Creating+a+Focus+2


 * How should we decide on quantity, quality, and type of student work that should be taken for grades? **

It would take the pressure off teachers if this were a school wide decision at each grade level. Rubrics are very helpful in judging student work, but they are not the only way. The difficulty for me occurs when collecting work from "pull-out" and absent students. If common assessments become the norm, then it would be a lot easier to grade student work and make decisions about grouping and promotion. Every child needs an opportunity to show growth, so we need to consider 9 week terms. (E. Hodgen) Through collaboration of all of the teachers within each grade, the types and frequency of grades taken will be consistent, therefore, creating a truer reflection of the learning taking place in that grade. It will also curtail the homework abuse to which a few teachers tend to gravitate. If each grade can determine their common goals for learning for each unit of study, and specifically the important assignments for which grades will be taken, then less comparison of teachers (less gossip) will be spread at the ballfields. * *Okay, I know gossip at the ballfields will never go away, but maybe it can be redirected! (Julie Hall) I agree with Hall that teachers would stop being compared to each other if we all had common assessments. There's something wrong if the same teacher has 17 out of 18 A honor roll students every six weeks and the teacher next door has 1 honor roll student.!!?* (H. Witt) I believe not all teachers should do the exact same thing. I think we need to have unity and some overall directions, but to make every teacher do the exact same thing (collection of grades) would take away the beauty of teaching and being an individual. I think using assessements as grades, some assessments-not all, has to happen. I think that makes the Honor Roll more valid. We have way too many children who make honor roll. We have actually taken away the true meaning of a C (no longer an average, instead, less than average) and made the A and B less valuable. We need to decide which grades should be taken and also allow teachers to use their good judgement and individuality for a percentage of the grades taken. (L. Shelton) I agree with Shelton that we need to still use our good judgement and be an individual, but we also do need some collaboration on common assessments in order for teachers to have a common goal. The goal should not be to see how many students can make the a honor roll each six weeks, it should be for our kids to learn. (H. Witt) I have a question to pose? Does it mean that a teacher is an easier teacher just because they have more students make the honor rolls? Maybe it means they are making sure that their students are grasping the material or they have a high-achieving group. Also, does it mean you are a bad teacher if you don't have as many on the honor roll? Maybe you have a lower achieving group. Maybe as Witt said there is too much emphasis on the honor rolls. Parents seem to place a lot of emphasis on honor roll as a measuring stick. (R. Hames) If we moved in the direction of common assessments, what exactly would we mean? Maybe 2 in reading? Maybe 2 in math? Maybe a writing assignment? Is this too much... or is it enough? Step out of your teacher role for a moment and answer the question as an average working parent of an average kid. What would you like to think is happening for your child... no matter whose room he/she is in? How do you know what "A" really means? And if that is very, very definable, does it matter how many "As" one teacher has compared to another teacher? (Susan Hayes) We should follow a program as in reading it we want the quality and type to be the same across the board. Quantity should be decided by a team looking at the programs. Set a minimum and maximum of assignments to grade based on what is available in that program and to achieve a good representation of the students' work. We could eliminate grades completly by using data to show movement toward a goal and mastery of the objective. Much of the data is already tied to a percentage of mastery to be considered attained. As a parent and teacher I'm more interested in learning than grades. I want my child and students to learn. Grades are one way to measure that, but I agree that an "A" from school to school or even classroom to classroom can be different. If we used the same assessments and the same rules on work habits etc... it would eliminate much of the differences. However, there are always differnces between students and teachers. We are still individuals. (E. Lee) I disagree that there is any set program that works for every individual. We all have different strengths and weakness and we are all different just as our students. What works with one is not going to work with all that is why we need to teach to different learning styles. Most of the decisions on work amount/type is directed by the students as you continually assess, work with small groups, and think (purpose) of each assignment/unit of study or whatever you are doing. I think you have to use common sense and constantly think "Is this what is best for this group of kids?"(KJared) Would common assessments diminish "purpose" or better define it? (Susan Hayes) I feel that we already have a good balance of common assessments and assessments given by individual teachers at their discretion. (L. Adams) I agree, Kim, we need to be looking at what is best for this group of kids. We need to go a step further and make sure we are meeting the individual needs of our students. We need to have some common assessments to make sure we are headed in the same direction but in order to meet the needs of all of our kids we need to differentiate our instruction and some assessments based on learning styles.(EHarris) It seems to me that a mix of both is needed. Common assesments are wonderful if they are readily availble //and// target skills that are being presented. So often, however, that kind of mix must be implemented by an individual teacher. I also feel like I have done a better job of assessing my teaching with teacher-made tests. This truly allows assessment to drive instruction. I also think that grades have been considered by parents as the ONLY assessment of their child. There is something fundamentally wrong when a parent has a "come-apart" over a B on a report card. Perhaps with common assessments, this can be addressed. (A. Harris) When a skill is thoroughly taught, and the teacher feels most students have mastered the skill then assessment should be given. Students who have not mastered the skill should the be retaught and reassessed. Grades from the new assessment can be averaged with the first assessment. (I.Fisher) It's very frustrating to me to try and answer about the quantity, quality, and type of student work to be taken for grades. On one hand, I think common assessments are a great thing and will help all teachers of a grade level to stay on track with each other. Yet, on the other hand, it greatly irritates me to think I have to teach the same thing at the same time and in the same way as other teachers. As a teacher, I feel like I have to make the decisions regarding the way I teach that particular group of students--which changes yearly! What works for my group may not work for students next door. I am all for having //__some__// commonalities, but I want individuality as well. I think there should be some guidelines for the quantity, quality, and type of work; however, teachers need enough leeway rather than being pinned down to some exact way of doing this. (J. Layman) A mix of common assessments and individual teacher assessments is the best answer. All teachers are not the same so we need to be allowed some room for individuality. All students/classes are not the same so each teacher must be allowed to make decisions based on what is best for our own students. If we are not careful, we (educators) can make everything and everybody almost the same to the point that we will become like robots. The children will be the ones to be hurt. They will expect everything to be the same all the time and they will have a hard time adjusting to the real world that is full of differences. A good balance of different assessment and teachers with individuality will prepare our students for the real world. (M. Parker) It would certainly help take some of the pressure off me if we had similar expectations for the quantity and type of assessments used. One concern I have is whether or not this approach would allow for reteaching and intervention if we only could use a certain number and type of grades. I like to have clear cut goals to follow, but I also enjoy the freedom that should come with being a professional. I feel I am qualified to determine the types of assessments needed to monitor student progress, and sometimes I feel like all individuality, creativity, and professionalism is being taken out of teaching. (JPenrod) Many different things must be considered when taking grades. I believe that depending on the grade level that you teach, the quantity, quality and type of student work that is graded will be changed. Being a first grade teacher, I know that it is important to us (in Reading) to assess things weekly. We have a weekly phonics assessment to check understanding. We also have a weekly fluency grade and also other comprehension grades. I believe that when a strong Reading series is used such as Scott Foresman, that it is important to take the weekly assessments and then take minimal homework and classwork grades (maybe 20-30%) to get an accurate average of grades. (J. Wimberley) Grades should be an overall assessment of a child's ability to grasp the materials presented in the classroom. We need some build-in places for observation and reactions to the material. I have seem many students who can show you/tell you the material but can't get it to paper. (LWren) I agree with L Wren about this obs/ reaction place but that would be opening a whole other can of worms as to how to go about that. All grade levels obviously differ on what they need in terms of how/what grades are taken on and how they are recorded. (P. Bradford)