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

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[quote=Anonymous]My APS middle schooler's school started this last year, and it has been mostly a frustrating experience. So they use SBG for the assignments, but convert to A/B/C etc. for the report cards... but each teacher seems to convert the grades differently.

For example, some teachers decided that having more than one 3 = a B.  So if a kid has ten 4s and two 3s, they get a B.  If they have more than one 2, a C and so on... in traditional grading, scores are averaged, so a good grade can help bring up a bad one, but not in that way of using SBG.  You could have 100 4s but those two 3s still bring you down an entire letter grade. Other teachers equate 4 to A, 3 to B, etc., but this is confusing because is a 4 a 90, a 95, or a 100? It doesn't really make sense.

Most of the work the kids do does not count for a grade at all.  In some cases, only 2-3 assignments per quarter count for a grade.  Since kids were blowing off the "formative" (not for a grade) assignments last year, this year, they made a rule that kids are not allowed to take the "summative" (for a grade) tests, etc. unless they have completed all of the formative work.

Being able to retake tests has been nice (for the kids), but there wasn't consistency regarding how many retakes were allowed (most teachers just allowed one; some allowed as many as the students wanted).

Also, the kids need to write a paragraph "justifying" their grade at the end of each quarter-- proving why they should get the grade they claim.  Then the teacher can approve it, or not. That seems like the opposite of equity to me.  Grades to be based on data, no persuasive writing skills (unless that's the assignment).

Finally, no extra credit allowed, even if you are only using the resources APS provides, like the ipad.  They claim extra credit isn't "fair," but that only makes sense if it's extra credit requiring supplies provided at home, for example.  I have tried to read more about SBG to better understand it, but so far, NOT a fan. [/quote]

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