Grading

=Grading:=

Committee Discussion:
grading varies according to type of assessment - can be objective or subjective
 * a mixed bag of content, weights, work habits, and performance - not always the best indicator of understanding
 * different teachers have different goals
 * what an A means in my class could be different in another teacher's class
 * can be confusing to students and parents
 * what makes an "A" in one class is different than what makes an "A" in another class?
 * some may reward effort (i.e. a student who comes back for extra help may get a better grade)
 * how many opportunities do students have to show understanding?
 * what do we do with students who meet the standard before we get there?
 * we need to hit both ends of the spectrum
 * separate content achievement from work habits
 * everyone is different
 * very subjective and too teacher dependent
 * is there a place for subjectivity?
 * we are all human - students and teachers after all
 * confusing - not same language for every student
 * for all the confusion it is something teachers spend a lot of time with what consistency can there be teacher to teacher
 * how to students know?
 * most misunderstood element - needs to have clear focus and lots of input and study from stakeholders
 * should it ever be subjective?

=Reporting Out:=

Committee Discussion:
> =Question and Answer=
 * it creates stress; is the stress needed or helpful?
 * sort and select
 * way overrated as a measurement of student achievement
 * look at different ways of honoring learning
 * loss of class rank - top ten
 * very nice if you are at the top
 * are people at the top of the tree (top ten) or are they just hard workers and great ???
 * is difficulty of course load taken into account
 * honors / high honors / status
 * score keeping
 * there should be numerous ways of honoring students
 * is competition bad?
 * why are students who strive academically looked down on but athletics, it is good
 * by whom? athletics is not always celebrated either
 * our honors night, honor roll is all about celebrating academics
 * but is this the best way to keep score?
 * who needs it? students, parents, higher ed.
 * class rank isn't nearly as important as it used to be; they look at a lot of other things
 * they still look at it
 * i'd be interested in know how many are still using it
 * quite a number have dropped it
 * colleges are looking more for info. about a student's "well roundedness"
 * they still report percentiles about where students are
 * sat scores are valued as being more important than class rank


 * How have standards-based grading systems been received by colleges and other institutions?
 * How can we assure that grades––grade to grade and class to class––are consistent?
 * How can we get the community on board? Teachers? Parents? Colleges? Students?