My Imagined SBG Makeover

This post is my way of flushing out changes to my SBG approach as I prepare my syllabus for the start of fall classes. Your comments will play a vital part in shaping my plan. Thank-you in advance.

Three years ago my math colleagues and I set out on a book study of Marzano's Classroom Assessment & Grading That Work and agreed that we would do the following:

-Stop counting homework for a grade

-Stop entering effort & participation grades

-Allow retakes for quizzes & tests

-Weight our grades as 80% content skills and 20% process standards

-Use a 0-4 scale to indicate mastery.

You'd think that with those agreements we would be more alike than different. Whatever.

We were suddenly all on our own island, using our own version of Standards Based Grading (SBG). My system was simple, identify learning goals, teach, assess, provide feedback, and allow retakes. Three things became apparent over time. First, when did the LEARNING take place? My emphasis was on regular assessments...and I was darned good at it! Secondly, my students took the "scores" I assigned as judgement against them and figured out how to play the system instead. Third, my scores lost fidelity once I put them in the gradebook. It was just as impossible to fail as it was to average an A. Then a revelation of sorts...I got run over by the SBG Express...repeatedly! It was one heck-of-an experience! I still have questions though.

My most pressing question involves reporting grades. Let me be clear....I get the idea of skills lists. I understand individualized assessments, quality feedback, tracking progress, and self-reflection. I feel like everyone is saying the same thing. One big happy-go-lucky SBG PLN. But then we all go back to our fun-loving classrooms and hammer out our own grade reporting system! Of course some of us don't have to report grades. I hope to join that crowd soon. Until then, let me finish with my rant.

Here is where I am with my SBG plan for next year. My skills list is a work-in-progress. I have my tracking and self-reflection sheets all planned out in my mind. I have my assessment plan neatly brainstormed on my Blackberry. I am dead-in-the-water when it comes to grades! I cannot...no, I will not continue with a dysfunctional practice of averaging scores one quarter at a time! I do not like having to strategically decide when to cut-off grading for a particular set of skills just because the calendar says we need to start over. I don't like the climate it has created. I'm done with students looking only at the score I give them and nothing else. I have not written a letter or percentage grade on a quiz or test in over three years. Apparently that doesn't mean much because they still make assumptions about their ability when they see a score from 0 to 4.

Here is what I am wondering:

• Do I keep my gradebook open all year long (80 skills give-or-take)?
• Should feedback to students include below-approaching-meeting-exceeding standard on skills (no numeric, letter, or percentage grade)?
• Should the number of skills taught to-date increase each quarter (20 first quarter, 40 second, etc.) or should I only worry about a finite number of skills each quarter?
• Should final grades be based on the number of skills students have mastered (ie. 18-20 for an A, 15-17 for a B, etc.) or some other method?
• Is it in my best interests to go back to assigning scores for each skill?

Fortunately my Summer Clubhouse session just ended and I can turn my focus to putting the finishing touches on my plan for when classes start on September 8th. I could use your help...