FIAE+Chapter+11+Block+2

Synthesis FIAE C11 B2

Chapter 11 of the book Fair Isn’t Always Equal talks about six grading issues that haunt our teachers. First, should teachers record a zero or a sixty? The book suggests teachers should record a sixty because it is a valid indicator of mastery. The next issue the book talks about is grading gifted students. We need to grade students based on the protocol of the class. For example, grade a student who has skipped a few grades the same way we would grade a student old enough to be in that class. Weighted grades are the next issue. “Learning isn’t as linear as we think; it’s more episodic. Connections are made in students’ minds in millions of ways we can’t witness.” (147) Grading late work: the book suggests we allow students to turn in late work for full credit if it is occasionally late. If it is a chronic thing then we need to teach the students the idea of on time. || I really liked the idea the chapter posed that learning isn’t a linear thing, it’s more episodic. I definitely think our schools need to allow students to progress even though sometimes they have not gotten a few concepts in the curriculum because later on they could make connections. This chapter seems to give a good way to handle the six issues of grading; however, I do disagree with the idea of giving a sixty to student for work that hasn’t been handed in. I do not think they should get any credit if they have not turned anything in. || Something I had never really considered was just how difficult it could be to give grades to gifted students. On one hand you want to give them a great grade for doing more challenging work and surpassing the general education requirements, on the other hand however, you want to grade students on a level that matches the difficulty of the work they’re doing which may not result in a “good” grade. Weighing grades is another issue I had not spent a lot of time considering. I’m very glad that it has been brought to my attention. There was a side comment about weighing grades based on the number of items in a category. If I had to pick a way to weigh grades, I think this is what would fit best. “As differentiating teachers, we don’t limit students, we get out of their way,” (Wormeli, 147). Wormeli writes that learning is not a sequential process and instead, it is rather episodic. I feel like this is something that a lot of teachers could benefit from knowing and believing. || Chapter 11 talks about six grading issues that are pertinent when it comes to grading. The first one discussed is whether or not to record missing work as a 0 or a 50 or 60. They provide a compelling argument for marking it as a 50 or 60 because if they consistently fail to do the work they will still fail, they will just be failing on the high end of the mark. Students will lose motivation if they continually receive zeros because they drag their grade down so far it becomes impossible to recover. Grading gifted students is also discussed; do we as educators hold them to higher standards? The subject of weighting grades came up as well. Whether or not to grade students on atomicity or concept attainment is a crucial point. Sometimes we need to vary what we are looking for; one subject might require atomicity and another one concept attainment. Grading late work addresses the same problem as work that is never turned in. The last subject discussed was grading special needs children. The biggest concern was whether or not their grade should reflect their progress as a learner or their mastery. Certainly working with the Ed Tech or special education teacher to figure out the grade a child deserves is necessary. I liked most of the information this chapter had to offer. One of the things that jumped out at me that I really disagreed with was getting rid of the Valedictorian at schools. I understand their argument for wanting to get rid of competition since it created a negative learning environment. I liked the Valedictorian idea because it gave the student body a leader to identify with. I was never angry I wasn’t the Valedictorian. Some of the other ideas they had were good; like giving 50s or 60s instead of zeros, I wish my teachers had done this method in our school. The first issue this chapter opens with is missing work. The chapter asks if we should put a zero in the grade book or a sixty. The argument from the chapter is that adding a zero will in the long run not show an accurate view of the student’s mastery of the material once the grading term is over. We read that a sixty is much more appropriate because it does not destroy the student’s grade average yet it is still a failing grade, which ensures the student is not rewarded for not having done their work. Next the chapter talks about gifted students and how to grade them. The chapter asks us to recognize that there are different levels of gifted students ranging from those who are able to grasps concepts well all the way up through students who need to be accelerated through grade levels to attain the challenge and development they need. We read that these children are especially hard to grade because we need to understand how to grade their level of demonstration of mastery in contrast to their full abilities. We see that the suggestion is a report card format that records both grade-level and advanced material. The chapter then moves on to weighted grades and states that the justification for these is that we are trying to ensure that we give students the credit they deserve in comparison to their achievement. We read soon after though that this intention turns into something else. Weighted grades have become a way to sort students (tracking), select honor role placement, and find the valedictorian. We then get into the concepts of automaticity and concept attainment. Automaticity is the stage when students fully understand the concept of a subject or lesson and are able to apply those skills well. The application becomes automatic to them. Concept attainment is a stage when students are still trying to grasp the main idea of the lesson, but they are able to apply some of the basic skills and procedures the lessons consists of. The chapter then talks about grading special needs students and the several difficulties teachers face with this, ranging from working constructively with a special education teacher to determining the level of the students curriculum in comparison to grade-level. I feel that this chapter has taught me a lot. I feel that I especially benefitted from the weighted grades section. I can see how weighted grades have a direct impact on the seeming importance of tracking kids and I feel like there is some sort of danger that for some reason if grades are weighted a school’s mentality shifts to wanting to track and label students. I also liked the part about defining valedictorian and how that practice is pretty useless because measuring achievement between several students who are separated by hundredths or even thousandths of a decimal point creates too much significance on such a small difference. I also really enjoyed talking about report card format and seeing how differential grading on a report card becomes much more easy if the educator can put down the grade and then make a comment about how the grade was achieved, as apposed to leaving such an arbitrary score.
 * **Names** || **Abstract** || **Reflection** ||
 * Barnes Mckell ||
 * Brennick Christopher || This chapter of FIAE goes through six key questions about grading. The first question the book ask is what grade should be put in if a student does not turn in an assignment and the book tells readers that the highest failing grade should be put in so that it does not throw off the whole grade. The next part of the chapter goes into automaticity versus concept attainment. Automaticity is students being able to use concepts while attainment is using the subject matter. Grading special needs students is the next section and this section really talks about how is important for regular education and special education teachers to agree on grading against progress, common standards, or adjusted standards. This chapter also talks about grading late work. The book argues that lowering grades on late work is a bad idea because it will fudge the true mastery of learning. || I think that this chapter makes a lot of really good points that really hard to stomach. I think that giving a 0 does throw off the overall grade, but it seems wrong to me that a student could do nothing and still 60 % credit. It also seems hard to me not to take points off for late work because it will be harder to motivate students to do it on time if there is no plenty. I agree that what matter is learning I agree, but I also know that showing up and getting your work done matters in life. ||
 * Columbia Laura || In chapter eleven of Fair Isn't Always Equal, the idea of grading is greatly discussed and critiqued. Many issues were brought up, in particular, the idea of giving a zero. Giving a zero is strongly discouraged because when the grades are averaged it does not mathematically reflect what the student has learned or accomplished. Instead a grade of a fifty or sixty would make the final grade more accurate. Grading gifted students was also discussed and how there are pros and cons to weighting grades. Different techniques on grading late work was stated. Such as taking off only a few points instead of a whole letter grade. As well as looking and seeing if it was just a one time thing or a chronic issue. Lastly, grading students with special needs was addressed and how there are certain aspects you need to take into consideration when grading special needs students. || I did a lot of grading during my time in the classroom, as well as observing my teacher and how she handles grading. I had never thought of the idea of not giving students a zero, but it makes so much sense now. At least mathematically. I had always thought that late work had to be marked down, yet my teacher allows late work up to the test. After the test it will not be accepted. As with special needs students my teacher graded them, but would check in with the special education teacher about what they did orally. The only part that I am still not sure about is how to grade gifted and talented students. If I make their work more challenging, but they receive a lower grade than the normal work, is that fair to them? ||
 * Coombs Kayla || Chapter 11, Six Burning Grading Questions, looks into the following questions: should one record a zero or a sixty, how should one grade gifted students, how should one weight grades, what is automaticity versus concept attainment, how should one grade late work, and how should special needs students be graded in inclusion classes. When a student does not do an assignment or a test, the teacher should record it as a sixty for the most accurate grade. One of the examples given was if the student was supposed to take six tests, only did five but got 100s on them, and the teacher recorded a 0 for the test they did not take, then their percentage would be an 83. This clearly shows a negative impact on the grading scale. The other example shows the same scenario but the teacher gives the student a 60 for the test they didn’t do, and their percentage was a 93, which is more accurate when determining what the student knows and it capable of doing. The grades for gifted students require special considerations in order to be accurate, fair, and useful. It is difficult, but it would be ideal for teachers to be able to have part of the report card dedicated to the grade-level and the advanced work so as to reflect the student’s achievement in both. For weighting grades, there are positive and negative outlooks on them. For one, in differentiated classrooms the successful weighting of grades can be achieved as the students are given the skills and assistance they need for advanced achievement. But, weighted grades can result in higher grade point averages, some that may carry over the 4.0 scale. When considering automaticity versus concept attainment, ultimately we want students to be able to do both, with concept attainment coming first, and automaticity coming after time by applying the concepts. For grading late work, it seems best to take points off each day, not letter grades, to best reflect the quality of the student’s work. For grading special needs students in inclusion classes, teachers and the special education teachers should be able to agree on what is best for each individual special needs student. || This chapter brought up a lot of good questions that I had been considering. For example, I had always thought it made more sense for teachers to record a zero for the work as student does not do, but I never realized how much it changed their grade in a negative way when considering how best to reflect their knowledge and how much they are able to do. I didn’t really have any clear ideas on automaticity or concept attainment, but the chapter clarified the difference and how each is significant in the classroom. ||
 * Cummons Michael || Chapter six in FIAE is about six questions when grading a students work. 1.)Whether or not to record a zero or sixty 2.)Grading students who are gifted in a subject. 3.) Whether or not to weight a grade. 4.) grading work that is passed in late, 5. Grading a student who has special needs. Giving a zero is discouraged against, because it weights down the grade far too much. One small assignment should not have this much affect on a persons grade. There are different ways to grade late work as well.It can be more effective to take of a few points instead of a lot. This makes the assignment more worth doing if it is not passed on time for the student. Grading special needs kids can be difficult. There needs to be good communication between special education teachers and teachers. || This chapter was very helpful. Grading a students work should be evaluated and reevaluated time and time again. I like the part about not giving a student a zero for not doing their work. One zero can ruin a student's grade when the assignment wasn't that important to begin with. I also like the part about not taking off too much for a late assignment. A late assigment must be worth while for a student to actually do it. ||
 * Damboise Kelley || This chapter focuses on six important facts that come into play when dealing with how to grade a student’s work. The six categories are: recording a zero or a sixty, grading gifted students, weighting grades, automaticity versus concept attainment, grading late work, and grading special needs student in inclusion classes. When a student decides not to do his or her homework it then becomes the teacher’s job to decide whether the student should receive a zero, because they didn’t do the work, or if they should receive a sixty, because it is more appropriate for the grading scale and is actually a closer reflection of the student’s knowledge. Dealing with grading gifted students poses a challenge because ultimately students do pass the requirements set for them at that grade level; so should their grades be reflective of the harder more experienced class they are taking? Weighting grades are to ensure that people know what level the student was working at, I think this is rather degrading, and that an A in a lower level class is not as good as a B in an upper level class. Automaticity vs. concept attainment has to deal with do teacher want to grade upon whether students can apply and make connections or grade based upon memorizing facts. Late work grading policy varies among teachers; some take off ten points for each day it is late and others find this method not very effective. Lastly, grading special needs students in inclusion classes can be difficult because the special education teacher and the classroom teacher may disagree on grading techniques. || Before I read this chapter I thought it was completely acceptable to give a student a zero if they didn’t do the homework. I figure it would teach the students a lesson to not turn in late homework because they didn’t want a zero to drag down their grades; however, I never took into consideration that a zero completely skews the students’ grades. For instance, a student could be receiving all A’s and B’s on his or her homework, and then forget an assignment and receive a zero on it because he or she didn’t turn it in. The student’s grade would suffer traumatically from this zero; he or she more than likely would have an average of a high B, but because of the zero his or her average ended up being some where’s around a C. That doesn’t reflect the student’s level of comprehension in the subject area. That’s why I now think it is important to put in a sixty instead of a zero because a sixty will not skew a student’s outcome drastically to the point that it doesn’t correlate to the student’s level of understanding. ||
 * Kelley Kathleen || Chapter eleven in Fair Isn’t Always Equal discussed six different grading issues that we will encounter as future teachers. The first issue, grading late work, is a concept we have become all to familiar with in the past few weeks at MBHS. The author stated that one of the first things that we need to do as teachers is assess whether or not the late homework occurs once in a while or on a regular basis. This will help determine how much points to dock for the work. If the student only turns in late work once in a while and meets deadlines the rest of the time, let the students turn work in for full credit. If it happens on a regular basis, dock point for it being late, but give them another grade for mastery of material. The next issue discussed whether a zero or a sixty should be recorded because both grades are failing. It discussed the fact that every other letter grade is only separated by ten points, but the span of an F is sixty points. Giving the students zeros doesn’t give an accurate representation of their mastery. The third issue addresses how to grade gifted students. Do we grade them by the same criteria others in the higher grade level are graded by? Do we give an automatic A for exceeding the standard? What if the student doesn’t do that well? Special considerations will always have to be made, and it is about being fair with the student in their endeavor. The fourth issue presented discussed how to grade students who are considered special needs. One of the major issues is whether or not the grade should represent mastery of the material, or progress over time. The final two issues discuss whether or not to weigh grades and how to know whether or not your students have mastered the material. || I really enjoyed this chapter. Throughout the year we have been discussing late work and whether or not it should be accepted, how it should be graded, etc. I thought the book offered a good solution to a problem like this. If a person is continuously turning in late work, make sure that they know there will be a penalty, but give them two separate grades; one for how well they understand the material, and another that reflects the fact that the hw was late. It was a solution that we have never really discussed before, and I think that it makes more sense than letting the kid continuously turn materials in late with no penalty. In general, I thought that this book offered a lot of great suggestions on grading and answered many questions I had regarding certain issues like grading gifted and talented students as well as special needs students. ||
 * Knowles Christina || This chapter talked about the different ways we can grade our students. The first point the chapter made is that we should not give zeros to students who do not pass in work. The book justifies this because there is a much larger range for a student to get a failing grade than any other grade. The chapter also covers how we should grade gifted students. It says that we should grade them harder than other students because the classes they are taking come very easy to them. The chapter also covers whether we should deduct points for late work. It says that we should consider who the student is and whether they do it all the time. If it is a student who passes in late work all the time, we should record two grades, one of the assignment if it had been turned in on time and the other with late points deducted. || I definitely disagreed with this chapter when it came to not giving students zeros. I think that if we give students grades for no work we are going to be teaching them wrong ideas. What will allow them to be motivated in the future when they think they can do no work and still get credit. This would also send me the wrong message if I were a student who had done the assignment but got a similar grade. Students do compare grades, and that would be extremely discouraging. ||
 * Mourkas Margaret || Chapter 11 in Fair Isn’t Always Equal was titled “Six Burning Grading Issues”. As the title states there are six issues in education about grading that a lot of teachers disagree on. The first issue is if a student fails an assignment do you record a zero or a sixty? How do you determine whether a student failed worse on an incomplete assignment? The second issue talked about grading gifted students. How can you adapt your grading scale to allow those students who are “gifted” in your subject area to learn more or complete harder assignment to prove new mastered material. The third issue was weighting grades. Weighting grades makes it harder on the students to achieve the same level of academics in every class. The fourth issue was automaticity versus concept attainment. The fifth issue was about grading late work. If a student does well on an assignment but hands it in late do you dock points? The final issue was grading special needs students in inclusion classes. Just as with the gifted students how can you adapt your grading and curriculum to allow these students to succeed as well. || I really enjoyed this chapter. It gave an in depth look at the current grading issues. I personally think that if an assignment is turned in late it should be given full credit initially but in the participation section or promptness section of your final grading scale the teacher could dock a few points. Sometime kids have off days and just forget about something they need to do. We shouldn’t punish them because they were forgetful once or twice. However, if it becomes a problem then a different more drastic approach should be taken. ||
 * O'Neil Christopher || Chapter eleven discusses six different controversial issues with grading. The first issue discussed was about recording a zero or a sixty as a grade. The issue with recording a zero instead of a sixty is that it does not show a student’s mastery of the subject. The next grading issue discussed was about grading gifted students. The issue with this is concerning whether a low grade in an advanced class from a gifted student shows mastery of the material or not. The next issue discussed was weighting grades. The issue is should a grade in an advanced class should represent a much better and broader achievement than the same grade in a lower level class. The fourth issue was automaticity versus concept attainment. The issue with this is if teachers should grade based on automaticity or concept attainment. The fifth grading issue discussed was grading late work. The issue with this is if teachers should take points off for each day the assignment is late or if they should give full credit. The final issue discussed was grading special needs students in inclusion classes. The issue with this is if teachers should consider all the students to be the regular classroom teacher’s students and not some of them belonging to one teacher and some belonging to the other teacher. || The part of this chapter that really jumped out at me the most was the part about recording a sixty instead of a zero and the issue with recording late work. In my opinion, I feel that if any work is not handed in, the student should receive no credit for that work. This can tie in with the receiving credit for late work. Yes, in real life if you hand something in late you won’t always be penalized for it. However, if you do not turn something in at all, or not show up for something, you will be penalized for it. So why should we not penalized students with a zero for not turning in work? In regards to turning in late work, yes you will be given another chance to turn in or show up late in the real world. Although, in the real world, if you are late on important tasks or are consistently late, you won’t get that second chance. So there should be some leniency in being late on assignments once or twice, but any form of consistent late work should be penalized. ||
 * Richardson Cassandra || Chapter eleven talks about different methods of grading; that is, how should we handle situations where the work we asked for isn’t handed in? One of the points stressed was not giving zeroes; instead, giving the highest failing grade that won’t throw the rest of the grade off, but still accounts for the missed grade. Another point pertains to point deduction. If a piece of homework is handed in late, should points be taken off because of its late status? According to the book, the student in question should be considered; that is, the situation should be affected by the student and their frequency of offense. || I disagreed somewhat with this chapter in that I disagree with the idea of considering the student before deducting points from late work. I think if we truly want a successful classroom, exceptions should not be made in vain or lightly, but in the event that something serious prevented a student from completing the assignments. Whether or not the student does or doesn’t do their homework on a regular basis should not be a factor. The idea of not giving zeroes in the gradebook in place of missing items shocked me; I had never heard of that before. However, it kind of makes sense, in a way, even though it could definitely backfire. ||
 * Trundy Monique || In chapter eleven Wormeli covers “six burning grading issues”. The first issue he writes about is the difference between a zero and a sixty in the grade book. He explains that it is unfair to give students zeros instead of sixties (or seventies) because the final grade becomes skewed and does not portray what the student can actually do. An example given shows five one hundreds and one zero, the final grade averages out to a C+. Beneath that is an example of five one hundreds and a sixty, the final grade averages out to a B+, which is a far more accurate depiction of the student’s abilities. The second issue is grading gifted students. The third issue is weighing grades. He explains that weighing grades are put in place mostly to define a valedictorian and salutatorian of a class. Wormeli argues that weighing grades for this purpose “does not entice students to work harder, and it often places unhealthy pressure on students who are already under enough stress,” (Wormeli,145). The fourth issue is automaticity versus concept attainment. The fifth issue is grading late work. Wormeli suggests giving breaks to students who occasionally hand in work late and for repeat offenders taking off a few points each day and recording two grades: the grade they would have received and the grade they receive with the points taken off. The sixth, and final issue, is grading special needs students in inclusion classes. || I had never thought of giving a zero to a student as unfair practice, but I think Wormeli makes a convincing point. Handing out zeros only makes grades plummet to unrealistically low numbers and causes unnecessary stress for the student.
 * Webb Christopher ||  ||
 * West Simon ||  ||