T+Mavrakis

Type in the content of your new page here. Individual Time: 3/4/08 1 Hour reading 3/6/08 30 minutes on WikiSpace - comments, and creating my page 3/20/08 75 minutes on WikiSpace writing, adding comments and exporting GPAs from Power School and PAWS data 3/26/08 1 Hour reading 3/27/08 1 Hour Wikispace write-up 3/30/08 2 Hours reading Wikispace and write-up of notes on my page 3/31/08 2 Hours Wikispace write up and reading cohorts pages 4/1/08 2 Hours Wikispace write up and review of fixes 4/3/08 45 minutes write-up and comments on others wikipages

Group Time 2/26/08 2 Hours 3/3/08 1.5 Hours 3/5/08 2 Hours 3/25/08 2 Hours 3/27/08 2.5 Hours 3/28/08 2 Hours 4/1/08 2 Hours 4/2/08 2 Hours 4/3/08 1 Hour

After having access to everyone's grades I have been wondering for awhile, if they really mean anything. This would be a huge cultural shift for BHHS but I am intrigued by the idea of separating out work ethic, behavior, extra credit etc. and really focusing and reporting on knowledge learned.

Chapter1- Fairness- "But students are different in many different ways, and so treating them the same can actually be unfair." This validates a long held belief of mine. I try to serve what each student needs -which often is very different from kid to kid. That seems equitable to me. I also found the point that grades are only motivating for good students very interesting. That fits what I have observed at BHHS. Students who get poor grades seem to accept that identity- and continue operating at that level even though they are very intelligent. Students who are motivated by grades may have much lower abilities but are willing to jump through the hoops in order to get the grade. Again what are those grades measuring? Chapter 2- //Fix#1 - Don't include student behaviors (effort, participation, adherence to class rules, etc.) in grades; include only achievement.// Wow - would that be a huge change in the way at least to some extent, every class at BHHS is graded. Making grades a pure measure fits our move to proficiency and standards measurement, but in actual functioning I think those factors are a pretty big part of every class. Looking through the BHHS data there were some glaring examples of GPA vs. PAWS scores that show this isn't happening yet! //Fix#2 - Don't reduce marks on "work" submitted late; provide support for the learner.// Makes sense if grades are a pure measure, but I have alittle trouble going with this point - seems like there should be some way to help reinforce real world, good work ethic habits. Need to come up with some other way. //Fix#3 -Don't give points for extra credit or use bonus points; seek only evidence that more work has resulted in a higher level of achievement.// Again this is a big change. We have many BHHS kids in the 3.5-4.0 GPA range who have made it there by always counting on extra credit and bargaining points with teachers. //Fix#4-Don't punish academic dishonesty with reduced grades; apply other consequences and reassess to determine actual level of achievement.// Cheating is such a way of life for our students that they are blatantly open with it. The threat of a zero doesn't seem to be effective. A different approach couldn't hurt. //Fix#5-Don't consider attendance in grade determination; report absences separately.// This makes sense to me. After going to a million attendance hearings - it does seem that the natural consequences of poor grades occurs anyway. Students who miss teaching just don't do as well, we don't need to factor any more in to the grade. //Fix#6-Don't include group scores in grades; use only individual achievement evidence.// I have struggled with this because I often get calls from parents upset about this practice. I have never understood how achievement could be measured in a group manner. I do understand a group learning process, but that's different from measuring achievement. Chapter 3- //Fix 7 - Don't organize information in grading records by assessment methods or simply summarize into a single grade; organize and report evidence by standards/learning goals.// This would change our reported grades to parents drastically. Currently I don't even know how any one but seniors are doing on standards, and I'm supposed to keep track of that. It would be interesting to report that to parents on grading records instead of a single grade that encompasses the whole mess. We have already done the work of organizing everything around standards, but we aren't reporting mastery that way, in a routine scheduled manner - as report cards are laid out. Proficiency of standards is in addition to traditional grades - not instead of. Chapter 3- //Fix 8 - Don't assign grades using inappropriate or unclear performance standards; provide clear descriptions of achievement expectations.// On the surface, from my perspective, I think this is one of BHHS teacher's strenths. Clear expectations are communicated to students. However the empathy and nurturing nature of our teachers, muddy the waters sometimes, when students use that and convince them to change grades or provide bonus opportunities. //Fix 9 - Don't assign grades based on a student's achievement compared to other students' compare each student's performance to preset standards.// The emphasis on criterion-referenced instead of norm referenced makes sense. I don't honestly know if our teachers really do any norm referenced grading. They are all so supportive of students and each individuals mastery of learning that I can't picture the old bell curve appearing here. I need to ask about that in the group discussion Fri. I just don't know what we're doing in this area. //Fix 10-Don't rely on evidence gathered using assessments that fail to meet standards of quality; rely only on quality assessments.// Our group discussions came back to the point that ALL assessments including the state standards and BOE measurements of them are ultimately subjective. Some of the steps to quality classroom assessment were helpful to me (non-teacher) and pretty clear, others such as no distractions, appropriate lighting etc. were basic testing 101. I liked the idea of student involvement in this process.

Chapter 4- //Fix11-Don't// rely //only on the mean; consider other measures of central tendency and use professional judgment.// I don't give grades, and don't tend to think outside the box so this was a huge new idea for me. I really liked taking grades from the 'meat' of a kids grades and dismissing the outlying scores. It would make a big change for so many kids who have a 0 or two, and then have grades that demonstrate mastery but a final grade that doesn't reflect that. I always dismiss those first few I lists of the quarter anyway, because we know they don't really mean anything - based on 1 or 2 grades. //Fix 12-Don't include zeros in grade determination when evidence is missing or as punishment; use alternatives, such as reassessing to determine real achievement or use "I" for Incomplete or Insufficient Evidence.// We do use zeros as a grade punishment/consequence for not turning in work. This brings in the whole training for life/work ethic piece that the book says to avoid--if the grade is a pure measure of learning. I would really like to see this separated and some kind of evaluative score given on the report card for work ethic, but not as part of the grade. While the I is mentioned here as an indicator of Incomplete wouldn't it be great if our district used this correctly.

Chapter 5- //Fix 13-Don't use information from formative assessments and practice to determine grades; use only summative evidence.// I liked the reminder that learning is a process. It is such a cultural shift to not factor in homework grades, but that made sense to me. Then basing the grade on the final learning not the steps along the way is a no brainer. Maybe not being a teacher is blurring this perspective. Perhaps there is a compromise to be used by weighting the tests and given much lighter emphasis on daily work. //Fix 14-Don't summarize evidence accumulated over time when learning is developmental and will grow with time and repeated opportunities. In those instances, emphasize more recent achievement.// The text recommends "that for any developmental learning we must emphasize the more recent evidence and allow new evidence to replace, not simply be added to, old evidence." Again, only using the mean, punishes kids for the early failures,even though significant learning may have then occurred. Every educator takes classes on stage of development and growth and then we throw out that knowledge in our grading system. //Fix 15-Don't leave students out of the grading process. Involve students. They can and should, play key roles in assessment and grading that promote achievement.// Great idea that I and most of the staff would agree with - the practicality of making that happen just breaks down. It's not efficient to do so.