Grading in a Differentiated Classroom

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Grading in a Differentiated Classroom

• How does a teacher acknowledge academic growth of
  individual students within a traditional grading
  system?

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• What is the purpose of grading?
• How do you grade?

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With 15 million children at risk of academic
failure, the schools must shift their focus from
sorting and selecting to teaching and
learning. Canady and Hotchkiss
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Two Views of Assessment
Assessment is for
Assessment is for

• Gatekeeping
• Judging
• Right Answers
• Control
• Comparison to others
• Use with single activities

• Nurturing
• Guiding
• Self-Reflection
• Information
• Comparison to task use over multiple activities
• Planning
• Flexible grouping

Source Carol Ann Tomlinson
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Food For Thought
The following questions help ensure that grading
practices are productive for all students.

• How do learners benefit from a grading system
  that reminds everyone that students who speak
  English as a second language do not perform as
  well as students without disabilities or for whom
  English is not their native tongues?

Source Carol Ann Tomlinson
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• In what ways do our current grading practices
  motivate struggling or advanced learners to
  persist in the face of difficulty?
• Is there an opportunity for struggling learners
  to encounter excellence in our current grading
  practices?

Source Carol Ann Tomlinson
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• Is there an opportunity for advanced learners to
  encounter struggle in our current grading
  practices?
• What do we gain by telling our most able learners
  that they are excellent on the basis of no
  intellectual risk, necessitates no persistence,
  and demands that they develop few academic coping
  skills?

Source Carol Ann Tomlinson
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Concepts Important to Teachers Grading Practices
Assessment starts with the STANDARD. Reliability-
Accuracy and Consistency Validity-Meaningfulness
and Appropriateness Formative Assessment-Data
collected from pre-assessments,
homework, practice,
and learning tasks to determine future
instruction. Summative Assessment-Data collected
to determine level of mastery.
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Learning tasks in a differentiated classroom are
based on students

• Product
• Content
• Process

• Readiness
• Interest
• Learning style

and
So
How does a teacher grade?
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What would you do?
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By using..

• Rubrics
• Checklists
• Portfolios
• Student self-assessment
• Teacher/student conferences
• Classroom observations
• Tests, quizzes, homework

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What does a teacher need to consider when he/she
assesses a student with an Individualized
Education Plan?
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How does a teacher go from differentiated
assessments to a grade book?
Factors to consider

• Complexity of task
• Level of mastery
• Evidence of growth
• Purpose of task
• Culminating
• Evaluative in nature

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Communication of Standards and Progress

• Students
• Provide clear criteria, models
• Feedback
• Parents
• Newsletters
• Student-Led Conferences
• Report cards, Mid-term Reports
• School Community
• Middle School Team Meetings
• Collaboration

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Reflection