Before I left the classroom to go into administration I spent over 20 memorable years teaching. It was a joy to work with youngsters who would become our future. But I have to admit that the one thing I hated to do was to grade my students. However hard I tried, I never felt comfortable that a single grade gave the full picture of a student’s achievement. So why did I grade? Because I needed to do it. Why did I need to do it? Because other people used those grades like parents, colleges, scholarship committees, athletic coaches, etc. That grade I assigned was used for many purposes, most of which were out of my control so the grade better communicate accurately. A student’s well-being was at stake here. In other words, I wanted to make sure that the message I intended to send with the grade was the message received. As much as I worked to do the right thing in grading I would have welcomed some help in assigning the grade that most accurately communicated the achievement of each of my students.
Join me in the session, “These Aren’t My Grandmother’s Grading Practices,” where we will look at the steps that need to be taken long before a grade is assigned on a report card. We will look at the targets being measured, how these targets are assessed, how assessments are graded, recorded and interpreted, and how that information is shared with students and others. To put these practices into context I ask that participants bring with them to the session a copy, either digitally or in hand, of one or two of their summative assessments that are used in a grading period and assist in the assigning of a report card grade.
I also welcome you to join me in another session at the 2016 Pearson ATI Winter Conference where we will concentrate on formative and summative feedback practices that will be useful to elementary students and their parents. These practices inform students and their parents of their progress and attainment of important learning targets. No matter how young or old our students are, they need to know where they are going in their learning, where they are now in their learning and what it is going to take to get to the next level in their learning. Information is power so how do we make that information understandable to our students from kindergarten on up and to their parents?
I look forward to seeing you!
Carol Commodore, Ed.D., is the founding member of Leadership, Learning and Assessment, LLC. She is also one of the founding members of the Wisconsin Assessment Consortium and an independent consultant with Pearson Assessment Training Institute of Portland, Oregon. Carol has also served as an assistant superintendent for instruction and a coordinator for assessment and has over twenty years experience as a classroom teacher, having taught students from kindergarten through graduate school. She has facilitated the development and implementation of a district-wide elementary world language program and a district-wide K-12 Standards and Balanced Assessment program for students. Carol’s research interests focus on the impact of assessment and instruction on learners and their learning. Her work with assessment, learning, motivation and leadership takes her across North America, Asia, Europe and the Middle East. She has provided numerous keynote addresses, workshops and consultations for school districts, schools and educational and nonprofit organizations. Carol is also a co-author of three books, The Power of SMART Goals: Using Goals to Improve Student Learning along with Beyond School Improvement The Journey to Innovative Leadership, and Assessment for Assessment Balance and Quality An Action Guide for School Leaders 3ed.
Pearson Assessment Training Institute 