December 7, 2015 Dear Parents of Students in Grades 6-12, In 2012, the Effective Grading Practices Study Group was formed to examine grading practices at the secondary level in our school district. The group made several recommendations that were adopted into practice and that can be found in the report Grading Standards for Grades 6-12 available on our web site (on the Curriculum Department page). The Effective Grading Practices Study Group has met each year the grading standards have been in effect and did so again on Monday, November 23. The committee heard testimonials from many parents, students and teachers and reviewed student achievement data, feedback from a survey of secondary teachers and research literature on the topic of grading for learning. After having listened to the many stakeholders, the committee has evaluated the current grading practices and has identified specific issues that need to be addressed. We have invited all parents to learn about the committee s proposed changes to the grading practices at a meeting on Monday, December 7, 2015, at either 10:30 a.m. or 6:30 p.m. at the Administration Building. The same information was shared with secondary teachers at staff meetings across the District on Wednesday, December 2. Following the presentation of the committee s recommendations, we are seeking public comment and feedback for a period of approximately two weeks, until December 18, 2015, at 4:00 p.m. You are invited to leave your comments about the recommendations by clicking on this link https://goo.gl/tcoiwk or by scanning the QR code at the bottom of this page. The Effective Grading Practices Study Group will carefully review the public comments, additional changes will be made if needed, and final recommendations will be made. Any adopted changes to the grading practices will be made as soon as is practical.. Sincerely, Romeo Community Schools Effective Grading Practices Study Group Scan this code or go to https://goo.gl/tcoiwk to leave your comments about the attached recommendations by Friday, December 18, at 4:00 p.m.
Communication and Training Recommendations 1. Issue/Problem : Communication with Parents Proposed Solution : 1. Quarterly Newsletters communicating with updates and informational articles educating parents on best practices for grading. Make sure it is consistent with all 4 bldgs. 2. Communication with parents in the fall with grading practices at a meeting during Dawg Days/Open House or as a district. Why : We want parents to understand what we are doing and share our research as to what we are doing and why. Proposed Timeline for Implementation : December Newsletter update on committee work (Jennifer). Newsletter communication/ with article begins in January. 2. Issue/Problem : Communication with Staff Proposed Solution : Administrators work collaboratively with their leadership teams to educate and train their staff to deliver the information to staff. Monthly/Bi-Monthly article delivered to staff and blogging 6-12 to grow deeper in knowledge. Why : To communicate any changes and build understanding of the standards. Proposed Timeline for Implementation: January 3. Issue/Problem : Communication with Students Proposed Solution : Communicating the grading standards to students by reviewing the standards in the classroom. Administrators will provide activities to teachers to use with students. Staff needs to review the why we grade, how we grade, the student s role and the teacher s role. Why : Students need to understand their role and their rights and responsibilities in the grading process. Proposed Timeline for Implementation : January, beginning of 2nd semester
4. Issue/Problem : Staff needs PD to develop their understanding of the policy and best practices in the district. Proposed Solution : The administrators will communicate and train teachers on how to add variety to their summative assessments, summative assessments, summative retakes, instructional practices. Invite Tom Schimmer to talk to the staff Why : Staff needs more education on formative assessment, variety of assessments to use in the classroom, and on instructional practices. Proposed Timeline for Implementation : Beginning in January after the Administrators meet.
Proposed Changes to Grading Procedures 5. Issue/Problem : Not enough summative grades in the grading terms. Proposed Solution : Remove quarter grades and exam grades to reflect 90% summative and 10% formative grades in semester grades. Why: Quarter grades will be removed from the reporting timeline except for current quarter classes. Semester grades will be a continuous collection of grades. This allows for more time to have more summative grades to be used to calculate each grade. Midterms and finals will also become a part of the summative grade no longer 40/40/20. During this school year midterms and finals will become part of the semester grades in the 90/10 process. Proposed Timeline for Implementation: Communication will start this year and continue through 2015-16 school year. The change will then take place for 2016-17 school year for removing the quarter grades and midterm and final grades. 6. Issue/Problem: The current policy does not address reassessment on summative assignments. Because many teachers are not allowing retakes on these summative assessments, many students are lacking confidence that they can achieve the intended mastery in their courses; beyond their formative experiences, they get only one chance to demonstrate their learning. Additionally, with 90% of a student s grade coming from summative assessments, a low, unrecoverable score is frequently leading to grades that are not true reflections of what a student knows and can do in that course. We know from brain research that learning is developmental, and students may need different amounts to time, practice, and remediation to achieve their maximum learning potential. Proposed Solution: Incorporate language that requires teachers allow a student, should he want to and if he follows procedures to demonstrate steps taken to increase understanding of material, to retake summative assessments. See recommended language below on Assessment and Reassessment. Proposed Timeline for Implementation: Our group had differing opinions on a timeline. Several thought this should be implemented starting in the fall of 2016, while some of us thought a second semester implementation is in the best interest of all students.
Appendix A Assessment and Reassessment PURPOSE OF REASSESSMENT Reassessment is intended to provide an additional opportunity to increase learning and demonstrate understanding and shall not be used solely for the purpose of bringing up a student s grade. As teachers continue to improve the use of formative assessment to assess students readiness to take the summative, the need for reassessment will decrease. However, reassessment is intended to provide students with the opportunity to demonstrate understanding and should support student learning and comprehension of the learning targets. Reassessment plans encourage students to increase their understanding of the material in preparation for their reassessment(s). If a student wants to reassess on concepts assessed on a summative activity, the student must communicate this with the teacher and complete the required request for reassessment form (see attached for suggestions). As stated on this form, student must complete and provide evidence (as applicable) that they have completed some type of correctives (e.g., personal study or practice, peer tutoring, study guides, or review classes) before they are allowed second chance opportunities. Any re-teaching, review, or reassessment should be done at a time prearranged with the teacher (O Connor, 2002, How to Grade for Learning: Linking Grades to Standards, p. 133). Second chance opportunities must be made available to all students who have met the reassessment criteria. A student s score on a reassessment should not be averaged with the original score; instead, the most recent evidence of learning, or the reassessment score, should be the recorded grade. In the unlikely event of a lower score on reassessment, the teacher may discuss this with the student and elect to take the higher of the two scores. Should every teacher use the same reassessment form? Reassessments forms may be catered to meet the needs of the teacher/course/assignment. Attached are some suggested forms. Individuals teaching the same grade or subject may find it convenient to share a common form, but this is not a requirement. Is a parent signature required to reassess? No signature is required. However, communication with parents is always encouraged. What if the reassessment score is lower than the original score? If the reassessment is lower than the original, more evidence of learning may be required as this discrepancy may indicate there is not consistent evidence of learning. This is not as big of a concern if teachers are assessing students on only the learning targets with which they struggled. Teachers should use professional judgment in determining which score best represents a student s true level of understanding, but it is highly recommended that the higher score be the recorded score.
SUGGESTED STRATEGIES FOR REASSESSMENT PREPARATION (teacher and student may agree upon additional strategies) Guided Practice One-on-One Instruction / Intervention Structured Study Time Peer Tutoring Review Games Computer-Based Skill Review REASSESSMENT OPTIONS : Missed Learning Targets v. All Learning Targets Reassessment of missed learning targets is encouraged. Initially, reassessing the students on only the missed learning targets may seem like more work on the part of the teacher, but the reassessment itself should take less time to grade. This option also allows the students to focus on learning the material they did not learn the first time. However, in certain cases, reassessment of the entire assignment may be more appropriate (i.e., vocabulary, multiplication tables, etc). Verbal v. Paper-Pencil Verbal reassessment is certainly an option and may be ideal when reassessing only one or two learning targets. Format: As long as an assessment is measuring the same learning targets, the format used to reassess may be different from the original (i.e., turning multiple choice questions into written response questions, verbal v. paper-based see above). NOTE: Offering students a choice in the method of reassessment for a given assignment could also be an option. WHAT COULD REASSESSMENT LOOK LIKE?
The Reassessment information in Appendix A is adapted from Urbana City Schools, in Urbana, Ohio (revised Spring 2011). http://www.urbana.k12.oh.us/grading/grading&assessmentguidelinesandpractice--fin ALA2011-12.pdf