To whom it may concern:
I am a fairly new teacher. I completed my student teaching last year and I am subbing this year. I have just realized I made a grading error last year.
I sincerely apologize,
Ashley Cogburn
Ok avid listeners/readers/prospective teachers, we must stop grading on a points scale! I have done three plus hours now doing some in-depth research on Standards Based Grading (SBG). I cannot believe the horribly atrocities, we, teacher commit by assigning points to our students for their work. Don't get me wrong, I know there has to be some sort of assessment of their work, other wise they won't have a grade, their parents will freak, and the State of Oregon won't grant them their graduation. BUT! (There is always a "but") we need to assign a better marker of how students are learning.
For example:
There is a 16 question test. 1-10 are multiple guess question, 11-14 are short answer, and 15 and 16 are essay questions. Assign points that you think you would give the students if you were the teacher. DO NOT LOOK AHEAD!
Alright, say you gave 1-10, 3 points each, for a total of 30 points. Then say you gave 11-14, 5 points each, total of 20, and 15 and 16 25 points each, for a total of 50. 30 + 20 + 50 = 100.
Now say that student A got 1-10 correct, 11 and 12 correct but none of the other questions correct. That's only a total of 40 points. Student A received 40/100. What a terrible score! But what if you were teaching the same class as me, but we assigned the points differently and your student passed the test, knew the same information as mine, but my student failed. Is that a fair way to grade? No stinking way!
Therefore I have found that Standards Based Grading is a better way to assess students in the classroom. There are different ways to go about this, but the most common I have found is that we need to start using more rubrics for specific standards*. Say you are teaching a freshman level social sciences class, there are 10 standards that you are going to teach throughout the term. Each standard should have a progression of learning. There should be four steps to mastering the standard. The first step should be a below basic level of understanding. Maybe the student has heard of the terms in the standard, but doesn't know anything else. That is 1 point. Another student may have a general, or basic knowledge of the standard, that is 2 points. A third student knows everything about the standard and is proficient, that is a 3. However, maybe you have a student that can take that standard and apply it to the outside world, other classes, his/her life, etc. Now that my friends, is a 4 point advanced knowledge of the standard.
*Another word for standard could be target, aim, goal, etc.
In the end, what I am trying to say is lets start changing our grading system so we can measure the literal knowledge that our students know about a topic. I want my students, now (even while subbing) and in the future to not be cheated by the point system, but to be measured accurately on what they have learned and accomplished.
SBG systems can better measure what a teacher needs to re-teach or introduce in another means to students. SBG systems can give better feedback to students by showing the students if their means of study is correct, or if they need to try and use a different system to produce different results. SBG can also give students and teachers immediate data on whether the students are meeting the targets/topics/aims or whether the students are not meeting the proficiency level. Maybe the teacher is using a method of teaching that is too direct, maybe lectures to teach the ways to use a map in geography is not helping. The teacher could then switch to a more interactive approach by handing out blank maps and having students work with the teacher to learn about maps.
There is also a number of assessment available for the teacher who wants to switch to SBG. Obstrusive assessments: asking questions to students during a lecture to check for comprehension. Unobstrusive assessments: observing students explaining, in a group, the way the Nile River Valley floods during the rainy season. And Student-generated assessments: Student A says that they are a visual learner and would like to create a movie for you, using clay, to show how population is relative to river flood plain in drier climates. The later is the most UNDERUTILIZED form of assessment. Students should have a creative outlet, if writing is their thing-let them write a paper, a bill, a speech, anything. If your student is into drawing, let them draw you a diagram, a picture, a mural, a collage of what they've learned. And for the fortunate, Ray Brown**, maybe your student is a builder and actually build you a sized to scale replica of a trebuche. I hope you all know what that is.
Thank you for listening to a rant about changing grading to fit what students actually know. Contact me for more information if you so desire.
** Ray Brown was my supervisor and advisor for my Master of Arts in Teaching program.
