Introduction to the Topic:
A vital part of education in classrooms across the United States is grading. Grades, which can be defined in different ways such as letters, numbers, and even symbols such as pluses and minuses. Historically, the purpose of grades has been used to help all stakeholders identify how well students are performing in the classroom. No Child Left Behind and the Common Core State standards have moved education reform in a focused direction of teaching to standards. (Ametepee, Tchinsala, & Agbeh, 2014) The way in which teachers assign grades has continued to be controversial.
(Cross & Frary, 1999) Grading is often a strong philosophy that teachers are passionate about. For students, grades can determine many paths such as college choices and scholarships. The emotional and social implications that grades carry are additional reasons that they should be given systematically purposefully and thoughtfully. In most conventional grading practices, one grade may sum up of achievement in subject, and that one grade frequently included subjective measures such as behavior and effort.
(Brookhart, 2011) Traditional grading is typically on a 100-point scale and often times the one grade in a particular subject is the average of several grades earned in a specific time period such as a quarter or semester.
A grading practice that becoming more popular is standards based grading. Many educators believe that standards based grading can and should replace traditional grading practices. (Scriffiny, 2008) There are several advantages to using a standards based grading system. One of the most important alignments to standards assessment and instruction, which makes it learner centered.
(Colby, 1999).
Statement of the Problem:
When teachers assign grades, they should be directly linked to the state standards and provide a clear picture of where the student falls in the progression of masterly towards that standard? How can students, parents and other stakeholders know exactly what students need when grading includes such subjective measures as effort and neatness? Traditional grading practices provide little useful information about a specific student. (Marzano & Hefflebower, 2011) Some may argue that implementation of a standards based report card in all school is an obvious solution while others may argue that there are too many logistical and societal barriers.
Purpose of Study:
The purpose of this study is to examine the benefits of implementing standards based grading (report cards )and to identify potential barriers to the success of implementation.
Research Question 1:
Does implementing standards based grading (report cards)better inform all stakeholders and increase student success?
Research Question 2:
What are the potential barriers to success in implementing standards based report card?
Definition of Terms:
Standards Based Grading (MORE TERMS WILL BE INSERTED)
Traditional Grading Scale
Summary:
The goal of this study is to explore the implementation of standards based report and assess if the benefits outweigh the barriers to success in implementation. While there is a significant amount of research that supports the implementation and practices of standards based grading, there few school districts that have made the shift, especially at the high school level. This study will research the benefits and barrier to standards based grading mostly in elementary schools but will also touch on high school as well.
Chapter2
Literature Review
History of Pertinent Educational Policies
This section provides some history of school and government policies have helped to shape today’s grading methods in American classrooms today. Schools have changed areas of focus for hundreds of years throughout history. Before 1642, most schools focused on reaching religion and were primarily on for males from wealthy families. (Kirschenbaum, Napier, & Simon, 1971)The Old Deldar Satan Act of 1642 changed this. This act required schools to teach reading and writing to all students in towns that had fifty or more households. It was not until the late 1800’s that a tradition grading system was developed. The emphasis on standards did not come to light until the 1980’s and early 1990’s due to the release of A Nation at Risk (National Commission on Excellence in Education, 1983). After the release that report, schools in the United States began in to take a closer look at standards, especially after No Child Left Behind was enacted. In 2014, many states implemented Common Core State Standards and those continue to be the main focus in classrooms today. (Kirschenbaum et al., 1971)
Throughout the twentieth century, schools in the United States saw some large changes that benefited education for minorities in such cases as Plessey v. Ferguson and Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka. In the case of Plessey v. Ferguson of 1897, an African American male would not give up his seat to a white male on a bus that was intended for whites only. The ruling actually stated that African American was an inferior race and could not be considered the same in the eyes of the Constitution, but since there were other amendments that gave African American equal rights, the idea of separate but equal was established. The Supreme Court allowed schools to take this separate but equal approach, which allowed schools to keep students segregated by race, but it required them to provide the same education. Segregation continued until the ruling in Brown v. Board of Education in 1954. The Supreme Court handed down a final decision in May of 1954. The decision stated that segregating students in public schools based on their race was unconstitutional and that separate but equal did not apply to public education. The court put in in the hands of each state to decide how to desegregated their schools but then within a year a law was passed telling stated how to do it. It took years for desegregation to take place. The Brown v. Board of Education decision highlighted the importance of all students having the right to an education (Brown vs. Board of Education, 1954).
The National Commission on Excellence in Education published A Nation at Risk in 1983. This was a study that suggested schools in the United States were falling behind other schools around the world. An issues cited in the study was watered down that was not as rigorous as other countries. Other issues cited were unprepared teachers who often did not use time effectively and did not have high expectations. The study suggested some ideas to help American schools keep up with other countries. One suggestion in particular was to have an emphasis on learning standards and that schools needed to adopt rigorous and measurable standards. (National Commission on Excellence in Education, 1983). This was a the beginning of the emphasis on standards-based curiuculim.nu it was not until almost twenty years later that this issue was pushed by a movement call No Child Left Behind.
No Child Left Behind (NCLB), was a law that was passed by Congress and was developed and promoted by the Bush administration. NCLB was put into effect on January 8, 2002. The Act was designed to hold school districts more accountable for every child’s educational rights. The primary goal was to make sure students from low-income families were offered same educational experiences as middle and upper class students. (No Child Left Behind [NCLB], 2002) This was an attempt to help close the educational poverty gap. Under NCLB students were required to take one state standardized test a year in reading and math. Based on the test, teachers and parents could see which students were struggling. These test results were then made public. Schools that did not meet or exceed set standards every year were placed on an improvement list. Schools hat were placed on this list had to prepare a school improvement plan and found themselves in danger of losing funding or possibly having to close their doors if their plan did not work (NCLB, 2002) Because of this, districts were trying to find new ways to meet the needs of all students, especially those who were struggling. School districts wanted to make sure that all students were making progress. Creating standards-driven curriculum and teaching based on that was one way school districts tried to accomplish this on the standards in the classroom.
By the year 2014, NCLB required that every school should have 100% of their students meeting or exceeding standards. However, by the year 2010 there were already over 30,000 schools on the needs improvement plan, and it was evident that this number would only grow to include almost every school by the year 2014 (Karp, 2010). In 2009 state leaders began to develop a set of standards that would be consistent from state to state. They realized that although every state since the 1990’s had adopted standards, the standards varied from state to state and the definition of a student being proficient in a standard also varied from state to state.
This new set of standards would be known as the Common Core State Standards, or CCSS (2014). The standards would be divided into two main categories: college and career readiness standards and the K-12 standards. The college and career readiness standards identified what students should know by the time they graduate from high school. The K-12 standards identified what should be taught in elementary and high school (Common Core Standards Initiative, 2014).
Because school districts began to change their curriculum to be more standards-based, educators began to recognize issues with the traditional grading system that was being used in most school districts and across all levels.
The American education system has undergone several changes in curriculum, teaching standards and requirements. Schools continue to grow in the attempts to meet the needs of more diverse populations. Schools clienteles greatly evolved since the days of primarily white male students. With all the changes that schools have seem in the last hundred years, one area that appears to have little to no change is the traditional grading system. (Kirschenbaum et al., 1971)
Traditional Grading System
Today, most public schools in the United states use this traditional grading system that is know as the letter grading system or the ABCDF system, In a traditionally grading system, letter grades are given to student sin each subject to indicate the level if success that the student is achieving. Typically, all the grades that the student receives are averaged together to make up a students grade point average or GPA. This grading was originally intended for colleges and originated at Mt. Holyoke College in 1897 (Kirschenbaum et al., 1971)
There are several types of traditional grading systems including total point scoring and weighting grades (Whitney &Culligan, 2004). According to Whitney and Culligan (2004), there are two primary theories regarding traditional grading. Both of these theories have some advantages and disadvantages. The first traditional grading practice is total points scoring. Whitney and Culligan, (2004) explained that this requires that every assignment is given a certain number of points. At the end of the grading period the teacher would take the total number of points the student earned and divide it by the total number of points available. Researchers claim that an advantage to this system is that the teacher can explain grades to parents and students and it is easy to understand. Another advantage is that the teacher can assign a higher umber points to larger projects. One issue of concern is that may be difficult for a teacher to be able to determine how many points each assignment should be worth and the rationale behind that decision. Unfortunately for students, total-points scoring system makes it difficult for them to bring up a low grade. For example, a student may struggle with a concept when it is first being taught but later master it. Since the student would score fewer points at first, this would lower the student’s final grade and not give an accurate picture of the current level of mastery. (Whitney & Culligan, 2004).
One common grading practice is weighting grades. According to Whitney and Culligan (2004), weighting grades means that one category is viewed as more important than another category. For example, assignments may make up 25% of an overall grade with quizzes making up another 25% and tests making up the remaining 50%. This practice allows teachers to place more importance on some assignments giving them more points. A potential problem could be that if a teacher gave three tests, but only one quiz in the grading period, this would mean that one quiz counted significantly more than each individual test, even though that was not the intent of the teacher. Although weighting grades may seem like a good idea in theory, teachers often misuse this technique causing grades and students’ actual performance in the classroom to be inaccurate (Whitney & Culligan, 2004).
These two systems appear to have disadvantages of not being able to identify if a student’s grade is low because of poor quality of work, incomplete work, or failure to understand the concept. The student’s overall grade might be a good representation of how many points they earned in the classroom, but it is not good representation of why or how those points were earned. (O’Connor & Wormeli, 2011).
Traditional grading systems sometimes use extra credit. Extra credit may inflate grades and make the final letter not accurately reflect of the student’s progress (O’Connor & Wormeli, 2011). For example, in one classroom pink slips were collected from anyone who asked to go to the bathroom. The reason for the collection was that unused pink slip could be turned in for extra credit at the end of the semester. In this classroom, it may be possible grades could potentially be linked to bathroom usage instead of how that student is performing. Other examples may include teachers giving extra credit for contribution to food drives, participating in spirit days and sighing permission slips. (Erickson, 2011).
According to Erickson (2011), as common as it is for teachers to often inflate grades in a traditional grading system, it is just as common for teachers to deflate grades in a traditional grading system. Students are often penalized for cellphone use, behavior, incomplete work, and attendance. In many schools is is a common practice in schools for students to not be allowed to make up assignments or tests that were issued on a date of an unexcused absence. These kinds of practices may result in the student having a low grade in a class may not reflect that student’s actual level of mastery of the subject matter (Erickson, 2011). Although traditional grading has existed in American schools for over a century, some problem areas have come to light over the years (Kirschenbaum et al., 1971; Whitney & Culligan, 2004). Researchers believe it is not fair that students may receive or lose points based on external circumstances or that students are penalized for not understanding a concept as soon as it is taught, both of which can take place in a traditional grading system (Whitney & Culligan, 2004). There is not enough consistency from class to class, school to school, or district to district with a traditional grading system (O’ Connor & Wormeli, 2011).
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