FIAE Chapter 11: Six Burning Grading Issues

This chapter talks about six issues with grading that a lot of teachers have major concern with and they are: whether to record a zero or a sixty, how to grade gifted students, weighing grades, automaticity versus concept attainment, grading late work, and grading special needs students in inclusion classes. First off, recording a zero for late work gives an inaccurate picture of the student’s mastery of the content. The book suggests recording a sixty instead, it is still failing, but on a hundred point scale it brings down the average a lot less. When it comes to grading gifted students in a regular class, the teacher has to make a choice whether to grade the student according to the standards that his or her peers have or to make higher standards and hold the student to that. Either way the expectations and standards should be made clear to the student and to the parents that way everyone knows what the grades mean. This brings up the idea of weighing certain grades more heavily than others to make the fact that the student had to work harder for a grade count. The book suggests the rule, “credit proportional to achievement.” The idea of whether to count automaticity level of learning or concept attainment level depends on how long students have had to develop their understanding of the topic. A test should measure whichever the teacher believes is important to measure. If this is the first time students have been exposed to this concept then automaticity comprehension of learning is not a fair expectation for students. When it comes to grading late work, the book suggests mercy as a good rule of thumb for students who pass in late work occasionally. For the students who chronically turn in late work other adjustments should be made. Taking off a few points, will help them understand the importance of deadlines. Lastly, the chapter makes one big point about grading special needs student, communication. Communication between the special education teacher, who knows the student’s IEP and what is developmentally appropriate for the student, and the regular education teacher, who is an expert in the curriculum, is important to set standards by which the student will be assessed. Solutions to this obstacle will come through communication and reevaluating the progress of the student. This affects me as a teacher by understanding the most common areas outside of the mainstream students. What I took out of this chapter is to set standards and stick to them. From there if changes need to be made for special circumstances I know where I am starting from and I can catch myself if I stray too far. This affects my students by helping them always know what is expected of them. If also helps them realize that I will not punish them for late work if it is on occasion.