Making Standards-based Grading Work in the Classroom

Tara RichersonWERA; March 26, 2009

Be Careful What You Wish For…

Formative Assessment

• Read Chris: The Case of the Truant Student and think about the question posed at the end of the scenario.

• Share your thoughts with a neighbor and then with the group.

Parent Reaction

I wanted to thank you for giving him a chance to redeem himself. You are the only one of his teachers who was willing to do so. I know he has it in him to do well in school; we just need to find a way to keep him motivated. Again, thank you for everything and have a super summer.

What motivates students?

Ability and Effort

Intelligence

Current Theories of MotivationGoals

Performance Mastery

Approach

Avoidance

• Trying to Understand Work• More Time on Task• Developing New Skills

• Test Anxiety• Perfectionism

• Absences• Truancies• Procrastination

• “What grade did you get?”• Cheating• Copying/Plagiarizing• Choosing the Easiest Option

PALS

Interpreting Your Survey

• You have a mastery approach if you believed that items 2, 5, 6, and 8 were true of your classroom.

• You have a performance approach if you believed that items 1, 3, 4, 7, and 9 were true of your classroom.

Are we about Mastery or Performance?

Equal Fair

Equal

and

Fair

Does a dislike of grading indicate a “symptom” of the lack of fit between what teachers are asked to do and actual practice?

(Brookhart, 1994)

How many levels of performance are there?

0 1001 4

Levels of PerformanceLevel One

= Misconception

= Concept

= Term

= Misconception

= Concept

= Term

Levels of PerformanceLevel Two (can do with help)

= Concept

= Term

Levels of PerformanceLevel Three (can do independently)

= Concept

= Term

Levels of PerformanceLevel Four

= New Learning

= Concept

= Term

Teacher Generated Field Notes

• Folder and Sticky Note Chart

• Roster with Targets: Use hash marks with dates to track observations

• Stickers on a Clipboard: Choose 3 – 5 students to watch; make notes on stickers to place in record book at end of day

Student Generated Field Notes

• Printed sheet with targets for students to track

• Graph progress on targets

Standard 1

Last Name First Name Task 1 Task 2 Task 3

Brown Charlie 1 1 3

Brown Sally 2 3 3

Patty Peppermint 1 1 1

Van Pelt Linus 3 4 3

Van Pelt Lucy 1 1 2

Recording Data

Standard 1

Last Name First Name Task 1 Task 2 Task 3

Brown Charlie 1 1 3

Brown Sally 2 3 3

Patty Peppermint 1 1 1Van Pelt Linus 3 4 3

Van Pelt Lucy 1 1 2

• Target instruction• Monitor Progress• Apply Intervention(s)

Data Visualization

Motion Graphs

Number Crunching

Grades in both systems can be thought of as a kind of continuum

Number Crunching

What’s Important

• Can a student tell you what his/her grade is and why?

• Conference with students.– My strengths are ___.– I can improve by ___.– My grade is a ___ because ___.

Another View of Number Crunching

Final Reflection

• What did you see today that caused you to think, wonder, dream, plan, or question?

• What are the consequences of what you saw?

• What are your next steps?

Credits• Working with Students by Neighborhood Charter House School• No Pressure, Appeal Your Grade, and Cognitive Dissonance by Married to the Sea• Rewards by Kristin• After School Punishment by Icky Pic• She Likes Books by Zef Delgadillo• Mountain Climbing at Dusk by Poofy• Brains by Unknown• Two Kinds of Human Beings by Unknown• Gratitude and No Make-up Exams by T. Richerson• Survey by mygigi• Reflection by Unknown• GraphJam• Record Keeping by Joe Thorn• Concentric Target by Tengtan• Areachart, Heatmap, and Dashboard Example by Sparklines• Is the World a Better Place? by Gapminder• Sometimes Life is Like This by Hailun