Standards Based Grading

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6 thoughts on “Standards Based Grading”

  1. Thanks for bringing this back to the front, Ben. And thanks for the sobriquet / appellation. Chevalier de l’Ouest That is quite an honor, and I will savor it.
    Right now I’m letting it simmer for a little bit as we approach the end of the year (2 1/2 more weeks – my last day is 23 June).
    As I look it over quickly, though, I think I will re-word one paragraph, “Categories”:
    Instead of giving marks in categories like “reading” and “speaking” or “tests” and “homework”, grades will reflect the student’s level of competence while communicating in one of the three modes of communication (interpretive, interpersonal and presentational).
    I also think that interpersonal communication can be boiled down to a single sentence:
    Students engage in conversation in German
    The components can then be further defined – What is engagement and what does it look like? What is conversation and how does one engage in it?
    “La conversation s’oppose aux autres formes d’interaction (entretien, débat, colloque, pourparlers, conciliabule, etc.) par son caractère familier, improvisé et gratuit: aucune de ses composantes n’est fixée à l’avance et elle n’a pas d’autre finalité que sa propre pratique, elle est coupée de tout but instrumental. Sa principale motivation est le plaisir.”
    Un bavardage sans détour, et la présence de ceux qu’on aime….
    Right now I think the hard work needs to be about figuring out the mechanics of implementation. My infamous fourth period class was abusing my bathroom policy, so I told them it had to change. Someone in the class came up with the idea of being allowed to go only once a week. That wasn’t the way I had intended to go (I was going to use Ben’s idea of 3 people per day), but since it was their suggestion, I went with it. Now I keep a notebook by my projector and write down the name of anyone who goes to the bathroom. If a name is on the list, that person can’t go to the bathroom again that week. It has helped a lot.
    The point is that I can track this because I write down a very limited number of names. If I can keep this up (and I can), I can keep up a system that requires a limited number of marks. That’s why I like the idea that anyone who is performing at Proficient level has no marks. A clean slate is proficient. Now all I need is a system that allows me to record Advanced, Basic, Below Basic and Far Below Basic quickly and easily.
    Also, for conveying what those terms mean to my students, I’m thinking of something like
    -Advanced: bmx master
    -Proficient: smooth on the road around town
    -Basic: on your own but wobbly
    -Below Basic: training wheels are helping
    -Far Below Basic: bicycle is chained and waiting for you to get on
    I’m not happy with all of those, but it’s a start. Of course, students need to see the bicycle prezi first.

  2. I’ll create a category called Bathroom Policy. I bet I’m not the only one who will try that idea in the fall.
    Also, for those who don’t read French, that beautiful description of what conversation is basically says that we don’t know where the discussion is going, it is random as opposed to other more formal use of language, and its principal function is to give pleasure.

  3. If you need an actual record-keeping book to make sense of all of the data you will rerecording Easy Grade Pro has a standards-based gradereport option that is powerful and easy to use. It delivers grade reports with good, easy to understand information. You meet standard here here and here. Your total standard score is 3.00: Meets Standards.

  4. I can’t find the posts about the Interpretive/etc. grading scheme. It got too hard for me to fathom and put into letters this year, though I love the letter above and will think about those ACTFL standards over the year.
    I was explaining “Listening” grades to kids yesterday. As Nathan et al pointed out earlier, we need only describe “Proficient.” A “proficient” listener sits alertly, looks at or toward the current speaker with interest, and responds as requested. Not everyone is going to “Exceed” in this area (giving feedback–nodding, smiling, looking curious, asking questions–as appropriate) because of shyness or just hanging on, but what otherwise might be seen as misbehavior (talking on the side, focusing on a toy, using a cell phone) is taking away from the listening grade.
    Two classes discussed this idea yesterday, and they got it right away. It’s not simply behavior, I think. I can’t really get into their brains whether they’re taking in what I say except by watching the eyes. (Later I will add “comprehension” under listening.) But this description helped them all — and me.
    I told them that some cultures don’t look people in the eye (several of our Alaskan cultures), so they don’t have to do that. But knowing how to demonstrate that you are listening will serve you well in every situation.
    I think this will make for an easy grade every so often–remind them that I’m grading listening for the day and keep just a few notes. In a language class, you must demonstrate the ability to listen.
    Then it will be easy to call parents with concerns: Jacob’s grade is dropping because he is not demonstrating listening skills. It will come off less as a behavior “disruption” than an explanation of how he can practice this skill.
    What do you think?? (Before this is in stone.)

  5. Michelle, I like this version/instantiation of Interpersonal Mode as Listening Grade. Is it still working?
    So much better to say: “not demonstrating listening skills” than “behavior disruption”! As I am kicking the terminology around in my head, and thinking about what parents and administrators expect as grades, I am wondering if I might have more success with Listening as a Grading Category/Standard, and just make it crystal clear that I mean Interpersonal Mode [read: learned behaviors of meaning negotiation appropriate to levels one and two]–

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