Today I interviewed some teachers about their grading philosophy. Feel free to read the results below:
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Part I – Interview A
1. Mr. Downey teaches Spanish and PE to
sophomores and juniors.
2. Mr. Downey believes that prompt
feedback is very important. When they do a worksheet, he goes over it the same
day with them in class. For tests,
he tries his best to have it back by the next class period (which is two days).
3. Everything is graded, but often
students grade their own work.
Sometimes it’s based on completion, but this way, students still have
the opportunity to learn from their mistakes.
4. His grades are based more on results,
though there are opportunities to raise their grades by completing the
assignments. Some worksheets are
graded on completion and others on accuracy. The tests are based on results and are more heavily weighted
than the assignments. He does
offer retakes on tests, so students can demonstrate learning with more
practice, which is grading on effort and results combined.
5. He believes that it is more important
for students to know the material, so he accepts late work. If the assignment is important enough
he may set a deadline and accept it for full credit for 2-3 days; after that it
earns half credit. He’ll accept
late work up until the unit is over.
6. No, he doesn’t have participation
points in Spanish. In PE he does –
but then it’s most of their grade.
In his Spanish class he does take time at the end of the term to go over
the breaks in the grade and bump up students who are courteous, on time, as
good questions and the like.
7. Do it immediately – keep everything
current.
Part II – Interview B
1. Mr. Moody teaches English to juniors
and seniors.
2. He always updates SIS at least once per
week. Mr. Moody also assigns
between 1-2 graded papers or tests per every class period, making sure that it
is consistent with the unit and something they need to know.
3. Everything is graded because students
are smart and they know if it is not graded and then they believe that they
don’t have to do well. One of the
major assignments is a 46 page research paper, which he goes through thoroughly
to help students understand how to format large works.
4. Ninety-nine percent of students’ grades
are outcome based. Mr. Moody
recommended being very careful with credit for doing it because it deteriorates
students’ ambition and desire for accuracy.
5. Mr. Moody’s late work policy is very
interesting. At the beginning of
every semester, he is very clear about his expectations and lays out the three
scenarios for late work. He
explains it to students this way:
a. If you are here the day the assignment
is given, but you are absent the next time, you will turn it in when you come
next.
b. If you were absent the day that the
assignment was due, then when we grade it in class, you will stay in the hall
and then be prepared to turn it in next time.
c. If you were here the day the assignment
was given and the day that it was graded, but you did not complete it fully,
then you may complete it for half credit.
I really like the way that he explains
it from the student’s perspective.
He also takes great care to score everything at the beginning of class
so that students who need more time could do it at home and that everyone can be
prepared for learning today. He
said, “If you are clearer on your expectations, it makes less work for
you.”
6. No, there are no participation points,
but there are attendance points.
In the past at Payson High, he had a hard time getting students to come
to class because so many parents would just excuse their students. An unexcused absence is worth 6 points
and a tardy is worth 4 points. So
students who are not on time will see it appear in their grade. Yes, his policy is clearly explained every semester and it is in his disclosure.
7. Best advice: Don’t let it pile up! Do it every day! (Or at least every
other day!) There is no short
cut. Be efficient. Make-up work is
the worst, but it’s unfair for us not to accept it from a student. Just be clear and be consistent.
Part III – My Grading Beliefs
Balancing
between efforts and results seems impossible sometimes, but I believe that they
can complement each other. For
example, on assignments, it is important that students really try their best
and complete the work in front of them.
But to track improvement, it is also very important that they can
demonstrate results on tests. I
will use a mixture of both because I believe it gives a fairer picture of what
the students are capable of accomplishing. In the business world it is all about results, but it is
often the employees that give their best efforts that achieve those
results. So it is important to
value both in the classroom.
I
will equally weigh assignments and tests because in the real world, it’s all
about whether you can do the work and whether the work gets results (improves
over time). My break down will be
similar to my cooperating teachers because it really fits the goals of a
business department:
·
On Time
Quizzes (20%) – like an attendance or participation category
·
Keyboarding
(10%)
·
Assignments
(30%)
·
Tests/Quizzes
(30%)
·
Professional
Development (10%) – requires students to take on outside projects that
encourage students to gain professional experiences.
My late work policy will be to accept
late work until the last day of the term.
I don’t like fighting students or disappointing them when they have
turned something in after the fact.
I would rather count it and give them an opportunity to demonstrate
their learning. My cooperating
teacher had the policy that you could complete it for up to one week late, but
the second week it would be half credit and on the third week it is no longer
accepted. I find it so hard to
keep track of and I just didn’t see how it helped the kids who really
struggle. On the other hand, if I
did decide to adopt a more strict late policy, I would be sure to explain it to
the students in terms of the working world. For example, if you complete a report a few days late, your
boss may not mind, as long as you discussed it with them ahead of time. But if you come to your boss a month
after the report was needed, they are going to look at you like your crazy
because by now they need this month’s report – not last month’s report! So I may decide to be strict later, but
for now, I would rather help students succeed, no matter when they are ready.
I will allow test to be redone and any
major assignments. I have found
that most students do not want to redo an assignment, so it is not that much
more to allow them to redo them.
I do not like offering extra credit;
however, I do like the idea of offering extra credit in the Professional
Development category – because one can never have too many opportunities to
grow professionally!
My plan to provide feedback to students
is simple. Grade everything right away. I plan to employ several TAs to help with grading the simple assignments
and giving feedback on formatting.
I plan to grade the tests immediately and have them back to the students
by the next class. I really like being able to share in student successes and
give rewards to students who succeed so I value giving timely feedback.
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