Standards- Based Grading: Rick Wormeli

 

Our professor had us watch this short video this week as an assignment. I found this video very interestingand had to share it! I use some of the theories in my own grading.  A 65% shows that student does not understand a concept, and I do not want my students to feel defeated. In first grade, they are still trying to figure out what school is about. Our school is going to standards- based grading next year, so it gives me an outlook on what needs to be done. Giving a zero on a 100 point scale is a very controversial issue. I really appreciate it when Mr. Wormeli says that this scale was never meant to be used as a way to measure human progress against a goal- it has been corrupted. Teachers need to consider that a grade scale for a letter grade doesn’t matter. A zero is the most un-recoverable grade. When grading, do you grade by giving an “f”, or an un-recoverable “f”? Failing a student shows the student has not mastered the content. Even if a child gets a zero, it can take many 100% to bring the student’s average up. It can be overwhelming to a student. Think about how this could affect an ESL student with all of the challenges they are faced with. When grading, you need to pick the most hopeful approach to show that a child has not mastered the content. “An ‘f’ is an ‘f’”.