Reply to APS Most Likely Moving to Standards-Based Grading/Grading for Equity Next School Year

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Reply to "APS Most Likely Moving to Standards-Based Grading/Grading for Equity Next School Year"

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]I read the book (a while ago, so I've forgotten quite a bit) and my kid's independent school uses this approach to grading. Read the book - it really is thought provoking, and makes you think about what school is for. What is the point?

For my kid's school, this approach has reinforced that grades are measuring learning. The point is to learn the material, so if you retake a test, and you've learned the material by the second try, cool. Yeah, you don't get as many points as the person who got it right on the first try (retakes are for 80% of credit or something) but you still get rewarded for learning.

They also provide points for a variety of activities, some of which my kid is better able to do than get a good grade on a test. He is dyslexic and tests are not terribly good measures of his knowledge. He is always the one leading the group work and making sure the group project gets done well, though. So he gets points for that. But it is all very clear - everyone is eligible for the same number of points for the same tasks, and anyone can retake a test or redo an assignment for the same percent credit.

So its not only APS - some independent schools are using this approach, too.[/quote]

+ 1

Haven’t read the book but these are all things our private school does anyway.[/quote]

I posted above asking whether anyone had any information as to what the effect on college admissions may be for kids from a public school using this type of system.

I know that private schools have used alternative grading systems, but it seems like private schools have much smaller classes and more resources to devote to these meaningful group projects you mentioned.  My fear is that in large public schools with larger classes, there will be no real way for students to distinguish themselves and no real way for those outside the school to evaluate a student's record.  I have elementary kids who have been under standards based grading and the report cards I get only state that my kids are meeting a minimum standard.  It's a check box.  Any comments on the report card are formulaic sentences, half of which only describe the work the class has been doing that quarter.  I know this because I've compared with friends- all of our kids will get the same comments on the report card, word for word.  (And I had kids in elementary before standards based grading, and it was different).

I like the idea of meaningfully evaluating kids on something other then tests, and questioning what it is we're asking kids to achieve and learn in school.  But this type of system, as implemented in a private school, seems incompatible with APS the way APS has implemented standards based grading in elementary and with other things APS has done, like increasing class sizes.

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