Thinking Outloud

I have been combing a vast amount of information related to SBG (standards-based grading), mostly from blogs I follow, and have decided to try to put my thoughts on "paper" to see if I can generate some amalgam of the information I've gathered into my own uniquely plagiarized system. (BTW, this is what I love about teachers... we are equally willing to share what we are doing and let others use it, and plagiarize others work and make it our own). So here are some things I've come up with:

4-Point Grading Scale
I have used a 4-point grading scale for years, but have never been completely satisfied with the descriptions associated with each level. I pulled the main idea from misscalcul8, who not only has great descriptions from a teacher perspective but also descriptions of what the student is likely thinking at each level. I also found Kate Nowak's descriptions really helpful although, I will admit, I don't know if the descriptions are what she uses with her students or what she keeps in mind while grading. Finally, I found Always Formative to be helpful. All three of these posts were useful for the specific topic at hand, but I encourage you to browse around their other posts for more information on grading, instruction and assessment... I have found them extremely useful.

Here is what I've come up with:

I will admit, it feels wordy... I considered eliminating the right column to solve the problem. But I realized I couldn't part with it because I think this is the one part of the chart that will resonate most strongly with the students. I may post the above table with the first to columns only in class but offer the complete table on my web page for parents and students.

Retests
I absolutely love misscalcul8's retest form, which can be found on her post discussing SBG. It appears my experience with retests is very similar to hers, and probably countless other math teachers out there, so the idea of requiring them to show evidence of reviewing their errors, watching online videos for additional instruction, and showing evidence of this two days before coming in for the retest is genius! I will probably adjust the form somewhat, because that's just the kind of girl I am, but the ideas behind it will remain intact.

I have played around with the deadlines for completing a retest, most recently having allowed students to retest on any quiz all the way up to the end of the semester. The philosophy behind this I still agree with, students do not learn according to the schedule I dictate, so affording them the maximum time possible to learn a concept seems like the right thing to do. However, for reasons both of practicality and reality, I have decided to set each 5-week grading period as a cut off for retests.

The reality is that students will often perform to the deadline given... so if I allow them until the end of the semester, they will put it off until then. In terms of practicality, there are only so many retests I can grade in the final days before semester's end. For this reason, I must cut things off so my workload is reduced to a more manageable size.

Grading
Ugh! This is the part I struggle with the most. Many posts I've read talk of percents and points. Again I am confronted with reality: I must enter my grades into an online system visible to students and parents. Initially my grading system wasn't as confusing to students and parents because I was the wizard making the grade program do what I needed it to without having to worry anyone would be peeking behind the curtain. Now, there is no curtain. Let me explain with specifics.

I use a 4-point rubric to grade assessments and projects. Every graded assessment is given a score of 0-4. All scores earned are averaged together to produce a GPA. The benefits of this are students are fully aware of how GPA's work, therefore additional explanation is often unnecessary. The downside is I have yet to find a grade program that allows me to average instead of calculate a percentage.

My initial solution was to determine a GPA-percentage conversion. I did not need to reveal this conversion to anyone except my administrator as part of my official gradebook submitted at the end of the semester. So I never got the question "What percentage do I have?". I even had a great score sheet that allowed students to do a quick "visual average", so I could deflect questions about grades and required students to calculate them for themselves (what a relief!).

Now that my grade program is visible to the students and parents, the percentage is visible as well. Can I just advertise the percentages I've used all along? Sure. But I worry that the appearance is I'm giving away grades (compared to a traditional percentage scale). Here's a chart that shows the conversion:

To me, the GPA's look fair... but in a percentage world all but the A breaks the norm. Don't get me wrong, one of the main reasons I switched to a GPA system was because the grade distribution seemed so much more reasonable than a percent system in which almost 60% of the scores you can earn give you a fail. But when non-believers look at this it may seem like I'm an "easy" grader.

An Afterthought to Grading
As I write this, I realize I don't care what they think. Traditional graders are who they are, and I am who I am. I have researched, read, attended conferences and workshops, discussed, and thought long and hard about how I grade. I will not apologize for developing a system that breaks the mold, but that I feel is a better reflection of student learning than the way I did it when I first started teaching.

It will be an adjustment to get students, parents and my peers to see the value in the system I've developed. As far as I know, no other teacher at my school uses a system like mine. However, change begins with one. So, here I am!

What Now?
Now that I have sorted that out, it is time for me to spend some time developing my topics and pacing for 2nd semester. I am behind the 8-ball already, but am feeling energized and enthused. I will keep you posted (pun intended) on how this develops!