and teachers should help students attain. Soon thereafter, other pro-f - PDF document

and teachers should help students attain. Soon thereafter, other pro-fessional organizations followed suit. The National Council for theSocial Studies (1994), National Academy of Science (1996), NationalCouncil of Teachers of English (1996), and the American Council onthe Teaching of Foreign Languages (1996) all developed standards intheir respective disciplines. States and provinces also took up the taskand, today, nearly all have identified standards for student learning.As educational leaders became more deeply involved in standards-based reforms, however, they quickly discovered that implementa-tion presents its own set of unique challenges. Among those challenges, none is thornier or more vexing than grading and report-formance standards can sometimes prove difficult, efforts to aligngrading and reporting practices can stymie the most dedicatedreform initiatives.The Difficulty of ChangeOf all aspects of our education system, none seems more imperviousto change than grading and reporting. Despite numerous calls forreform based on our growing knowledge of what works and whatschools today have remained largely unchanged for decades(Brookhart, 2004; Guskey, 2000, 2001; Haladyna, 1999). We persist inusing these antiquated practices not because they have proven effec-tive, but because they are steeped in long-held traditions. Whenical response is simply, ÒWeÕve always done it that way.ÓIn recent years, however, new perspectives have begun to emerge.More and more educators at all levels are taking a serious look at grad-ing and reporting. Many are considering revisions in grading policiesstandards-based report cards (Guskey, 2002, 2004; Guskey & Bailey,2001; Marzano, 2000). While a few of these efforts have met with success, countless others have been thwarted by serious and largelyunanticipated difficulties. Five problem areas have proven particularlychallenging to those involved in standards-based reform initiatives:1.Long-established, tradition-based grading policies and prac-standards-based grading Practical Solutions for Serious Problems in Standards-Based Grading Guskey_FINL.qxp 7/14/08 2:24 PM Page 2 leaders and teachers charged with addressing these major gradingproblems. As a result, behind their ideas and suggestions rests a deepbased educators, as well as a profound commitment to doing what isbest for students at all levels of education. Every chapter reflects thiscombination of knowledge, sensitivity, and practicality.format. First they offer a detailed description of the problem as itrelates to grading and reporting in a standards-based environment.Then they discuss the most current research and knowledge baseregarding that problem and related issues. Next they describe theimplications of this research and knowledge base for educational pol-icy and practice. And finally they outline specific recommendationsfor improving standards-based grading and reporting. Each chaptercombines a thorough treatment of each problem area with detailedand practical prescriptions for improvement.Content SummaryWe begin our discussion with a chapter that I prepared titled,ÒGrading Policies That Work Against Standardimpose procedural barriers to the implementation of standards-basedreforms. I then recommend specific strategies for correcting them.Each of these policies relates to grading and reporting practices; thatis, how studentsÕ learning progress is summarized and communicatedto parents, students, and others. The five policies discussed include(1) Grading ÒOn the Curve,Ó (2) Selecting Valedictorians, (3) UsingGrades as a Form of Punishment, (4) Using Zeros in Grading, and (5) Combining Multiple Aspects of Learning Into a Single Grade orgrading policies are seldom considered in discussions of curriculumor assessment reform. Nevertheless, their powerful influence can pre-vent even modest success in any standards-based reform initiative.In Chapter 3, Lee Ann Jung focuses on ÒThe Challenges ofGrading and Reporting in Special Education: An Inclusive GradingModel.Ó Grades, report cards, and other progress reports representimportant tools for helping the families of children with disabilities tounderstand the effectiveness of various interventions and how tomake appropriate placement decisions. As Dr. Jung points out, how-ever, among all required components of the Individualized Education Practical Solutions for Serious Problems in Standards-Based Grading Guskey_FINL.qxp 7/14/08 2:24 PM Page 4 more similar to the results attained through large-scale assessments.Drs. Welsh and DÕAgostino conclude by outlining procedures for suc-cessfully engaging teachers in the process of these more consistentmethods of grading and reporting.Finally in Chapter 7, James McMillan provides an overall sum-mary of these problem areas in ÒSynthesis of Issues and Implicationsfor Practice.Ó After critically examining the issues presented in eachchapter and discussing underlying themes, Dr. McMillan offers aseries of keen insights in each problem area and then suggests specificimplications for sustainable improvements in grading and reportingToo often today, educators charge ahead in their efforts to implementstandards-based grading and reporting without giving serious atten-tion to the problems discussed here. Those who do inevitably collidewith these problems and usually suffer terrible setbacks in their imple-mentation efforts. Some educators then abandon the process com-pletely and go back to their traditional grading and reporting practices,harmful to students. Others persist in their implementation efforts,making slow but gradual progress until they encounter the next prob-As the authors of each chapter in this book make clear, these prob-lems cannot be avoided or ignored. Nor can they be set aside andaddressed at a later time after implementation efforts are well underway. Instead, they must be anticipated and addressed in advance. Tosucceed in the challenging task of implementing standards-basedgrading reforms, educators must be willing to confront these prob-lems directly. And they must do so when planning for implementa-tion, not after the process has begun. In other words, school leadersand teachers involved in these efforts must become proactive, ratherthan reactive. They must understand that these are unavoidable chal-lenges that must be met head-on, with thoughtful, well-reasoned, andWe hope this book provides those courageous leaders with thetools they need to meet those challenges. We hope that it helps educators at all levels to understand the complex nature of theseproblems and the importance of viewing them from a variety of per-spectives. We also hope it helps them recognize that these problems Practical Solutions for Serious Problems in Standards-Based Grading Guskey_FINL.qxp 7/14/08 2:24 PM Page 6