I’m going to talk about the fixes that stick out the most to
me and how they fit into my educational philosophy.
Fix #2: Don’t reduce marks on “work” submitted late; provide
support for the learner.
I have gone round and round with my colleagues about late
work and the multiple policies that teachers use. I am a firm believer in not penalizing for
late work. I am going to give them full
credit for the work they do. You get a
lot of arguments about this. Some
teachers say that we have to teach them the responsibility of handing work in
on time. I agree, but my primary goal is
to teach them the content. Finishing the
assignment to show their growth is my primary goal. If I deduct points for lateness, how is that
motivating the student to complete the assignment? They don’t see the point in handing it in, only
to get half credit. They settle for the
zero. How is that helping?
This brings me to…
Fix #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.
I try not to allow my students to get zeros in my
class. Yes, this initially created a lot
of work for me. I will pull them in
before or after school, during SRB, I call their coaches and parents, whatever
I have to do to get the assignment done.
Eventually the students realized that they might as well do the work
because I make them do it either way. I
don’t give “busy” or fluff work. The
assignments I give them are essential to measure their growth and skill level. I need that data. I cannot let them choose not to get it
done. I also agree that adding a zero to
the grade book creates an inaccuracy in their final grades. It is not a true reflection of their
progress. Many teachers think that
chasing students down to recover missing assignments is too much of a
hassle. I think that it comes with the
territory.
Fix 11: Don’t rely only on the mean; consider other measures
of central tendency and use professional judgment.
Fix 13: Don’t use
information from formative assessments and practice to determine grades; use
only summative evidence.
Fix 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.
I’m going to address these all together. I don’t think grades should be determined
using “practice” work. This defeats the
purpose of letting them practice. It
shouldn’t matter WHEN they master the concept, as long as they eventually do. I think sometimes teachers get stuck focusing
on all the questions students get wrong, rather than looking at the ones they
got right. I never really thought about
this until I taught first grade. I
noticed that I could give a spelling test on short a in week three and the
student would miss 5 out of 7 words. They
just didn’t get the pattern. By week
five, their reading and writing showed that they understood the short a
pattern. Why would I give that student
an F because they didn’t get it in week three?
I started tracking the major concepts in my classes and when students
became proficient in them. The next year
I took this data to the principal and owner of the school. I made my argument for standards-based
grading. We transitioned first grade to
standards-based that year and grades 2-4 the following year. It was the best thing for all involved. Students were a lot more confident after we
did this. They were not afraid to make a
mistake. They knew it was ok. We stressed that through mistakes is how we
learn. You shouldn’t be punished for
learning.
