How+Gdg+Reform

=How Grading Reform Changed Our School by Jeffrey A. Erickson = =A faculty decides that protocols for late work, retests, and evaluating nonacademic factors should be the same for all. =

Marc Brown's Summary & Ratings: This article describes one large (2900 students) high school’s reform of its grading policy. The article begins with a simple guiding question: “What should go into a grade?” Examples of inflated and deflated grades are then presented. Some examples for inflating grades include extra points for non-academic tasks (e.g. getting tissues), grading on a curve, returning permission slips, and extra credit assignments. The school identified behavioral issues, cheating, missing work, and averaging as issues which deflated a grade but did not reflect student learning. The article then discussed their implementation of formative and summative assessments in the classroom. The article was straightforward, gave concrete examples, and gave data to back up its changes. A. 7 B. 7 C. 7

Meghan Casey's Summary & Ratings: This article is both theoretical and practical. It discusses the rational for, and implementation of, grading practice change at a large public high school. The school established a guiding statement for grading: “Grades should reflect only what a student knows and is able to do.” The authors explain that at the high school, they decided to give two assessment categories for every class: formative and summative. Formative assessments can count for only 15% of the semester grade, summative at least 85%. Within the summative category, teachers must give at least four common assessments, one of which must be a performance assessment. Factors like participation, effort, and attitude are not allowed to be included in grades, but must be reported to parents at conference time. Rather than a completion grade for HW, teachers now give a formative quiz just about every day, testing student’s understanding of the HW from the previous night. The article contains a helpful section on professional development. A. 8 B. 8 C. 7

Molly Maguire's Summary & Ratings: This article expresses the need for grading reforms due to the inflation and deflation of grades. Factors which inflate could be “a curve” after a test is scaled, or extra credit assignments. Deflation comes in the form of behavioral infractions and unexcused absences. It expresses that “grades should show what a student knows and is able to do.” They decided this because teachers were using a wide range of factors to determine grades. This particular school concluded that work habits, positive attitude, and participation should not affect the grade. They also concluded that students deserve several chances to show what they know. A. 9 B. 8 <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #4a86e8; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">C. 6