High School Teaching
From 2013-2014, I served as a United States Peace Corps volunteer teaching Math and Physics at Dolokelen Gboveh Senior High School in Gbarnga, Bong County, Liberia. Teaching in rural Liberia was replete with substantial challenges: each of my six classes had a hundred students; students often carried significant family responsibilities that disrupted attendance; there were significant gaps in academic preparedness among students; and educational infrastructure was sparse.
I found a performance-based assessment structure to be highly effective in addressing these challenges. Subject material for each of the six grading periods was placed into buckets, for example, solving 2-step algebraic equations or naming the SI unit for different measurements. Each bucket carried a different amount of points. Once mastery of a bucket's material was displayed on one of the (frequently offered) assessments, the student earned all the points of that bucket. Mastery entailed an error-free completion of an assessment section: any mistakes required the student to wait at least a week before attempting another assessment. Partial credit for a bucket was only given on the final exam of the grading period.
This structure carried multiple advantages for teaching math and science-based courses in this setting:
The requirement of material mastery for earning credit on any assessment (prior to the final) necessitated extensive practice. Rather than ask students to complete homework, which many students found difficult to complete under their hectic home schedules, students were only asked to demonstrate competency one time: it was up to each student to put in the practice necessary to reach a level of mastery.
Buckets could be structured so as to ensure that all students were being challenged. The sum of points for the easiest buckets would constitute a passing grade, while the material of the hardest bucket would intentionally be made very difficult. In this way, lower-achieving students would be assured a passing grade with adequate effort, while higher-achieving students would be assured of having something to keep them stimulated.
Structuring the entire grade around the assessments meant that attendance was, in essence, optional. Higher-achieving students that had earned a sufficient number of points were permitted to work on material from other classes. Time-consuming roll calls of hundreds of students could be sacrificed for more problem practice during class. And once students understood that the only factor affecting their grade was their performance on assessments, students saw class time as a valuable outlet for clarifying material hurdles or engaging in more practice problems. Everyone's attention turned to learning the material, rather than attendance, participation, or the like.
The downside to this performance-based structure was the number of assessments that needed to be administered. Assessments before the final were only given outside of usual class time (which was reserved for learning and practicing the material); this meant making myself roundly available much of the week. However, these assessments served as an invaluable tool for students with difficulties maintaining steady attendance yet a desire to perform well.
