I once wrote a blog on "What does your grade book communicate?" in hopes of starting a dialogue about transforming one's grading practices. One reader pushed back and wrote me an email stating, "well if all these ways are WRONG what SHOULD my grade book include smarty?!?!" (bold and caps NOT added for effect). I will not pretend to know all the answers but here is my list of hopes for future educators and their electronic grade book companies: Competency: "You are competent/proficient at this step and are ready for the next step of this skill at our level." Mastery: "You have mastered this set of skills and are ready for the next unit or group of skills." Standard Based Grades: "You are able to do this skill at "X" level and this means you can do "X" "X" and "X". Is there still room for growth? How?" Student input/reflection: "I have proof that I am an "X" at this skill. I think I need to do "X", "X" and "X" to get better." Success Skills: "Content skills aside, here is how you are doing at collaboration, communication, problem-solving etc. including a rubric of how to get better." Process: "You have chosen "X" and "X" to get better at "X". How is that going? Should you try a different schedule or tactic? Growth: "You started here 6 weeks ago and here are the improvements you have made on this skill so far. Congrats! What goal do you have next?" Portfolio/Artifacts: "Here is what level you are at each skill expected in this class. Click on your level to see what artifacts prove your understanding." Do you have other proof that your level is different? There is a piece of me that wishes that I went into computer science/coding so I could start making more of these grade book variables a reality. While there are many books and grading programs that claim to do some of these grading/communication techniques well I am yet to see the whole package. Schools and educators are on different points in their transformation from traditional grading though mastery/competency based grading yet need an electronic system that caters to their growth as much as their students. They also need the support of district leadership and communities to experiment, fail, recalibrate, and try again in the best interest of teaching and learning. Remember, there is no shame being anywhere along this continuum as you can't grow if you don't go through iterations of oneself in an attempt to get better! What did I miss? What SHOULD a grade book communicate? |
2 Comments
Brian Arnot
2/1/2019 07:26:44 am
Great graphic and a good summary of items that it would be great to know about our students. Not sure how the goal setting and tracking would fit into a SMS system but I could see it as part of a portfolio system that could be managed through a homeroom teacher. I like your inclusion of behaviors for success as a focus.
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Matthew G McCullough
2/3/2019 08:05:14 am
Brian,
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Matt McCullough
Just a chance to reflect over educational articles and ideas that float through my head. Archives
February 2019
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