A Repair Kit for Grading-End-of-Book Relection

A Repair Kit for Grading

End-of-Book Reflection

As I conclude reading and discussing the 15 fixes for broken grades it opens my mind to analyze and address my own practices in grading.  The 15 fixes are evident in all grade books, some are clear and understandably should not reflect a student’s grade while others are just as muddy as a grade may muddy a student’s degree of mastery.

As educators, we need to continue to grow in our field while keeping diversity in mind.  Even if we do not agree on how a grade book should look or how a grade should be entered the “Repair Kit for Grading” opens our eyes and gets us thinking about our practices.  I feel the Rugby School District should adopt a policy for grading that reveals the student’s degree of learning but also allowing the teacher flexibility.  In my 20+ years of teaching and as a parent I have experienced some bad grades that have not truly reflected the student’s learning or level of mastery. 

In constructing a district grading policy, I feel Fix 1 should be the first addressed, Student Behavior.  Student Behavior is very important and should be addressed but not included in a grade.  A grade in the subject area should reveal the level of mastery NOT behavior.  The Rugby Grading Policy should reflect the difference of Subject Grade of achievement and Behavior.  Fix 2 Late Work, Fix 3 Extra Credit, Fix 4 Dishonesty, Fix 5 Attendance, Fix 6 Group Scores along with Fix 1 Behavior all distort grades of achievement and should be clarified NOT to include in a grade of achievement. 

So where do we address Fixes 1-6 because they are important and should be reflected in the student’s grade report?   That is where the district needs to organize a grade report that reveals the separation of grades of achievement with character of behavior.  This is not an easy FIX!  As a district, I feel this is where we need to start, separate Achievement from Behavior.  Once this separation is clarified the other fixes 7-15 can be addressed in the computation of assessment and what to assess.

O’Connor’s Fixes 7-10 address methods of organizing evidence showing standards/learning goals.  I feel the district has already begun tackling these fixes by introducing the PLC structure to create Power Standards and “I Can Statements.”  Now the big fix will be to create a Grade Report that reflects to the student, parent and others the grade, what is included and how obtained.  Fixes 11-15 address calculation of that grade:  mean, zeros, what assessments, student involvement in the process. 

Now the work begins, creating a grading policy that truly reflects the student’s achievement while satisfying honor roles, scholarships, college admittances, eligibility guidelines.  Hard work that needs to be done.  As educators we are changing the way we address our subject objectives now the next step is assessment and how to report the assessment.  The old Report Card does not satisfy this change so a new Grade Report with a clear policy should be a Fix the Rugby School District needs to address in the future.