Chapter 8: Grading and Reporting Achievement

Most teachers can see the need for differentiated instruction but when it comes time to dole out grades, questions arise. The biggest question is, “How does a single letter describe what the student has mastered or even the progress the student has made?” The answer is that it does not. This chapter answers the next question which is, “well, what do we do about that fact?” To understand how to move forward is also to understand that grades and assessment are not the same thing. Assessment is gathering information about what the students have mastered and using that information to improve the students’ learning. A grade is an end judgment of achievement. The purpose of grades is to effectively communicate a student’s achievement, growth, and mastery. Students’ achievement should be based on the specified, clearly outlined, and criterion based standards, that measure what we want it to measure. It should not matter when the student master the material. Penalizing a student for not learning the material in the time frame that we designate as appropriate does not help anyone. With that in mind, how functional is a zero in the grade book? The only thing it proves is that the student did not turn the work in on time or did not understand the material in time for the test. When the student eventually learns the material, the zero should change to reflect the mastery, too often it does not. A student’s work habits are important, but they should be reported separate from the achievement grade. If a student knows the material, but just has a hard time turning in papers on time, it should not affect the grade. The main point of this chapter is that grades should be reported in three segments, one to show the achievement or mastery of the material, another to show a student’s progress toward the goal, and the last to show a student’s work habits. Too often these are combined together in one grade and can lower a grade, which is an unfair representation of the student’s knowledge. This affects me as a teacher by making clear the problem with the current grade system. In the future, I plan to submit the single grade that the administration expects but also to include an attachment that elaborates on the student’s progress and work habits. This affects my students by their grades more accurately reflecting their mastery, progress, and work habits.