Grading in Fieldwork Space

 

Grades often cause anxiety for students and “are gatekeepers and too often they shut student out of further learning, even when that is not our intent.” (Siggins, 332) As a student, it’s very hard not to take grades personal. As far as I can remember, grading was an emotional rollercoaster experience for me. Whenever I received a bad grade on an assignment, I saw that as a reflection of my personal worth. I thought the teacher was judging me personally, and that had an impact on my self-esteem.  Consequently, my self-esteem would be back up when I got a better grade.  I think the grading process of teachers have evolved (for the better) over the years. 

 

In the classrooms I’m observing, the teachers communicate their grading policies, criteria, and standards in their class’s syllabi on the first day of class.  They are transparent and upfront about their grading standards, expressing to students (and their parents) exactly what it takes to get an “A” in the class and on assignments, and consequently, what will get them an "F." The classes I’m observing are currently doing a writing unit.  In the beginning of the unit, teachers had the students brainstorm in class and come up with two topics to write about for their personal narrative essays.  For homework, they were to bullet list as much details as possible for those two topics. The next day, the teacher went around the room to light grade the assignment.  She make a checkmark on papers of students who had completed the assignment and provided them with a quick constructive feedback. This type of grading motivates students to engage in the assignment, but does not require the teacher’s full attention.

 

I think the grading for the classes I am observing are fair and reasonable.  The teachers inform students about their grading policies, criteria, and standards for the class in the class syllabi.  They express their expectations clearly and thoroughly in the syllabus, rubrics, and verbally reminds students regularly.  According to Stiggins, “Our first responsibility as teachers is to ensure that grades provide an accurate reflections of all students’ actual level of academic achievement.” (10)  The most common grade given by teachers in the classrooms are letter grades, which are a representation of students' level of academic achievement. In the narrative essay unit, students have begun to hand in their first draft of their personal narrative essays this week.  Stiggins says, “Our second responsibility [as teachers] is to minimize any negative impacts of the grading process on learning.” (334) Along with giving the students a letter grade for their rough drafts, teachers also provide constructive comments, to help the students understand why they were graded the way they were.  For example, a teacher might write, “Although your thesis statement is interesting, try making it more of an abstract conclusion and not a statement of fact or an observation.” These type of feedback encourages students to think critically about their assignments and to reflect on what they need to improve next time.

How Formative Assessment Is Used in My Fieldwork Space

One of the 9^th grade English classes I am doing my observation on is just finishing up a writing unit on Sherman Alexie’s novel The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian. They are currently working on writing personal narrative describing an important moment in their lives.  The teachers give students the liberty of choosing their own topic about an experience that taught them a lesson, or
they have the option of choosing 1 of 8 prescribed topics.  All 9^th grade English teachers are using the same the writing unit. In the previous weeks leading to the unit’s final, students were assessed through quick write activities, written and oral responses, classroom discussions/participation (small groups and larger class), reader’s bookmark, and journaling as they read chapters of the book. 

According to Leahy,”…teachers have become aware of the need to carefully plan the questions that they use in class. Many of our teachers now spend more time planning instruction than grading student work, a practice that emphasizes the shift from quality control to quality assurance. By thinking more carefully about the questions they ask in class, teachers can check on students' understanding while the students are still in the class rather than after they have left, as is the case with grading.” (3) I think what Leahy is saying is reflective of what the English teaches I’m working with are doing. Students were given a daily quick writes and weekly reading quizzes at the beginning of the class. The questions the teacher posed for the quick write activities were ones that related to characters and/or themes within assigned chapters of the book and ones students were familiar with.  

Towards the end of each class, one teacher would take an exit-slip, asking students for feedback on the success of the class activities and discussions, and how they can improve them. Students almost always responded positively and their responses were often interesting and reflective. This gave the teacher an idea of whether or not the students were motivated by their learning. According to Siggins, “the more involved students are in keeping track of achievement, the more in touch they are with their own progress, which has positive motivational benefits.” (303) In the classrooms I am observing, students are learning while at the same time the teachers are gathering valuable information about their student’s understanding and learning.

Although my discipline is not in math, I found this video about how one teacher uses formative assessment to help students of color, economically disadvantaged students, and students with disabilities, better understand mathematics vocabulary. Since we're all striving to become Urban teachers and we'll be working with said students, I thought it would be of some benefit.