Strategies for Busy Teachers
Finding the Time
Require That Students Complete the Work
Use the Menu System
Documenting Time-Saving Ideas
Student Voices in Grading Practices
Hypotheses About Student Engagement
Student Voices Across Grade Levels
When Students, Parents, and Teachers Disagree
Leading Change for Effective Grading Policies
Defining the Purposes of Grading
Giving Rewards and Punishments
Implementing Unpopular Policy Changes
Four-Level, Action-Oriented Change Model
Explicit Vision
Specification of Behavior
Assessment and Feedback
Continuous Refinement
Aligning Systemic Support
Examine Evaluation Systems
Resolve Disagreements
Grading for Students With Special Needs
Fairness
Accuracy
Specificity
Timeliness
The Impact of Technology on Grading Practices
Electronic Gradebooks
A Lighter Backpack
Collaborative Scoring of Anonymous Student Work
Parent Engagement With Electronic Gradebooks
Inspiring Change in Grading Policies
Engage in Extensive Community Dialogue
Use Grading as a Tool for Improved Student Learning
Tolerate Dissent
Demonstrate Effective Change With Improved Student Success
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Douglas Reeves, PhD, is the author of more than thirty books and eighty articles about education, leadership, and organizational effectiveness. He has presented his work on effective grading practices to audiences around the world. His research appears in Educational Leadership, Kappan, The American School Board Journal, and many other publications. His comments on grading appeared on the cover of USA Today, and his work remains frequently cited in professional and academic publications. Douglas’s honors include the Distinguished Service Award from the National Association of Secondary School Principals, the Brock International Prize, and the Contribution to the Field Award from the National Staff Development Council (now Learning Forward). He is the founding editor and copublisher of The SNAFU Review, where he provides one-on-one support for disabled veterans whose writing and art inspire others with post-traumatic stress disorder. He is also the founder of Finish the Dissertation, a free and noncommercial service for doctoral students. He lives with his family in downtown Boston.
To learn more about Douglas’s work, visit Creative Leadership Solutions (CreativeLeadership.net) or the Change Leaders blog (www.changeleaders.com), or follow him on Twitter @DouglasReeves.
To book Douglas Reeves for professional development, contact [email protected].
Preface
FINDING COMMON GROUND
Standards-based grading is one of the most controversial issues in 21st century education. The two sides in the debate can be contentious, even rancorous, challenging one another’s motives and concern for students. This book is not designed to tell the critics of standards-based grading that they are wrong. Rather, I attempt to seek common ground between the critics and advocates of standards-based grading to develop and promote the most effective grading practices.
So let’s step back from the brink and attempt a more rational dialogue with the critics of standards-based grading. I’m not one to back away from a vigorous debate on important issues, but this particular debate has gone off the rails from policy disagreements to destructive monologues. We can do better. Although standards-based grading is the logical accompaniment to any system that uses standards, there remains a wide gulf between the embrace of standards and the use of standards-based grading. The policy of standards-based grading is the reality in only a small fraction of districts. Although the practice is growing, the opposition is consistent and strong. What is missing in the debate
