Vignette 13 - Apples and Oranges
Ok, pardon the nonsensical statement that I am about to make, but we are beating a dead horse who just won't die.
Poor Mr. McIntyre! It seems like he set himself up pretty well in terms of assessing in a variety of ways, but the guy just cannot win for trying. Like Mr. McIntyre likely did as well, I thought that having this variety would protect a teacher against murky final grades. Maybe we were both wrong.
But we have already danced with arguments that there is always subjectivity in a grade. In many instances, a teacher has subjectively affected a student's grade before the two souls have even met! I think that Mr. McIntyre might have had less of a late-year issue with grades if he had weighted the group component (or had this component separate in the first place) within the (assignment) mark differently, but I believe that he still would have had discrepancies.
I know that there is a lot more to learn about both assessment, and also about professional judgement and it's relationship with ethical decision making. A quote from Marzano (2000) following the vignette says that "[i]n fact, a strong case will be made that there is no truly meaningful way to combine scores on various topics into an overall grade." I tend to agree with him. I know that there are a lot of cautions I can take into consideration when planning for assessment and ultimately grading, but beneath all of my planning will lay my own subjectiveness which will speak to the grade that I truly believe a student has earned. I am curious to hear more about how teachers in the field approach this issue in their own classrooms.
Friday, March 30, 2012
Thursday, March 22, 2012
Week 10
Vignette 11: Mean or Median?
It has become pretty clear to me over the past couple of weeks that in order for grading to be effective, it cannot be tainted and forced into a state of misrepresentation due to non-academic factors. The idea of using a median score to determine a grade is a new idea to me, but in the interests of Joy (and also in light of the no-zero world we are teaching in) I think it would be an appropriate method to use.
Based on the evidence presented, such as Joy's consistent success in Math class despite missing a number of daily assignments due to her being absent on Tuesdays for ESL support. Also, the fact that her median score is 97 is very strong evidence of Joy's ability in Math.
As teachers, we will have Excel and countless other yet-to-be-discovered-by-me grade book software programs at our disposal so it will be effortless to calculate both. Students could potentially have a say in how they would like to be graded; they might even respond positively to the idea of a median system as it will give them a greater feeling of control over their success.
It has become pretty clear to me over the past couple of weeks that in order for grading to be effective, it cannot be tainted and forced into a state of misrepresentation due to non-academic factors. The idea of using a median score to determine a grade is a new idea to me, but in the interests of Joy (and also in light of the no-zero world we are teaching in) I think it would be an appropriate method to use.
Based on the evidence presented, such as Joy's consistent success in Math class despite missing a number of daily assignments due to her being absent on Tuesdays for ESL support. Also, the fact that her median score is 97 is very strong evidence of Joy's ability in Math.
As teachers, we will have Excel and countless other yet-to-be-discovered-by-me grade book software programs at our disposal so it will be effortless to calculate both. Students could potentially have a say in how they would like to be graded; they might even respond positively to the idea of a median system as it will give them a greater feeling of control over their success.
Monday, March 19, 2012
Week 9
Vignette 10: Mme. Wagner's Dilemma
This is a great vignette for me because earlier this afternoon I read a juicy article about aggregated and disaggregated grading systems (I'm still not sure which one is which).
What I think Wagner should do in this situation is give Pierre an overall mark of 70%, which is a product of Pierre's 50% final exam mark, which is a product of his personal choices.
Pierre is in grade 8, which is an extremely young age to work. I don't believe that he is doing it because his family is desperate for money; his father owns his own business which is likely capable of carrying out their daily duties without Pierre's help. His father may have come to some sort of agreement (about working for the company) with Pierre in hopes that Pierre would learn about responsibility & the realities of the working world, as well as earn some money for himself. I don't think Pierre will learn very much about responsibility if Wagner adjusts his grade because she feels sorry for him. Would she do it for the rest of the class? If the answer is no, and it is, then she should not do it for Pierre.
The article I read, Grading to Communicate by Tony Winger, suggests having separate sections of each mark which represent academic and non-academic factors, with the ample majority falling into the former category. Although, even if Mme. Wagner had a system such as this in place, she may be faced with the same problem of Pierre's one-off poor performance. She could express her thoughts and concerns to him and offer him a chance to re-write the exam and produce something that is more indicative of his actual ability.
I do agree that there can be subjectivity in grading practices when circumstances arise, such as illness or other extenuating circumstances. Illness is, more often than not, out of one's control. School sports are very touchy because they are important and valuable experiences for students, but at the same time they boil down to a 'do I or don't I' choice such as Pierre's.
Changing grades on account of circumstance arising from students' personal choice, in my humble opinion, is a slippery slope best steered clear of.
This is a great vignette for me because earlier this afternoon I read a juicy article about aggregated and disaggregated grading systems (I'm still not sure which one is which).
What I think Wagner should do in this situation is give Pierre an overall mark of 70%, which is a product of Pierre's 50% final exam mark, which is a product of his personal choices.
Pierre is in grade 8, which is an extremely young age to work. I don't believe that he is doing it because his family is desperate for money; his father owns his own business which is likely capable of carrying out their daily duties without Pierre's help. His father may have come to some sort of agreement (about working for the company) with Pierre in hopes that Pierre would learn about responsibility & the realities of the working world, as well as earn some money for himself. I don't think Pierre will learn very much about responsibility if Wagner adjusts his grade because she feels sorry for him. Would she do it for the rest of the class? If the answer is no, and it is, then she should not do it for Pierre.
The article I read, Grading to Communicate by Tony Winger, suggests having separate sections of each mark which represent academic and non-academic factors, with the ample majority falling into the former category. Although, even if Mme. Wagner had a system such as this in place, she may be faced with the same problem of Pierre's one-off poor performance. She could express her thoughts and concerns to him and offer him a chance to re-write the exam and produce something that is more indicative of his actual ability.
I do agree that there can be subjectivity in grading practices when circumstances arise, such as illness or other extenuating circumstances. Illness is, more often than not, out of one's control. School sports are very touchy because they are important and valuable experiences for students, but at the same time they boil down to a 'do I or don't I' choice such as Pierre's.
Changing grades on account of circumstance arising from students' personal choice, in my humble opinion, is a slippery slope best steered clear of.
Saturday, March 10, 2012
Week 8
Vignette 9 - Ryan's Impending Doom!
I hope that Ms. Wong will be able to claw her way through the bureaucratic jungle so that he will be able to move forward into 20 level English. Until I read this vignette I had never considered that there were rigid guidelines for determining a grade by using marks from the entire term. Perhaps it would be in the best interest of the students, if this is the case, to have a year plan set up that ensures most of the weighting falls to the back end of the course. Teachers need time to build a rapport and to establish a trusting relationship with his students. After this time has been invested it would stand to reason that students' grades will more accurately reflect their ability. In the case of the vignette, Ryan was being graded before Ms. Wong had been given much opportunity to work with him; Ryan's low mark does not just misrepresent Ryan, it misrepresents Ms. Wong as well.
I leave this post wondering if a lot of teachers in the field strategically back-weight the grades in their course so that students' end grades are more representative of the improvement the students have experienced...?
I hope that Ms. Wong will be able to claw her way through the bureaucratic jungle so that he will be able to move forward into 20 level English. Until I read this vignette I had never considered that there were rigid guidelines for determining a grade by using marks from the entire term. Perhaps it would be in the best interest of the students, if this is the case, to have a year plan set up that ensures most of the weighting falls to the back end of the course. Teachers need time to build a rapport and to establish a trusting relationship with his students. After this time has been invested it would stand to reason that students' grades will more accurately reflect their ability. In the case of the vignette, Ryan was being graded before Ms. Wong had been given much opportunity to work with him; Ryan's low mark does not just misrepresent Ryan, it misrepresents Ms. Wong as well.
I leave this post wondering if a lot of teachers in the field strategically back-weight the grades in their course so that students' end grades are more representative of the improvement the students have experienced...?
Saturday, February 25, 2012
Week 6
Vignette 5: Getting What They Deserve?
Well, in my humble opinion, Joan's stance is archaic. I'm in a phase of my education where I am questioning the validity of grades at all. I'm actually really excited to learn more about it (doing away with grades, that is!). Joan says that she wants to look at a mark and see a reflection of a student's academic achievement, but a grade is just a grade, and like a picture it is worth a thousand words. I think Joan is fighting the wrong battle here.
To approach this more literally, I do agree with Joan that while non-academic factors do inform their academic counterparts, they should be kept separate. At least this way if we see a low achievement mark we can immediately refer to the non-academic portion of the mark. As I wrote that last sentence, however, it occurred to me that looking at the non-academic mark can only lead to speculation about its effect on the academic portion, but that speculation may or may not be accurate. So what good does a non-academic portion of a mark even serve? Now that I think about it, it seems to just be a classroom management tool ("you'd better be good or you'll lose valuable participation marks).
Joan says that a mark is meaningless if the two components are not separated, but I fail to see the meaning even if they are separated. Gosh.
Well, in my humble opinion, Joan's stance is archaic. I'm in a phase of my education where I am questioning the validity of grades at all. I'm actually really excited to learn more about it (doing away with grades, that is!). Joan says that she wants to look at a mark and see a reflection of a student's academic achievement, but a grade is just a grade, and like a picture it is worth a thousand words. I think Joan is fighting the wrong battle here.
To approach this more literally, I do agree with Joan that while non-academic factors do inform their academic counterparts, they should be kept separate. At least this way if we see a low achievement mark we can immediately refer to the non-academic portion of the mark. As I wrote that last sentence, however, it occurred to me that looking at the non-academic mark can only lead to speculation about its effect on the academic portion, but that speculation may or may not be accurate. So what good does a non-academic portion of a mark even serve? Now that I think about it, it seems to just be a classroom management tool ("you'd better be good or you'll lose valuable participation marks).
Joan says that a mark is meaningless if the two components are not separated, but I fail to see the meaning even if they are separated. Gosh.
Saturday, February 11, 2012
Week 5
Vignette 4: What Counts?
Mr. Sanchez is well within his right to be upset. It doesn't sound like Juan's teacher is differentiating between achievement, progress, and classroom behavior in his grading practices. If he is, however, he did not communicate that clearly to Mr. Sanchez. The teacher's explanation that Juan "just doesn't listen during instruction" strikes me as mildly uninformed; does he really know for a fact that Juan isn't listening? Is it possible to "just not listen" and consequently turn in exemplary work as Juan has done?
I've heard a few times this term that we cannot be graded for participation, and now I am confused about if that is the case for us university students or if this is the case in the Alberta Education system. I don't disagree with having a participation component, but this again is something for which the standards must be clearly set forth in the course outline. As I write this, though, I flip flop. I also do not think it is unreasonable that grades be based solely on learning outcomes. Participation fits better into the Physical Education POS because there is a lot of 'citizenship' inspired outcomes in it, but at the same time there are tinges of these outcomes in the ELA POS also - effective communication skills for example.
I understand where Juan's teacher is coming from and I don't think he's out of line, but it was his spotty communication of standards to Juan's father and perhaps to Juan himself that have caused an issue here.
Mr. Sanchez is well within his right to be upset. It doesn't sound like Juan's teacher is differentiating between achievement, progress, and classroom behavior in his grading practices. If he is, however, he did not communicate that clearly to Mr. Sanchez. The teacher's explanation that Juan "just doesn't listen during instruction" strikes me as mildly uninformed; does he really know for a fact that Juan isn't listening? Is it possible to "just not listen" and consequently turn in exemplary work as Juan has done?
I've heard a few times this term that we cannot be graded for participation, and now I am confused about if that is the case for us university students or if this is the case in the Alberta Education system. I don't disagree with having a participation component, but this again is something for which the standards must be clearly set forth in the course outline. As I write this, though, I flip flop. I also do not think it is unreasonable that grades be based solely on learning outcomes. Participation fits better into the Physical Education POS because there is a lot of 'citizenship' inspired outcomes in it, but at the same time there are tinges of these outcomes in the ELA POS also - effective communication skills for example.
I understand where Juan's teacher is coming from and I don't think he's out of line, but it was his spotty communication of standards to Juan's father and perhaps to Juan himself that have caused an issue here.
Week 4
Vignette 8: Decisions Decisions
What a coincidence! I'm a little late getting this particular blog in, but thank goodness, because yesterday at teacher's convention I took in a session where the presenter spoke on this exact topic. He talked about using a lot of project based learning and authentic assessment in his math classroom; aside from the midterm and final he does not use tests in his class. This led to questions and conversation about how students are much more engaged and clearly have a more fulfilling and authentic learning experience, but things can be much more difficult for the teacher when it comes time to assign a grade. This in turn led to the hypothetical question of what the difference is between 90% and 95%. Or 80% and 83%. Aside from the literal difference in the numeric value of each, the idea here is that this is an immeasurable difference (for our purposes).
The presenter (David Martin was his name-o) talked about how feedback is very meaningless if there is a grade attached to it - it was encouraging to hear someone else say this as I've been suspecting this is the case since my IPT.
To answer the question, Mr. Brit seems like he has been using a number of different assessments throughout the year. Hopefully a lot of these have been incorporated into his overall marking scheme. It sounds like he is left with the task of assigning an 'achievement' mark which sounds to me like it will be mired in subjectivity. If this is so then he needs to have some sort of a rubric in place; I don't think that he should attach a number to a student's performance if he cannot justify it. Having said that, I hope we are moving in a direction where he won't have to justify it. He should be able to give the student and his/her guardians a detailed description of the learning and improvement that the student has achieved throughout the year, and the number attached to it should be trivial at most.
What a coincidence! I'm a little late getting this particular blog in, but thank goodness, because yesterday at teacher's convention I took in a session where the presenter spoke on this exact topic. He talked about using a lot of project based learning and authentic assessment in his math classroom; aside from the midterm and final he does not use tests in his class. This led to questions and conversation about how students are much more engaged and clearly have a more fulfilling and authentic learning experience, but things can be much more difficult for the teacher when it comes time to assign a grade. This in turn led to the hypothetical question of what the difference is between 90% and 95%. Or 80% and 83%. Aside from the literal difference in the numeric value of each, the idea here is that this is an immeasurable difference (for our purposes).
The presenter (David Martin was his name-o) talked about how feedback is very meaningless if there is a grade attached to it - it was encouraging to hear someone else say this as I've been suspecting this is the case since my IPT.
To answer the question, Mr. Brit seems like he has been using a number of different assessments throughout the year. Hopefully a lot of these have been incorporated into his overall marking scheme. It sounds like he is left with the task of assigning an 'achievement' mark which sounds to me like it will be mired in subjectivity. If this is so then he needs to have some sort of a rubric in place; I don't think that he should attach a number to a student's performance if he cannot justify it. Having said that, I hope we are moving in a direction where he won't have to justify it. He should be able to give the student and his/her guardians a detailed description of the learning and improvement that the student has achieved throughout the year, and the number attached to it should be trivial at most.
Thursday, January 26, 2012
Week 3
Mrs. Vandekamp - What are you thinking???
"The literature indicates that norm-referenced grading makes learning highly competitive." I think a little competition in learning is healthy, but the bell curve should never be used (specifically in K-12) as a means of motivation for students. I also don't think there is anything wrong with comparing students to each other for informational purposes, but it should be done after the marks have been determined.
The bell curve, in my eyes, is the resulting distribution after a whole big pile of marks have been determined. The marks just naturally fall into that curve pattern. What I am not understanding is how this has shifted to an expectation of what mark distribution ought to be within one classroom. Can't Mrs. Vandekamp be content to know, if she marks each paper objectively, that the grades will nestle beautifully into the bell curve of the grades of students across the entire school, district, province or country?
The vignette does not provide a lot of context but I don't believe that any student before college or university is subject to a marking scheme like this. Mrs. V should have set her criteria from the beginning and mark in accordance with her clearly communicated expectations - other class members' work should not be a factor in Dakota's grade.
In the event that the school or district is in fact asking teachers to grade on a bell curve, a set of criteria along with the student work which meets and exceeds said criteria should be enough for any teacher to justify her 'unevenly distributed' grades.
Brent's frequent updates to us about his struggles with the higher-uppers at U of A has clearly and immensely factored into my thinking on this matter. PRE-DETERMINED bell curves are so stupid...
"The literature indicates that norm-referenced grading makes learning highly competitive." I think a little competition in learning is healthy, but the bell curve should never be used (specifically in K-12) as a means of motivation for students. I also don't think there is anything wrong with comparing students to each other for informational purposes, but it should be done after the marks have been determined.
The bell curve, in my eyes, is the resulting distribution after a whole big pile of marks have been determined. The marks just naturally fall into that curve pattern. What I am not understanding is how this has shifted to an expectation of what mark distribution ought to be within one classroom. Can't Mrs. Vandekamp be content to know, if she marks each paper objectively, that the grades will nestle beautifully into the bell curve of the grades of students across the entire school, district, province or country?
The vignette does not provide a lot of context but I don't believe that any student before college or university is subject to a marking scheme like this. Mrs. V should have set her criteria from the beginning and mark in accordance with her clearly communicated expectations - other class members' work should not be a factor in Dakota's grade.
In the event that the school or district is in fact asking teachers to grade on a bell curve, a set of criteria along with the student work which meets and exceeds said criteria should be enough for any teacher to justify her 'unevenly distributed' grades.
Brent's frequent updates to us about his struggles with the higher-uppers at U of A has clearly and immensely factored into my thinking on this matter. PRE-DETERMINED bell curves are so stupid...
Wednesday, January 25, 2012
Week 2
Mr. Fisher will be okay; he just needs to make some very important adjustments for next year.
This year, Fisher designed his year plan, complete with assessments and weightings. He succumbed to the traditional thinking that the unit tests should have a relatively heavy weighting in students' overall grades, but he didn't know anything about the tests! His projects were well-received by students and I gather they were quite educational as well and were in line with curricular expectations. There is nothing wrong with testing at the end of each unit, but in this case the test was unfamiliar material (or familiar material presented in unfamiliar fashion) to the students and teacher. It is difficult to justify a heavy weighting on a test of that quality.
Fisher needs to begin his year plan by familiarizing himself with the actual Program of Studies. He will still be able to do his projects, but he will learn from his experiences this year, such as preparation and presentation taking longer than expected, and adjust it accordingly. He may also be wise to increase the weightings of these projects in light of the fact that the students seem to do some of their best learning while they are in process.
As for the tests, they sound like they are inconsistent with the way that he teaches the material to students. He can either do away with them entirely, drastically change their weighting, re-create the test into a more understandable context, or any combination of these options.
This year, Fisher designed his year plan, complete with assessments and weightings. He succumbed to the traditional thinking that the unit tests should have a relatively heavy weighting in students' overall grades, but he didn't know anything about the tests! His projects were well-received by students and I gather they were quite educational as well and were in line with curricular expectations. There is nothing wrong with testing at the end of each unit, but in this case the test was unfamiliar material (or familiar material presented in unfamiliar fashion) to the students and teacher. It is difficult to justify a heavy weighting on a test of that quality.
Fisher needs to begin his year plan by familiarizing himself with the actual Program of Studies. He will still be able to do his projects, but he will learn from his experiences this year, such as preparation and presentation taking longer than expected, and adjust it accordingly. He may also be wise to increase the weightings of these projects in light of the fact that the students seem to do some of their best learning while they are in process.
As for the tests, they sound like they are inconsistent with the way that he teaches the material to students. He can either do away with them entirely, drastically change their weighting, re-create the test into a more understandable context, or any combination of these options.
Sunday, January 15, 2012
Week 1
"Students can his any target they can see and holds still for them."
This is an interesting quote to explore because it is both sensible and inane at the same time. It's sensible because it is true that students require very specific guidance and directions when they are doing work that will be assessed. Having a rubric that communicates expectations clearly means that students will know what is expected of them and what they will need to do to meet those expectations. The reason I would go so far as to call that statement inane is that by painting a clear picture of expected procedures and outcomes for students' assignments we are greatly at risk of stifling their creativity. That's what all of my EDES 361 (Art) readings are telling me, anyway.
The compromise I propose is that we continue to provide students with well-defined rubrics which clearly display expectations for students but at the same time are attached to assignments that are flexible enough that there is a great allowance for creativity and individuality for each student. This sounds a bit generalized as I read it back to myself, but I will look forward to learning about how to specifically implement this practice.
This is an interesting quote to explore because it is both sensible and inane at the same time. It's sensible because it is true that students require very specific guidance and directions when they are doing work that will be assessed. Having a rubric that communicates expectations clearly means that students will know what is expected of them and what they will need to do to meet those expectations. The reason I would go so far as to call that statement inane is that by painting a clear picture of expected procedures and outcomes for students' assignments we are greatly at risk of stifling their creativity. That's what all of my EDES 361 (Art) readings are telling me, anyway.
The compromise I propose is that we continue to provide students with well-defined rubrics which clearly display expectations for students but at the same time are attached to assignments that are flexible enough that there is a great allowance for creativity and individuality for each student. This sounds a bit generalized as I read it back to myself, but I will look forward to learning about how to specifically implement this practice.
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