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Running head: IMPLIMENTATION OF GRADING FOR LEARNING 1
Implementation of Grading For Learning
Final Project for EDU 6600
April M. Simon
Seattle Pacific University
Running head: IMPLIMENTATION OF GRADING FOR LEARNING 2
School Improvement Goals
Educate teachers how to grade for student learning
Create a standards based grading scale to improve communication between teachers, students
and parents.
Choose and paint a picture of this setting
The Everett School District is a diverse district that serves a variety of students. Currently I
work at the alternative high School Sequoia. 60% of our student population struggles with
poverty, and for many students coming to school is a daily struggle. The teacher student ratio is
about 15:1 and class sizes are no larger than 17 students. This enables teachers to reach as many
students as possible. In a fifty
minute class period, teachers can
spend about 2 ½ minutes with
each student. Even though the
cap for class size is 17, because
of a variety of reasons,
oftentimes the class size is more
like 10-15.
Student Demographics from
OSPI
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Teacher Demographics OSPI
Present level of performance
Many students do not pass the
classes the first time they enroll in
them at Sequoia. They have to take
the same classes more than once. At
times, the reasons they do not pass
their classes are out of their hands. These issues include: medical issues, housing issues, and
transportation issues. Attendance is also another barrier that impedes student learning and
growth. Some of the teachers within the Everett School District have a growth mindset, and a
grading for learning mindset. However, others choose to give zeros and grade based on
compliance. Although it is important for students to learn to turn work in on time, one has to
think what skill are we assessing? A push for a growth mindset methodology is a frequent topic
of discussion in education. This mindset has been part of several professional development
opportunities throughout the school year. At the onset of the school year, I attended a
professional development conference. At this conference a district personnel mentioned that a
goal of hers was to not have teachers give points for turning in the syllabus.
Sequoia’s Level of Performance Compared to Other High Schools Level of Performance in the District and the State
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Information from OSPI and a Staff Meeting on August 27, 2014
Analyze a Need or Two
One need is to create a grading scale that is truly standards based. It is somewhat difficult with
the program we have. This scale is needed to truly demonstrate student growth and learning at
our school. I need to help teachers understand the importance of grading for learning so that
students have an understanding of what that means. Grading for learning in my class should
translate and be somewhat similar to what grading for learning looks in other English classes and
classes throughout the building. This of course does not impede on what teachers teach, because
many of our teachers already teach to the common core state standards. This is what our
students will be tested on this spring. Students need to be familiar with the standards and the
types of tasks they will be asked to complete on this test. Studies have shown that if students
know where they are going, then they perform better. If students knew the learning targets, or
standards that are being addressed on a daily basis, then they may be more willing to attend
class, knowing that if they miss a day, they truly are missing an important day of learning.
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Standards Based Grade Scale
Standard Categories as “I can” statements
Plan to mediate or implement a solution
During term two (October-early November) I tested out the
standards based grading scale that I created. Standards based grading
is something that I truly believe in and I am willing to work out the
kinks in my grading scale. After sharing the scale with some colleagues, several helpful
suggestions were provided. One was to change the NC to NE. This is because NC translates as
no credit for many of our students, when all I really want to indicate that there is no evidence for
that standard. Another suggestion was to combine the NC (No Credit) and Inc (incomplete
category) into one category. In order to do that I would have to change the range of scores for
Inc. category; which currently ends at one. It would need to be changed to include a zero. These
discussions took place between: October 31-November 7th.
What I need to do now is let more teachers in on how to grade for learning. About once a month,
the English department and sometimes the social study department, gathers together for a PLC
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meeting. During one of those Fridays, I can bravely take on a leadership role and help teachers
understand how to grade for learning. I can use some of the reasoning presented by O’Connor,
and Stiggins, to help back up my reasoning. One or perhaps both of these authors explain the
harms of using percentages. I remember reading that one noted, what really is the difference
between an 86% and 87%? I figure the more teachers I have on board with me, the more our
students will benefit from grading for learning. In my presentation I can also include the benefits
for teachers. The grading scale can be used for TPEP as well as the Pro-Cert, because it is an
accurate measure of student growth and learning. Grading for learning also helps teachers be
clear about learning objects, both daily and the end of term objectives. Backwards design
supports grading for learning. I need to make sure that I emphasize that grading for learning
does not lower our expectations for students, instead it actually raises them. If students truly
understand what our goals are as teachers, they will rise to the occasion.
Stiggins cites a review of studies conducted by Paul Black and Dylan Wiliam. In their review
they discovered that, “certain formative assessment practices increased the achievement of low-
performing students to the point of approaching that of high-achieving students.”(Stiggins, 2012
p. 22). Sitggins goes on to cite, “Opportunities for students to express their understanding should
be designed into any piece of teaching for this will initiate the interaction through which
formative assessment aids learning.” (Stiggins, 2012, p. 22). At least once I week as part of an
entry or exit task, I ask students to write about what they have learned in English and if they have
any questions. This assignment allows me to adjust my own teaching if necessary, and to answer
any questions they may have. This ties directly into grading for learning, it helps me clarify any
misconceptions early, and this is especially helpful for Sequoia’s fast paced term system. The
example above and others will help convince some of the naysayers of grading for learning.
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Another valid point that O’Connor makes in his book How to Grade For Learning is that
“numbers can be crunched in a variety of ways. They also demonstrate that depending on the
distribution of the students’ scores and the method chosen, students can receive very different
grades from the same set of scores.“ (O’Connor, 2009, p. 41).
As suggested by several peers, I will also design a professional development day to introduce the
idea of a study group/ lesson study, as well as another day to introduce the grading scale to the
entire staff. First, a professional development day will have to be used to introduce the scale to
my PLC, which includes a total of eight members. Norms will be established to emphasize a
trusting environment, and ideas about the scale will be discussed. At the end of term four, the
idea of a lesson study will be introduced during one of our LIF Friday’s. LIF Friday’s are days
designed for collaboration. This is a perfect opportunity for a lesson study to occur. During this
meeting, team members will collaborate and use the results of the scale and categories to
determine the lessons that provided successful growth for our students.
A professional development day to introduce the grading scale to the entire staff will have to
occur at the onset of term five in order to help teachers understand the components of the grading
scale as well as the philosophy behind standards based grading. On this day, I will describe the
success and necessary areas for improvement. These successes and areas of improvement will
be based on the English Department’s and Social Studies analysis of the use of the standards
based grading scale during term four. The results of the lesson study will also be discussed
during this meeting.
Then to take the lesson study to the entire staff, some more time during one of our call-back days
can be used to discuss this idea with the entire staff. This will help teachers understand the
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importance of a lesson study and what a lesson study looks like. We complete a version of this
when we have data team meetings about success time. Many teachers may be willing to
participate because Sequoia is a school that focuses on growth. I will again have to emphasize
the need to help our students grow and the importance of developing and analyzing best
practices.
Plan as assessment/evaluation of how to monitor goal, action progress
At the end of term four (late December-February 2), the teachers who have agreed to use the
scale will print off grade reports which will demonstrate by standard what students have learned
and the lessons or assignments that have helped them reach the proficient level. We can then
analyze these reports to help us determine the best practices and strategies that helped our
students learn. In essence we can come up with a lesson study or studies to help propel student
learning. (Zepeda, 2012).
At the conclusion of term four (late December-February 2), we can also pull out our attendance
reports and compare and contrast attendance based on the use of the grading scale, to see if the
grading scale had any impact on attendance. We can look at the attendance of our students
during term three and compare that to the attendance of our students during term four. Of course
given that many holidays and other state testing occurs during term four, there may be other
variables that we have to consider when examining attendance. The re-vamped grading scale
may not be the only contributing factor to an improved attendance or a decline in attendance.
Find and collect evidence or describe as you go and demonstrate the progress change.
As other English teachers use the grading scale and categories, I will see if the standards based
grading scale contributes to an increase in attendance and understanding of what is being learned
throughout the year. It will help to be a predictor of how students will perform on the new
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Smarter Balanced test as well as other district wide tests this year. Additionally, because the
language I use in the grading scale
corresponds to the rubrics used to assess
student learning which comes from the
adopted textbook, our team can more
readily determine if the new textbook
adoption is suitable for our student
population and school design.
Rubric provided by Springboard
The only difference is that excellent has
been changed to Above Standard on my
grading scale. This is to prevent confusion in coding the scale. If I had two “E’s” in my scale
students may not know if they scored excellent or emerging. The textbook we are using was
written by the College Board and is very rigorous. All the activities in the textbook are aligned
with the Common Core State Standards (CCSS), and each unit has essential questions to explore
throughout the unit. Learning targets which pinpoint components of the CCSS are the focus of
the lessons within the book, which help guide student learning so that they will be successful on
the summative. Each summative for the unit is a different essay, and these scores on the essay
are what the district will examine to see if students have successfully mastered the content of the
unit.
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At the end of each monthly
term, teachers can run
reports that generate how
students performed on the
various standards. This
will give us a nice
overview of what and how
much knowledge students
are acquiring in our
classes. These reports are
easily emailed to staff,
parents, as well as
community members.
Each report is accessible
by district personnel as well.
The various strands are color coded, red for the reading strand, yellow for the listening and
speaking strand, blue for the writing strand and green for the grammar strand. The score directly
to the right of the standard is the average score for that standard. As one can see, some standards
have several assignments assigned to them. This gives students several chances to master the
same standard. The different chances usually appeal to a variety of learning modalities.
Currently students have to complete all of the assignments in the category. This may change as I
continue to develop this grading system. For example, if one examines summarizing a text, there
are three assignments that fall under that standard. One is a video, another is from a test and a
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third is an actual summary. Each assignment addresses the standard at a different depth of
knowledge level, as well as a different learning modality. The system is far from perfect, I hope
through collaboration and communication to continually improve throughout the school year.
Collaborate with staff and administration for this project and work towards excellent in the rubric/framework
In order to implement the grading scale I have communicated with my principal in order to
approve the scale. I have also exchanged email and had a meeting with the individual at the
district level who pushes grading scales into the program so that all teachers have access to the
scale as well. Because I communicated with these individuals, the grading scale will be available
all year, and for each monthly term for any teacher who works at our school to use. When I make
the revisions to the grading scale, I now know who I can contact and the people who will support
and help me with this process.
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References
Bishop, P. Challancin, S. Crisp, B., DeMaret, P. et al. Springboard: English language arts grade
10. United States: Collegeboard.
O’Connor, K. (2009). How to Grade for Learning (3rd Ed.) Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin.
Stiggins, R. J., Arter, J. A., Chappuis, J., & Chappuis, S. (2012). Classroom assessment for
student learning: Doing it right - Using it well. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson
Education, Inc.
Washington State Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction. (2014). PB105B Report for
Sequoia High School (8284) for 2012-2013. Retrieved from https://eds.ospi.k12.wa.us
Zepada, S. J. (2012). Professional development: What works. (2nd ed). New York. Eye on
Education.