Could You Teach Without Grades?

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Could You Teach Without Grades?
Posted on February 20, 2015 by Jennifer Gonzalez
http://www.cultofpedagogy.com/starr-sackstein/

We have been talking about rethinking grading in my setting and having just gone through the unwieldy task of trying to assess the large amount of work that my students created in tech class, I was reminded of my intrinsic resistance to the emphasis on evaluation, testing, assessment that is rampant in education. I was therefore quite pleased to come across this post on Gonzalez's excellent blog Culture of Pedagogy.

Here's a summary of the podcast interview she did with educator Sackstein...

Mastery Approach --> Focuses on learning and providing constant feedback



Implementing within Traditional Setting  --> the challenge

Start with Conversations - to change mindset focused on grades
- e.g. what is a grade? why should we try something different? what are the expectations & how does mastery work?
- if they cant see it and you get huge resistance, you probably shouldn't do it

Set up Expectations
- introduce standards [don't choose too many] and include rubric checklists
- set learning targets and engage students in the process
- provide guidance on process and build ongoing formative feedback into schedule

Change the Language to Mastery [no A, B, C]
NI - Not enough information
A - Approaching standards
M - Meeting
E - Excelling


+ provide feedback with this rating structure and use this as discussion point with students during1:1 meetings
--> use Vox [voice] instead of just comments on G-Docs to minimize sea of suggestions [which can be intimidating]

Integrate Project Based Learning:
--> Long term projects where you provide consistent, specific formative feedback [small groups, 1:1]
--> hold in-class monthly conferences [use G-Form for students to sign up, review goals, check progress, be open to different ways of demonstrating mastery and competence
--> Limit to 3-4 Standards for each Assignment
--> No formally assigned HMK - students work at their own pace
--> Students maintain personal blog to document process
--> provide mini lessons/direct instruction at the beginning of units or as needed
--> encourage peer support [Ask 3 before me, using Twitter as back channel to trouble shoot, or Hangouts for 1:1 or small groups]
--> Create 'expert' groups for themes/pieces of the project to help support

Personalization: Letting students choose alternative ways to meet standards if they don't like what you have in mind [Try to say yes more than no]

Final Step: Aligning Back to Traditional Grading Requirement
--> students review their work and standards and meet with teacher to finalize grade [need to show the evidence in their work].
--> to master requires consistency [cant just do it all at the end]
Final Grade of A = mastery of all standards

Other Resources Mentioned in this Episode:
A Repair Kit for Grading: Fifteen Fixes for Broken Grades, by Ken O’Connor
Assessment 3.0: Throw Out Your Grade Book and Inspire Learning, by Mark Barnes
Role Reversal: Achieving Uncommonly Excellent Results in the Student-Centered Classroom, by Mark Barnes
The 5-Minute Teacher: How do I maximize time for learning in my classroom?, by Mark Barnes
Teaching the iStudent: A Quick Guide to Using Mobile Devices and Social Media in the K-12 Classroom, by Mark Barnes
 Teachers Throwing Out Grades - TTOG http://www.brilliant-insane.com/2014/11/teachers-throwing-out-grades-a-movement-thats-trending.html
#TTOG weekly chat

Summary
This interview focused on K-12 but much of it can apply at the Higher Education level. What resonates with this approach is that the shift is towards students taking more responsibility for their own learning and being integrally a part of the evaluation process [vs. having assessment done to them]. As an educator, it also takes away the subjective piece that has always bothered me, where the teacher wields all the power. Though I do still have the responsibility of setting and maintaining standards, students engage in a dialogue with me on how they met the standards [e.g. providing evidence].

I have been shifting towards this in some of my courses - for example, I do ask students to self evaluate - but I am always surprised to see how many do not fully engage in this process. I think I need to do a better job discussing the approach up front so that we can set guidelines and expectations. But I also need to find a better way to have the ongoing going discussion throughout the course. I am able to do this more easily in my inquiry courses - which are essentially individualized thesis projects - but need to think about how to do this in my other courses. I think reframing to a PBL model might be the key.

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