Scribd
Upload
140 views3 pages

Blythe Ed887 Module 6 Assignment 1 1

The document discusses a kindergarten teacher's reflection on deriving accurate, fair, and defensible summary grades from Chapter 9 of Classroom Assessment for Student Learning. Three key concepts impacted the teacher: 1) grades do not represent education, as learning is the true goal, 2) grades should reflect achievement on content standards to communicate student mastery accurately, and 3) an organized grading system provides evidence that grades are valid and helps track student progress. The teacher plans to better align assessments with standards, involve students in self-assessing their own learning, and use grades to support rather than judge students.

Uploaded by

api-555429342
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
140 views3 pages

Blythe Ed887 Module 6 Assignment 1 1

The document discusses a kindergarten teacher's reflection on deriving accurate, fair, and defensible summary grades from Chapter 9 of Classroom Assessment for Student Learning. Three key concepts impacted the teacher: 1) grades do not represent education, as learning is the true goal, 2) grades should reflect achievement on content standards to communicate student mastery accurately, and 3) an organized grading system provides evidence that grades are valid and helps track student progress. The teacher plans to better align assessments with standards, involve students in self-assessing their own learning, and use grades to support rather than judge students.

Uploaded by

api-555429342
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
You are on page 1/ 3

Brier Blythe - Kindergarten Teacher

ED887
Module 6, Assignment 1
Dr. Limpert
June 27, 2021

Reflection on Deriving Accurate, Fair, and Defensible Summary Grades

There was a lot of information that was new and useful to me from Chapter 9 of
Classroom Assessment for Student Learning, “Deriving Accurate, Fair, and Defensible
Summary Grades.” As a Kindergarten teacher, I feel like I don’t have a lot of experience
grading. However, this chapter brought to light several examples of what grading should
and shouldn’t look like. Three concepts from this chapter that had an impact on me was
the idea that grades do not represent education, grades should reflect achievement on
content standards, and grades should be effectively organized and tracked.
I loved what the authors put front and center on the first page of the chapter, as it
spoke to me and focused my attention to the true purpose of education. Chappuis and
Stiggins state, “Grades are not the point or even the result of education. Learning is the
point and the result. It is important to keep grades in perspective: they are one part of a
communication system we use to report on learning after it has occurred” (Chappuis &
Stiggins, 2018, p. 301). What a great reminder. Grades are absolutely present in
education and can be a wonderful tool for communication to students and parents, but
education does not depend on grades. As the authors said, learning is the point and
result of education. They also state that, “teacher and learning can succeed without
grading” (Chappuis & Stiggins, 2018, p. 301). Being a Kindergarten teacher, who does
not record grades except for quarterly report cards, I know this firsthand. I know,
however, that many teachers do struggle with knowing what to grade, how to grade, and
handling the impact that grades have on students and parents. The idea that grades do
not represent education had an impact on me because it made me realize that grades
are a tool for learning, while learning is the goal of education.
Another concept that had an impact on me was that grades should reflect
achievement on content standards. This sounds obvious, but I will be honest and say
that my grade level’s report card assesses necessary skills, but our report card skills are
not necessarily aligned to the content standards as they should be. The authors of this
book mention how sometimes we assume that our curriculum is aligned with the
standards, and while it is sometimes true, it is not always true and we should not
depend on it. This relates to deriving accurate and defensible grades as when our
assessments/grades are directly aligned with our standards, there is less intuition,
subjectivity, and emotion when assigning grades (Chappuis & Stiggins, 2018, p. 305).
Chappuis and Stiggins say that, “Our first responsibility as teachers is to ensure that
grades provide an accurate reflection of each student’s actual level of achievement”
(Chappuis & Stiggins, 2018, p. 305). Aligning grades with standards helps us accurately
communicate student achievement of those standards. This is definitely an area that I
would like to collaborate with my grade level team to improve in.
Lastly, a third concept of this chapter that impacted me was having a purposeful
and effective system for organizing and tracking grades. An effective tracking system
provides defensible summary grades because it provides evidence and records of
achievement. Having an organized system for tracking grades can help us monitor
student achievement, recognize strengths and weaknesses, set goals, and offer support
to students and parents. This impacted me because an organized grading system can
provide evidence that grades are accurate, fair, and defensible and can help teachers
think about their purpose for grading.
One idea from this chapter that I would like to implement in my assessments is
alignment with content standards and involving students in their grades rather than just
assigning grades and moving on. I think it is important that I align my assessments with
content standards to hold myself accountable to teaching to the standards and
measuring student achievement of the standards. In doing so, I believe that it would
also increase students’ involvement in their learning process by knowing their learning
targets, receiving feedback on their achievement of learning targets and standards,
having the opportunity to self-assess and set goals towards learning targets, and being
able to reflect upon and revise their knowledge. Chappuis and Stiggins say, “We are
also familiar with grading practices designed to motivate students to adopt desirable
learning habits and responsible behaviors and avoid undesirable ones” (Chappuis &
Stiggins, 2018, p. 308). Making assessments aligned with the standards and involving
students in the purpose of learning will help them better understand their achievement
in given skills. When grades are used for students rather than of students, it changes
the perspective on teaching and learning.
References

Chappuis, J., & Stiggins, R. J. (2018). Classroom assessment for student learning:

doing it right -- using it well (Third). Pearson.

You might also like