Draft grading procedures FAQ

8/8/2019 Draft grading procedures FAQ

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Carrollton-Farmers Branch ISO Grading ProceduresFrequently Asked Questions

What goes on the first progress report of the 9 weeks if no summative has been assigned or gradedyet?Formative assessment grades may be included on progress reports and must be designated clearly asformative grades; however, they will not be reported on the 9-weeks grade, final semester grade, orfinal end of the year grade.What will our talking points be fo r dealing with students and parents who are most concerned aboutclass rank and getting into college?We can assure them that the integrity of class rank will be based on student mastery of the statestandards and NOT behavior, effort, daily work, homework, or formative assessments given as studentsare learning new content/concepts. The grade will have more integrity and validity under the newprocedures than the old procedures.What factors are to be considered when "placing" a child who does no t meet the promotion criteria inthe next grade?

Age Assessment data Teacher recommendation Academic history Student and parent interviews lEP status

Will there be more professional development about formative assessment?Learning about formative assessment and how to progress monitor student learning will be a continualprofessional development focus in the district. Some ofthis work will be done during the InstructionalImprovement Process (liP) with teacher teams, and some will be done through more formal professionaldevelopment.How will EOCs fi t into the new grading procedures?The district will comply with the state's direction on EOCs and adjust our procedures as necessary.What does the following statement in the Grading Procedures document mean? "In determininggrades consider the more recent information and discard outmoded evidence if appropriate."The grade wil l be based on a minimum of six summative grades plus a comprehensive semester exam. Ifthe summative grades toward the end ofthe semester show improvement and progress of learning, andIF the student performs well on the comprehensive semester exam, then the teacher may use the trendline summative data and the data from the semester exam when assigning the final grade.The bottom line is that we want to assign grades based on true learning and mastery ofthe standardsand not penalize students fo r taking longer to learn.Does this mean that in addition to using the more recent evidence in determining the final grade aseither passing or failing, that I can raise a student's grade based on the more recent evidence?


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IF the later evidence assesses the same standard(s), then an earlier summative could be dropped fromthe average. However, all grades shall be based on a minimum of four summatives plus acomprehensive final exam (secondary); therefore, no more than two summatives could be droppedfrom the average to compute a final semester grade.

Is it "real world" to give students an opportunity to reassess on summatives?We believe such opportunities are available in the "real world." For example, teachers are given anopportunity to have a second PDAS evaluation ifthey so desire. Additionally, when a driver receiveshis/her first ticket, he/she has the opportunity to attend a driving class to mitigate the consequence ofthe ticket. Reminders are often given to teachers regarding deadlines for multiple reasons, such assubmitting grades, lesson plans, Signing forms, etc.More importantly, having multiple opportunities to assess sends the message that hard work andcontinued effort will be rewarded. We reinforce hope and the feeling that it is never too late. These areimportant lessons to be learned.Will points be deducted fo r late work?No.The assessment/feedback on student work must reflect the level of mastery demonstrated by thestudent. The mark on the paper or project pertains solely to the student's acquisition of desiredknowledge and skills and should not include student behaviors such as timeliness.Assessment/feedback on the timeliness of work completion will be reflected in the student's effortgrade.The procedures state the final exam counts 20% of the final grade and no reassessment opportunitiesare afforded. What if the final exam score does no t reflect the student's actual level of mastery andskews the final grade?The teacher should exercise professional judgment based on the district's grading principles. Ifthere is apreponderance of evidence to override the final exam grade and/or ifthe teacher has an alternativemethod of assessment that clearly confirms a different level of student mastery, the additional evidenceshould be weighed in lieu ofthe final exam. The teacher should submit a written rationale to thecampus principal for approval.

FAQs from Ken O'ConnorHow can you support the idea of not giving zeros, late penalties, or opportunities fo r extra credit thatcount fo r grades?I continue to support the idea of not giving zeros, late penalties, and opportunities for extra creditbecause they are educationally undesirable practices.The alternative to zero that holds the student accountable is that, ifthey have not provided sufficientevidence of learning, the school provides times and places for support that the student must attenduntil sufficient evidence has been provided.


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How can you ignore the real world consequences of plagiarism?I do not ignore the real world consequences of plagiarism as I recommend behavioral AND academicconsequences fo r academic dishonesty.What suggestions do you have about how to handle the retake issue?When we have a learning orientation, I think it is the ideal to offer unlimited retakes; but there shouldalways be conditions attached to retakes and the practical reality is that there may have to be a limit tothe number of retakes.The conditions that should attach to all retakes are:

1. No students should be allowed any retake (first or fifth) until they provide evidence thatthey have done something that increases the likelihood that they will continue to improve.

2. Not all retakes need to occur at a time that is convenient to the student.Could you explain why i t is not a good practice to always average a student's grade even though youare no t using zeros? What about putting more weight on certain assessments?If by averaging you mean the mean, it is fine i f the student's performance is consistent but we teach inmath that the mean is an inappropriate measure of central tendency when there are outlier scores, andunfortunately, students often have outlier scores-and they are usually low outliers. There are twoother legitimate measures of central tendency that should be considered-median and mode, but thedetermination of grades should be based on the student's most consistent level of achievement withemphasis on the more recent. Please note I said 'determination' of grades, not 'calculation.' For megrading is not simply a mechanical, numerical exercise. It is an exercise in professional judgment.Teachers are not just bookkeepers, we are-or should be-professionals.What is the best practice fo r formative vs. summative?I believe that all of the grade should come from summative assessments. Research is very clear thatwhen formative assessment is used to support learning, subsequent student performance improvesdramatically. The classic article is Black and Wiliam's "Inside the Black Box" in the October 1998 Kappanmagazine.You state that quizzes, most homework, and most daily work have no place in grades. Why, then,should a student do homework?To practice so that they can get better in the same way that they practice for band and basketballWhen a teacher has 180 students and is expected to provide regular summative and formativefeedback, how is this possible without having deadlines?Assessment is a sampling procedure. You need enough evidence to make the judgments you have tomake (determining grades), not too little or too much. Teachers frequently collect a lo t more evidencethan they need, so you can make it more manageable by requiring at least three but no more than 9summative assessments fo r each grading period (preferably 5 to 7). Apart from anything else you thenhave fewer deadlines for students to meet. Other benefits are that the assessments will probably behigher quality and you have time fo r a process of instruction and formative assessment that will lead togreater achievement by the students on the summative assessments.You also need to provide support consequences for students who miss deadlines. That is, there need tobe times and places where students are required to attend to get the support they need to completerequired summative assessments.


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If students have not submitted sufficient assessment evidence by the day teachers have to determinegrades, the grade they get is an "I " for "Incomplete" or "Insuf ficient Evidence," regardless ofthe gradethey would get based on the evidence they have submitted. The "I " grade has the same impact as an"F" and should appear on the report card and in the transcript.Can you give some guidance on how comprehensive summative assessments and final exams shouldbe?It is appropriate to have culminating assessment(s) for the entire course that requires students to showthey have acquired the enduring understandings and that they can bring together the ir understandingfrom each ofthe units in the course. Culminat ing assessments should be appropriate to the learninggoals ofthe course but usually should provide opportunities fo r students to 'write, do and say' whatthey know, understand, and can do. This means a 'comprehensive final exam' may be all or part oftheculminating assessment, but usually the culminating assessment should include a performance task.This approach should not be new to students as they should have experienced a similar approach toculminating assessments for each unit of the course.In considering a standards based report card, I am confused about how this all applies to theelementary school student. The growth fo r younger children isn't a huge amount. Parents want to seea percentage. How do you explain the subjectiveness of the grading system?What parents and students (should) want to see is specific information about areas ofstrength and areas that need improvement, e.g., "Karen" excels in number sense andmeasurement, is competent in measurement but has difficulty with geometry and dataanalysis. Percentages do not provide that information or in fact any information of value.The sooner we eliminate them from grading and reporting systems the better it will beif our objective is clear communication. Assessment and grading are inherently subjective,and that is not a bad thing or something fo r which we have to apologize. What is bad isteachers making different judgments based on the same evidence. What we have aprofessional responsibility to work on is consistency with subjective judgments.

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Draft grading procedures FAQ