More about Grading

How do I manage grades when kids are all doing different things?

Standards Based Learning or Standards Based Grading (similar in practice) helps make grading in a differentiated classroom easier.

• Students are held accountable for understanding the content statements, not for the path they took in order to learn them.
• The "grade" actually represents what students know and are able to do related to the subject.
• The headings for grades are the content statement or learning target (ex: gravity, force diagrams, calculating force). The grade that goes into each category shows how well the student has mastered that specific part.
• Frequent check-ins and constant feedback move all learners forward.
• I "check" daily assignments for completion (I use this to calculate data, showing how well interventions are working, to help Intervention Specialists gage progress to goals, and to have conversations with students about the connection between doing work/learning and assessments), but ONLY their demonstration of content mastery goes into their grades.
• I post keys to everything in the front of the classroom... I like to monitor how the keys are being used (checking, not copying - although if they are not learning the content, it will be apparent when they take the assessment) and want to be able to refer to them all of the time.

What do I do with a student who got a high pretest score, can demonstrate mastery of the content from the beginning?

• Whatever you do, DO NOT ask that student to go through the lessons over that material. It's a waste of their time. They already know it! This is when kids get bored and can cause disruptions.
• Ask that (s)he completes an extension or enrichment activity. Once complete, this student could share their new learning with a small group of students (maybe some who are ready earlier than others or some who could use targeted explanation in this particular area?).
• Give that student 100% on the assessment over the content they knew already WHEN they have completed their extension/enrichment work. This reinforces that learning is the focus, takes the pressure off a high-achieving learner, and doesn't penalize the student for knowing the content initially.

What do I do with a student who struggles to learn the content?

• Whatever you do, DO NOT give up on that student. You just haven't found a way to reach him/her yet.
• This is when you can solicit ideas from other teachers or spend individual time working with the learner.
• Once this student masters the content, give them THAT score, not an average of all of the attempts leading up to that shining moment. Don't penalize the student because you haven't found a way to reach him/her... yet. Reward that student when his/her learning happens!
• Then... document that information and try that successful method first next time you are teaching this (formerly struggling) learner. For example: the learner "got it" when (s)he watched a couple of YouTube videos, as opposed to any other way you tried to explain the content with him/her. Use YouTube videos to reach this student in the future.

For example... Here are my categories in my LMS:

• Content Mastery (weighted 90%) = summative assessments, demonstration of mastery;
• Everything Else (weighted 10%) = group projects, aspects of individual projects that are not a demonstration of mastery (ex: on time/was able to be shared on due date, included # of visuals, took advantage of different parts of technology, communicated clearly - free of spelling/grammar errors, etc.);
• Formative Assessments (weighted 0%) = pretests, formatives, practice assessments;
• Daily Work (weighted 0%) = completion of daily work (for this I use the following scale: 0 = no evidence of completion at all, 1 = late or incomplete on due date, 2 = complete and on time).

Some products result in two different grades... See the rubric below for an example:

Rubrics

• Can be built right into your LMS!
• Keep it simple... look for mastery of content and allow for students to show their understanding in different ways, with different products.
• An idea: build in "process" checks that lead to the successful completion of the project. This reinforces the importance of the process, not just the product.

Grading Groups - individually assign

Schoology allows for assignments to be assigned to specific students on the fly, or to be assigned to a "grading group." Both of these options show only applicable assignments and grade columns to students. The teachers see everything, but grade boxes are grayed out for students who were not given a particular assignment. Teachers who use Grading Groups are encouraged to think of these groups as fluid from one topic to another, and establish naming conventions for these. Example - EarthMovement_Compacted, EarthMovement_Traditional; Waves_Compacted, Waves_Traditional

What is extension? Is it the same as extra credit?

• Nope... not the same! Extension or enrichment work goes beyond the content standards that all students must master.
• These experiences ask students to go deeper with the course content.
• I usually have some ideas on hand for when students demonstrate mastery early in the process, but I prefer when students come up with their own questions to answer or topics to investigate related to our topic.
• Sometimes (when I know students will have time to "explore more" with a unit), I will ask them to periodically brainstorm questions they have as we go through the learning process. That way, they have a list of potential topics when they have time to dig in! I recommend trying to do this with all students at least a few times during the year so all kids have practice answering their own questions and sharing their own, individualized learning.
• I use extension/enrichment work for students to pursue when they have mastered the "regular" learning. If this is done early on, I will tell the students that I will give them 100% on an assessment WHEN they have completed the extension/enrichment work.