Making the Grade: ALL the Questions
“Making the Grade” is a new series of articles by Blueprint Schools Consultant Ryan Kirchoff. The goal of the series is to start a conversation about evaluation, assessment, and grading practices in our classrooms…and find more impactful ways forward for student learning.
If you are looking for a way to enliven your next faculty meeting, ask this question: How do you determine the grade for courses you teach?
There aren’t many topics that create as much “spirited debate” as those connected to grading. Teachers tend to be more than willing to defend their practices because grading seems to show what teachers value and believe is genuinely best for their students. As an educator, I would argue that questioning a teacher’s grading practices can feel far more personal than criticizing their curriculum choices or instruction methods.
Grading is so deeply ingrained in our education system, and it’s a practice that often results in creating more questions than answers:
Should teachers give extra credit?
Should teachers use category weights?
Should students receive a 0 for incomplete assignments?
Should group work or participation factor in a student’s grade?
Should students lose points if the assignment is late?
Should students be able to resubmit work or retake tests?
Should homework be graded?
Should teachers give “freebie” passes, so students can skip assignments?
Should teachers grade on a curve?
Should grades reflect aptitude, effort, or both?
Should schools transition to using a standards-based grading system?
How many grades should be in a teacher’s gradebook each quarter?
Speaking personally, for many years I thought my grading practices were sound and fair because they mostly reflected how I was graded as a student. I didn’t think about doing anything differently because I didn’t know anything different.
But then I read Fair Isn’t Always Equal by Rick Wormeli. (A must-read for any educator!) For the first time, I began questioning the purpose of grades and what they should communicate to students and parents.
I will never claim to have perfect grading practices. But there are a number of them that I continue to see in classrooms which are simply outdated or ineffective for measuring or fostering student learning.
This next blog series seeks to address some of these practices, provide a rationale for why they need to change, and give suggestions for what those changes could look like in a classroom and a grade book.
In her consultations my wife often encourages her clients to think about change and growth by sharing Maya Angelou’s words of wisdom,
“Do the best you can until you know better. Then when you know better, do better.”
For the sake of our students and their learning, “knowing better” is an important first step.
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