FIAE Chapter 12

It seems unfortunate that grades have the reputation and significance that they do. Not only does it make it difficult to fairly and adequately assess students, it also makes it difficult to change the method for assessing students. As the chapter suggests, students and parents are often opposed to teachers switching to rubrics because they don’t see how a teacher could give a student an A or a B using a rubric, when that isn’t the point. I personally experienced a transition in grading while in high school. My school went from using a 100-point scale to using what they called standards-based grading, which was for the most part a rubric 4-point scale. At first it was a confusing transition, but once teachers posted what the new grades meant somewhere so we could see that a 3/4 was a 90 in the book, we were able to better see how it worked. I think this transition has been successful in the long term picture. It requires teachers to take a close look at the concepts and skills a student needs to be successful and show mastery in a content area. I think that no matter what the grading system is, it is important that the teacher take a close look at how the student performed in reference to the concepts and skills, not the aesthetics of the assessment. I also think that an entire school should use the same grading system, to make it easier not only on the teachers, but the students as well. Uniformity and consistency is key to students understanding their assessments and feedback, and it makes it less difficult for teachers to team teach, co-teach, and to compile data on student progress.