10 signs there's a grading problem in your classroom

1). You create and design assignments and assessments based purely on the number of grades you currently have in your gradebook.

2). When talking about the next assignment or learning event, the first question the students ask is, 'is this for points?'

3). When talking about the next assignment or learning event, the second question the students ask is, 'how many?'

4). When many of your students who have the strongest grasp on the material and/or skills have some of the lowest grades due to 'not doing their work.'

5). When talking with parents at parent teacher conferences (which honestly need a complete overhaul by the way) you find yourself telling multiple parents that their child would be doing much better grade-wise if they would just do the homework.

6). When at the end of the quarter or semester, students and parents start asking you for additional work and/or extra credit opportunities to pull up a grade in the 11th hour.

7). When you have to attach a grade to anything and everything because if you don't, students won't do it.

8). When you do group work, you give every single group member the same exact grade based on the work output of the entire group.

9). When you want and expect there to be a balanced number of students at each grade achievement level.

10). When you believe that grades should be used as compensation for work done and when you believe that a grade will motivate students to do their best work.

Now, I've pointed out quite a few problems above and you might be wondering, so... what's next? What's the solution to these problems?

I would recommend following @kenoc7, @rickwormeli2, @tguskey, @mssackstein, @kenmattingly, @mctownsley, @myrondueck and @markbarnes19 on Twitter, as well as the #sblchat hashtag as there are a great many minds using that hashtag to share awesome thoughts on grading and assessment.

I would also recommend reading @kenoc7's 'Repair Kit for Grading,' and @rickwormeli2's 'Fair isn't always Equal.' Also, check out the Facebook group: Teachers Throwing out Grades.

In closing, this whole grading and assessment conversation definitely isn't easy... but continually ask yourself... 'what's the point and purpose of grades in your classroom?' Your answer to this question should help guide you in this process.

10 steps our district took to make a grading shift:

Over the last two years there has been quite a lot of work done in my district in regard to grading beliefs and grading practices. As a result, our HS and MS have both recently agreed upon these 4 beliefs on grading. This process has taken time and hasn't happened overnight. Here is the process we've used to get where we are:

1). Our district professional development blog: 

Every Monday our superintendent sends out the Monday Morning Memo. In this email to all staff members in the district (including classified and support staff), we highlight and focus on a particular theme or topic. We've used the MMM to share information and videos in regard to shifting grading beliefs as a way to 'ease' into this conversation and shift. By doing this, we've built up awareness and acknowledgement that grading practices are something we need to be thinking about.

2). Our district professional development days:

We've been fortunate to have the flexibility and autonomy to use the Edcamp model as part of our district professional development days. By doing this we've encouraged and provided a platform for folks who are interested in talking more about grading practices. By not forcing this conversation on any one individual, more and more folks have had natural and organic conversations about grading shifts, and the hostility of another mandate has been avoided.

3). Conferences and professional development events:

We also identified a few select folks throughout the district who were interested in this topic and we nurtured and groomed them to be the champions of a grading shift in their respective buildings. This included sending them to grading events and simply providing them resources and information on how to actually implement some of these grading shifts. These folks have been our pioneers so to speak.

4). Voluntary book study:

15 Fixes for Broken Grades, by Ken O'Connor, was a book study we did in our district. We had about 15 teachers volunteer to read this book and meet on a weekly basis to discuss. We even set up a Facebook page to discuss things between meeting dates that Ken O'Connor joined to answer questions and stimulate thought. From the district standpoint, all we did was purchase the books and get the first meeting date set.

5). We adjusted Board Policy:

As we discussed and evaluated how we could make these grading shifts a reality, it became clear that we needed to also review Board Policy. What we didn't want to happen was to have our teachers feel handcuffed and feel that they couldn't make these adjustments because they then would be in violation of Board Policy. Here is an example of how we changed our cheating policy to reflect what a student knows, and not the poor decision they made to cheat.

6). 2 day Rick Wormeli event:

We met with our calendar committee and were able to get things arranged so we could bring Rick out to speak with our entire teaching staff for a two-day event. This was money well spent and the results from the event were overwhelmingly positive which further encouraged us to keep pushing a shift in our grading practices and beliefs.

7). Teacher leadership team:

We had a secondary team of teachers, grades 7-12, meet and discuss the actual wording and presentation of these grading beliefs. In the end, we absolutely wanted to be able to say that these grading beliefs were created, designed, and written by our teachers. We didn't want this to be an administrative mandate forced on teachers.

8). Parent involvement at both our HS and MS:

Our HS has a parent committee and they have been discussing these grading shifts for most of this school year. This has provided support to our teachers and has brought many of our parents up to speed on why we are implementing these changes. Our MS has hosted parent grading nights for these shifts to be discussed and explained in an effort to share the 'why' and how we are doing this. We've found that our elementary teachers are already following these grading beliefs, so a majority of our focus has been on secondary, grades 7-12.

9). Voluntary book study:

In an effort to keep the momentum up and keep things going, we've got two different voluntary book studies happening. The first book is The Collected Writings (so far) by Rick Wormeli and the second book is Fair isn't Always Equal, which is also by Rick Wormeli. Once again, the district purchased these books for folks who are interested, and we've used these books as an avenue to keep conversations alive and keep the fires burning.

10). Still going!

We aren't as far as some districts and we surely aren't perfect, but we've made great strides in the past two years and we are proud of where we are. Looking forward to continuing the conversation and continuing the journey!

Check out a few related blog posts as well from our journey:

Is it time to eliminate extra credit in schools?

Is your gradebook supportive of learning?

Making that redo/retake policy actually work!

Accountability: Do we mean the same thing?

The crippling effects of homework in schools

Have summative assessments become obsolete?

Has finals week become antiquated and redundant?

10 questions to start the 'grading' conversation at your school

1). Do you include student behaviors (effort, participation, adherence to class rules, etc...) in student grades?

2). Do you believe in grade reduction for work that is turned in late?

3). Do you believe extra credit and bonus points should be a part of a student's grade?

4). Should academic dishonesty result in a reduced grade?

5). Should group work be graded on a group basis or on an individual basis?

6). Do you include pop quizzes and timed assessments in your overall assessment structure?

7). Do you believe every activity or assignment that is completed should be graded and recorded in the gradebook?

8). Do you average all of a student's scores throughout the course of the semester?

9). Do you believe all students should be doing the same assessments for it to be fair?

10). Do you believe there is a place for zeros in grade reporting?


**Many of these thoughts come from either @kenoc7 or @rickwormeli. We are doing a book study on Ken O'Connor's 'A repair kit for grading: 15 fixes for broken grades' and we are bringing Rick out to work with our entire staff next school year in October.

10 thoughts on grading and assessment

1). 'Teachers don't need grades or reporting forms to teach well. Further, students don't need them to learn.' via @tguskey

2). 'If you trust the validity and accuracy of your test/assessment, then you shouldn't have any problem with redos for full credit.' via @rickwormeli

3). '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.' via @kenoc7

http://goo.gl/ccTQVX

4). 'Nothing of consequence would be lost by getting rid of timed tests. Few tasks in life - and very few tasks in scholarship - actually depend on being able to read passages or solve math problems rapidly.' via @howard_gardner_

5). No studies support the use of low grades or marks as punishments. Instead of prompting greater effort, low grades more often cause students to withdraw from learning.' via @tguskey

6). 'A kid who says school sucks and just give me an 'F' does not have the necessary maturity level to be in charge of making his/her own educational decisions.' via @rickwormeli

7). 'Averaging falls far short of providing an accurate description of what students have learned. . . . If the purpose of grading and reporting is to provide an accurate description of what students have learned, then averaging must be considered inadequate and inappropriate.' via @tguskey

8). 'When we refuse to accept an assignment late and give a zero instead, we undermine our content and say it has no value.' via @rickwormeli

9). 'Don’t include zeros in grade determination when evidence is missing or as punishment; use alternatives, such as reassessing to determine real level of achievement or use 'I' for Incomplete or Insufficient evidence.' via @kenoc7

10). 'If a kid never does any of the work you assign but does wonderfully well on your assessments, then it's time to evaluate the work you assign and the types of assessments you use.' via @rickwormeli

Let's talk about grades...

Have you ever thought this… said this… heard somebody else say this?

"If his grades start to slip then we take away that Xbox."

"She's a good student, she keeps her grades up, I trust her."

"He got straight A's. I never would have guessed he was struggling so."

Ken O'Connor

Do you want to be graded on your performance in the beginning when all the information is new, or do you want to be graded in the end after practice?

Consider this story:

"I was meeting with our high school Advanced Placement teachers, who were expressing concerns about our open enrollment process and the high failure rate. One math teacher said that while a particular student was now getting 80's, she had made a 12 on the initial test, so there is no way she is going to make a passing grade for the first nine weeks."

Grades tend to reduce students’ interest in the learning itself.  One of the most well-researched findings in the field of motivational psychology is that the more people are rewarded for doing something, the more they tend to lose interest in whatever they had to do to get the reward.

http://goo.gl/kZBN3z

Grades tend to reduce students’ preference for challenging tasks.  Students of all ages who have been led to concentrate on getting a good grade are likely to pick the easiest possible assignment if given a choice. 

If I can’t give a child a better reason for studying than a grade on a report card, I ought to lock my desk and go home and stay there.

The primary purpose of classroom assessment is to inform teaching and improve learning, not to sort and select students or to justify a grade.

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

The price of freedom is proficiency… students are motivated not by threats of failure, but by the opportunity to earn greater freedom and discretion by completing work accurately and on time.

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.

Thoughts and ideas here are from Alfie Kohn's 'Degrading to de-grading,' Ken O'Conner's 'How to grade for learning,' and Douglas Reeves' 'Leading to change / effective grading practices.'

What are your thoughts in regard to grading?