And this is the fourth of four substantial articles from James:
Ben, this is the last e-mail I’ll send for the time being. Sorry for all the stuff, but I am really just feeling the flow and I have time because it’s spring break. Plus I would hate for the conversation to come to an end because the focus got lost in all the layers of a single post. So hopefully this can spread it out and keep things focused. In this e-mail I describe the central role of jGR in my current system of standards-based grading.
So, a letter grade in my Latin 1 class is based on what levels the student has reached in the various standards. The student will have five ranks 1-4, one rank for each standard of Hearing, Reading, Writing, Interpersonal, and Vocabulary. I can define what levels result in what letter based on the overall letter grade rubric. This is conjunctive grading. I have used something like this for the past year and it has worked well:
A = a 4 in any one standard with nothing lower than a 3 B = a 3 in at least three standards with nothing lower than a 2 C = EITHER nothing lower than a 2 OR a 1 in any one standard D = a 1 in any two standards F = a 1 in any three standards
People sometimes say that standards-based grading is too easy on the kids, that it coddles them. If you really think about that overall letter grade rubric, though, that’s obviously not true. SBG doesn’t let students hide.
Think of jGR especially. (Note that I had to rewrite jGR a little bit to be 1-4 and not 1-5.) When I designed this whole system I really wanted jGR to maintain its central role. Look at how it works:
If a student is a total dud interpersonally and gets a 1 overall for jGR, THE HIGHEST GRADE HE CAN GET IS A C. He could get As on every assessment, it doesn’t matter; if he refuses to show up with eye contact and one word answers, a C is his ceiling.
Or imagine that bratty cheerleader who is that “sort-of” dud for her interpersonal jGR. Her highest possible letter grade is a B. In order for her to get that precious A, the “2” for jGR needs to become a “3.” End of story. Just look at the overall letter grade rubric, sweetheart. And so on. The conversations can be really fun.
jGR. Talk about a total monster. James