Assessments

• Show students what success looks like for each assessment

• Assess learning, not compliance

• Avoid multiple choice, true/false, and fill in the blanks

• Give students choice as to how they show their learning

• Use single point rubrics and have students self assess. The teacher then agrees or disagrees and commets. Left column: grows--how can I strengthen my work? Middle column: description of expectations and standards. Right column: Glows--strengths of my work

• Use 4-point mastery grading (ask Helen if you want to learn more about this) in which you assess mastery of a skill or content standard

• Waterfall chat (a la Doug Fisher)--everyone responds, teacher gets a sense of where students are in their learning, get to hear wrong ideas and correct for the whole class)

• Colored response cards--green (I understand) and red (I need help)

• Whole class slide deck, one slide per student. Students comment on each other's work in a thoughtful way

• Use visible thinking routines

• Doug Fisher's three questions (via Flipgrid or a Google form): what are we learning, why are we learning it, and how will I know I've learned it?

• Students retell the history, concept, or idea

• Fist to five can be used to show students' level of understanding or to rate work done in a breakout room

• Know/Show chart to review a unit--Left column: what I know. Right column: how I can show what I know.

• Long and short essays (use Turnitin or Google originality reports)

• Research reports and projects

• Analysis of a primary source

• Sensory figures

• Creating a crossword puzzle, a song, a found poem, or a piece of art

• Whole class slide deck, one slide per student. Students comment on each other's work in a thoughtful way

• Know/Show chart to review a unit--Left column: what I know. Right column: how I can show what I know. Teacher or student then chooses one of the "shows" to complete for a summative assessment

• Document-based questions--create the outline to an essay, just the thesis statement, or write the whole essay

• Make corrections to a completed test or essay on a topic

• Hold a debate

• Have students write test questions

• Create a newscast or a video

• Create a PSA, a #historysnap, or an infographic

Slide deck based on the work of Joe Feldman, Cornelius Minor, and others

Goals of equitable grading:

• Accurately describe a student’s performance and learning.

• Counteract institutional and implicit biases.

• Provide students with internal motivation.

Equitable grading practices to consider:

• Avoid zeros

• Use a 4-point mastery grading

• Emphasize later learning (avoid averaging)

• Avoid group grades

• Only academics factor into the grades

• Accept late work without penalty

• Avoid extra credit

• Homework is ungraded, but receives feedback

• Allow retakes and redos in order to obtain mastery