Grading Example
For the purposes of this grading example, let's assume that our first test is about the Marvel Cinematic Universe, and the test had 12 questions on it.
Questions 1-5 all deal with identifying characters from the movies.
Questions 6-8 all deal with describing the plot of the various films.
Questions 9-12 al deal with the chronology of events in the films.
The test assesses three skills: identifying characters, describing plot, and event chronology, so you will see those three skills listed in the Synergy gradebook (accessed through StudentVue or ParentVue). Here is what you might see in StudentVue before the test is graded.
"Unit 1" tells you that these skills were all assessed on the Unit 1 test. Each is also a link. Clicking on the link will bring up additional explanation of the skill.
I enter grades into the gradebook after students have their first opportunity to fix their mistakes. So let's say on the original test, you missed questions 3, 5, and 11.
During class, I pass back the test and you have most of a class period to fix your mistakes. During class you correct your mistake for number 11, but you do not successfully fix numbers 3 and 5. What will go into the gradebook?
Because there are still errors in the first section of the test, the skill "Identify Characters" appears as missing, meaning it has not yet been demonstrated successfully. You can continue to revise your test to correct the errors on this first section.
Because you did not miss any questions in the second section about describing the plot, the "Describe Plot" skill shows a 4, meaning you were successful on your first attempt.
You successfully fixed your only mistake on the third section about Event Chronology, so the third skill will show a 3, meaning you successfully demonstrated the skill after revision.
Your overall grade in the glass is now a 75%, which is a C.
A few days go by, and you figure out what your mistake was. During in-class work time, you pick up your test from the revision folder in the back of the room and submit a new revision to your test. You fix both of your mistakes in the first section of the test, so you have successfully demonstrated the "Identify Characters" skill. Your score for that skill improves to a 3, and your overall grade increases to 90%.
Now let's assume that we move into our second— and longer—unit about animated series. The Unit 2 test assesses four skills: Identifying Animation Styles, Manga Inspirations, Video Game Tie-Ins, and Cultural Acceptance.
Unfortunately, you are having a bad day on the day of the test, and you make a lot of mistakes across all four skills. On the day that test revisions for Unit 2 begin, you have not yet completed at least 70% of your assignments, so you are unable to begin your revision. Your grade drops to a 61%.
Why such a big drop in the grade?
After the first test, you had successfully demonstrated all three of the three skills. Then the second test introduced four more skills, and since you have not successfully demonstrated any of them yet, you now have only demonstrated 3 of the 7 total skills tracked in the gradebook. Once you complete enough practice assignments to reach the 70% threshold, you revise your Unit 2 test by fixing your mistakes. All four of the Unit 2 skills update to a 3 score, and your grade in the class jumps back up to 87%. In this way, a student's grade can go through large swings as they correct their mistakes and update their scores, especially early in the semester. The further we go into the semester and the more skills are tracked in the gradebook, the grade swings will become less pronounced.
Benefits
In a class that uses traditional grading where the scores for tests are averaged together, having a bad day can seriously hinder your ability to achieve a higher grade. In the example above, this student might be looking at a low C after the two tests. In this system, however, the student can learn from his or her mistakes, correct the errors, and improve the grade to a high B.