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There are two goals of an educator. One is to teach them specialized goals, such as photography. The other is to encourage engagement and growth. As this happens, the teacher reports their comprehension level in the form of a percentage.
What Does it Mean?
However, there’s a question related to this type of grade. The student has a grade point average (GPA) of 80%. Do they know only that much of the material? Or did they go through the motions to get that grade?
There are ways to clarify this. Here are some grading practices to try that refine the practice.
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Apply a Growth Mindset.
For a high school photography curriculum, three students have the same average score. The first aces the course, the second struggles but does well at the end. The third starts strong, fumbles, then recovers.
Standard grading shows end-of-term averages. However, it doesn’t reveal how hard the pair of struggling students worked to get there. This is where a growth mindset kicks in.
To implement this process, regularly update old scores with new ones. Allow students to have unlimited retakes on tests and assessments. Add the highest score instead of averaging them out. Most importantly, let students know that learning doesn’t stop with these exams to help maintain their engagement.
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Score on Proficiency
Numerous elementary and middle schools no longer grade with letters. Instead, they use a proficiency scale. Usually, four means nearing mastery, while one represents difficulty with concepts. In high school, these proficiency scores are switched back to letter grades.
Why can’t this scoring continue from 9th to 12th grade? High schoolers now have access to their scores via online systems. Overall, someone who panics at getting a 90 (A-) on a test might not stress as much if they score a four.
Also Read:Helping Students Overcome Their Fear Towards Math
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Add Non-Content Elements
A student’s homework assignment or test shouldn’t reflect their entire grade. Perhaps they know the information but don’t do well on exams. Conversely, their homework is perfect, but their actual knowledge is subpar.
This is why non-content elements should be added to grades. For example, consider in-class and at-home work habits as an example. In a math class, this would be revealed by the work shown to solve a problem. Through this, the educator sees the results. In turn, a culture of yielding results through troubleshooting is adopted.
Demonstrated knowledge should also be examined as a non-content element. For example, “The Simpsons” episode “Bart Gets an F” is an excellent example of this. Though Bart fails his history test, he spouts demonstrated knowledge to his teacher, which allows him to get a passing grade.
Overall, this should be an option for students who have anxiety (you can take clonazepam) or other issues related to testing. If it’s performed in a setting that doesn’t seem like an exam, they should be able to display what they’ve learned. You can also use Adobe Education Exchange for new learning material.
There are several ways to disrupt education and create a more beneficial environment. First, utilizing the above grading practices should go toward that shift.
