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Amanda Martemucci
FIAE-Chapter 11: Chapter 11 focuses on six grading issues that teachers encounter: record a zero or sixty, grading gifted students, weighting grades, automaticity versus content attainment, grading late work, and grading special needs students. Giving students a zero does not reveal students mastery in a subject, which is what grades are supposed to reflect. Wormeli suggests giving students a 60 rather than a zero so the final grade is mathematically justified (p. 137). This isn’t giving students a grade for doing nothing. It’s helping reveal a student’s mastery rather than allowing one zero to effect his or her entire grade. I will definitely use this strategy in my classroom, as I want to see my students’ mastery rather than a grade that doesn’t reveal this due to a missed assignment. Grading gifted students can also be a challenge, which I am sure I will face as a teacher. Depending on how gifted a student is will depend on if I grade them for the content in the regular classroom, or for the content in their higher level learning ability. I will need to get to know my students better before doing this. Weighting grades is always a tricky concept in my opinion. Wormeli has an strong argument that weighing levels of subjects is not right as it merely signals who the valedictorian of a school will be (p. 143). This isn’t right. Grades need to be equal among students, especially when differentiating. I think depending on the grade level and what time in the school year will depend on whether I grade students for automaticity (“how deftly and efficiently the student responds to the task” (p. 145), or content attainment (students a just beginning to learn about the concepts of the task and may take several steps to gain understanding (p. 146). With late work, I definitely wouldn’t begin marking off letter grades the first day it is late like the chapter suggests. I would also pay attention to how often a student turns work in late. That will effect how I grade their work as well. With grading special needs students, the chapter emphasizes the need for the regular teacher and special education teacher to communicate about grading. I think this is extremely important and will be a goal of mine when I have special needs students in my classroom.

Bridget Ferry
Chapter 11: Six Burning Grading Issues When recording a grade for something that was not turned in, teachers often put down a zero, but the effects of a zero on an overall grade can be catastrophic, and there for not reflect a student’s true mastery, so a sixty should be recorded instead. Gifted students in advanced classes should be graded on the advanced scale, but gifted students in regular classes should be graded based on the scale of they class they are enrolled in. Students in differentiated classrooms always have as many tools as necessary to aid achievement, which results in weighted grades. When it comes to automaticity verses concept attainment, teachers need teach all students advanced concepts, even if they haven’t quite mastered the basics yet. Lower grades for late work do not reflect actual mastery, but if it is necessary to lower a grade, do so by a few points, not a whole letter grade. It is imperative that regular education and special education teachers work together to form a clear philosophy to help grade students in inclusion classes, or the students can get disheartened. I really feel like all of these issues are major problems out in the field, but I think the author’s solutions to all of them seem to be the best I’ve encountered yet. I will follow his advice in my practices as I grow to understand my own solutions to these “burning grading issues.”

Moe
This entire chapter was about the discrepancies that teacher’s face when deciding what grading scales should be used, how to deal with late work, and how credit should be assigned to the students. The book reminds us that sometimes giving 60s instead of lower possible grades encourages students to do less work knowing that they will get credit no matter what. We should also remember that late work will happen and that if we reinforce the idea of getting work in to check progress rather then assess, then the students will respect the policy. I really liked the section on late work because I think it’ll be easy for me to incorporate those ideals into my teaching style. I feel like no student should be penalized for late work because it shuts him or her down to what they should be learning. I hate it when teachers complain about giving students work and then if it’s late penalizing them for not having it fully completed or not completed because “I was out”. I also believe that the credit given on an assignment should be directly connected to how much achievement is evident in the final copy handed in.

Kristen
Putting zeros in the grade book does not give an accurate description of student mastery, in fact it skews it drastically. A student who earns all A's and does not turn in one homework assignment could lose an entire letter grade by getting a zero. The book suggests that, instead, the teacher should give the student a 60 as that is still a failing grade on the 100 point system. Another conflict a teacher faces is what to do about reporting the grades of advanced students. Do we grade them on mastery of the regular class work or mastery of the more advanced work? Preferably we would grade them on both, however most report cards don’t provide the space to do so. Comment sections are recommended for additional grades or reports of student progress. Lastly, how do we grade special education students in the regular classroom? A classroom teacher could be conflicted by the fact that the same level was not achieved by each student. The special education teacher is aware of the amount of progress the special education student has made and may be able to work with the regular classroom teacher to work out the appropriate grade for the student. Communication is key. Before I read this chapter I was leaning towards giving zeros for late work but now I understand and agree with giving a 60 as it is a failing grade and doesn’t skew the evidence of student learning so much.

Christina
This chapter deals with specific issues a teacher may encounter when it comes to grading and provides solutions or suggestions for these problems. The first problem is how a zero in the grade book can negatively affect a student's grade. It is suggested that a zero should be replaced by a 60 for fairness, so that the grade still reflect the student's mastery. They provide many convincing arguments for replacing a sixty with a zero, and the most convincing of all is that all grades including A,B,C and D have a range of about ten points, but then an F has a sixty point range. If I do use this method as a teacher, I will need to ensure that students do not take advantage of this. The next topic discussed was grading gifted students. It is suggested that when grading these students, it is important to show the highest grade that they have obtained in a higher level class. Another aspect discussed is weighting grades. This is not a method that should be used because it is not a good reflection of the students mastery. Grading is supposed to show not just a letter but it should provide some sort of feedback in a way and provide a good snapshot of where a student is at in their learning.

Chelsea
This chapter discusses how teachers should fill in discrepancies in grading, if a student fails to pass an assignment should we record a 60 or leave it as a zero? The chapter also discussed how we should grade gifted students, should we grade them more difficult then other students because they are at a more advanced level. The book discusses that we should grade for mastery instead of whether or not a student has passed in an assignment or if a advanced student did poorly on a test. I don’t necessarily agree recording an assignment as a 60 if the student fails to pass in assignment. I feel that it is the student’s responsibility to take responsibility and pass in an assignment unless obviously there is some extenuating circumstance. Although, it is more important for us to recognize that a student’s level of mastery is more important than whether or not we record a zero or a sixty.

Kevin
Should missing work be counted as a zero or a sixty? This is the question Wormeli tries to answer in this chapter. The author’s point is that part of differentiation is trying to make grades represent an accurate level of mastery. When a student earns a zero it has such a devastating on effect on the average that it no longer becomes an accurate representation of mastery. I’m not sure if I would go with a grade as high as a 60 but it makes sense that F’s shouldn’t go below a 50 because this is merely keeping in line with the grading system. If other grades have roughly a 10 point scale, why should F’s have a 60 point scale? I completely agree with the statements the author makes about class ranking and choosing a valedictorian. The process only ever causes increased stress, competition, and divisiveness among students. The last subject Wormeli talks about in this chapter is one that I noticed can be a very difficult during my time in the field; and that is how to grade special needs students in inclusive classrooms. During my time in the field I often worked with two special needs students in one of the classes. Largely I helped them with reading so that we could get through the reading part and they would have adequate time to answer questions. The teacher I worked with told me that she often has a difficult time knowing exactly how to grade their work.

Jesika
This chapter is mainly about the things that teachers are uncertain about when grading students. the main topic in this chapter was whether or not to put a zero in the grade book for work that has not been done. At first glance one might think that this is the obvious response to work that has not been done. The student deserves nothing if they do nothing, right? Mathematically speaking, the answer is no. In a grading scale where there is typically ten points of difference between one letter grade and the next a zero is so far off of that scale that it shouldn't even be counted. Mathematically it is better to grade with in that same range of points

Initially when I started reading this chapter I was adamant that not doing work deserves a zero in the grade book. But as I read on I changed my mind. If there is a set of five 100s and a zero the average is lowered to a mid-range B. That does not accurately report the student's mastery. I am still torn though with the idea that if a student does hand in a piece of work that is graded lower than a 50. What would I do? Give them a higher grade than they deserve, or even give a higher score to someone who did no work at all?