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The Assessment Network has grown to the point where that it now contains many different examples of how the power of assessment can be maximized in the classroom. These ideas are scattered throughout the site. To make this site easier to navigate, this one blog will include links to all of the other classroom AFL examples. It's sort of like an AFL Wal-Mart - everything you need in one blog!

• The teacher will have to guide/train students about how to use the rubric in this manner. Don’t expect magic the first time.
• This will work best if the teacher provides class time for the students to use their rubrics.
• The teacher might want to keep the rubrics in the classroom so that they do not get lost. Students might not take them home until the night before a large test/quiz/graded assignment.
• Be very explicit with your students about the purpose of the rubric. Don’t let this become just another "thing". This could be yet another worksheet provided by a teacher but not effectively used by students. Instead help your students view self-assessment as a core learning strategy and something that they can apply to future classes/learning. Help them view the rubric as a key to success.

After studying Assessment FOR Learning pretty intensely for the past few school years, I am now beginning to think that we might do ourselves a favor if we would change some of our terminology.  Specifically, I think it's time to stop using the words "grading" or "grade" as often as we do and replace them - at times - with "scoring" or "score".

You don't have to go very far down the AFL road to realize that traditional grading practices often get in the way of our attempts to use AFL strategies.  Traditional grade books and grading strategies typically average together all of a student's grades for the grading period to determine a final grade.  Therefore, practice assignments such as homework and classwork will have an impact on the student's grade.  Since the concept of assigning lots of practice so that students and teachers can receive the feedback necessary to increase learning is central to AFL (see Heart of AFL), averaging practice grades into a student's overall grade becomes obviously problematic.  What if the additional practice helps a student learn but also lowers the student's grade?  The natural reaction to this problem is for teachers to feel that they should not grade practice assignments.  For more on this topic see:

• I Want to Be the Starting Tailback - a football analogy about grading practicing interfering with assessment
• Why is Allen Iverson on Assessment FOR Learning? - An explanation of the "Practice" video
• Of batting averages, grading, and MVP seasons... - Are you ruled by an inaccurate grade book average?

So the philosophy of AFL naturally leads to teachers feeling as though they should not grade practice assignments.  This is where Newton's third law of motion comes into play: "To every action there is always an equal and opposite reaction."  When students realize that some things are graded and some things are not, they react by asking before most assignments, "Is this going to be graded?"  Implied in their question is the idea that if the answer is "Yes" then they will work harder than if the answer is "No".  As a result, teachers are reluctant to not grade assignments - even if they agree with the philosophy of practice assignments not lowering a grade - for fear that students won't work hard and, therefore, won't learn as much. 

So we're left with a quandary.  We don't want to let practice impact the student's final grade but we want students to work on each assignment as though their final grade depended on it.  Part of this quandary is of our own making.  As explored previously in What we WANT students to do v. What we TRAIN students to do, we wish that students worked for the love of learning but we then use points and grades as a Sea World trainer uses a fish.  It's difficult to argue that students should not be motivated by grades when we, in turn, use grades as motivators.  We have to find a new way.  Perhaps our new AFL philosophy requires some new terminology.

What would happen if we started "scoring" all assignments and "grading" only a few?  The term "grading" implies the following:

1. The teacher will assess how well the student did on the assignment.
2. The student will receive feedback on well they have mastered the content.
3. The grade will go into the grade book to be used to help determine the student's final grade.

"Scoring" could be the new tool needed to help us out of our quandary.  The difference between scoring and grading is in implication #3 from the list above.  Both scoring and grading provide the teacher with feedback and both provide the student with feedback.  However, a score on an assignment may or may not be used by the teacher to determine the final grade.  Here's how I envision scoring working in a typical AFL classroom:

1. The teacher assigns practice everyday.
2. The teacher provides feedback on all practice.  While this feedback is often provided very informally, the majority of feedback given formally is in the form of a score.
3. The score looks very similar to a grade.
4. The score goes into the grade book.
5. The students understand up front that the teacher will be looking over all of a student's scores - and grades - to determine what the appropriate final grade is for the student.  While graded assignments are the few that will definitely count toward the final grade, they will be much fewer in number than the scored assignments.  Rather than being tied down to averaging all graded assignments, the teacher who uses scoring will now be able to study the evidence and arrive at the most appropriate final grade.

The point here is that every score counts toward helping the teacher determine a grade.  When students ask, "Is this graded," what they really means is, "Does this count?"  With scoring, the answer to that question is:

"Yes, it counts.  Everything counts.  As the teacher, I will be analyzing ALL the evidence - just like a good detective - before arriving at a conclusion (your grade).  How it counts could be different for each of you, depending on how you perform, but ALL assignments count."

Scoring satisfies our desire to be AFL-ish:

• teachers receive feedback
• students receive feedback
• practice doesn't have to lower - or overly inflate - the final grade

At the same time, scoring doesn't entice students to fall into the trap of only working "when it counts."

What do you think?

The 2 x 10 Method: Building Student Relationships One Kid at a Time

January 10th, 2011, By: Diane Trim in Articles, Classroom Management

This has been reposted from Inside the School. Click here to read it in its original location.

In a recent online seminar with school psychologist Dr. Allen Mendler, Mendler talked about the 2 x 10 method of connecting with students, especially tough students. Here’s what he suggested:

Take two minutes a day for 10 consecutive days to engage the student in personal conversation.

I haven’t tried this myself, but I can see how this 2 x 10 method would work well to improve classroom management. Personal connections are so important to learning. If a student knows the teacher cares, the student is more likely to be engaged in class. If the teacher and student have created a personal bond, it’s harder for either one to depersonalize and disrespect one another.

The two minutes need to be personal and not about math, science, or business communications. What did you do over the weekend? is always a good start. So are: Did you catch last night’s game? What do you think about the new movie? Could you recommend a video game my son might enjoy? The conversation should be about the student, not about the teacher. Listen and learn. Respond. Smile. Treat the kid as if she is the most interesting kid in the room.

If I were to use the 2 x 10 method, I’d first target my influential student leaders – the ones who are more likely to lead the class in mayhem, like Tim or Ashley, rather than those who edit the yearbook, like Charisse or Karen.Charisse and Karen already tell me all about their weekends and show me their yearbook layouts. They connect with everyone. Tim and Ashley connect with their peers just fine, but love to strengthen the us-versus-them students-versus-teachers mentality.

It might be an interesting experiment to use 2 x 10 on the student leader’s buddy first rather than approach Tim or Matt head on. Clint feels more approachable to me than Tim does; at least he’s more predictable. Hannah is less likely to be fashionably rude to me than Ashley. Winning over the best friends could be a good first step to winning over the student leaders.

I’d also use the 2 x 10 method on those kids who are hard to reach, like Aaron, who doesn’t come to class very often, or Kurt, who rarely puts pen to paper.

I’m sure that the 2 x 10 method isn’t a miracle cure for classroom management. But I have two minutes to strengthen a bond between myself and a student. One caring adult can make a huge difference in a student’s life. And maybe, my two minutes over 10 days will yield benefits beyond the personal connection: improved classroom management and more student learning.

Allen N. Mendler, PhD, is an educator, psychologist., and author. His most recent book published by the Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development, Connecting with Students (2001), provides numerous practical strategies that help educators to connect effectively with their students. He can-be contacted at: Discipline Associates, phone: 1 /800/772-5227; fax: 773/549-6515; e-mail: tammy@disciplineassociates.com; Web site: www.disciplineassociates.com

The simple answer to the title question is "Yes".  If you're just interested in the simple answer, then you can stop reading.  If you'd like more details, read on.

I'm going to share a specific example of how AFL can be used to impact student behavior; however, first I'd like to take a look at the topic from a philosophical standpoint.  We should start by reminding ourselves why it is that AFL helps students learn content.  AFL practices help students learn because as a result of regular/daily assessments:

• Students receive feedback on their progress,
• Students are trained how to use that feedback to guide their own learning,
• Teachers receive feedback on how effectively they are teaching, and
• Teachers use that feedback to guide their teaching.

Those first two bullets are especially important.  When students are given the proper feedback and the tools to use that feedback, then the potential increases for them to take control of their learning.  AFL demands that we move beyond simply assigning grades and on to providing feedback that will guide students toward learning - which in turn leads to grades.

When AFL strategies are not present, students are more inclined to view a grade as something that a teacher assigns - instead of something that they have earned.  In other words, there is less ownership of a grade.  The grade is an external stimulus.  For some students - those internally motivated to do well - the external stimulus is a great reward.  But for those not internally motivated to excel, the external stimulus usually does not have the desired effect.   When AFL is practiced properly, students gain greater ownership over their grades because the focus becomes more internal as students are trained to guide their own learning.  Could this also apply to behavior?  

For many of our students - especially those inclined to misbehave - good behavior is something that the teacher makes happen by repeatedly requiring students to behave.  The stimulus or reinforcement for these students is completely external.  We tell them to do better, to sit still , to participate properly, to pay attention, to ask questions, and to behave.  We continue to apply external reinforcement and hope that eventually they comply.  This method is not without merit, but wouldn't it be better if we could somehow move from all external to at least some internal motivation?

The Salem High School freshman team of Emily Herndon, Mark Ingerson, Wes Lester, and Jason Sells is trying to do just that.  So far they are reporting a fairly high level of success.  Here's what they have done:

• A student who is identified as having behavior problems in class meets with the team of teachers to discuss their behaviors.
• Those students receive an Academic Self-Reporting Form and the team of teachers teaches the student how to use the form.
• The student then begins rating him or herself in class each day with a possible high score each day of 24 points per class period.
• The student shares his or her self-rating with the teacher on at least a weekly basis.

So can this actually work?  Is it actually possible to get students to assess themselves and then make behavioral decisions based on that assessment?  So far, it is working.  Here are a few anecdotes shared with me by the teachers on that team. (Note: student names have been changed.)

•  John: All year, John has been one of the worst students in all of our classes. However, now that he uses the self-reporting form he has improved dramatically. He has the form on his desk and looks at it throughout class. One of the parts of the chart is participation in class. Prior to using the form, John NEVER participated in any classes, but now he looks for opportunities everyday to share or answer questions. He knows that he regularly fails quizzes in the class but he wants to be able to put a good grade on his form.  Now when he puts that quiz grade on the form he is really proud, and works hard to do even better on quizzes. He now comes outside of class to get help - which he never did before. We really stressed that he needs to be honest with himself and his scores and he takes it seriously. 

• Jake: Jake exhibits very poor classroom behaviors. His mom met with us and we went over the chart with her and Jack. She loved it and asked us to send it back to her on Fridays. It helps her know how her son is truly behaving.  One day in English, Jake had a rough day. Mrs. Herndon had him fill out the chart. She reminded him, "Be honest." He ranked himself a 4 out of 24 possible points. He hung his head and said to Mrs. Herndon, "Tomorrow is going to be a better day."

• Josh: Josh is a boy with whom we have had a lot of trouble this year.  Josh saw another student filling out a form and  said, "Hey, what is that sheet? I think that would help me." He has just started the sheet, but we were very excited that he knew it was something that could help him focus, an issue with which he has had trouble. 

One of the most common types of assessments used in the AFL classroom is the Exit Slip.  AFL teachers find this type of feedback helpful as they assess how successful their lessons are, as they gather data for differentiation purposes, and as they seek to better meet student needs.

The following picture is one used by a teacher at Salem High School.  She actually found it on Pinterest - one of the world's great educational resource depositories for sure!  Take a look at the exit slip and then scroll down to see more about how it is used.

Notice how this exit slip gives students very direct guidance as to what feedback they should leave.  Typically, this will lead to more productive and useful information than an open-ended question will.  Also, notice the Standards Based component of this specific exit slip.  Students are asked to rate/evaluate themselves on what is essentially a 1-4 scale.  This is helpful for moving students away from purely looking at progress in terms of the accumulation of points for the numerator and instead to thinking in terms of mastery.  However, you will need to train them on what the terms mean.  Below are descriptions of novice, apprentice, practitioner, and expert that need to be taught to students.  Once taught these terms, it would make sense for students to be asked to use them for many types of assessments.

Finally, here's an idea for how you could collect the Exit Slips.  Take a look at the picture below.  By having students place their Exit Slip into the appropriate folder, the teacher saves time gathering data on how the class as a whole is doing.

Note: The terms used on the Board below are different from those used on the Exit Slip above.  The pictures did not come from the same source.  However, the concepts align well.

So what do you think?  How could you apply these concepts and ideas to your classroom?  Are you already doing something similar?  What have you found works well or doesn't work well?  Have you made modifications to improve the practice?

This analogy has provided me with a variety of new perspectives on assessment as well as some criteria to evaluate my own assessment strategies. I have become a better teacher by practicing this concept and I hope it gives others some valuable insight too.

As the Standards Based movement has grown, allowing students to Redo assignments and Retake tests has become a rather common practice.  Blogs, articles, books, and workshops have focused on the importance of Redos and Retakes (R/R) and how to practically implement R/R at the classroom and school level.  Divisions, schools, and teachers have created policies that detail, rather specifically, the conditions through which students might R/R assignments.

The progression from Standards Based philosophies to the practice of R/R goes something like this:

1. Students learning content and skills is the mission, therefore, we can't be satisfied with students not learning.
2. Since all students do not learn at the same pace, when we become aware that students have not mastered specific content standards, we should give students additional opportunities to learn those standards.
3. Low scores/grades/marks/feedback commonly indicate that a student hasn't mastered content or skills.
4. When students have low scores/grades/marks/feedback, we should provide them R/R opportunities so they can improve the scores/grades/marks/feedback.
5. Improved scores/grades/marks/feedback indicate that students have learned the content and/or skills.

Based on what I have seen working with outstanding teachers in my own school (Salem High in Salem, VA) and from what I have learned as I have traveled around the country helping schools with their assessment needs, I would like to make the following recommendation:

Let's remember that R/R is not the ONLY way - and often not the best way - to implement Standards Based philosophies.

Let me clarify: I will not be suggesting in the paragraphs to come that R/R practices should stop, but that:

• We need to make sure R/R fall in their proper and appropriate context, and that
• Looping is a teaching and assessment practice that deserves strong consideration because it keeps the focus on learning better than most R/R practices do.

The phrase Standards Based Grading (SBG) is used quite commonly to refer to the use of Assessment FOR Learning practices based on standards.  However,  the phrase Standards Based LEARNING (SBL) is more instructionally-relevant to use since this keeps us focused on the goal and the mission of learning rather than on the significantly less important focus of grading.  

Regardless of your choice of terms - SBG or SBL - the most important aspect of the Standards Based movement is not any one specific practice but instead how educators think about assessment.  Teachers trying to grow in their use of assessment must focus first on the way they THINK about assessment rather than than on HOW they will assess or WHAT assessments they will use.  The Standards Based movement is not really about grading; it's about learning.  But the associated increase in learning is dependent on a change in thinking.  

• If a teacher thinks about learning primarily in terms of students demonstrating mastery of individual specific standards (as opposed to students increasing their overall aggregate "average" grade) then a teacher will communicate with students and parents in terms of individual specific standards mastery.  
• If a teacher communicates in terms of individual specific standards mastery, then students and parents are more likely to think about progress in terms of individual specific standards mastery, rather than increasing their overall aggregate average.
• If students and parents think about progress in terms of individual standards mastery, then they are more likely to communicate in those terms, as well.

The problem with typical R/R practices is that they have a tendency to cause all of us - educators, students, and parents - to think and communicate in terms of grades rather than learning.

It's natural for students and parents to be hyper-focused on grades, and it would be unrealistic to expect them to unilaterally take steps to shift that focus to learning.  The perceived benefits and consequences of grades are too immediate and too ingrained in our culture.  If learning is ever to take its rightful place in relation to grading, it will have to be the educators in the schools who set that tone.  Anything educators do that encourages or reinforces the focus to be on grades will run counter to what we want most - to have a culture that values learning about all else.

While the typical reason educators embrace R/R is a desire for students to learn, too often the reality is that R/R reinforces the students' focus on grades above all else.  If I'm a student and I find out I have a low score/mark/feedback, my natural inclination is to consider how that impacts my grade.  When a teacher or a school or a division creates a policy that gives me the "right" to retake an assignment, what I tend to hear is that I have the "right" to increase my grade.

The underlying problem with many R/R policies is that they are examples of what could be called "After-the-Fact" Standards Based assessment.  In other words, now that we've finished this unit/topic and you have scored at a level that you (or your parent) don't approve of, you can go back and fix your grade by R/R after-the-fact.  

If you're exploring incorporating Standards Based assessment practices into your classroom, starting with figuring out an R/R policy/procedure would be a mistake.  Begin by growing in your understanding of SBL philosophy so you will be able to THINK in a Standards Based manner and be prepared to apply SBL logistics to the myriad of situations that inevitably will arise.  

The power of assessment is greatly enhanced when, rather than after-the-fact, Standards Based teaching and assessment practices - such as Looping - are interwoven into the fabric of the learning process.

Here's what happens when a teacher gains a great understanding of SBL philosophy:

• A teacher who THINKS in terms of standards mastery will base instruction and communication on standards.  
• Then, because the teacher THINKS this way, communicates this way, and wants to ensure that students master standards, the teacher will routinely - probably daily - assess students to gauge the level of student learning.  
• This will cause individual standards to be assessed multiple times and, more than likely, through multiple measures.
• Because measuring progress towards individual standards mastery is important, the teacher will want to record these measurements in a manner that allows him/her to see how each student is progressing toward each standard - rather than simply averaging all work completed.

There will come a time when the teacher will move on to new content, however, the students' progress toward past standards will remain in front of that teacher and the students as a constant reminder that some students - maybe many students - have still not mastered standards at a satisfactory level.  This leaves the teacher with 1 of 3 options:

1. Don't worry about the standards not satisfactorily mastered.  
   This should be obviously unacceptable but needs to be included since it is a theoretical possibility.
2. Wait until the end of the year and then go back and review past standards.
   This often helps students "cram" for an end-of-course test but does little to move learning into long-term memory.
3. Throughout the year, continuously review previously taught concepts, content, and skills.

For the remainder of this post we will refer to this Option 3 as Looping.

The Looping concept - continuously reviewing previously taught concepts, content, and skills - is a teaching and assessment strategy with greater potential to increase student learning than R/R practices alone.  Here's why:

Looping focuses on learning while R/R tend to focus on grades.

Furthermore, Looping is teacher-driven, while R/R is often student (or even policy) driven.

As previously stated, R/R tend to happen after-the-fact once students (or parents) are unsatisfied with grades.  R/R policies in schools tend to focus on students having a right to something.  This often leads to unnecessary tension as students "exercise their rights."  However, even when tension does not occur, when R/R is the major standards based thinking is implemented, students tend to focus it primarily as a way to improve grades.

Looping, on the other hand, is all about learning.  Looping is not dependent on students (or parents) wanting, after-the-fact, to improve a grade.  Instead, Looping is teacher-driven and built into the teacher's normal planning.  It's organic, rather than after-the-fact.  It's based on the idea that repetition is essential to learning, so teachers who want students to learn will naturally keep looping back to topics that need reinforcement.  Looping doesn't require a teacher to constantly grade and re-grade assignments, a logistic that can often turn R/R into a burden.    

With Looping, the teacher controls:

• THE WHAT: 
  Looping occurs on topics that the teacher knows - based on assessment data - need to be re-addressed and re-assessed, 
• THE WHEN: 
  Looping occurs as frequently as the teacher's assessment data shows looping is needed,
• THE WHO:
  Looping makes sure that all students in a class - not just those who come and ask for R/R - are continuously enhancing their skills. and
• THE HOW:
  Looping can be happen through repeat lessons, additional practice, old questions being included on new tests, whole class activities, differentiated assignments, daily quizzes, etc.

Looping doesn't require a policy.  Looping just requires a teacher who:

• assesses regularly,
• knows how students are progressing toward standards mastery, and
• understands that humans learn through repetition and practice.

So does this mean that teachers should stop allowing students to R/R assignments?  Absolutely not.  Teachers should use their professional judgement to determine when R/R are most appropriate.  But R/R must be applied in a manner that supports the philosophy of SBL, rather than as one-size-fits-all approach.  

What I'm recommending is this.  As educators who value learning above grading, let's:

• First think in a Standards Based manner - let's think in terms of how to teach standards, assess based on standards, and organically and regularly Loop back to standards so students get maximum practice and repetition.
• Put into daily practice the seemingly obvious fact that the more times a student encounters content, practices, and is assessed, the more likely the student is to actually learn and remember.
• Make sure we don't allow the quest for grades to trump learning.
• Not create policies that tie teachers' hands - such as "thou shall give a retake whenever students request one" - but instead, let's encourage teachers to use their expertise to help students learn.
• Remember the purpose of Assessment FOR Learning - we assess so students will learn rather than assess to create grades.

Got any thoughts?

This past year I was asked to lead a workshop on the topic of Assessment FOR Learning for a school division's teachers.   

Teachers, tired from a long and full day of teaching/wrestling with children, filed into an auditorium for the "wonderful opportunity" of hearing me speak for about an hour and a half on the topic of formative assessment.  

The topic of grading came up - as it always does when talking about assessment - and a teacher asked a question about how she could get students to do work if grades weren't used as compensation.  It's hard to answer that question very completely in a short workshop, and frankly that really wasn't the point of the workshop.  The workshop's focus was on using assessment as a learning tool.  Grading is a related topic, though.

I invited the questioner to email me so that we could have a more detailed discussion.  She did just that.  Here was her email:

I don't feel like you really answered my friend's question about what to do with students who habitually turn in work late or not at all, if grades can't be used for enforcement.  You said you had lots of solutions for that, and I'd love to hear them. I follow you that grades should reflect learning, UNTIL you say that we can't deduct points for work not submitted. I don't have any idea how I'd get them to ever complete work at all if that were the case.  You mentioned using a day to make the slackers catch up while the rest of the class did something else.  If I started that, I will guarantee you that the kids would very quickly learn that there would be such a day, and NO ONE would complete work until the "catch-up day."  That's also not to mention the mountain of work that would create for the teacher, who would have to constantly grade make-up work.  Would love to hear your thoughts on the matter.

This - or something like it - is a commonly asked question by teachers as they begin to explore the ramifications of formative assessment practices.  Below, in bold, is my response.  It's rather lengthy, but it's hard to answer a question like this in a few words.  

I'd love any feedback.  Got any ideas for things I should have added?

Dear ___________________,

Educators exploring ways to practice AFL in their classrooms will often find some parents and students a little confused as to exactly why teachers are doing what they're doing.  Unfortunately, over the years schools have conditioned people to view grades as summative in nature.  Many parents and students do not understand how to use feedback from a score or grade in part because they have not been given the opportunity to do so.  The feedback they received wasn't formative - it wasn't provided as a way to guide learning but as a way to determine a final grade.  The AFL practitioner, though, understands that students need to use feedback to guide and improve their learning.  Therefore, the AFL practitioner must be very explicit and intentional in how he or she trains students to use feedback and in how he or she communicates with parents about classroom expectations.

Recently, Jenn Shannon, a math teacher at Salem High School, shared with me an email she sent home to parents about one of her AFL practices.  I think it's a great example of intentional communication intended to educate parents about how AFL practices can help their children learn.  With her permission, here is a copy of that email:

I believe that we all have something to learn from a simple email like this.  Let's not underestimate the potential benefits of involving parents by communicating with them very directly.

On top of being a great example of AFL communication, Mrs. Shannon's rubric is also a great example of how to get students to assess themselves.  It's very similar to Anika Armistead's use of a science review sheet as it lets students know up front what they will be required to know and then gives them a means to assess their progress.  Here is a copy of Jenn's rubric in case you would like to use it in your classroom as well:

PDF version of Rubric

Grading and assessment are two distinct yet overlapped topics.  This site is dedicated primarily to assessment - the getting and giving of feedback that helps teachers adjust their teaching and students adjust their learning.  However, it is impossible to talk about assessment without occasionally discussing grading.  Therefore, grading posts and resources pop up on this site from time to time.  As a way to help members find these resources, this blog post has been created as to serve as a collection of grading links.  Anything posted on this site related to grading can be found on this blog.

Also, please note that as more examples are added to this site, they will also be added to this blog.

Videos:

• We're Talkin' 'Bout Practice - a good reminder that sometimes practice should just be practice
• I Want to Be the Starting Tailback - a football analogy about grading practicing interfering with assessment

Blog Posts:

• Fantasy Football and the Problem with Averaging
• Your Expertise is More Valuable Than a Formula: Provide Descriptive Feedback Rather Than Fractions
• Grading in 3D by Pawel Nazarewicz
• Response to an Email Question about Late Work, Grading, & Responsibility
• Why Grades Should Reflect Mastery, Not Speed by Ryan McLane
• New Terminology: Scoring v. Grading - is it time to add a new tool to our tool bag?
• Of batting averages, grading, and MVP seasons... - Are you ruled by an inaccurate grade book average?
• AFL, Art Class, and Failure Management - Does your grading practice allow for failure?
• What we WANT students to do v. What we TRAIN students to do - Do we unintentionally train students to care too much about grades?
• An AFL Homework Practice - One teacher's plan for grading HW in an AFL manner 
• Why is Allen Iverson on Assessment FOR Learning? - An explanation of the video listed above
• Does AFL lead to grade inflation? - A discussion about higher grades as a result of AFL strategies
• Using AFL to Overhaul Your Grading System - ED Leadership article
• Assessing Student Performance in Online Classes - using marks for formative assessments
• Response to a Parent (from Rick Wormeli)
• Grade Like A Torpedo
• AFL Teachers Reporting Progress in an SBL Method (using PowerSchool)

Pictures:

• Extra Credit on Instagram

Stories in the News:

• Father Sues Over Daughter's Zero Grade

Faculty Meeting Conversations

• 11/12/14 - Pretend You're A Grade Coach
• 2/24/16 - Using AFL/SBL to Analyze a Common Assessment Practice: Earning Points Back on a Test
• 1/11/17 - Applying SBL Philosophy

Instructional practices based on the philosophy of Assessment FOR Learning (AFL) just make sense.  End of story.  To not practice AFL is to ignore how people learn.  There really isn't room for debate as to whether or not one should practice AFL.  Such a debate would be more appropriately titled "Should Teachers Care About Whether Or Not Students Learn: Yes or No."

I was reminded recently of AFL's centrality to learning when I met with Erik Largen for his summative evaluation.  Erik is a special education teacher at Salem High School, and It is my privilege to see him work with his students on a daily basis.  Erik teaches in our school's multiple handicapped classroom, and his students are amazing!  (I will admit my personal bias - they are my favorite group of students in the school.)

Many of Mr Largen's students have great cognitive and physical needs.  Mr. Largen cares about them as though they were his own children.  He believes they can learn, and he believes he can make a difference in their lives.  Therefore, just like all great teachers do, Erik works tirelessly to enable them to learn, grow, and make progress.  

In our summative conference the other day, Erik showed me many examples of tools - all based in AFL philosophy - he uses in his classroom.  These tools were what reminded me of an important truth: AFL isn't just one way to teach; AFL is teaching.  Before we go any further, take a look at the following tool Mr. Largen uses.  It's a task analysis form to help a student learn take off his coat:

Mr. Largen has a student who needs to learn how to independently take off his winter coat and properly hang it up on a hook.  If Mr Largen just tells him to do this or even shows him how to do it, the student will not be able to learn the task.  Therefore, Erik has to break down the task into standards.  

I bet most of us have never thought about the 14 different sub-standards required to master before one can independently take off and hang up a coat.  That's what the teacher is there for, though.  It is the teacher who is the content specialist and who knows each component that must be taught if students are to reach mastery.  This is true for learning to use an Algebraic formula, to lay a bead in Welding, or to write a paper in English class every bit as much as it is true when learning to take off a coat.  

After identifying the standards that must be mastered, Mr. Largen assesses his student on those standards.  This allows him to know where he must focus his instruction.  Without first assessing his student, how does he know what to teach?  For example, this student can already independently walk to the hook, therefore, that standard requires little focus.  However, this student cannot undo the zipper without a teacher's hands guiding his.  The elements of undoing the zipper will require a lot of focus.  

Why did Mr. Largen assess this student?  To gather the feedback he needs to help the student learn.  That's AFL.

After teaching and practicing the skills, Mr. Largen reassesses the same standards.  This allows Mr. Largen to document progress, to give the student feedback and praise where appropriate, and to know how to continue to plan instruction.  The purpose of the assessment is once again to help learning.  Based on the feedback from the assessment, Mr. Largen will know exactly what additional instruction and practice is necessary.  Because the assessment is standards-based, he will know which specific standards still require the most focus.

This process of assessing based on standards, reteaching as needed, and then reassessing seems quite basic and obvious in this situation.  But it's no different than any other situation.  While a task analysis sheet may or may not have been involved, this is how you learned to ride a bike, drive a car, throw a ball, play a video game, or play an instrument.  

AFL makes sense.  To expect someone to learn any other way - unless we believe students should learn on their own - really does not make sense.  Unfortunately, when seen through the lens of AFL, many traditional educational practices no longer make sense:

• Would it make sense for Mr. Largen to show this student how to take off his coat, assess how well he did it, give him a grade, and move on?  Of course not, at least not if Mr. Largen cared more about learning than grading.  
• Would it make sense for Mr. Largen to grade each assessment of progress and then average them together?  Of course not - again, not if Mr. Largen cared more about learning than grading.  
• Would it make sense for Mr. Largen to focus on each standard the same amount regardless of what the student could already do?  Of course not.  
• Would it make sense for Mr. Largen to just teach the subject without figuring how what his student knew?  Would it make sense to wait until the "end of the unit" before finding out how well the student learned?  Would it make sense to say "It's my job to teach it, but it's your job to learn it?"  Of course not.  Of course not.  Of course not.

I met a teacher once who told me that she thought AFL sounded good philosophically but that it didn't work practically.  Really?  Which part is impractical?  

• Is assessing students to find out what they know impractical?  
• Is it impractical to assess students based on standards so you'll know specifically where they need to grow?
• Is it impractical to reassess throughout the learning process to see how students are progressing?
• Does giving meaningful and useful feedback to students not sound practical?
• Does using feedback to guide instruction not apply to certain subjects?
• Is it ever more important to focus on coming up with numbers to average together than it is to guide learning?

Because I firmly believe that teachers want students to learn, the best I can figure is this: If someone disagrees with the use of AFL-based strategies they must not understand what AFL is.  

We all learn from feedback, and that feedback needs to be based on assessments that measure the standards required for mastery.  Thanks, Erik, for the great reminder of how central the philosophy of AFL is to the learning process. 

There's no other way to put it...  This is good stuff!

As schools and teachers adopt the philosophies of Assessment FOR Learning, it's only natural that grading practices will begin to change. (Click here for more info on grading as it relates to AFL.)  We need to realize that some of those changes will seem strange to some of the parents of our students.  It's important that we can articulate why we make the grading decisions we do.

Rick Wormeli has composed an excellent and thoughtful response to concerns a parent had about grading practices that reflect the philosophy of AFL and Standards Based Grading.  This response is recommended reading for all teachers. Not only will it prepare you to respond to people in your community who might question your practices, it might also help you explain to colleagues who are confused by such practices as well.

Click on the following link to read Rick's response: http://www.adams12.org/files/learning_services/Wormeli_Response.pdf

For the past several years at Salem High School we have focused on assessment for the staff development portion of our faculty meetings.  The Assessment Network has played an integral role in those faculty meetings.  The Forum feature has enabled us to make our discussions more interactive and collaborative as well enable us to archive our activities for future use.

This blog post is a list of the AFL Forum discussions we at SHS have had during those faculty meetings.  They are included here so that other schools can benefit from our exploration of AFL.  We encourage you to feel free to use our Forums as you see fit.  Furthermore, please be encouraged to use the Forum feature to create your own interactive staff development discussions.  Don't look at this as just Salem's page - it belongs to all members.  This Network is for any educators interested in exploring AFL.  If your faculty has an assessment discussion on this Network it will only serve to benefit the rest of us.

As we have additional AFL Forum discussions at SHS we will add links to them to this post.  

• 9/03/09 - The relationship between assessment and grading
• 9/23/09 - Grading v. Assessment
• 10/28/09 - An example of AFL - GPS
• 1/13/10 - An example of AFL - Whiteboards
• 3/10/10 - Results of AFL Survey
• 5/12/10 - Plans for AFL Objective
• 12/8/10 - Use AFL Rubric to set mid-year objective
• 12/14/11 - Building a Culture of Failure
• 3/23/12 - Homework
• 10/24/12 - AFL Discussion Question: Non-graded assessment to make sure students understand content
• 11/28/12 - AFL Discussion Question: Using a summative assessment for a formative purpose
• 1/22/13 - AFL Discussion Question: Quick AFL-activities to use at the end of class
• 11/12/14 - Pretend You're A Grade Coach
• 2/25/15 - Standards Based Learning and the Inchworm
• 2/24/16 - Using AFL/SBL to Analyze a Common Assessment Practice: Earning Points Back on a Test
• 4/13/16 - Tools for the Standard 7 Teacher
• 1/11/17 - Applying SBL Philosophy
• 1/10/18 - Incorporating Assessment into Lesson Plans
• 1/08/20 - Compensation, Consequences, and Compliance

Over the past several school years as our school and division have focused on Assessment FOR Learning as a primary professional development topic, I have consistently noticed the following:

When I witness or hear about an excellent and highly effective teaching practice, essential components of Assessment FOR Learning are present.

 I know that might sound like too absolute a claim to be true, and perhaps I've witnessed some exceptions that I am currently forgetting, but it really seems to be the case.  At least some amount of what I have dubbed "The Heart of AFL" - frequent assessments, teachers using feedback to guide instruction, students using feedback to guide learning, and grading systems that allow practice to count as practice - seems to show up in every excellent teaching practice I see.

Recently I was in a meeting in which a group of teachers and a counselor were talking about a student's progress with that student's parent.  The teachers were explaining to the parent how their classes worked and what the student could do to be successful.  Anika Armistead, a Science teacher at Salem High School, explained to the parent that at the beginning of each unit she gives her students a test review.  Throughout the course of the unit, she has students assess their progress.  At least theoretically, by the time the test finally rolls around the students should have a personalized study guide as a result of the feedback they have given themselves.

Here's an example of the type of study guide Mrs. Armistead gives her students:

You probably noticed that this test review looks pretty much like a typical test review that could be or has been used in classrooms for years.  If you noticed this, you are exactly right.  You might remember from earlier discussionson this Ning that AFL-ishness doesn't depend on what type of assignment you give.  AFL-ishness instead depends on how you use the assignments you give.  This is a perfect example of how something as ordinary as a test review can be used in an AFL-ish manner.  And when essential AFL components are present - in this case, students using feedback to guide their learning and a grading system that allows practice to be used as practice - excellent teaching takes place.

Read below for Mrs. Armistead's personal account of how and why she uses test reviews in this manner:

A few years ago, I decided to create review sheets for each test.  I taught the unit, then a day or two before the test, I handed out the review sheet for the students to complete, check their answers, and ask for clarification on topics they weren't sure about.  Some students caught on that the review sheets could really help them, but others didn't and still scored poorly.

 Last year while I was out on leave, I got to thinking about how I could make these review sheets more useful for my students.  My review sheets were designed to show my students exactly what I expected them to know for the final assessment.  So I decided that I shouldn't wait until test time to let them know my expectations.  This year, I'm giving each student a copy of the review sheet at the start of the chapter.

I remind my students that the review sheet will not be collected, nor will it be graded.  I have heard this comment several times, "Then why should I do it?"  I've found that students often decide not to complete an assignment unless there's a grade attached to it.  I tell my students that the review sheet is their time to practice and that they will get the chance to prove what they know on the test that will be graded.  I know that some students won't complete the review sheet, but I'm not going to change something good for the few who decide not to take advantage of the chance to tailor their studying. 

When I give out the review sheet, I remind my students to use this to their advantage.  I recommend reading over the questions to see what the students already know.  As we progress through the unit, I periodically ask the students to pull out the review sheet.  I ask that students complete a section in class (like a chart or diagram) as a way to review something covered the day before, or I write on the board the numbers to the questions the students should be able to answer at that point in the unit.  

I tell them to try to answer the questions without using any notes or outside help the first go round.  I tell them that if they can easily answer a question, then don't spend too much time studying something they already know.  I also tell them that if they don't know the answer to a question, then they need to circle or star that question as one that needs more of their attention.  

By using this process, I want my students to see that by tailoring the review sheet to their needs that they will find how to best use their time.  Overall, they need to focus on the stuff they don't know (the circled or starred items) and just do a quick review of the material that they already know.  

Students are welcome to ask questions about the review sheet at any time.  For these questions, I try to guide the students to the correct answer without giving them the answer directly.  As we near the end of the unit, I let the students know that they should have the review sheet completed by a particular date, usually a day or two before the test.  At that time, I go over the answers with the class to make sure everyone has the correct answers to study.  I remind them again to focus on any questions they got wrong or weren't sure about.  

On the day we go over the answers, I try to walk around to see who has completed the review sheet and who hasn't.  This gives me an opportunity to target those students who didn't use the review sheet as intended.  If a student doesn't do well on the test, I suggest they try completing the review sheet as we work through the next unit and not wait until the end to just copy down answers.

If you considering how to make (or if you should make) redos and retakes a part of your classroom, you really need to spend some time listening/reading Rick Wormeli's thoughts on the subject.  He has a knack for combining the philosophical and the practical.  Here are some of his thoughts copied from an article he wrote in Ed Leadership back in November 2011.  A link to the entire article is included at the end:

When it comes to deciding whether to allow a student to redo an assignment or assessment, consider the alternative—to let the student settle for work done poorly, ensuring that he or she doesn't learn the content. Is this really the life lesson we want to teach? Is it really academically better for the student to remain ignorant?

This practice is not acceptable. To be adequately prepared for college and career, students need to learn the content and skills that society identifies as important. Whether a student was initially irresponsible or responsible, moral or immoral, cognitively ready or not is irrelevant to the supreme goal: learning.

There are far more effective strategies for teaching responsibility than to simply label a student as immature and deny that student learning.

14 Practical Tips for Managing Redos in the Classroom

1. Ask students who redo assignments to submit the original attempt with the new one and to write a brief letter comparing the two. What is different, and what did they learn as a result of redoing the work?
2. Reserve the right to give alternative versions of the assessment if you think students will simply memorize a correct answer pattern or set of math answers. Don't be afraid to make the redone versions more demanding.
3. Announce to students and parents that redos are permitted at teacher discretion. This means that students and parents may not take the redo option for granted.
4. Require students to submit a plan of relearning and to provide evidence of that relearning before work can be redone. This includes creating a calendar in which students list day-by-day what they will do to prepare.
5. If a student doesn't follow through on the relearning steps he or she promises to do, ask the student to write a letter of apology to you and to his or her family for breaking the trust.
6. Require parents to sign the original, poorly done versions of assignments so they're aware that their children have required multiple attempts to achieve the standard. (If there is neglect or abuse in the home, of course, remove this requirement.)
7. After two or three redo attempts, consider shelving the push for mastery of this content for a few weeks. Either the student is not ready to reach the standard, or we're not creative enough to figure out how to teach him or her. Take a break and pursue this content in a later unit of study.
8. If the same student repeatedly asks for redos, something's wrong. The content is not developmentally appropriate, there are unseen issues at home, or perhaps there's an undiagnosed learning disability. Investigate.
9. Choose your battles. Push hard for students to redo anything associated with the most important curriculum standards and less so with work associated with less important standards.
10. Allow students who get Cs and Bs to redo work just as much as students who earn Ds and Fs. Why stand in the way of a student who wants to achieve excellence?
11. If report cards are coming up and there's no time to redo something to change the grade, report the lower grade and assure the student that he or she can learn the material the next marking period. If the student demonstrates improved mastery, submit a grade change report reflecting the new, more accurate grade.
12. For the sake of personal survival, you may choose not to allow any retakes or redos the last week of the marking period as you're closing down the grade book and doing report cards. For eight weeks, you're Mr. or Ms. Hopeful, but for that one week, it's OK to protect your sanity and personal life. You can allow students to learn the material and have their grade changed later.
13. Replace the previous grade or mark with the most recent one; don't average the two attempts together. The A that a student earns on his fifth attempt at mastery is just as legitimate as the Aearned by his classmate on the first attempt.
14. Unless an assessment is complex and interwoven, allow students to redo just the portions on which they performed poorly, not the entire assessment. (To assist with this, consider standards-based grading on your assessments; record the standards or outcomes being assessed at the top of the assessment and provide a separate score for each standard.) Separating standards in this way saves time for both the teacher and the students. Some redos can be a 10-minute interview at the teacher's desk while the rest of the class works on something else.

Source Article: http://www.ascd.org/publications/educational-leadership/nov11/vol69/num03/Redos-and-Retakes-Done-Right.aspx

This AFL site has grown to the point where that it now contains many different blogs and discussion that get to the heart of the philosophy of AFL.  In order to most effectively implement AFL strategies into the classroom, it is helpful to have a strong understanding of the overall philosophy and goals behind AFL.  These ideas are scattered throughout the site. To make this site easier to navigate, this one blog will include links to all of the blogs and posts that deal with the philosophy of AFL.  

• An Introduction to the Basics of AFL
• It's Time to Take an Assessment Journey
• Assessment FOR Learning - a quick and easy indicator
• An Assessment Analogy: The Thermometer v. The Thermostat
• AFL - More than just letting tests replace quizzes
• Does AFL lead to grade inflation?
• Assessment FOR Learning - Philosophy v. Procedures
• AFL can't be an afterthought
• Did AFL guide my instruction today?
• 6 Key AFL Ideas
• Assessment FOR Learning on the Football Field
• Why is Allen Iverson on Assessment FOR Learning?
• Assessment FOR Learning - Don't confuse it for a specific strategy
• A Sports Analogy for Assessment
• Coaching in the Classroom
• Confusion over Formative Assessment
• Test 'm more (a NY Times excerpt)
• AFL and Learning to Drive
• How do you really know if you taught "it"?
• What we WANT students to do v. what we TRAIN students to do
• The Heart of AFL (image)
• AFL, Art Class, and Failure Management - the importance of failure
• AFL in Higher Level Classes
• Kevin Durant Teaches Us About AFL
• Good Teaching is a Lot Like Coaching a Mule!
• AFL as an Afterthought = Extra Headaches
• Focused Formatives - what to STOP doing as you START doing AFL
• Grade Like A Torpedo
• This I Believe from Ken O'Connor

My daughter's 7th grade English teacher at Andrew Lewis Middle School uses a time-tested easy-to-apply simple AFL strategy that motivates my daughter to work, helps her to learn, and ensures that her grade is an accurate reflection of that learning.

Every Monday the students are given a pre-test on that week's spelling words.  If the student spells 100% of the words correct on the pre-test, then the grade is recorded in the teacher's grade book, and the student does not have to take the post-test.  All other students will take a post-test on Friday of that week.

Simple but effective.  Students receive feedback on Monday.  They now have the rest of the week to work on improving.  More importantly, though, is that they know exactly what they need to do to improve.

I'm going to brag on my daughter, Kelsey, for just a moment.  She is a terrific speller, and almost always scores a 100 on the pre-test.  Knowing that she can get out of having to take the post-test is a wonderful incentive for her to prepare for the pre-test.  When she occasionally misses a word on the pre-test, she becomes a very focused and motivated studier when preparing for the post-test.

However, her teacher uses the pre-test in a more powerful way than just as a motivator.  Since Kelsey almost always scores a 100 on the pre-tests, the rest of the week's focus on spelling potentially could be a waste of time for her.  However, her teacher turns the better spellers into spelling tutors during the week.  This gives Kelsey a much-needed opportunity to be a leader.  It allows her to have fun serving her peers, and it helps her peers do better on their spelling by providing one-on-one assistance that a teacher would have a difficult time providing during a busy school day.

Most teachers in America have probably tried pre-tests.  This is not a ground-breaking strategy.  That's the beauty of AFL.  To be a good AFL teacher doesn't mean re-inventing the wheel.  It means taking the best of what you already do and focusing your purpose toward providing meaningful feedback that gets used by both the teacher and the students.

One word of warning: You can completely mess up the benefit of this AFL strategy by the way you grade.  Please do not ever average the pre- and post-tests together or allow the pre-test to factor into the grade at all unless the student reaches the desired benchmark on the pre-test.  Otherwise, allow the post-test score - the one that reflects the outcome of the teacher's instruction - to be the one that is recorded in the grade book.