When It Comes to Grading, Some of Us Have it Backwards

"Imagine a classroom where students operated under an additive system of point earning rather than a subtractive system of losing points." - Rob Steller

Backwards grading, also called reverse grading, is a strategy where students start with zero points, or an F, then earn their advancement through demonstrated mastery of skills and learning standards.

"Grades are communication, not compensation" - Rick Wormeli

The typical classroom grading system has students starting with a 100 percent average, or an "A" letter grade. Ordinarily, this average gets chiseled away with every assignment or assessment. Unless sustained perfection is realized, this is a grading system that doesn't measure or communicate student progress. This is a subtractive system that punishes the learner with ever-decreasing average scores.

Do students actually know less at the end of the grading term than at the beginning?

Daniel Pink would argue that extrinsic rewards such as points, grades, even money, inhibit motivation and cognitive performance. Mentioned previously, subtractive grading is counterintuitive, and worse, this practice tends to stifle student creativity and risk-taking. Backwards curricular design, what Grant Wiggins has coined Understanding by Design (UbD), helps students to identify, and prepare for, the mastery of learning benchmarks. Backwards grading supports the curricular sequencing of UbD.

An obvious, non-moving target is more likely to be hit.

Better than 90% of school-age children play video games. Video games follow an additive design where players are awarded points, tokens, or badges, for successful actions. Most games do not allow the player to progress to higher levels without first overcoming a challenge, or demonstrating mastery of the current skill set. Many games allow for creative problem solving which encourages risk-taking and boosts confidence. Gamers will often attempt many trials, and spend numerous hours, trying to master a competition level. The average failure rate of video games exceeds 80% yet the players remain resilient. Differentiation and personalization of learning are built in benefits of classroom gamification because no two strategies or performances are exactly alike.

Traditional grading practices are being more readily discussed and scrutinized by educational leaders. Standards-Based Grading is just one methodology to grow from these thought-change discussions. Backwards grading supports SBG by providing a sequence and competency answer to the question, "what does this letter grade represent?" Because learning should provide intrinsic value to the learner, I view grades as a "necessary evil" in schools. If grades are to remain part of the advancement process, then we should at least consider strategies that promote engagement and motivation, such as backwards grading.

Are letter grades necessary? If so, how can we make them more relevant to the learner?

What Teachers Can Learn From Effective Coaches

In my educational world teaching and coaching involve the same processes. The people that impacted my own learning most significantly were coaches. Could it be that great coaches were ahead of their time with respects to instructional best practices? Let's take a look at ten coaching practices that thankfully have found their way into the classroom. http://www.coachwooden.com/files/PyramidThinkingSuccess.jpg Standards-based Grading - coaches aren't concerned with arbitrary measures of success such as letter grades. Great coaches identify a requisite set of skills that are necessary for advancement and success. Promotion and achievement are based upon clearly identified levels of skill mastery. Authentic assessment - coaches are looking for their athletes to demonstrate their skill mastery under game-like situations. The best coaches incorporate game simulations and competitive, game-like drills into their practices. Winning coaches will use the contests as assess

Board Games in the School Library: 3 Reasons Why It's a Winning Play

"Play is the highest form of research." - Albert Einstein “Play is the work of the child.” – Maria Montessori In our recently remodeled school media center, we have a space dedicated to active engagement in fun learning activities. Part maker space, part literacy lounge, board games are being incorporated to promote a culture of joyful learning. Whether it's a game of Rummy , Yahtzee , or Scrabble , family game night serves as a communication elixir and solidifies our domestic climate of togetherness. Shouldn't similar opportunities for interaction, challenge, and fun exist somewhere in our schools? Broken families, cultural fragmentation, and poverty are impacting opportunities for children to play. As we unpacked and tagged our new media center games, I was more disappointed than shocked by the number of students who had never played Monopoly , Boggle , or Sorry . One skeptical teacher commented, "Oh great, now we're letting students pl

Self-Directed vs. Self-Determined Learning; What's the Difference?

"We need to move beyond the idea that an education is something that is provided for us, and toward the idea that an education is something that we create for ourselves." - Stephen Downes In this age of abundance of information, shifting classroom pedagogy isn't nearly enough to make learning in school more relevant and authentic for the learner. Self-directed learning ( andragogy ), and self-determined learning ( heutagogy ) are the ideals necessary in making students " future ready " to live and learn in a web-connected world. While original research applied these concepts to mature learners, it has become apparent that even young children have an abundant capacity for recognizing and directing their learning. Anyone who has observed toddlers learning how to walk and talk understand the motivation and skill development that quickly develops during these processes. Considered by some to be on a learning continuum, self-directed learning, and self-determined

Ms. L-P said…

This is fantastic! I just clipped this post to help me develop more project-based learning units for next year!

April 8, 2014 at 8:03 PM

Robert T. Schuetz said…

Hello Ms. L-P. Thank you for your comment. I'm glad that you found the information helpful to your PBL planning. I am interested in hearing how it works out with you and your students. Bob

April 8, 2014 at 8:36 PM

Nocking the Arrow

Search This Blog