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Reflection

Today, I finished my report cards for this last trimester. As I was working on them, I began reflecting on the practice of grading and posting grades. Pedagogically, I have come to believe grades are nothing more than labels we put on children and they are counter-productive to curious joyful learning. This year I have taken steps to minimize the presence of grades in my classroom and develop ways to give both students and parents more meaningful and actionable feedback. 

This week, I will reflect specifically on the steps I have taken to minimize the presence of grades in my classroom. Next week, I will reflect further on how grades label children and how those labels impact their identity and self-efficacy.

Reflection to Practice

When I began teaching, I utilized a traditional grading system, which I have come to view has the most harmful. I graded specific assignments and tests, then averaged scores for a grade. If a student did not complete the work, they received a zero in the gradebook. (I am embarrassed to admit that this was my grading practice for my first few years as a teacher.)

After learning more about assessment for learning (Chappuis, 2009), versus assessment of learning, and after reading several books on grading by Marzano; I made my first major shift in grading practices. No student received a zero in my gradebook, the lowest score I entered was 50%. A student could rebound from a 50% when averaging grades, but they could never recover if they got a score lower than 50% in my gradebook. I also began providing more feedback when returning student work and my goal was to provide grades/feedback within one day (a lofty goal, that admittedly I did not always accomplish).

As I continued to digest what I had learned in Marzano’s books, I started moving to a more standards-based grading system utilizing a 4-point scale. I put the target standard(s) on the assignments/tests. One of the biggest shifts I made, was I no longer average grades, students received the latest grade that demonstrated their best learning. I also let kids revise their work on assignments and tests. I believed if students were “punished” for earlier mistakes in the learning process by averaging grades, then learning in my classroom was not a safe risk-free environment. And, it is not learning, if we begin the process with mastery. Averaging grades and summative, or high-stakes, tests discouraged the process of learning.  

This year, I created a standards-based guide for each trimester. I gave this to the students and their parents, so both had more detailed information about where the grade came from and specific areas of focus for improvement. Data folders were created for the each of the kids to graph their scores. 

Next year, I hope to better utilize learning progressions within my grading system to help students and their parents know where they are within their personal learning journey and what the next steps are for growth. I am wondering how I might “grade” the process more than the outcome to help improve growth. But I worry how this will impact the kids in terms of maintaining a sense of urgency to grow as a learning, particularly for kids who struggle, and/or produce quality work. I also hope to provide parents with some specific activities to do at home—real world activities—like baking to learn fractions. 

I do not believe in grades, but unfortunately the grading system is not going away. So, I need to figure out how to make the grading system work better for the me and the kids I serve. I would love to hear other ideas of how to help improve growth and the quality of work by manipulating the grading system to the kids’ advantage. 

Chappuis, J. (2009). Seven Strategies of Assessment for Learning. Glenview, IL: Pearson.

Marzano, R. J. (2006) Classroom Assessment & Grading that Work. Alexandria, VA: ASCD.