Should homework be counted towards an achievement grade?

[Anonymous]

You want to make sure a third grader is reading?

Assign a chapter of a book for homework. Then when the kid comes back to school the next day, give a test on what was in the chapter. Grade the TEST. Not the homework which was reading the book. It's the in-class test that demonstrates mastery of the content.

The following is how my child is graded for reading homework: a reading log.

Every night he's supposed to read 15 minutes, a book of his choosing. He's supposed to write down what he read (title, pages). He is supposed to do this for 20 days each month.

If he fills out 18+ days on the sheet, his reading log gets the grade of A.
If he fills out 16-17 dates on the sheet, his reading log gets the grade of B

etc.

Of course this grade is averaged out with other reading grades. But do you see how this system of grading work done at home doesn't demand mastery of the concept or skill in order to get the grade A? As long as the kid can fill out 20 lines on a piece of paper, he gets an A. Whether he understood what he was reading or not, whether he's reading K level books or 6th grade level books, he gets the A for making the effort.

That's great, that's sweet -- but that A doesn't necessarily provide any information about the child's reading ability -- just his ability to fill out the paper.

Give the kids an A for study skills, or "paper filling out" and save the REading A for tasks, observed by a teacher, that actually demonatrate comptence in reading.

Sounds like a good way to instill the discipline of reading every day. Does one always need the threat of an in class test to instill this discipline?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:
Sounds like a good way to instill the discipline of reading every day. Does one always need the threat of an in class test to instill this discipline?

It certainly is a good way to instill the disipline of writing something down on a chart every single day. But that's ALL it monitors. Writing.

[Anonymous]

At least we may agree that a proficient and effective writer needs the daily discipline of writing every day... a worthy goal in and of itself for kids indeed.

[Anonymous]

Those insisting testing in a classroom is the only way to demonstrate mastery of a subject obviously don't have kids with learning challenges. My kids are unable to demonstrate mastery in a typical test environment and this is recognized by the school. They get special accomodations. This isn't as uncommon as people think. There are many kids who don't test well which is why tests alone are not a sufficient basis for determining grades. There are also kids who test extremely well but really haven't mastered the subject. I don't understand the rigidity of people who insist testing is the only or the best way - other than they lack understanding.

[Anonymous]

Don't worry this opinion is wholly shared by relics that went to "Catholic-type schools" where nuns rapped children on the knuckles for geting out of line.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Those insisting testing in a classroom is the only way to demonstrate mastery of a subject obviously don't have kids with learning challenges. My kids are unable to demonstrate mastery in a typical test environment and this is recognized by the school. They get special accomodations. This isn't as uncommon as people think. There are many kids who don't test well which is why tests alone are not a sufficient basis for determining grades. There are also kids who test extremely well but really haven't mastered the subject. I don't understand the rigidity of people who insist testing is the only or the best way - other than they lack understanding.

I think you are misunderstanding the argument. It isn't that testing is the only way to demonstrate mastery of a subject.

Rather than in-class evaluations are the fairest way of evaluating mastery. The in-class evaluation can be:

-oral discussion or interview
-oral report/presentation
-drawing/sketch/diagram
-multiple choice test
- ill in the blank test
-essay test
-journal entry
-writing to a prompt
etc etc etc

If a child freezes up when taking a test, by all means, evaluate the material a different way.

If a child doesn't speak much English, design a test to evaluate mastery of concepts that isn't so dependent on volcabulary.

If a child is reading below grade level, devise a test that is on his or her reading level.

Etc.

But DON'T take a child who "doesn't test well" in science and excuse him from taking an in class science multiple choice test, only to replace it with an at home assignment that can be completed without demonstrating mastery of the concepts. Unfortunately, this can happen.... Kids are say allowed to write a few book reports on a science topic, to make up some extra credit after having failed a sciene test.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Don't worry this opinion is wholly shared by relics that went to "Catholic-type schools" where nuns rapped children on the knuckles for geting out of line.

In my case you are completely wrong.