What is a Grade???? - MT AGATE

Copyright Carol Tomlinson 2009 1

What is a Grade????“…a grade (is)…an inadequate report

of an imprecise judgmentof a biased and variable judgeof the extent to whicha student has attainedan undefined level of masteryof an unknown proportionon an indefinite amountof materials

Paul Dressell,Michigan State University

To Untangle the Grading Knot

We need to consider two elements:

1) Grading issues of particular concern in a differentiated

classroom

2) Best practices in assessment

and grading

3) Whether or not best practices in

assessment & grading would

adequately address the issues

related to grading &

differentiation.

Unless we understand both the issues related to academically diverse classrooms and best practices in assessment & grading (and their interrelationship) we’ll stay tied in a knot! And unless the former leads us to solve the latter, we have a problem as well.


All learners need

a balanced success

to effort ratio

Struggling

Learners:

Heavy Effort

Little Success

Advanced

Learners:

Great Success,

Little Effort


“Unless the highly able must also struggle in order to grow, education has not appropriately defined or operationalized excellence in schools.

When students stand for extended time in spaces with ceilings of expectation that are too low, the students’ capacity is bent, misshapen and malformed, exactly as their bodies would be if encased in spaces with ceiling too low for their stature.

The twin threats of perfectionism and lethargy are spawned when a child comes to believe that that which is easy is exemplary.”

Carol Tomlinson

Roeper Review, June 1994

A Repair Kit for Grading by Ken O’Connor • Educational Testing Service, • p. 11

The research on motivation shows that continued use

of extrinsic motivators leads to two main results.

First, extrinsic motivators increase students’ focus

on the reward or punishment rather than on the

desired behavior.

Second, they give rise to the need to continuously

increase the amount of the reward or punishment to

elicit the desired behavior (Covington and Manheim Teel,

1996; Gathercoal, 1997; Ginsberg, 2004; Kohn, 1993;

Marshall, 200la; Rogers, Ludington, and Graham, 1998;

Szatanski and Taafe, 1990).

If the question is, “Do rewards

motivate students?”

the answer is,

“Absolutely! They motivate students

to get rewards.”

Zen And The Art of Public School Teaching by John Perricone • Publish America • p. 68


The Unspoken Effect of Grades

For some students, the certainty of praise

and success in school has become a drug;

they continually need more.

For many other students, year upon year of

“not good enough” has eroded their

intellectual self-confidence and resulted in

a kind of mind-numbing malaise.

Earl, L. (2003). Assessment as learning. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin, p. 15.

- Mindset +

Fixed Mindset

Learners

• Give up faster

• Persist less often

• Resist challenge/play it safe

• Feel hopeless or entitled

• Focus more on grades than

learning

• See feedback as punitive

• Cheat more often

Fluid Mindset

Learners

• Care more about learning

than grades

• Keep trying in the face of

difficulty

• Believe effort will pay off

• See feedback as useful

information

• Cheat less often

Carol Dweck—Mindset: The New Psychology of Success (2006)

What is

Fair in

School?


Applications, Challenges…

Is an Imbalance of Success to Effort Ratio Evident in Your School?

What Kind of Mindset Dominates?

Is “Fairness” an Issue?

What other DI & Grading Issues Do You See Where

You Work?

Essential Question: To what degree would adhering to the key principles of

effective grading address the differentiation-related concerns about grading

while eliminating error and communicating clearly to students & parents?

We should seek to ensure that grades:

1)Keep the Success to Effort Ratio in Balance

That is, grades (in conjunction with school

tasks/experiences) contribute to the student’s

sense that when they work hard, something

good generally comes of it.

2) Ensure that students develop a growth mindset

That is, grades (in conjunction with school

tasks/experiences) contribute to student trust

that sustained effort and hard work make

most things possible.


We should seek to ensure that grades:

1)Communicate Clearly

That is, a parent can trust that the grade is a

very accurate representation of just what a

student knows, understands, and can do in a

given subject, at a given time, based on clearly

understood criteria.

2) Support the parent in supporting learning

That is, grades guide parents in what to do

next to encourage student growth.

We should seek to ensure that grades are:

1)RELIABLE—

That is, that if we were to use the same

measure a couple of days, weeks, or months

later, the results would be relatively the same

for a given student.

2) VALID—

That is, we actually measured what we meant

to measure.

X = T + E

The Observed Score = the True Score + Error

The Grade We Give Really Indicates What the Student

Knows, Understands, and Can Do + Extraneous Factors

that Get in the Way of Indicating Precisely What the

Student Knows, Understands and Can Do.

For Grades to Be Valid, We Have to Do All We Can Do

to Eliminate Error.

That’s the Game Plan for Grading: To Ensure that Our

Grades are as Close as Possible to the Student’s

“True Score.”


Let’s examine six key principles

of best-practice grading

to see if they would

help us address concerns that

arise in regard to grading &

differentiation, balance the

success to effort ratio, help

develop a growth mindset,

communicate clearly, and eliminate error.

Principles of Effective Grading & Reporting

Principle #1

• It’s unwise to

over-grade

student work

Diagnostic/Pre-assessment - assessment which takes place

prior to instruction; designed to determine a student's

attitude, skills or knowledge in order to identify student

needs.

Formative/On-Going - Assessment designed to provide

direction for improvement and/or adjustment to a

program for individual students or for a whole class,

e.g. observation, quizzes, homework, instructional

questions, exit cards, initial drafts/attempts, etc.

Summative/Final - Assessment/evaluation designed to

provide information to be used in making judgment

about a student’s achievement at the end of a

sequence of instruction, e.g. final drafts/attempts,

tests, exams, assignments, projects, performances.


To Avoid Over-Grading

• Never grade pre-assessments

– Students have had no opportunity to learn

• Grade on-going assessments sparely

– Students need opportunity to practice, analyze work,

& learn from errors in a safe context

• Use summative assessments as primary data

for grading

– Make sure assessments are squarely focused on the

criteria specified to students

Marking vs. Grading

Some work can be recorded as done or not done.

Some work can be skimmed for a general impression

(e.g. first drafts in writing).

Some work can be assessed by looking at one or two

key characteristics.

Some work can be assessed by peers (which gives them

practice in identifying strengths & weaknesses)

O’Connor, K. (2002). How to Grade for Learning. Pearson, p. 116.

Students can be assessed or checked

on many things they do…

BUTeverything that is assessed and/or

checked does not need a score…

AND

every score should not be included in

the grade.


Kinds of feedback: Israel (1)

• 264 low and high ability year 7 pupils in 12 classes in 4 schools; analysis of 132 students at top and bottom of each class

• Same teaching, same aims, same teachers, same class work

• Three kinds of feedback: marks, comments, marks+comments

[Butler(1988) Br. J. Educ. Psychol., 58 1-14]

Feedback Gain Attitude

grades none top +ve

none bottom -ve

comments 30% all +ve

both none top +ve

none bottom -ve

From a presentation by Dylan Wiliam - “Inside the Black Box”

Not over-grading would:

Allow struggling learners to develop competence before

work “count” for a grade—therefore improving

the chances of success stemming from their effort.

Encourage advanced learners to take intellectual risks and

learn to embrace challenge without fear of losing

success (and losing self image).


Principle #2

Grades should be

based on clearly

specified learning

goals


Clear Learning Goals Are:

• Known to the student and teacher throughout the learning cycle

• Essential rather than tangential or trivial

• The unambiguous focus of assessments

• The focus of feedback

“Systems that are aligned - curriculum,

teaching, and assessment - have a

greater chance of success for students.”

Glenda Lappan, NCTM News Bulletin, October, 1998

Planning with very clear learning goals would:

Allow teachers to focus the efforts of struggling learners

on what matters most vs. expecting everything—

therefore improving the chances of success

stemming from their effort.

Encourage advanced learners to take intellectual risks and

learn to embrace challenge with clarity about

what will constitute excellence—therefore

supporting the likelihood of success at a

new level of effort—vs. having the student

fail at a new level of effort.



Principle #3

Grades should be

criterion-based,

not norm-based

Concerns: Normal Curve

• Assumes aptitude and performance

are normally distributed

• Forces a particular set of scores into

a normal distribution

Transforming Classroom Grading by Robert Marzano

In Norm-Based Grading Systems

The Human Factor Suffers:

• There will necessarily be winners and losers competing for scarce rewards.

• The implications for learning environment are predictably negative.

• The outcomes for both struggling and advanced learners carry high negatives as well.


Grading on the curve makes learning a highly com-

petitive activity in which students compete against

one another for the few scarce rewards (high grades)

distributed by the teacher. Under these conditions,

students readily see that helping others become suc-

cessful threatens their own chances for success. As a

result, learning becomes a game of winners and losers;

and because the number of rewards is kept arbitrarily

small, most students are forced to be losers.

---Guskey, 1996a, pp. 18-19 in Ä Repair Kit for Grading by Ken O’Connor -

Pub. Educational Training Service • p. 72

Grading on the curve makes learning a highly

competitive activity in which students compete against

one another for the few scarce rewards (high grades)

distributed by the teacher. Under these conditions,

students readily see that helping others become

successful threatens their own chances for success. As

a result, learning becomes a game of winners and losers;

and because the number of rewards is kept arbitrarily

small, most students are forced to be losers.

---Guskey, T. 1996a, pp. 18-19 in A Repair Kit for Grading by Ken O’Connor -

Educational Testing Service • p. 72

Using a Criterion-Base for Grading

• Makes the meaning of grades clearer

• Removes the need for

winners and losers

• Helps align instruction

& grading

Grading against clearly specified criteria vs. “on the curve” would:

Eliminate the need for winners and losers.

Lessen the predictability of who will be a winner or a loser.

Support the concept of competition against oneself vs. against

peers.

Support development of community.


Pluses, Minuses, Questions…

What are the benefits of : Grading Less, Having Clear and Specified Learning

Goals, and Grading Based on those Goals (vs. on a Norm)?

What Problems Might Those Best-Practice Grading Principles Cause?

What Questions Do You Have about those Principles?

Principles of Effective Grading and

Reporting

Principle # 4

Data used for grading

must be valid (measure

what we intend to measure).

That is, the data must be free

of “Grade Fog.”

Common Sources of Bias and Distortion

Problems that can occur with the student

Lack of reading skill

Emotional upset

Poor health

Lack of testwiseness

Evaluation anxiety

Problems that can occur with the setting

Physical conditions – light, heat, noise, etc.

Problems that can occur with the assessment itself

Directions lacking or unclear

Poorly worded questions/prompts

Insufficient time

Based on the ideas of Rick Stiggins


Grades are broken when zeros are used:

Zeros distort the actual achievement record

and can decrease student motivation to

learn.

There are, however, many fixes in the form of grading alternatives.

Schools/districts develop policies regarding these alternatives, then indicate to

their teachers which alternative(s) they can or should use in their classrooms.

A zero has an underserved and devastating influence so much

so that no matter what the student does, the grade distorts the

final grade as a true indicator of mastery. Mathematically and

ethically this is unacceptable. Wormeli, 2006, pp. 137-138

A Repair Kit for Grading by Ken O’Connor • Educational Testing Service, • p. 91-92

Whenever I hear statistics being

quoted, I am reminded of the

statistician who drowned while wading

across a river with an average depth of

three feet.(McMann, 2003, np)

The mean can be very well named -- it is truly “mean” to students because it

overemphasizes outlier scores, which are most often low outliners. As we see

in the following case, the calculation of the mean can distort the final grade.

Ten assessments have been converted to percentage scores to calculate a final

grade:

91, 91, 91, 91. 91. 91. 91. 70. 91. 91

Total; = 889. Mean = 88/9. Final grade = B

This student performed at an A level, 9 times out of 10 and the 70 is clearly an

anomaly. But the grade as calculated in most schools would be a B.

A Repair Kit for Grading by Ken O’Connor • Educational Testing Service, • p. 81-82

Eliminating grade fog would:

Foster clear communication to parents and students about grades.

Focus students on content goals.

Help balance the success to effort ratio for strugglers by taking

grading focus of things like language proficiency,

working fast, putting names in specified places, etc.

Necessitate focus on content goals vs. “slick” presentations,

impressive vocabulary, “playing the game” well,

etc. for “savvy” learners.



Reporting

Principle # 5

Grade later in the

learning cycle

rather than

earlier.

“The key question is, “What information provides the

most accurate depiction of students’ learning at this

time?” In nearly all cases, the answer is “the most

current information.” If students demonstrate that

past assessment information no longer accurately

reflects their learning, that information must be

dropped and replaced by the new information.

Continuing to rely on past assessment data

miscommunicates students’ learning.”

Guskey, Thomas R. (Editor), Communicating Student Learning: The 1996 ASCD Yearbook,

ASCD, Alexandria, VA, 1996, 21.

“. . . students often say, “I have to get a B on the

final to pass this course.” But does that make

sense? If a final examination is truly

comprehensive and students’ scores accurately

reflect what they have learned, should a B level

of performance translate to a D for the course

grade?”

Guskey, Thomas R. (Editor), Communicating Student Learning: The 1996 ASCD Yearbook, ASCD,

Alexandria, VA, 1996, 21.


In effective classrooms, one of the most

consistent practices of successful teachers

is the provision of multiple opportunities to learn.

The consequence for a student who

fails to meet a standard is not a low grade,

but rather the opportunity—indeed the

requirement—to resubmit his or

her work.

D. Reeves (2000, Dec.). Standards are not enough: Essential transformations for

school success. NASSP Bulletin, p. 11.

By emphasizing

more recent evidence we acknowledge

the impact of good teaching

on student success.

A Repair Kit for Grading by Ken O’Connor - Educational Testing Service - p. 108


Grading later rather than earlier in a grading cycle would:

Address the need for strugglers to grow over time vs.

“getting it” the first time. Helps greatly with the

success to effort balance.

Encourage advanced learners to accept challenge with a sense

that they, too, are allowed to grow rather than being

perfect “right out of the gate.” Helps build

tolerance for challenge, taking intellectual risks,

and creativity—necessary for bright kids to

realize their potential.

How About…

Grading Later in a Cycle?

Eliminating Grade Fog (Including moving away from

“the Mean” and eliminating zeros)?

PROS

CONS

QUESTIONS

Some Possible Solutions

What About Report Cards?



Reporting

Principle # 6

When it’s time for

report cards,

practice 3-P

grading.

School report cards are still hopelessly

narrow, containing little information about

student achievement and concealing more

than they reveal.”

Mike Schmoker (2002)

The Trouble With Report

Cards…

Achievement

on clearly

delineated

content goals

Habits of

mind and

work

Growth in

achievement

on clearly

delineated

content goals


1. Attach an explanatory checklist with the 3 Ps

2. Talk with parents during conferences about

the 3 Ps.

3. Send an e-mail with a completed template

reporting on the 3 Ps.

4. Have students keep records of their 3 Ps and

write a summary to parents.

5. Work to change the report card.

In any case, talk with your students consistently about the 3 Ps, their importance

in student development, and their interrelationships. Give 3P feedback.


Report Card examples

Report Card

Course Title Overall

Grade

Above

Grade

Level

At

Grade

Level

Below

Grade

Level

Math B+

Science A

US History C+

English A

PE A-

Chorus B-

French B

Current GPA 3.33

Report Card (Marzano, 2000)

Course Title Overall Academic Nonacademic

Alg II & Trig B+ C A

AP Physics A A B

US History C+ B C

Am Lit A A A

PE A- A B+

Chorus B- C A

Geography B B B

Current GPA 3.33 3.24 3.43


Student________

A=Excellent Growth

B=Very Good Growth

C= Some Growth

D=Little Growth

F=No Observable Growth

1=Above Grade Level

2+At Grade Level

3=Below Grade Level

Language Arts A2

Math B2

Science A1

Social Studies A1

Art B3Requires Clear Goals that Continually Escalate for All Learners

Using Three-P grading would:

Help struggling learners develop and persist with productive

habits of mind and work because it is evident that those

habits of mind contribute to growth, acknowledgement,

and performance.

Necessitate that advanced learners accept challenge and develop

productive habits of mind and work in order to achieve

a full measure of success.

Help all students understand and accept responsibility for

their contribution to academic success—work

habits vs. heredity.

Clarifications, Elaborations, Comments

About 3-P Grading

About the Best-Practice Principles in General

About Whether the Principles Adequately

Address Questions Related to

Grading & Differentiation


Too often, educational tests, grades, and report cards are treated by teachers as autopsies when they should be viewed as physicals.

(Reeves 2000, 10)

Documents

What is a Grade???? - MT AGATE