My first trimester of Standards Based grading is done. Time to tweak. Time to take into account all the stuff that was great about SBG and all the crap that, if left to itself, will inevitably hit the fan. I used two very different methods of SBG in my classrooms. For my honors kids, I used a very strict YES/NO method of grading - all or nothing for each target. For my regular level kids, not a whole lot changed. They still got a percent grade, but for each test they got a grade for each learning target instead of one big grade. Both methods had things that were good and things that were bad.
I liked the flexibility with the percent grading in the regular classes. It allowed me to give a kid an 80%, which is still a good grade. What was bad about it was that when a kid got less than that, like say a 60%, the system allowed him or her to "settle" for a less than stellar grade. What I loved about the stricter grading method was that it forced kids to retake a target if they missed more than one. BUT, it also FORCED kids to be complacent about missing that one problem. SO here is what I propose...
If we just throw both methods at the fan (the good stuff and the sh*t), what I think will come out of it is this: a hybrid grading system where kids can earn 100%, 85%, 75%, or 0%. This will allow me to account for small errors made in arithmetic, but still demonstrating basic comprehension of ALL problems in a section (85%), missing one problem completely (75%) or missing more than one problem (0%). This will force kids to retake with sub-par grades, encourage kids to retake if it is less than perfect, and separate the kids who REALLY are distinguished in their understanding by awarding them with 100%. This may or may not work well - I will have to test the theory out first.
The other really important thing to consider is why I want to make these changes. Is it because the kids are complaining that it is unfair and too much work and they never got their A? Or is it because I truly think this will benefit kids? I don't want to give in to their complaining. Honestly, they don't seem to realize that a grade should represent how much they know - not how many bathroom passes they turned in for extra credit or how hard they worked on their homework. If we want to grade work ethic, make it its own standard or learning target.
Grades should reflect student knowledge. That is all. If we start to fall back into our old ways, we are perpetuating a system where students who are "good at school" get the grades. We need to encourage student responsibility and make them realize that they are responsible to learn.
So to finish this off, sometimes we need to let it all hit the fan. Then we can see what we like and don't like about what we are doing and find the best in all of the mess.
