This year our school is making the shift from traditional grades to standards based grades. Instead of receiving an A in Math, the students will receive a score communicating proficiency(3) according the state standards. That means that we are assessing our students every trimester on end of year expectations. Therefore, on this first report card students will receive a 1 or 2 (below grade-level or approaching grade-level).
Many parents at our school are concerned that this way of reporting on grades will de-motivate the students from trying for a higher grade. The parents say, "The students think they don't have to get a 3 until the end of the year, so they're not going to try for it until the end of the year."
Does your school use standards-based report cards? What have you done in your school to help students and parents understand this new way of thinking about grades?
So we have had a standards based report card for years. In math and science, we put an * in the boxes that we did not yet teach, so the problem of not knowing everything is really not much of an issue. It seems that most of us do tend to assess all reading and language arts and while that may seem unrealistic, there are many areas that the kids receive a "3" right away. Parents understand that getting a "3" means for that trimester and not all standards for the entire year. We assess all standards in reading and math 3 times a year and in reading, we give smaller formative tests 2 times each trimester.
It is a big change but giving grades per strand and indicating with a + and - where there is strength and weakness really lets parents know how the kids are doing. We use to even give a 3, 2, or 1 (or a 4 for above grade level) for each and every standard, but that was over kill.
Our elementary school does it and I saw a big drop in motivation and work ethic. The other problem is the transition into the middle and high schools where regular letter grades are used is extremely difficult. The parents are having a hard time with it, too. Personally, I prefer regular grades, using standards does not tell as much about the students' achievement.
Yes, we've had them my entire 6 yrs of teaching. I covert letter grades to number proficiencies for them, plus I am already only evaluating writing with numbers. We use 2s when we are NOT finished teaching something(in the middle of still teaching it)...only after we have assessed it do we give a higher grade than that. We do award 3s when a student is higher.....at the beginning of the year. However, if we're not done teaching it they still get a 2. Really low students (and a D or F equivalency) get a 1. I let the parents know they will see more of the 2s turn to 3s later on......that 2s mean students are still learning on it, working on it/trying to master it, and teachers are still teaching it.
My problem is that students get confused between letters and numbers.....I also use a color rubric for grading(not on report cards). Green is proficient, yellow is approaching, red is more below grade level.
We have been on a 4, 3, 2,1 scoring system for YEARS!! When we made the switch, the parents were confused as well as we teachers because it eliminated the middle ground "C"!! Obviously, the percentages are all different now too. For example, a "4" is Above Grade Level so unless you are giving students opportunities to work beyond the grade, they can't earn 4's. Percents work like this in most of our classes: 90-100% is a 4, 70-89% is a 3, 60-69% is 2, and below is 1. But again, if they're not working above grade level, they can't get a 4 unless it's in effort grade.
We have an achievement score and effort score.
Overall, the parents have adjusted, but when the kids go to middle school it's back to A-F grades. I wish we could have a consistent grading system from elem to high school since they won't see 1-4 anywhere again after 5th grade!!
so now we do both! Achievement is a letter, effort is E, G, S, NI--then we have a 1-4 standard grade in key standards for only LA and math. Most get 3's as 4's indicate advanced--and most kids are proficient but they are not advanced. We do not put anything in the box if it is a stnd not yet taught. Like in math --we have not taught, geometry so i leave it blank.
The reality is parents grew up with A-B-C-D-F-so they interpret 4-3-2-1 as ABC and DF. We may as well have letters or do both. I can modify a kids grade and give him a c if he is working at his ability. In the standard he gets a 1--reality being that he is far below basic.
Do you use end of the year assessments to generate your grades for standards based report cards? Or do you trimester/quarter benchmarks?
Our school uses end of the year assessments. That means that even we're only a third of the way through the school year I am still assessing my students according to what they need to have mastered by the end of the year. I have heard of some parents that are furious about this. They feel that it is wrong to test a student on material that they have not been taught. They have requested that their student be excused from testing.
I understand the reason why we chose to test using end of the year requirements. It's kind of like we taking pre-tests all year long gaining information about their mastery. However, I did see a few kids (even though I reassured them over and over that it's okay if you don't know everything) get very frustrated.
11-05-2009, 09:30 PM
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