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One week ago my gradebook had zeros. No work meant no credit, it just made sense. However, after reading the articles and participating in classroom discussion, my gradebook is a new man (can you feel it?!?!)
Though I'm a social studies teacher, I'm a math guy. Once the math was explained, zero grades just didn't add up; they do not accurately represent "no work." Instead, I will be implementing a policy that reads, "No late work, no missing assignments." Students must turn everything in, if it is late then they receive an "I" until the assignment is turned in for no more than an "F." Finally, they must turn in all assignments in order to receive a final grade.
Sure, some tinkering may need to be done in order to make it fit, but I'm in folks. The research says it's right and the math adds up.
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I agree that this is approach is better than the "zero for missing work" policy. A zero essentially acts as negative points for incomplete work. I reflect back on last semester and all the kids I gave zero's to *cringe*. I think this might combat the idea of only doing enough to get by. Students who have passing grades cannot calculate which assignments they do not need to do and still pass. Students still need to complete assignments if they are late, if only to earn a 55% on those that are late. The important thing is to make sure all your assignments are valid indicators of student progress; not just busy work.
ReplyDeleteI do like how you put an "I" in until they finish the assignment. I totally agree with you how they should not be able to get more than an "F" when they finally do turn the work in. This part of the readings i agree with, i just had an issue of giving points for not doing anything. Like "Coloring outside the lines" said the main thing is for students to turn in ALL work. Good work
ReplyDeleteI started doing the same thing with my grading this week. Unfortunately, the grading program the school uses doesn't allow an I to be inputted, so I'm going to have to figure something out. But my actual grade book shows the incompletes.
ReplyDeleteI have to say that it took a long time and a lot of discussion to convince me to use this method of grading, but I like it!
I will also use this method. Students receive an "I" untill all work is turned in. No more zeros!
ReplyDeleteWith that said, I will still grade for effort! Go PE/Health!
P.S. Your world is up side down!
ReplyDeleteTodd, who said which way was right side up?!? Obviously you didn't have a teacher like Zachary to teach "outside the box" and from a different perspective! Anyway, with that said, Zachary, I am glad you posted something about this grade business. I am still wondering how I am going to approach this in my classroom, when I finally get my own. I will expect all work to be turned in to get the grade, however I am not sure how I am going to go about the late policy. I almost want to discuss it with students at the beginning of the year so they have some ownership of it. I will try to guide them to a reasonable aswer that we can all agree on, but like Sharon, I am more a mastery person... I think.
ReplyDeleteAs for the student comment... "You are the coolest teacher ever! We had fun and actually learned something today! That never happens!"That was probably the best comment and it came from a 7th grade girl who I have a hard time getting excited about science. The lesson was an inquiry lesson about natural selection, and it was great!
ReplyDeleteLynique, Hooray about the comment. That's fantastic.
ReplyDeleteI really like the late work discussion at the beginning of the year. That ownership strategy sounds like a great idea. You would have to be sure you are open to the conclusion they come to. Perhaps by setting parameters that you are willing to accept, you can achieve ownership and your sanity!
I will be interested to hear how this works for you. For myself, it seems unsustainable to be grading late work throughout the semester and I wonder if students would be lazy about turning things in on-time without the requirement (I know I need deadlines). I also wonder whether students will actually turn in all of their assignments thereby allowing their "I" to become a number other than zero.
ReplyDeleteI have to share my opinion about the zeros too. Although I can see how zeros have a big impact mathematically, I think we are losing sight of what our current grading system is when we eliminate them. I think a zero is appropriate for NO work. Under our current system, a student does not even reach the grading scale unless they have accomplished 60% of the work. Students can and do perform below this and receive varying levels of F for not reaching this minimum standard (you might earn 3 points out of 10 possible on a quiz). They receive points toward their total grade for these failures but it obviously lowers their potential to earn a high grade. The explanation we got in class seems to assume that there is only one step between a D and an F but that is not true. There are really at least 5 levels of F (plus zero) but we just don't distinguish between them because they all describe "unacceptable" performance. I could go on about this (ad nauseam) but it's hard to explain without drawings, hand motions, and occasionally jumping up and down.
I just thought of a visual image...sorry if I'm now entering ad nauseam!
ReplyDeleteImagine you are given a cup to fill and your grade is based on filling this cup. Each time you are given an assignment it is like adding water to the cup. If you don't get full credit on the assignment, it's like you spilled some of the water while you poured. If you don't do an assignment, it's like tossing the water over your shoulder. In order to receive credit for the class, you must fill the cup to 60% (otherwise you have not demonstrated that you have learned the material). If you turn in every assignment, then you have the potential to fill the cup above 90% and earn an A. A zero is only a consequence of throwing away opportunity not a punishment. If we choose to eliminate zeros, it means that we want to change the basis of our grading system. It does not make something right that has been wrong all along, it just means we want to change the way we measure competence.
In my opinion, if we are only concerned with mastery of content then we can eliminate course grades entirely and just use standardized tests as our measure.
Julie,
ReplyDeleteYou bring up a variety of good--and persuasive!--points that made me reconsider my views (which is awesome). Here is one thought that came to mind:
Imagine, for example, that we had never been exposed to the 100 point scale. Let's say, for the sake of argument, that we had only known a five point scale that was used for all types of grading: 1=A, 2=B, 3=C, 4=D, 5=F. Without the knowledge of the 100 point alternative, would we differentiate between a 5/F and an I (for incomplete work)? Perhaps we would by creating another structure or perhaps we wouldn't, in which case we would be using something that is similar to what we discussed in class.
Another problem with the Incomplete System (capital letters!) that I haven't figured out: If an instructor doesn't want to be getting late assignments all the time (which I don't!) they could simply set dates. For example, if you don't turn something in on time then the best you can do is 60%. However, because you must have every assignment in in order to get a grade, you must turn in late work. Okay, that's fine and dandy, but what about making a rule that says, "Nothing can be turned in once it's a week late. Not even for 60%." That's also fine and dandy... until on week two of the term a student hasn't turn in the first assignment. Does that mean they fail the class?
I suppose what I'm getting at is that there are also flaws with the "new grading" idea, some of which you pointed out very clearly. However, there are flaws with the old way too. It seems the best method would be to combine the two in one way or another. Suggestions on how to do that are always welcome!