Accurate grades COMMUNICATE Not compensate

1. Accurate grades COMMUNICATE Not compensate

2. De Soto School District Grading For Learning Philosophy: A grade is a symbolic representation of what a student knows and is able to do, relative to standards. Grades communicate student progress as well as provide feedback to guide instructional decisions that enhance student achievement. We look at the pattern of achievement, including the learning trend calculations, not only the average to report grades. Academic responsibility is a critical component of the learning process and is also reported, increasing the accuracy, validity, and reliability of each grade.

3. Consider This: The Latin root of assessment is, “assidere”, which means, “to sit beside.” • “Too often, educational tests, grades, and report cards are treated by teachers as autopsies when they should be viewed as physicals.” –Assessment expert, Doug Reeves

4. Clear and Consistent Evidence We want an accurate portrayal of a student’s mastery, not something clouded by a useless format or distorted by only one opportunity to reveal understanding. Differentiating teachers require accurate assessments in order to differentiate successfully.

5. -- Marzano, CAGTW, pgs 5-6

6. Pre-Assessments Used to indicate students’ readiness for content and skill development. Used to guide instructional decisions.

7. Formative Assessments These are in-route checkpoints, frequently done. They provide ongoing and clear feedback to students and the teacher, informing instruction and reflecting subsets of the essential and enduring knowledge. They are where successful differentiating teachers spend most of their energy – assessing formatively and providing timely feedback to students and practice.

9. Summative Assessments These are given to students at the end of the learning to document growth and mastery. They match the learning objectives and experiences, and they are negotiable if the product is not the literal standard. They reflect most, if not all, of the essential and enduring knowledge. They are not very helpful forms of feedback.

10. DSD Grading for Learning- complete scale

13. Consider the Correlation A ‘0’ on a 100 point scale is a ‘-6’ on a 4 point scale. If a student does no work, he should get nothing, not something worse than nothing. How instructive is it to tell a student that he earned six times less than absolute failure? Choose to be instructive, not punitive. Research shows that being instructive motivates students whereas being punitive does not. 100 90 80 70 60 4 3 2 1 0 50 40 30 20 10 0 -1 -2 -3 -4 -5 -6

14. Each Can = a different level of understanding

15. Temperature Readings for Norfolk, VA in June 85, 87, 88, 84, 0 (forgot to take the reading) In conclusion, the average temperature in Norfolk in June is 68.8 degrees! …but I added ‘em all up and divided by the number of readings?!?!?! This data is inaccurate for what actually occurred, and therefore, unusable.

21. Rubrics and Standards Based Report Cards • REPORT CARD RUBRICS • ASSIGNMENT RUBRICS POWER STANDARDS

26. Standards‐based Grading Impacts Behavior, not just Report Cards: “When schools improve grading policies – for example, by disconnecting grades from behavior – student achievement increases and behavior improves dramatically.” (Doug Reeves, ASCD’s Educational Leadership, 2008, p. 90, Reeves)

27. Behaviors that Affect Learning • Effort a. Perseveres b. Attempts Quality Work • Engagement a. Participates b. Listens • Responsibility/Work Ethic a. Work Is Complete b. Work Is Timely c. Follows Expectations/Directions d. Manages Time Well e. Advocates For Self/Accepts Responsibility for His/Her Learning

28. Be Clear: We grade against standards, not routes students take or techniques teachers use to achieve those standards.

29. The Percentage of students in grades 7-12 who do note cards AFTER the research paper, just to meet the teacher requirement.-NCTE

30. It’s all about the LEARNING!

31. Research and Practice:

32. www.desoto.k12.mo.us