Alternative Grading

As a high school teacher, all the grades I put into the grade book are based on a part out of a whole number of points leading to a overall percent grade.  The percent determines the letter grade they end up with.  Some schools such as mine require I give a minimum grade even if they do not turn anything in.

I saw something on Twitter referring to someone who does not assign a grade the first time she corrects a paper.  She just highlights the mistake and expects the student to go back and make corrections.  Once the student makes corrections, she then assigns a grade because many students look at the grade and if it is one they can life with, they don't bother doing anything except putting it away.  By highlighting the mistake and requiring students to make corrections, the student is taking time to review their work.  I like that idea.

Another way of grading I've read about is the four point scale where very piece of work is graded between 1 and 4 as suggested by several including Marsano.  In one situation, the 0 means no work turned in, 1 represents below average, 2 is average, 3 is above average and 4 is exceptional while in another situation 1 represents a novice because they have just begun learning the material and have not met the objective.  2 means approaching because they are showing some mastery of the concepts but still have a ways to go.  3 is where they are considered proficient because they show mastery of the material while 4 is advanced understanding where they show mastery and show transference of the concept.  Marzano suggests that the 1 means

Then there is the idea that you do not grade every problem that the student does.  Before making the assignment, decide which problems embody the concept you are teaching and only grade those. The idea behind this is to really see if the students have mastered the concept itself.  In fact, it is suggested the teacher only grade assignments which advance student learning of the materials rather than grading everything.  When teachers grade everything, students get the idea they should only do work that counts towards their grades rather than doing things for the sake of learning.  Furthermore, it has been suggested that if a teacher grades homework, it should be done as a + or - indicating it was done or not done but does not effect the grades at all or a check mark with a plus or minus, the checkmark indicating it was turned in and the + or - showing it was superb or almost there.

A new one I just found is the narrative or holistic evaluation in which the teacher writes a brief essay to discuss the student progress in mastering the material.  This type of review focuses on the student's learning and offers feedback covering where they are in learning the material, their strengths and the areas they need to focus on to strengthen.  The reason for using a narrative evaluation is because many educators feel as if a single grade really does not provide enough information on a student's progress. This way of evaluating students is labor intensive but it also means the teacher gets to know the student better and it builds relationships.

I just saw one where they recommend that all work is graded using rubric for everything done in class.  For instance, for work that has been turned in the 5 means all the problems were done correctly, all the works is shown, the problems are neatly done with the answer circled while the 4 shows the work is mostly completed with the problems mostly showing work and most of the answers circled, down to 1 where the paper has little work done.  The numbers translate to a 5 = A, 4 = B, 3 = C, 2 = D and a 1 or 0 is an unsatisfactory.

In regard to the idea of giving a 0 when work is not turned in, I ran across a suggestion that the teacher use an incomplete for that assignment that can be changed to something higher when the student finally turns in the grade.  If the incomplete are not changed at the end, then a zero or minimum grade can be put in.

In everything I've read, it is strongly recommended that behavior is not include in anyway in the grade.  It is best to only evaluate the actual work turned in because teachers are looking at students mastering the material and behaviors are said to have nothing to do with that.  However, it is suggested people use a rubric with a grade for participation.  The highest one might require the student to participate in all discussions, help other students, and provides evidence they participated every day that week.  the second highest number might require a student managed to participate at least 4 days that week, the next one has the student participating 3 days that week and anything less than that is unacceptable and requires a conference with the teacher and possibly with the parents and teacher if participating does not improve.

Being able to use alternative forms of grading only works if your school allows it or if you can fit these things into the school requirements.  Let me know what you think, I'd love to hear.  Have a great day.