Cooper’s chapter 9 discusses evaluation and grading. There were a few points in this chapter that I feel quite strongly about. The first is norm-referenced vs. criterion-referenced standards. I believe strongly that all standards should be criterion-referenced. The criteria is the curriculum and evaluation should be based on proficiency on the expectations, not on proficiency as compared to your classmates/peers. With that, I also do not think that 50% should warrant a pass. Like Cooper, I believe that a student should demonstrate that they are ready for the next level in order to pass, and I don’t believe that 50% proficiency is enough.
With respect to the separation of categories for assessment, I like the idea of splitting expectations into ‘enduring understandings’ and ‘essential skills’. A general grade for ‘Science’ isn’t very telling of student’s capabilities. Assessments for knowledge/understanding, application, thinking/inquiry, and communication are way more useful. I also think that these grades should be presented as a letter grade or achievement level rather than a percentage grade. First of all, what’s the big difference between 75 and a 76? Both should simply be represented as a ‘B’, or as a mark of ‘proficient’.
One important point where I’m a little undecided as to how I feel is incomplete assignments. I do agree with Cooper that they should not reflect the student’s abilities in the class. Although, I do not think that they should just be ignored. I don’t think that students should be given countless opportunities to submit assignments, it just isn’t practical. Unless there is a legitimate reason, I think that an incomplete assignment should count as a level ‘R’, or a 50 for percentage grades. In the job-world or university, late assignments are unacceptable or penalized, I believe the same standard should be held in high schools.
Toward the end of the chapter, Cooper presents 5 guiding principles for determine grades: they should capture the trend over the term/year (consistent achievement); they shouldn’t exclude extreme scores; they should emphasize more recent achievement; weighting of assessments should be done carefully; and the report card should not be a surprise to the teacher, student, or parent. I agree with most of these guidelines, however I believe more strongly in recent achievement over consistency, mostly in math. If a student can demonstrate all abilities at the end of the year, it shouldn’t matter much what their marks were before that.
With respect to the separation of categories for assessment, I like the idea of splitting expectations into ‘enduring understandings’ and ‘essential skills’. A general grade for ‘Science’ isn’t very telling of student’s capabilities. Assessments for knowledge/understanding, application, thinking/inquiry, and communication are way more useful. I also think that these grades should be presented as a letter grade or achievement level rather than a percentage grade. First of all, what’s the big difference between 75 and a 76? Both should simply be represented as a ‘B’, or as a mark of ‘proficient’.
One important point where I’m a little undecided as to how I feel is incomplete assignments. I do agree with Cooper that they should not reflect the student’s abilities in the class. Although, I do not think that they should just be ignored. I don’t think that students should be given countless opportunities to submit assignments, it just isn’t practical. Unless there is a legitimate reason, I think that an incomplete assignment should count as a level ‘R’, or a 50 for percentage grades. In the job-world or university, late assignments are unacceptable or penalized, I believe the same standard should be held in high schools.
Toward the end of the chapter, Cooper presents 5 guiding principles for determine grades: they should capture the trend over the term/year (consistent achievement); they shouldn’t exclude extreme scores; they should emphasize more recent achievement; weighting of assessments should be done carefully; and the report card should not be a surprise to the teacher, student, or parent. I agree with most of these guidelines, however I believe more strongly in recent achievement over consistency, mostly in math. If a student can demonstrate all abilities at the end of the year, it shouldn’t matter much what their marks were before that.