Introduction:
*Hook/Story: What did the presenter's own rocky grading past as a student reflect have to do with his inquiry into the often arbitrary nature of the grading process?
*Data share: What grade should each student receive? Elbow partner participants discuss. Why might have one student started off so much ahead of the other? Share out.
Follow up to participants: What grade is fair, accurate, encouraging?
*How does averaging grades and points harvesting conflict with growth mind set?
- Participants reflect on their own learning trajectories: (Stand Up/Pair Up) Discuss..."Once we know something, it is irrelevant that we didn't used to know it."
- Grading solutions: Emphasize most recent performance; Eliminate factors imbued with bias; eliminate the use of zero on the 100 pt scale. (Participants pair share regarding the grading culture changes implied with these solutions.)
* Wider picture: What is the purpose of grades?
- e.g. How many educators do you know who would admit that they use grades to sort and screen students or as punishment and rewards for students?
*Solutions II, assuming grades should communicate academic achievement based on standards.
- Grade sparingly
- Eliminate grading class participation, effort, extra credit, etc.
- Encourage practice free from grading stress
*Participant triads discuss options for authentically engaging students, without grade carrots or sticks.
- Use of fewer more distinguishable levels of performance: Rubrics, student trackers, etc.
* Participant pairs discuss how such methods promote clarity and student agency, minimize bias, and are more valid markers of learning progress. (Share out)
- Redos and retakes: Mastery learning
*Challenges to grading reforms
- Participant groups brainstorm implementation challenges likely encountered to...
*Not grading everything
*Redos and retakes
*Moving away from the zero to 100 scale
*Rubrics
*Supporting participation, perseverance, etc., while keeping those out of grades
*Giving up on grading practices that rely on counting the number of correct responses.
- Whole group: Discussion of possible solutions to meet these challenges. (e.g. Incremental change...Implement on grade reform at a time.)
*Conclusion: What are you willing to commit to?
- Participants set their own implementation goals and share with neighbors. (Short-term wins can add up to a seismic shift in grading and reporting.)
Participants will be able to analyze how current approaches to grading can undercut equitable practices and detract from student learning outcomes.
Participants will identify alternative and more equitable grading practices.
Participants will be able to anticipate the range of challenges to grading practice reform and envision strategies to overcome those obstacles.
Dweck, C. S. (2006). Mindset: The new psychology of success. New York: Random House.
Feldman, J. (2024). Grading for equity: What it is, why it matters, and how it can transform schools and classrooms (2nd ed.). Thousand Oaks: Corwin Press.
Feldman, J., & Reed Marshall, T. (2020). Empowering Students by Demystifying Grading.
Educational Leadership, 77(6).
Hammond, Z. (2014). Culturally responsive teaching and the brain: Promoting authentic engagement and rigor among culturally and linguistically diverse students. Thousand Oaks: Corwin Press.
Hough, L. (2019, May). Grade Expectations: Why We Need to Rethink Grading in Our Schools. Ed. Magazine, Retrieved on April 8, 2024 from https://www.gse.harvard.edu/ideas/ed-magazine/19/05/grade-expectations
Wormeli, R. (2011, November). Redos and Retakes Done Right. Educational Leadership, 69(3).
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