Grades that Reflect Student Understanding

1. Grades that Reflect Student Understanding Mary Beth Schmitt CMP3 Mathematics Teacher Traverse City West Middle School Traverse City, Michigan

2. What is the real purpose of grading and what messages do grades send… • To students? • To parents? • To teachers? • To administrators? • To the community?

3. What caused me to ask those questions? I’m not happy with any of those purposes or messages so what message do I want grades to convey?

4. We all create a Story of Learning in our Classrooms and most of us are required to “grade” our students, so what Story will play out in my classroom and how will grades reflect that Story?

5. Story Based on These Beliefs: Everyone can learn math to the highest levels. Mistakes are valuable. Questions are really important. Math is about creativity and making sense. Math is about connections and communicating. Math class is about learning not performing. Depth is more important than speed. (Jo Boaler, Stanford Course: Learning Math for Students)

6. Our Story of Learning • What messages am I sending about our story of learning in all that I say and do? • Is it a story of work for work’s sake? • Or is it a story of work for learning’s sake? • How can I promote a growth mindset instead of a fixed mindset? • Where and how do grades fit with our story?

7. How are grades earned? Then… • Task completion in-class and at home • Compliance with procedures • Points earned based on accuracy • Percent translated to A-F scale Now… • Demonstrations of understanding on Mathematical Reflections and Formal Assessments

8. Shift in my thinking… • I used to think that using a point system made sense and accurately reflected student achievement. • Now I think that students were more interested in “earning points” than they were in learning mathematics.

9. Shift in my thinking • I used to think that students would only do the work if they earned a “grade” for it. • Now I know that students really enjoy working on tasks to deepen their understanding.

10. Shift in my students’ thinking • Students used ask “What can I do for extra-credit? How many points is this worth? How much will this count toward my grade?” • Now students ask “What can I do to better demonstrate my understanding?”

11. So what changed? • Addition of student pre- and post-assessments • Shift from task completion to developing understanding through the tasks • Shift to more formative feedback from peers • Shift from points to assessing learning goal understanding based on Mathematical Reflections responses • Grades on formal assessments based on goals • Opting for a mixture of unit tests or unit projects

12. As a result… • There has been a significant increase in student ownership, perseverance, personal accountability, confidence and appreciation of learning. • Grades now more truly reflect student depth of understanding.

13. A Student Perception I used to think that if you were fast as math you were good at math. Now I think that you can be fast at math but you don’t really understand the concepts. Math is about taking your time, finding connections and seeing the bigger picture. Math is full of patterns.

14. Another Student’s View I used to think that some people were just good at math and others were not and that was that. Now I know that everyone has the ability to do great in math. It’s just that some people have fixed mindsets making it harder for them to achieve their highest in math.

15. One More Student’s View I used to think that math was about statistics and had only one correct answer. Now I think that math is a very open subject and you have to think deeply about your answers. Math is creative!

16. Reflection: How has this session challenged your thinking about grading? Contact information: schmittmarybeth@gmail.com