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 * Annotated reading list for ESM Grading Study Group - Grades 5 -12**

1. "Helping Standards Make the Grade" by Thomas Guskey @http://course1.winona.edu/lgray/el626/Articlesonline/Guskey_helping.html

In this article, Guskey summarizes best practices for criterion-referenced grading and reporting. He differentiates between the three types of grading that most teachers focus on (progress, process, and product). He also discusses the advantages and disadvantages of focusing on one of these types as a primary measurement of student learning and advocates the use of all three types of grades. He also describes how teacher teams can best decide upon the standards that they will use on the "reporting form" (report card) and how to assess student learning for each standard. He advocates the use of a 1-4 scale for report card grading.

2. "The Rest of the Story" by Thomas Guskey @http://www.smartcharacterchoices.com/pdfs/The_Rest_of_the_Story_Guskey_08.pdf

This Guskey article focuses on corrective instruction and assessment within the classroom. Although it doesn't focus on grading specifically, it discusses assessments, activites and instruction that encourage students to think critically in analyzing past errors and moving towards a better understanding for the standards

3. Reeves, D. B. (2008). Leading to change: Effective Grading Practices. //Educational Leadership, 65//(5), 85–87.

In this article Doug Reeves discusses grading practices that are commonly used an how these practices in combination with inconsistencies in grading and assessment contribute to high rates of failure and low morale among students and teachers. Three commonly used grading policies that are he feels are so ineffective they could be labeled as toxic. The first is the use of zeroes for missing work. He states that “the appropriate consequence (for not doing work) is not a zero; it's //completing the work”.// A second practice that he says is unfair to learners is the practice of using the average of all scores throughout the semester or marking period, rather than a measure that reflects growth from the beginning of an instructional unit or marking period to the end, and the third practice is the "semester killer"—the single project, test, lab, paper, or other assignment that will “make or break” students.

His research with several school districts indicates that consistency in grading policies, improved feedback and increased intervention for students results in improved grades and more students engaged in higher level courses. He advocates a four step process that teachers can engage in to review and revise their grading practices.

4. "Making the Grades: Ensure Accuracy, Meaning, Consistency, and Support for Learning" by Ken O'Connor

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In this Education Leadership article, Ken O’Connor (aka The Grade Doctor) looks at four factors that affect grading. Grades should be accurate which means they should reflect academic achievement and not behavior. They should meaningful, reflective of students’ progress according to established standards of learning rather than assessment methods. Consistency in grading would suggest that schools adopt clearly defined performance standards for subjects and grade levels and that all teachers use these standards to evaluate student performance. Finally, he suggests some strategies for the fourth factor of grades that support learning. []

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These are some additional links you may want to look at for additional resources and some interesting Q & A regarding grading.

5."Validity of High-School Grades in Predicting Student Success Beyond the Freshman Year: High -School Record vs. Standardized Tests as Indicators of Four-Year College Outcomes" by Saul Geiser and Maria Santelices.

The URL is: @http://cshe.berkeley.edu/

The surprising information from the study is that a student's high school grade-point average is a better predictor of success in college than standardized tests. This was found to be true in spite of the fact that there is wide variability in grading systems from high school to high school.

I also read a "Washington Post" editorial by the Post's Education Commentator who disparaged schools and teachers for their wide-range of grading practices, snidely promoting Texas' education where a student is most likely to earn an A. I believe it was 47% of the students in Texas high schools receive As, according to the editorial.

The interesting thing about surveys and statistics is how easily they can be manipulated to show whatever is wanted by a particular group. Knowing the political agenda behind the statistical "data" is important to critically analyzing bias.

Although it would seem that some of the educational theorists agree with each other (particularly about separating assessment from "grades" for behaviors), there is wide discrepancy about the subject of grading out there. It may be less about a system of grading than accountability for making that system meaningful to students and the school community.

6. []

This free look at a chapter from Kathleen Cushman's new book //Fires in the Mind,// does not speak to grading per se, but addresses a topic that is central to any discussion of assessment and grading. That is homework. The students who contribute to this chapter understand the need for and the value of homework, but present some interesting insights on what homework should look like and how it should be assessed.

7. Kohn, Alfie “From Degrading to De-Grading”, High School magazine, March 1999, []

In this article the research surrounding numerous reasons to minimize or eliminate grading is reviewed. The top three reasons include:
 * //Grades tend to reduce students’ interest in the learning itself.//
 * // Grades tend to reduce students’ preference for challenging tasks. //
 * //Grades tend to reduce the quality of students’ thinking.//

In all, a total of nine reasons are given. The author discusses the major objections to this approach as well as some things he would do differently to include more student input in developing criteria and assessing work. Although the article is over ten years old, the author refers to many concepts such as collaborative learning and authentic assessment that are relevant to our conversations today.

8. Rick Wormeli "Teaching in the Middle: Turning 0s into 60s", February, 2006 []

9. Myron Dueck "She Met the Learning Outcomes but She Doesn't Deserve to Pass" http://myrondueck.wordpress.com/2011/06/27/she-met-the-learning-outcomes%E2%80%A6but-she-doesn%E2%80%99t-deserve-to-pass/