Grading the Top End

1. Grading the Top End Ty Duncan Senior Specialist Region 17 Education Service Center tduncan@esc17.net Twitter @InstructionalLe

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4. Join the Conversationhttp://www.todaysmeet.com/GT-GradingUse #ESC17 on Twitter as we would love to hear your thoughts on this issue.

5. “I haven’t got the slightest idea how to change people, but I keep a long list of prospective candidates just in case I should ever figure it out.” ---David Sedaris

6. What Do Grades Communicate? Failure? Laziness? Lack of Content Understanding? Perseverance? Family Support? Great Teaching? Great Learning? “Playing the Game”? Memorizing?

7. Ms. Smith’s 9th Grade Algebra Class – 1st 6 Weeks Student A Student B • What do/should grades measure? • How much of a role do/should attitude and effort play in a grade? • What role does/should homework play? • What is the purpose of a report card grade? • Do/Should report card grades and TAKS scores be similar? HW 10 100 HW 20 100 Quiz 1 100 63 HW 30 100 HW 40 100 Quiz 2100 54 HW 5 0 100 HW 60 100 Quiz 3 100 61 Participation90 90 Unit Test100 58 6 Week Ave.53.1 80.2 Quiz –daily grade; Test = 3 daily grades

8. Becoming a Great High School http://www.ascd.org/publications/books/109052.aspx

9. Examining Highly Questionable Grading Practice The Practice of Giving Students Zeroes The Practice of Combing Academic Performance with Citizenship and Work Habits The Practice of Giving Extra Credit Becoming a Great High School, pgs 76-83, 2009

10. Doing the Wrong Thing Under the Guise of the Real World THE REAL WORLD IS LEARNING FROM FAILURE. Lesson from the Video Game Industry Have you ever been late to a faculty meeting or turned in lesson plans late and been fired for it. We maybe teaching children a “real world” that simply does not exist.

11. The Bell Curve • Norm-Referenced Tests • e.g. ITBS, SAT, GRE, LSAT, Stat9, NAEP • Purpose: To sort, • select, classify, compare • Information: How one • compares with others • Results: reported as • percentile (%) rank • Always yields a bell • curve • Assumes a non-aligned curriculum

12. The J Curve • Criterion-References Tests • e.g. TExES, TAKS, license/ • certification, teacher-made • Purpose: To determine • knowledge of defined criteria • Information: How well • an individual performs • Goal is to yield J curve • Assumes an aligned • curriculum • Assumes most people can learn most • things in time. % Demonstrating Skill

13. Bloom’s Taxonomy http://www.nwlink.com/~donclark/hrd/bloom.html

14. Principle Generalization Concept Concept Topic Topic FACTS FACTS FACTS FACTS FACTS FACTS FACTS FACTS The Structure of Knowledge Lynn Erickson -- Concept-Based Curriculum and Instruction for the Thinking Classroom, 2007

15. Create Evaluate Analyze Apply Understand Remember Facts Topics Concepts Generalizations/ Principles Rigor ? Complexityof Processing Complexity of Content

16. Create Evaluate Analyze Apply Understand Remember Facts Topics Concepts Generalizations/ Principles 4th Math Complexityof Processing Complexity of Content TAKS Question STAAR Question

17. Create Evaluate Analyze Apply Understand Remember Facts Topics Concepts Generalizations/ Principles 6th Reading Complexityof Processing Complexity of Content TAKS Question STAAR Question

18. Create Evaluate Analyze Apply Understand Remember Facts Topics Concepts Generalizations/ Principles 8th Social Studies Complexityof Processing Complexity of Content TAKS Question STAAR Question

19. Create Evaluate Analyze Apply Understand Remember Facts Topics Concepts Generalizations/ Principles Biology Complexityof Processing Complexity of Content TAKS Question STAAR Question

20. Grading the Top End • What layers of learning are in this SE? 5)  History. The student understands the challenges confronted by the government and its leaders in the early years of the republic and the Age of Jackson. The student is expected to:(E)  identify the foreign policies of presidents Washington through Monroe and explain the impact of Washington's Farewell Address and the Monroe Doctrine;

21. 5)  History. The student understands the challenges confronted by the government and its leaders in the early years of the republic and the Age of Jackson. The student is expected to:(E)  identify the foreign policies of presidents Washington through Monroe and explain the impact of Washington's Farewell Address and the Monroe Doctrine;

22. (5)  History. The student understands the challenges confronted by the government and its leaders in the early years of the republic and the Age of Jackson. The student is expected to:(E)  identify the foreign policies of presidents Washington through Monroe and explain the impact of Washington's Farewell Address and the Monroe Doctrine;

23. (6)  Force, motion, and energy. The student knows that energy occurs in many forms and can be observed in cycles, patterns, and systems. The student is expected to:(B)  demonstrate that the flow of electricity in circuits requires a complete path through which an electric current can pass and can produce light, heat, and sound;

24. 6)  Force, motion, and energy. The student knows that energy occurs in many forms and can be observed in cycles, patterns, and systems. The student is expected to:(B)  demonstrate that the flow of electricity in circuits requires a complete path through which an electric current can pass and can produce light, heat, and sound;

25. Grading Problems Many assignments are not as “objective” as teachers would like. Rigorous work is going to take a change in the way we grade. Grading a standard and not “work” takes increased teacher sophistication. TIME

26. Assessment • Rubric: A scoring system that allows teacher to place value on components of a given assessment product. • States the criteria to be examined and assessed; • Usually contains a scale (ex. 1-4) of different points • possible per criterion; • Provides students with expectations about what will be • assessed and standards that need to be met; • Increases consistency in the rating of student mastery; • Provides students with “road signs” - information about • where they are in relation to where they need to be.

27. A Different Kind of Grade Book • Average the 4 point scale and multiply by 25 to create the hundred point number for grade reporting. • This also becomes your targeted intervention document for students who are failing to grasp the content. • The learning is also not complete on this document as I would be willing to go back and change the grade if they demonstrated greater understanding during the six weeks.

28. Dare to Strike Out and Find New Ground

29. Ty Duncan tduncan@esc17.net 806-281-5832

30. Bibliography Tim Westerberg, Becoming a Great High School, 2009 Robert Marzano, Standards Based Grading and Formative Assessment, 2009 Rick Wormeli, Fair Is Not Always Equal, 2006 Marilee Springer, Learning and Memory, 1999 Creating a Compulsory Learning Environment