A few weeks ago Robert wrote the draft of a letter to eventually be mailed to parents. It appeared as one of the comments to his original blog post at:
https://benslavic.com/blog/2011/05/08/robert-harrell-on-assessment/comment-page-3/#comments
I just wanted to put it here as a formal blog post to ask him its current status. I wish I could capture all of the nuance of thought that went on between Robert and Frank and Nathan and others in those record 83 comments. I want to keep this process under the microscope. I think that the topic got too big, but we need to honor the work of the Chevalier de l’Ouest here. I, for one, don’t want to go into next year with an outmoded way of doing formative assessment [edit. note: I made a few very minor formatting edits only].
Dear Parents and Students:
Garden Grove Unified School District and Pacifica High School have committed themselves to Standards-Based Grading. This represents a change from what most people think of when they think about grades, so perhaps an explanation of what SBG is and how it looks in the World Language Classroom is in order.
What is Standards-Based Grading?
In SBG the emphasis is on mastery of a standard rather than merely doing a certain amount of work in order to get a grade. Students should not think that by doing extra work or getting “extra credit” they will improve their grade. Instead, they need to compare their work to the standard to see if they exceed, meet or fall below the standard.
This method of grading works well in the World Language Classroom. The State of California adopted California State Standards for the World Language Classroom: Kindergarten Through Grade Twelve in 2009. These standards define the content that should be taught at various stages of language acquisition. Coupled with the ACTFL (American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages) Performance Guidelines for K-12 Learners, these standards tell teachers what students should be able to do and how well they should be able to do it at various stages of acquisition.
What’s different about learning a foreign language?
Students acquire a language by talking about other things in the language. That’s what sets foreign language learning apart. The World Language Standards describe communicative competence, not discrete-item knowledge. As the introduction to the California Standards notes, “We can no longer afford to simply learn about languages and cultures but rather, we must provide students with opportunities to learn languages and cultures by participating in communicative interactions that prepare for real-world language use and global citizenship.“ In other words, students do not learn a language by talking about the language, its parts and structure, but by communicating in the language. This makes foreign language different from all other disciplines.
What does Standards-Based Grading measure?
In the German classroom, Standards-Based Grading focuses on the three modes of communication and how well students use them.
What are the three modes of communication?
– Interpretive mode: students understand oral and written messages
– Interpersonal mode: students exchange messages to gain understanding
– Presentational mode: students pass their messages on to others
What do Standards-Based Grades look like?
What categories should I look for?
Instead of categories like “reading” and “speaking” or “tests” and “homework”, grades will be entered under one of the three modes of communication (interpretive, interpersonal and presentational) and indicate the student’s level of competence while communicating in that mode.
What does the grading scale look like?
In Standards-Based Grading, students do not receive the traditional letter grade or a percentage. Instead, they receive a notation that indicates how closely their performance aligns with the standard for that mode of communication. As a result, grade indicators will look different. I will be using the following markings:
– A = Advanced; student performance exceeds the standard
– P = Proficient: student performance meets the standard
– B = Basic: student performance approaches the standard
– L = BeLow Basic: student performance fails to meet the standard
– F = Far Below Basic: student performance falls significantly under the standard
Why not just give traditional grades?
Traditional grades often reflect many different things, so students don’t really know why they got a particular grade. Standards-Based Grading compares student work to a specific standard and informs students as to whether or not they are meeting the goal. As a result, students can see and explain why they received a particular grade. The Standards-based grade gives students important feedback so they can improve.
How do students know how well they are doing?
In a word: Rubrics. The Standards and ACTFL Guidelines are the basis for rubrics that enable students to see their level of competency. Attached to this letter are the basic rubrics I will be using for German class. For certain assignments a more detailed rubric will be given, but all work in the German classroom will be assessed using the general rubrics.
Work that exceeds these standards will be evaluated as Advanced
Work that meets the standards is Proficient
Work that approaches the standard is Basic
Work that fails to approach the standard is Below Basic or Far Below Basic.
What if a student doesn’t meet the goal or standard?
Any time students fail to achieve a level of competence that satisfies them, they may come to me to discuss what might be improved and then re-submit a performance or product to show mastery of the standard. Of course, this must fall within the constraints of the school system and requirements to submit grades at regular intervals.
How can parents support students in German?
If both your students and I do our jobs, the class will be interesting, relevant and enjoyable. I am asking you as a parent to reinforce and support the need for students to do their 50% as outlined in the rubrics so I can more effectively do my 50%. Working together we can do the job of language acquisition.
I am excited about sharing my love for German with your students and look forward to an enjoyable and productive year.
Thanks for your help and support.
Robert Harrell
German Teacher
Pacifica High School