High+Schools+Without+Grades+–+Moving+Toward+Standards+Based+High+Schools

**Task 1: Write a paragraph summarizing how this issue takes shape in your own practice. **
==== As we have experienced in education, assessment is a huge part of our day, and four to six times a year grading is a huge part of how we communicate all of our assessment data. Debates have raged for decades around how can we best assess for learning and what then is the correlation between how we[| assess work and what grade is assigned to this same work.] In the last ten years of my career I have become very focused on the idea that a student's grade at the close of a term, and then a course,should reflect the students overall understanding of the skills and content associated with course as a whole. Consequently, I have really struggled with the idea that a term or course grade reflects the average of their understanding and not necessarily what they had achieved by the last day of the term or class. Thus, I have been working very hard over the last few years to really revamp my assessment practices so they reflect what I hold dear and while I would love to be able to have a truly [|standards based classroom] replete with standards bases assessment, I am forced to assign grades to my students work at the end of each term and the end of the year, so my compromise has been to move towards only having mastery assessments count towards a student’s numerical grade. This is my local response to the bigger issue of grading, however, as much as I can control my classroom environment my classroom is still just a part of a larger school and I truly feel that if high schools could make the move towards truly standards based assessment, meaning not having to distill down numerical grades, then I could really move my classroom to standards based assessment and it would be much more meaningful for my students. ====

== Task 2: Research both sides of the debates about your issue. Keep a page to post as a list. ==

==Task 3: In paragraph or using a table or graphic organizer, present the major positions on both sides of your issue. ==

====The chart below assumes a system that is using standards based reporting for every thing and not attempting to take traditionally numerically graded assignments and turn them into standards based reports. ====


 * ===** 100% Standards-Based Assessment and Reporting **=== || ===** Traditional Methods of Simplifying All Work to a Single Grade Each Term and at End of the Course. **=== ||
 * ==== Much more difficult to establish eligibility for sports and activities. ==== || ==== Allows for clear cut rules for eligibility ==== ||
 * ==== More difficult to communicate information as it does not currently fit mold thus requires a great deal of parent education as well as extra documents for colleges. ==== || ==== Easily reported to outside sources – parents, scholarship organizations, colleges ==== ||
 * ==== It comes across as very subjective – especially in its early stages ==== || ==== It comes across as very concrete because it is easy to explain mathematically where the number or letter was derived from. ==== ||
 * ==== Unwieldy to implement – requires teacher education, changes in reporting and reporting frequency. ==== || ==== Easy to implement – insert numbers at the end of the term and year. Often it is even totally at the discretion of the classroom teacher as to how these numbers are derived. ==== ||
 * ==== If implemented properly gets rid of the “numbers” entirely and allows for a more holistic view of students ==== || ==== It is only about the numbers and students really start to associate themselves as an A, B, C…student. ==== ||
 * ==== Students have much more power to inform their growth process. If they know exactly where they stand with a skill or content piece at the end of the first term, then they are more likely to be able to plan for the next term with regard to how they want to work differently or what they see is working currently. ==== || ==== Traditional assignations of term end grades and course end grades can often be seen as very punitive and finite. It a student receives a lower than desired grade at term end – he or she often receives little feedback with regard to what specific skills and content need to improve. Additionally, many aspects of their life are tied up in this grade – eligibility for activities being the largest. ==== ||
 * ==== Adheres more closely to the idea of the growth mindset. ==== || ==== Adheres more closely to the idea of fixed mindset. ==== ||
 * ==== The focus is on the learning versus the end result and thus the “grade-grubbing” can be lessened. ==== || ==== The focus is very clearly on the single end grade and students often do things to get the grade versus for the actual learning process. ==== ||

==Task 4:  **Write a (~one page) that agrees or disagrees with each point on each side of your organizer.In the conclusion, include your position after researching this issue. Reflect on possible implications in your classroom** ==