The test was made up of six categories; balancing reactions, understanding reactions, graphing, conservation of mass, bonding and understanding bonding. I have been using standards grading this year and for the most part it has been incredibly useful. These 3 case studies explain some of the ways that it can be tricky.
The Grinder
Karl (all names are changed) grinds out his work. He has had fairly good grades throughout his career in school but those grades have largely been based on effort. Karl does everything a teacher asks. He turns in homework on time, he participates in his group, and he is kind to other students. These are all positive and worthwhile traits to have but they do not show up when he is graded only on what he knows and understands.
On the test he did not meet the standard in 4 of the 6 categories. And he scored at the lowest possible level on the conservation of mass questions. Since the whole unit was on conservation of mass it was especially disappointing to see Karl score so low on those questions. Further it was clear by his written reasoning in those questions that he had no grasp at all of how conservation of mass worked.
The Absentee
This student, Liza, is habitually absent. She has major attendance issues missing more than 20 classes this year and missing a greater amount last year. She is in her second year of taking the same chemistry class. But somehow along the line she has learned a good deal about chemistry. On every assessment this year she has met the standard level in all of the big categories and has done fairly well in what could be called the supporting categories.
The Problem Student
Dave is a great kid. He is respectful of adults and he helps other students in class. He has great questions about science and he seems truly interested in the class. Dave, however, does not ever turn in work. He does not even turn in classwork--classwork that he completes quickly and then goes to help other students in the class with. He somehow loses this work too. When he is assessed, [Tests are the only way because he is captive, he has many times declined my offers to give him oral exams or other kinds of assessment.], he does great, usually scoring at the top level on all standards.
Questions
I can say that the approach of standards grading is really working. It makes it very clear for me and for the students what is understood and what is not. These cases are outside of the expected though and they are the ones that for many reasons I am the most concerned with. I don't want to ruin Karl's spirit with all of this. He is in 10th grade and has found success by doing what his teachers told him to do. I want to be honest with him about what he knows but at the same time I want to be clear with him that his effort is very much valued.
And Liza is a really tough case. Few of my colleagues would say that granting her credit would be the way to go but I wonder if she needs to take chemistry for a third time next year. Are there new creative options that will also meet the test of fairness?
And Dave is the kind of student that drives teachers crazy. He is really a nice young man but he will not play the school game. The question is--do all students have to? Or should we change it so that it is less about the game? How can we tell students that really need to do homework to do it and at the same time allow Dave to score well and not do the homework.
I don't have these answers yet...
No comments:
Post a Comment