Tentative Grading Plan

Tentative Grading Plan – September 29, 2008 – Andy

We have explored the functions of grading – such as helping colleges sort which students to take, families to have a sense of their student’s progress, a student to have some feedback on her achievement., and extrinsic motivation (carrot and stick) for students to do assigned work.

We also discussed the problems associated with grading – such as deforming the learning process, antagonizing the relationship between learner and teacher, the distraction of “whatdja get” instead of “what did you learn”, the indignity of being stamped.

We have talked about the various aspects of schooling that could be usefully quantified – such as learning, effort, achievement, time spent, contributions, etc.
We can’t just create an “ideal” plan without paying attention to our particular situation. Virtually all students are trying to play the college admissions game and so want grades. Most students are used to prioritizing graded work over non-graded work, so again grades are useful. I have almost 100 students so many measurements of each student aren’t possible.

Given that most of the functions of grading (family, student, and college feedback) have to do with achievement I plan to focus my grading on the quality of the work. Here’s what I propose – I assign a number grade (1-10) to each important assignment – with 10 being the best reachable grade by two or more people. I weight the assignments in terms of their importance/time-commitment. At the end of the quarter (or even before) I share those assigned scores with you. But also at the end of the quarter you prepare a brief analysis of your own effort and learning. I write a quick note agreeing, disagreeing, nuancing, contextualizing, or stating my ignorance. This method allows your family to gain insight into this important aspect of your experience.

Potential Concerns:
1. What if the assigned 1-10 scores seem wrong/unfair/too-rigourous? Can I negotiate my grades with you?
The scores will suffer from human imperfection. I will always state the major aspects to consider as an informal or formal rubric and I will often provide a model of what I’m hoping you’ll make. And I’ll start with the strongest actual work and then grade from there so that I don’t hold you to graduate school standards. But I will not have time to debate whether a work deserved a 9 instead of an 8.

2. Won’t you be wasting your time looking at my work like a judge looks at beauty contestants discussing poverty?
I do worry that it will be a waste of time judging that I could have spent planning curriculum, giving thoughtful feedback, or working with a particular student. It seems factory-like and artificial to me. But it also seems necessary in our particular situation. I do plan to limit the time I devote to grading to enable me to do a good job on the work I value more - actually teaching.

3. How exactly will this “effort and learning” thing work?
At the end of the quarter you will spend time going back over your notebook and your blog. You will identify times you worked at maximum capacity and otherwise. You will assess whether your skills and understanding have increased dramatically, substantially, marginally, or not at all. You will record your results on a single typed sheet of paper (two headings – Effort and Learning) and I will stamp or scrawl a quick note with any thoughts I have on the topics. You will share this with your family at the same time you give them your official progress report.

4. Some people aren’t as good at reading or writing or thinking – is it fair to grade them lower?
This is a valid concern – to some extent achievement grades will simply recognize the people who had existing skills and understandings and also “punish” students who are already at a disadvantage. It is possible that having clean feedback on your achievement might help you learn to make your work better by thinking more before you start it, getting feedback from friends and an adult before revising it, and doing the best you can.