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Post by teacherabc on Mar 17, 2015 12:15:44 GMT -5
I am at a professional development today that emphasizes formative assessment over summative assessment. The question came up of how to grade when formative assessments are feedback oriented rather than grade oriented. One suggestion was to develop learning targets and grade on proficiency scales based on their targets. This would be a radical change. Also, the whole idea of homework came up and the reduction of homework so that it is not simply work given for the purpose of getting grades.
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Post by healthy11 on Mar 17, 2015 18:12:10 GMT -5
I've never been fond of homework whose main purpose is for grading, so I'm happy to hear your school is considering changing that.
On the other hand, while I see some benefits of assessing on whether a student has achieved learning targets, are they talking about individual learning targets for each student? Who would set the targets? I don't understand how, especially at the High School level, that type of assessment could be used as a sole method of grading, because it would create all kinds of confusion, especially with regards to college admissions. (ie, Could it mean a student who came in at an underachieving level, say in math, and was given a target of mastering fractions could get an "A" for achieving that goal, but a student who was working on calculus and got a "B" would, at least in terms of GPA, be lower in overall class rank?)
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Post by teacherabc on Mar 17, 2015 20:55:25 GMT -5
What you are concerned about already occurs. Colleges do look at the types of classes and what the grades mean in them. Also, what will often happen is you have kids who get giood grades in classes out of sheer hard work but can't pass the tests they need to to save their lives. The grades reflect work, not any connection to what they are actually learning or supposed to be learning. So, in my mind, learning targets could be an improvement; then maybe IEP goals can actually be meaningful.
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Post by teacherabc on Mar 19, 2015 5:49:15 GMT -5
I am getting the opportunity to do this for kids in my Global test who have IEP's. Almost all of them are failing the class. One big reason is that they are given these worksheets to do and they do not turn them in. Many other kids turn them in because they are not that difficult for them to do. However, due to organizational deficits (they lose the papers), and because they have long readings with information that is not very relevant, the kids find them difficult. I have convinced my coteacher that holding them responsible for these worksheets that they cannot keep up with isn't going to get us where we want. It isn't going to teach them anything that is really relevant (especially if they don't do them), and doesn't help them prepare for the Regents at the end of the year. I am creating an alternate homework on the less is more theory. What I did for tonight, for example, was give them a sheet that has one multiple choice and one DBQ on our topic. However, they do not just do the questions; they need to explain why they answered the way that they did (much the way we do with test corrections). I don't know that it is so much less work than the other work they get but it is more relevant. Plus, they cannot simply do it mechanically, which is a big problem with the other worksheets--when they do do them, the kids are on automatic pilot. I am not giving any credit if they do not explain. If they do explain, I will give them credit, even if they come to the wrong answer, but I will give them feedback (so that it is formative). We will see how that works. We may split the class for the rest of the semester (I have to speak to the Principal who is in charge of our Social Studies department). In speaking to the speech person and in my observation (I see all these kids in English too) is that they almost all have certain things in common--lack of organization and time management, as well as lack of study skills. Since we will soon be getting into review mode, this is something we can work on within the class...As for the paper organization, the advantage is I have these homeworks on my computer in my Google drive. Although I do scan the worksheets and do the same thing, it is still easier to be able to email it to a kid that has lost it or to share it with them, or get it to them if they are absent.
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Post by healthy11 on Mar 19, 2015 7:51:37 GMT -5
I don't know what DBQ is, but I think it's great that you're willing to utilize email for the worksheets, although I'm not clear if that's just to send students sheets they might have lost, or can they also reply back to you via email? (I'm thinking especially of students with dysgraphia/writing difficulties, who are still likely to struggle with giving lengthy handwritten explanations of why they answered the way they did, but may do better keyboarding and/or using voice recognition software, for example.)
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Post by bros on Mar 19, 2015 11:27:54 GMT -5
DBQ is a Document Based Question - it's done in History.
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Post by teacherabc on Mar 19, 2015 21:28:39 GMT -5
I only have one of those--but I told her she could type her response and send it to me. And I have a student who is in the process of being evaluated (I have mentioned him in another post) who will sometimes type something out and send it to me even though I am not his teacher and I will forward it to the teacher. As one of his teacher says, "I will take it hand written, typed...I will even consider morse code, if I can get him to do SOMETHING!" I will take things via email...doesn't matter for me--actually I require all paper drafts through Google Drive.
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