Research for evidence based learning
My grading philosophy is that grades should reflect student learning. I try not to put too many grades in Powerschool, and I try hard to make the grade reflect what a student has learned. Recent research says that grades impede student learning and I've seen this happen with my own eyes! This year my students will spend a lot of time reflecting on their own learning, deciding if they've reached the learning goals and then deciding if they should move forward, or if they need a little more time to make sure they reach the goals. Below is some of the research I've read that has helped shape my teaching philosophy and my grading system. Please read if you want more information, but keep in mind that my grading system is a combination of many ideas, and will look different than anything in any of these articles.
How We Got Grading Wrong, and What to Do About It.docxHow We Got Grading Wrong, and What to Do About It
I really like this article! It shows clearly how students' grades are often about whether they do "work", but not about whether they learned anything. Some students do neat, nice, work, but don't learn, and others who clearly know the material lose points for not turning in work. A new grading system will help even out this injustice.
Five Obstacles to Grading Reform.pdfFive Obstacles to Grading Reform
Here's an article that talks about a few reasons why it has been difficult to change the grading system.
Letter Grades Deserve an 'F' - The Atlantic.pdfLetter Grades Deserve an
'F'
This article discusses some of the disadvantages to letter grades.
7 reasons for S-B grading.pdfSeven Reasons for Standards-Based
Grading
This article is about Standards-based grading, but has many ideas about why a system other than point/percent grades is so worthwhile to students.