Standards-Based Grading: Never “When”, but “How?”
Is there any value in being a hardass about how students show proficiency?
I’m thinking back to a related-rates1 project I had my kids do. They related the immersion of a popular culture character’s name (like, “Jeannie” in the late 1960′s) to the frequency of it as a baby name (Social Security Administration data).
Some students had a hard time with the project, and ended up watering down their investigations. I was lax on them, knowing that they’d be assessed on related rates several times in the future.
Their investigations started grand and ended up with hardly any luster at all, as they tried to get it all done during class (ugh, I hate that mentality)
The more I think back though, the more I wonder if being a bit more prim would’ve been good for them without watering down my assessment scheme.
What do you all think would be a suitable and defensible policy?
1. Yeah, yeah, related rates are a joke contrived for calculus one courses; I know. But they’re a gatekeeper, and until every college everywhere stops including them (or at least starts teaching them as “the implicit chain rule,” I’ll still have to teach the garbage.
Teaching Pre-Calculus to One Kid All Semester: The Dance of the Sallies So Many Golf Balls
I have a SBG question that I haven’t seen addressed anywhere in the various blogs – maybe someone has a suggestion? Since you’re discussing the WHEN of SBG … I ran into this one this year:
I give a unit test, say on Thursday. A student is absent. The expectation is that they make it up on Friday if they are back in school. They then tell me that they can’t do it Friday because of some reason. My classes meet later in the day, so that’s even worse — I can’t say to come at lunch because it’s past already. So, the student says, Oh, I’ll make it up on Tuesday, or Wednesday. Whoa, pardner! We took the test on Thursday. Why should you get an extra 5-6 days? But in SBG, it’s not WHEN a student learns….but…. I really have an issue in regard to tests. So, do I return tests for students to look over? I have to. But then the student who delays taking the test has an advantage. Do I write an entirely new test? I feel like I’m being punished for their absence.
One thing I have done is put “timeliness” as one of my “skill standards”, so that’s something. But it still doesn’t really solve the problem of making up a test in a timely manner, and the fairness issue about having extra time to find out what’s on the test. Because, what am I testing? What they know, or what they asked others who took the test what they know?
Thanks for all of your ideas! Love the blog!
Yeah, I’ve been having a similar question all year. In my case their intentions may not be grand, but it seems they don’t really know what proficiency looks. If I model too much, they instinctively start parrotting without understanding (they’ve trained at that for years). If I model too little, I feel a little like when the cat excitedly brings me a muddy, half-living mouse. I don’t want to dampen their enthusiasm but I want to raise the bar. It comes down to giving good feedback, which is difficult for me: I don’t always know on the spot how to help them see the difference between what they did and what I wish they did, apart from just showing them what I wish they did–and that kills their energy.
Exactly. I have no idea what to do.
Lately I’ve been learning to ask better questions, whether the student’s answer is right or wrong. (cue poker face) “How do you know? Why does that method work? How could you verify your answer? Does your method always work? What if this value were bigger, how would that change your answer? What else might affect your answer?” and on and on. Students figure out what they did wrong, or get a deeper understanding if they’re right. Maybe a variation of that technique would work for you.
When stuck I go with “I don’t understand can you explain it to me?”
It sounds like you’re saying related rates aren’t used much in the real world. I have disappointingly little experience with applications*, but, really?
*I’m working on that, it’s why I love your & Dan Meyer’s blog so much.