Comments on: Why Grade to Assess? http://jasontbedell.com/why-grade-to-assess Making Connections for Learning Thu, 10 May 2012 09:10:00 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 By: ktenkely http://jasontbedell.com/why-grade-to-assess/comment-page-1#comment-919 ktenkely Tue, 27 Jul 2010 16:23:42 +0000 http://jasontbedell.com/?p=679#comment-919 Excellent! I am a big fan of Easy Grade Pro too, as far as a grading system goes it is simple to use and offers great flexibility. I applaud you for taking another look at your grading practices and moving away from the arbitrary number/letter and instead making it useful for students and parents as they track learning and understanding. Excellent! I am a big fan of Easy Grade Pro too, as far as a grading system goes it is simple to use and offers great flexibility. I applaud you for taking another look at your grading practices and moving away from the arbitrary number/letter and instead making it useful for students and parents as they track learning and understanding.
ktenkely´s last [type] ..Answer Garden

]]> By: Laura http://jasontbedell.com/why-grade-to-assess/comment-page-1#comment-912 Laura Mon, 26 Jul 2010 22:33:57 +0000 http://jasontbedell.com/?p=679#comment-912 I have recently switched to Standards Bases Grading and I am a big fan. I feel the emphasis is now based on the objectives rather than the A. I have not made the move to no grades, however, I do feel that standards based grading has made teaching more objective rather than subjective. When grading assessments or discussing student achievement, my students always have a say in where they think they are currently. My top students are the ones that struggled the most with the move at first. Although since our district as a whole has made a move, this has lessened. The greatest change has been in the students that were failing. Now since that is not an option, all students seem to understand learning is the goal; failure is not an option. You have given me something to think about going one step further with no grades. Interesting... I have recently switched to Standards Bases Grading and I am a big fan. I feel the emphasis is now based on the objectives rather than the A. I have not made the move to no grades, however, I do feel that standards based grading has made teaching more objective rather than subjective. When grading assessments or discussing student achievement, my students always have a say in where they think they are currently. My top students are the ones that struggled the most with the move at first. Although since our district as a whole has made a move, this has lessened. The greatest change has been in the students that were failing. Now since that is not an option, all students seem to understand learning is the goal; failure is not an option. You have given me something to think about going one step further with no grades. Interesting…

]]> By: Alfonso Gonzalez http://jasontbedell.com/why-grade-to-assess/comment-page-1#comment-899 Alfonso Gonzalez Sat, 24 Jul 2010 00:57:56 +0000 http://jasontbedell.com/?p=679#comment-899 Clay, while I agree that teachers should use personal comments I have to respectfully disagree that we also need to continue using an archaic form of competitive rating system to communicate how our students are doing in school. In 19 years of teaching I have not seen grades work successfully for any but a small group. And even for those happy few at the "top" grades tell them very little in terms of what they need to know to continue learning. Getting an A just informs students to stop working and move on to something else. Besides, those same A students will be successful whether they get A's or teacher comments. I can no longer subscribe to a system where only a few feel successful at the expense of the many. There is nothing wrong with the majority and many of them grow up to be successful, so why not make them feel successful and happy while learning by not giving them C's or 2's or not calling them average? Why do we need to rate students to end up with some at the top, a bunch in the "middle," and some at the bottom? And I certainly can't and will not subscribe to, "that's just the way life is." Seriously? Why? Change happens and the thing that I know for sure is that we can't stop it. I'll end with saying that if everyone focused on grades there is very much wrong with that. By focusing on grades we lose focus on learning. Worse even, we lose the joy of learning. Can't you see it? Clay, while I agree that teachers should use personal comments I have to respectfully disagree that we also need to continue using an archaic form of competitive rating system to communicate how our students are doing in school. In 19 years of teaching I have not seen grades work successfully for any but a small group. And even for those happy few at the “top” grades tell them very little in terms of what they need to know to continue learning. Getting an A just informs students to stop working and move on to something else. Besides, those same A students will be successful whether they get A’s or teacher comments.

I can no longer subscribe to a system where only a few feel successful at the expense of the many. There is nothing wrong with the majority and many of them grow up to be successful, so why not make them feel successful and happy while learning by not giving them C’s or 2′s or not calling them average? Why do we need to rate students to end up with some at the top, a bunch in the “middle,” and some at the bottom? And I certainly can’t and will not subscribe to, “that’s just the way life is.” Seriously? Why? Change happens and the thing that I know for sure is that we can’t stop it.

I’ll end with saying that if everyone focused on grades there is very much wrong with that. By focusing on grades we lose focus on learning. Worse even, we lose the joy of learning. Can’t you see it?

]]> By: Clay Boggess http://jasontbedell.com/why-grade-to-assess/comment-page-1#comment-894 Clay Boggess Fri, 23 Jul 2010 14:34:06 +0000 http://jasontbedell.com/?p=679#comment-894 I think that teachers should be able to use both personal comments and grades. There needs to be a standard to which everyone is measured and that is where grades come in. If everyone is focused on grades there is nothing wrong with that because most students and parents will strive for a higher standard. Being able to be measured creates competition which pushes people to work harder because they know that they will be evaluated based on how well they do compared to their peers. That's just the way life is whether you're a child or an adult. I think that teachers should be able to use both personal comments and grades. There needs to be a standard to which everyone is measured and that is where grades come in. If everyone is focused on grades there is nothing wrong with that because most students and parents will strive for a higher standard. Being able to be measured creates competition which pushes people to work harder because they know that they will be evaluated based on how well they do compared to their peers. That’s just the way life is whether you’re a child or an adult.

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