Course Final Developing a Grading Plan The course for which this grading policy is being developed is a sixth

grade English language arts class. This class will cover both reading and writing over a series of four units divided up into quarters. Writing topics that will be covered are narrative, persuasion, analytical, and poetry. Reading materials will support these styles while also covering the overarching theme of identity, broken up into family identity, gender identity, socioeconomic identity, and cultural identity. All of the grading I do in this course will abide by the golden rules of fairness, accuracy, consistency, defensibility, and transparency. I will achieve this by first making sure all of my assessments are valid and reliable. If my assessments are valid, meaning that the assessments are measuring what they are designed to so that appropriate evaluations may be made, then that will ensure fairness, accuracy, and transparency. The assessment will be fair because I will have taught any lessons and practiced any skills necessary to succeed during formative assessments so progress my students learning to be able to succeed on summative assessments. This plan will also guarantee that my grading is done accurately because throughout each unit there will be a range of different assessments used to evaluate student performance and progress rather than basing all judgments on one or a very few assessments. I connect validity to transparency because I will be straightforward with my students about what each assessment is measuring so that they are clear about what is expected of them. In making sure that my assessments are reliable, that is, checking that the scores provided from each assessment is consistent, stable, and dependable, it will confirm that my grading is consistent and defensible. The way I will check that my assessments are reliable will be by comparing the pattern of scores amongst students and classes to see that similar results are being shown across the board. If all of these things are done, then it will certify that the grades I will are defensible because I will have taken multiple measures to ensure the quality of the feedback I have received is sufficient. My grading policy will be intended to measure the achievement and progress of my students. I will have some form of assessment everyday in my class, whether it is observational, conversational, or through something they have produced; most of which will be assessed formatively so as to provide feedback as to how to progress the course. I will only conduct a summative assessment, one which will be graded, once I have received feedback signifying that the class has been prepared enough to be able to succeed in such a topic. If a formative assessment shows me that I need to spend more time covering a topic I will not give the class a summative assessment on it until I have decided that they are prepared enough. Types of assessments which will contribute to grades will be things such as journals, papers, and projects. Everything that may be a part of a students grade will be something that will incorporate things which they will have the opportunity to express what they have learned in a way that is open to their needs and strengths. What I mean by that is that I feel that by giving a student a paper to write will allow him/her a better opportunity to express what they have learned by being able to express it in their own way and use support to explain themselves rather than by giving them a test which has only right or wrong answers. Other factors that I would contribute as part of my students overall grades would be participation and improvement. Participation is necessary and beneficial for students because it allows them to share and be exposed to new perspectives that may improve their ways of thinking. Part of participation would include having completed the readings, being willing to

answer questions, and having a positive attitude. Improvement is also a key element because a student may come into my sixth grade class at a second grade reading level but work his/her way up to a fifth grade reading level; this would still not reach the expectations for a sixth grade class, and by saying they did not succeed would be disregarding the fact that they were able to improve their reading ability by three grade levels. If a student is already at a high level of achievement and did not have as much room for improvement I would base this portion of their grade on their effort; if the student only does the bare minimum of what is asked I would not give them as high of a score as someone who has the capacity to go above and beyond and does. Every part that goes into my students grades will be established at the beginning of the year so that everyone is aware of what is expected of them. My grades would be broken down into four categories: participation and effort, homework and journals, papers, and a final project. Each of these would be given the same amount of weight because throughout the entire unit they should each require the same amount of time and effort. While participation and homework may not demand much from students, they will be done frequently so there will be a lot of time spent on them overall, rather than the project that requires a lot but will only be done once. This allows for students to have many opportunities to improve their grades and does not give too much weight to any one assignment to the point where one thing could make or break ones grade. If a student consistently participates and completes homework but does not do very well on the project then his/her grade will not be ruined. On the other hand, students cannot just depend on the big assignments to save their grade and not have to participate or do homework. This breakdown aims to promote consistent work throughout each unit from the students. The breakdown for each unit will be as follows: Participation & Effort 25% Homework & Journals 25% Papers 25% Project 25% In terms of my final grading process I would use a combination of a criterion-based model and a self-reference model. It will be criterion-based (and performance-based) in that for each portion of the grades (listed above), students will have to fulfill a predetermined set of standards that have been declared. Each area of evaluation will be explained to students and will be on things which we have covered in depth throughout the unit. The purpose for this grading style will be to give a fair judgment on whether or not students have succeeded in achieving the targets that have been set at the beginning of each unit. Grades will be partially self-referenced due to the fact that improvement is a category in which students are able to receive points. As mentioned previously, if a student improves a great deal, but began so far behind that they are still not where they should be, I will give them credit for this improvement because it would not be fair expect them to be able to reach goals that are too far ahead for them. This will also encourage students who are ahead to still have to put forth their best effort rather than allowing them to slide by doing the bare minimum of what is asked when they are capable of a lot more. Motivation and Academic Performance While standardized tests have put pressure on schools to display high achievement from their students, it is important not to lose focus on the purpose of the tests; to see how much your students are achieving. By adopting a pay-for-performance program, it may motivate more

students to perform better, but it will be sending the wrong message. One of the goals of schooling is to teaching and exercise the concept of intrinsic motivation. While this form of motivation is more difficult to implement in students, it shows to be a stronger encouragement than extrinsic motivation. Providing such a drastic extrinsic motivator will make students less inclined to perform other times when there is not motivator pushing them. What this program will be telling students is that they should only perform their best if they are going to get some sort of material reward for it, rather than teaching them the benefits of achievement for selfsatisfaction and growth and other opportunities for success. It is unfortunate that oftentimes students performances do not reflect how well the school has prepared them due to lack of motivation, and it is quite difficult to motivate students to perform well on a test that shows them no short-term benefits or consequences. Instead of motivating students by giving rewards, schools can try to prevent the lack of motivation that students encounter. One of the reasons students lack motivation is because these tests are turned into something very stressful for the students because of all of the time and energy spent towards preparing for them. It may seem counterintuitive, but by not making the test into a big deal, students may feel less stressed about the test and not be so turned-off by them when it is time to take them. The school can also have prep-events that are more enjoyable than stressful, such as a class party shortly before to raise the students spirits. Schools need to focus more on providing well-rounded and intensive curriculums that prepares students for these tests which allow them to perform at their highest. You do not have to necessarily teach the exact questions that are on the test to prepare students, but rather teach them the skills and knowledge that will be covered in the tests. By having a strong and effective curriculum that targets the standards that will be tested on, students will be learning and preparing for this test all year round. This tactic may even make the test more relevant for the students, which may be a stronger motivation. Communicating Student Performance to Parents According to Margarets report card and ISAT scores, her strongest subjects are science in math. In both classes she is consistently receiving high marks on assignments, tests, participation, etc., and on her ISAT she is meeting or exceeding the standards in each area. There is a very strong correlation between her achievements shown in these classes and her ISAT performance. There is a bit of a discrepancy shown in the scores shown on her report card and her ISAT. While her overall grade for English is a C-, we can see that she has been improving in her problem sets and her tests, so as a result we should be seeing higher scores in her reading portion of the ISAT. Another discrepancy lies in her extended response score for this portion of the ISAT; while her multiple choice scores fall in the category of Below Standards level, her extended response received the highest score possible. What this tells us is that Margaret does have the capabilities of high achievement in this subject area, but she may not have the motivation to push her to reach such achievement. There is not social studies portion on the ISAT so we only have her report card to look at. From this, we can see that is at about the same level as her English class; however she does not show the same steady improvement as she does in English. In social studies, Margaret is consistently receiving high scores for homework, but is struggling on tests and participation and effort. From this we can speculate that Margaret is completing what is asked of her, but may not fully comprehend the material. This would explain why she is not showing strong scores in her tests and also why she does not want to participate or put forth the same effort as she does in her

stronger subjects. Overall, Margaret is very strong in math and science, and is showing solid improvements in English. This tells us that with the proper motivation to push her and extra help that she needs, Margaret can improve her social studies performance as well.