What do grades measure? dipping into equitable grading strategies

Exploring and Reflecting

impact of traditional grading systems

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Case Study #1 (Simplified for Easy Math)

You are conducting a research study with 10 carefully selected volunteers with a range of ages and medical conditions. They received a new Covid-19 booster 2 weeks ago, with a blood test today to measure antibody levels on a scale from 1-5.

Here are the blood test results. What is the average antibody level?

Antibody levels for 8 patients (2 missed the blood test appointment):

  • 5

  • 5

  • 5

  • 5

  • 4

  • 4

  • 4

  • 4

Calculate the average, and check your understanding here.

Case Study 2: A tale of two students and intermittent catastrophes

Maritza

ECE student, single mom

Kim

STEM student, transferring to CSU

2: A Tale of Two Students & Intermittent Catastrophes

Maritza is a young single mom studying for an early childhood education degree. She hopes to open her own daycare some day. Her academic background is not super strong, with some weaknesses especially in writing papers. She came to the US at age 10 and has learned English well, but still has some weaknesses in writing papers. She usually gets a B on her papers for solid content knowledge, with some deductions for structure, grammar, and syntax.

She is very motivated and works 32 hours a week as well as studying at Skyline.


Her essay grades in her English course are as follows:


84 - 85 - 0 - 84 - 86 (she did not submit one assignment when her child was sick).


What is her final grade? What if the zero were given a 50 (still an F)?


Kim Cho is good writer who plans to transfer to CSU in a STEM field and is taking an overload including physics, calculus, and environmental science.. He turns in his assignments on time, and comes to the teacher after class for feedback. He did fall short on one paper which was not fully completed.


His grades on the 5 papers are: 91 - 92 - 40 - 94 -94


What is his final grade?


Are the final grades accurate estimates of their knowledge, skills, and abilities?