Agenda I.Framing our work with SRG II.DMPS Grading Practices
III.15 Fixes for Grading IV.Next Steps
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Framing Our Work Part One (Today): Jans Quote Part Two: June 9
th with Jan Hoegh support administrators to begin putting
structures in place that will help them communicate with
stakeholders throughout the standards- referenced grading
implementation process.
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Packing the Parachute Test Scores
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What Score? What grade do you think this student received? What
grade would do you think this student deserved?
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The Essential Question How confident are you that grades
students get in your school are: Accurate Consistent Meaningful
Supportive of Learning
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The Essential Question How confident are you that the grade
students receive in your school are:
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Why? Why would anyone want to change current grading practices?
If grades are so imprecise they are almost meaningless.
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Why? If you want to make just one change that would immediately
reduce student failure rates, then the most effective place to
start would be challenging prevailing grading practices.
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THE PURPOSE OF GRADING
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Core Belief Des Moines Public Schools commits to all
stakeholders to provide fair, accurate, specific, and timely
information regarding student progress towards agreed upon common
standards as well as feedback for next steps and growth areas.
Grades communicate what students know and can do.
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What is the purpose of a grade? In the past grading has been
used to 1.Communicate the achievement status of students to
parents, students and others. 2.Provide information that students
can use for self- evaluation. 3.Select, identify, or group students
for certain educational paths or programs. 4.Provide incentives to
learn (reward/punish). 5.Evaluate the effectiveness of
instructional programs. It is very difficult for one measure to
serve different purposes well. (p. 21) The main difficulty driving
grading issues is that grades serve a variety of conflicting
purposes. (p.31) Brookhart, Grading (2004)
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What is the purpose of a grade? The primary purpose of grade
(is) to communicate student achievement to students, parents,
school administrators, post-secondary institutions, and employers.
What is the current purpose for grades in your school?
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Fundamental Beliefs Teachers do not need grades or reporting
forms to teach well. Further, students dont need them to learn. The
primary purpose of classroom assessment is to inform teaching and
improve learning, not to sort and select students or to justify a
grade. Schools should have a learning culture, not a grading
culture.
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GRADING PRACTICES
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Guiding Practices (Handbook) 1. A consistent 4-point grading
scale will be used. 2. Grades, derived from the 4-point scale, will
be based solely on achievement of grade level standards. Student
participation, work completion, and ability to work with others
will be reported separately using the DMPS Citizenship and
Employability Skills Rubric. 3. Scores will be based on a body of
evidence. 4. Achievement will be organized and reported by learning
topic. 5. Students will have multiple opportunities to demonstrate
proficiency. 6. Accommodations and modifications will be provided
for exceptional learners. (still in draft form)
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Guiding Practices (Handbook) 1. A consistent 4-point grading
scale will be used. 2. Grades, derived from the 4-point scale, will
be based solely on achievement of grade level standards. Student
participation, work completion, and ability to work with others
will be reported separately using the DMPS Citizenship and
Employability Skills Rubric. 3. Scores will be based on a body of
evidence. 4. Achievement will be organized and reported by learning
topic. 5. Students will have multiple opportunities to demonstrate
proficiency. 6. Accommodations and modifications will be provided
for exceptional learners. (still in draft form)
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GRADING PRACTICE #2
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Grading Practices Grading Practice # 2: Letter grades, derived
from the 4-point scale, will be based solely on achievement of
grade level standards. Student participation, work completion, and
the ability to work with others will be reported separately using
the DMPS Citizenship and Employability Rubric. A change in
thinking! Grades Compliance Grades = Learning
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Grading Practice # 2: Grades = Learning Motivation 1.0: the
ancient drive to survive Motivation 2.0: rewarding good work with
external rewards. i.e., pay, benefits, and promotions. Motivation
3.0: intrinsic rewards that play to intrinsic satisfaction of the
activity. Motivation 3.0 is where the main motivators are the
freedom to do what you want, the opportunity to take a challenge,
and fulfillment of the undertaking.
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Grading Practice # 2: Grades = Learning All kids start out as
curious, self-directed, intrinsically motivated people. But many of
them, by the end of their time in school end up as disengaged,
compliant, and extrinsically motivated.
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Grading Practice # 2: Grades = Learning We are bribing students
into compliance instead of challenging them into engagement. Dont
use grade punitively. When a teacher uses grades as a punishment
for student behaviors, the teacher establishes a negative
relationship in which grades are no longer meaningful to students
as indictors of their achievement.
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Grading Practice # 2: Grades = Learning Maximize intrinsic
motivation and Minimize extrinsic motivation Compliance: conformity
in fulfilling official requirements. Responsibility: the state of
fact that being accountable for something within ones power,
management, or choice.
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Grading Practice # 2: Grades = Learning What are your
beliefs/practices with regard to grades based solely on
achievement? What are the beliefs of your staff? How will you
facilitate a culture of intrinsic motivation?
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GRADING PRACTICE #3
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Grading Practices Grading Practice # 3: Scores will be based on
a body of evidence. Body of Evidence Definition: A collection of
artifacts that measure student learning by the proficiency scales.
Artifacts that could be used to determine students proficiency
towards standards include, but are not limited to: Projects
Teacher-created tasks District-created assessments Performances
Presentations
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Grading Practice # 3: Body of Evidence Professional Judgement
Traditional View: Objective = Good! Subjective = Bad! Always strive
to be objective! All scoring by teachers, including assigning
points and taking them off math homework, is subjective. The
question is not whether it is subjective, but whether it is
defensible and credible.
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Grading Practice # 3: Body of Evidence Objectivity +
Professional Judgement I define professional judgement as decisions
made by educators, in light of experience, and with reference to
shared public standards and established policies and
guidelines.(best practice research)
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Grading Practice # 3: Body of Evidence
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Grading Practices # 3: Body of Evidence What are your
beliefs/practices with regard to professional judgement and
objectivity? What are the beliefs of your staff? How will you
facilitate a culture of professional decision making?
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15 Fixes for Broken Grades Elementary Schools
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https://youtu.be/0fn_vAhu_Lw Essential Question- What is the
purpose of grading, and how do we ensure this purpose is met?
Experiences with grading If Its Broke.Fix It!
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The Fix is On! The What? What is the Fix? The Why? What is the
rationale for the fix? The How? How could this fix look into
practice?
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Breaking Down the 15 Fixes Engaging in the Work Each of your
tables is assigned a Fix Within your group break into 3 groups to
answer the what, the why, and the how. (10 min.) Tweet your Fix on
chart paper to share out (10 minutes) Present the fix to whole
group (3-4 minutes)
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Connecting the 15 Fixes to DMPS DMPS Six Guiding Practices
Categorize the 15 fixes into the six guiding practices for grading
(10 minutes)
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GP 1: A consistent 4-point grading scale will be used. 8. Dont
assign grades using inappropriate or unclear performance standards;
provide clear descriptions of achievement expectations.
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GP 2 GP 2: Letter grades, derived from the 4- point scale, will
be based solely on achievement of course/grade level standards.
Student participation, work completion, and ability to work with
others will be reported separately using the DMPS Citizenship and
Employability Skills Rubric.
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GP 2 1. Dont include student behaviors (effort, participation,
adherence, to class rules, etc.) in grades; include only
achievement. 2. Dont reduce marks on work submitted late; provide
support for the learner. 4. Dont punish academic dishonesty with
reduced grades; apply other consequences and reassess to determine
actual level of achievement. 5. Dont consider attendance in grade
determination; report absences separately.
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GP 3: Scores will be based on a body of evidence. 3. Dont give
points for extra credit or use bonus points; seek only evidence
that more work has resulted in a higher level of achievement. 6.
Dont include group scores in grades; use only individual
achievement evidence. 9. Dont assign grades based on a students
achievement compared to other students; compare each students
performance to preset standards. 14. Dont summarize evidence
accumulated over time when learning is developmental and will grow
with time and repeated opportunities; in those instances, emphasize
more recent achievement.
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GP 4: Achievement will be organized and reported by learning
topic, which will be converted to a grade at semesters end. 7. Dont
organize information in grading records by assessment methods or
simply summarize into a single grade; organize and report evidence
by standards/learning goals. 11. Dont rely only on the mean;
consider other measures of central tendency and use professional
judgment.
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GP 5: Students will have multiple opportunities to demonstrate
proficiency. 10. Dont rely on evidence gathered using assessments
that fail to meet standards of quality; rely on quality
assessments. 13. Dont use information from formative assessments
and practice to determine grades; use only summative evidence.
(**different than DMPS Grading Practices Handbook) 12. Dont include
zeros in grade determination when evidence is missing or as
punishment; use alternatives, such as reassuring to determine real
achievement, or use I for Incomplete or Insufficient Evidence. 15.
Dont leave students out of the grading process. Involve students;
they can-and should-play key roles in assessment and grading that
promote achievement.
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CORE BELIEF Des Moines Public Schools commits to all
stakeholders to provide fair, accurate, specific, and timely
information regarding student progress towards agreed-upon common
standards as well as feedback for next steps and growth areas.
Grades communicate what students know and can do.
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Revising Knowledge (Element 20) When I walked in the door this
morning, I believed {about grading} After in engaging in the 15
Fixes, I now believe Share with your table group.