Grading and Reporting

Background Information

While controversial with some, the conversation about effective grading practices in our country is long overdue. Grading  practices was identified as a district improvement initiative in the spring of 2005. A 16-person K-12 Grading & Reporting Task Force was organized in May 2005 for the purpose of developing districtwide guidelines and practices that would ensure effective and consistent implementation of the grading and reporting of students’ learning. The initial question posed by the task force was “What is our confidence level that the grades assigned to K-12 students are consistent, accurate, meaningful, and supportive of learning? The responses to this question varied, and certainly uncovered a significant need to address the issue of grading and reporting on a districtwide basis.

Grading Philosopy

A districtwide grading and reporting philosophy was developed in 2006, which now states that “All GIPS grading and reporting practices will support the learning process and encourage student success.” Prior to the adoption of this K-12 philosophy by the GIPS Grading & Reporting Task Force, grading practices were highly individualized and inconsistent among our teachers, as is still the case throughout most of America’s schools.

Grading Purposes

The primary purpose of grading in the Grand Island Public Schools is to communicate achievement status to students, parents, and others. This is a departure from traditional grading, which mixed students’ attendance, behavior, and other factors into the final grades. Letter grades now represent the how well each student has achieve the curriculum standards (learning targets) for each course or grade level.  The secondary purposes of grading in our district are to:provide information that students can use for self-evaluation and growth; encourage student growth and progress in learning; identify students for available educational opportunities (e.g., advanced or remedial courses; special programs such as HAL); andevaluate the effectiveness of curricular, instructional, and assessment practices and programs.

Effective Grading Practices

The district’s G&R Task Force studied effective grading practices during the 2005-06 school year, and then identified 16 effective practices to be implemented by all K-12 teachers over the next three school years. These 16 effective practices, organized by eight different guidelines are being phased in as follows: 2006-07 (Year One), 2007-08 (Year Two), and 2008-09 (Year Three). Effective in the 2008-09 school year, all GIPS teachers will be expected to use all 16 grading practices effectively and with consistency.

Rationale

The rationale for developing a consistent and defensible grading philosophy has several roots, primarily that it was time to connect and match our teachers’ grading practices to similar districtwide efforts that have resulted in a much more consistent K-12 curriculum and assessment program. It makes little sense to complete a comprehensive review of what our students are taught and assessed, and then not to connect this work with how well GIPS students perform on their assessments and how well they have achieved the district’s curriculum standards. Additionally, the electronic parent portal was opened to parents in the fall of 2006, which elevated the need for consistently effective grading practices among all GIPS teachers.

Grading Resources

Ken O’Connor from Canada has served as the district’s consultant for G&R issues, and has spent several days with GIPS staff. He also provided evening sessions for interested parents in 2006, and has also met with our board of education. Mr. O’Connor’s book, How to Grade For Learning: Linking Grades to Standards, has been used throughout the district, along with many professional articles from noted authors such as Rick Stiggins, Bob Marzano, Tom Guskey, Doug Reeves, Jay McTighe, and Rick Wormeli.