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS'; mso-bidi-font-family: Tahoma; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';"> <span style="color: black; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS'; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">10. Don’t rely on evidence from assessments that fail to meet standards of quality; rely only on quality assessments. <span style="color: black; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS'; mso-bidi-font-family: Tahoma; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';"> <span style="color: black; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS'; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">11. Don’t rely only on the mean; consider other measures of central tendency and use professional judgment. <span style="color: black; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS'; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';"> <span style="color: black; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS'; mso-bidi-font-family: Tahoma; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';"> <span style="color: black; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS'; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">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. <span style="color: black; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS'; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';"> <span style="color: black; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS'; mso-bidi-font-family: Tahoma; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';"> <span style="color: black; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS'; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">13. Don’t use information from formative assessments and practice to determine grades; use only summative evidence. <span style="color: black; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS'; mso-bidi-font-family: Tahoma; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';"> <span style="color: black; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS'; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">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. <span style="color: black; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS'; mso-bidi-font-family: Tahoma; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';"> <span style="color: black; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS'; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">15. Don’t leave students out of the grading process. Involve students; they can - and should - play key roles in assessment. <span style="font-size: 12pt; color: black; line-height: 115%; font-family: 'Tahoma','sans-serif'; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-size: 8.5pt; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA;"><span style="font-size: 90%; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS', cursive;"> media type="custom" key="3561336" <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS', cursive;">Power Point to go along with Video

Guskey, advocate of Mastery Learning, has done a tremendous amount of work on grading in a standards-based system. Check this article out.