SBG after 12 weeks
I have 18 Algebra 1 students, and 4 of them ended up with a C- or above, which is my cutoff for credit. That is an absolutely horrible percentage, and about par for the course ever since the new standards were put in place for high school. Most finals were in the 50% range and lower, and few students had kept their old assessments or had their folders organized.
The most disappointing part is that my system allowed students to re-take any skill they were low in as many times as they wanted until they got the score they wanted. The ability to pass was in their hands and not many of them cared. This leads me to believe there are further large changes I need to make to "make" more students make better decisions about their academics.
We have students who can get a 98% on a History test where they are given a study guide with questions that they can memorize the answer to, but continually fail math assessments they choose not to study for because they can't apply the same techniques. I don't yet know how to bridge that gap because math is so different because changing where a number looks or where it goes changes the way you solve a problem. You have to have a broader idea of why the numbers are related, and many of my students don't care to get there.
My 10th grade students were much more successful with this grading system, but they were also more successful before it. Sadly my 11th/12th grade students also mainly failed to gain credit for the same reason as the 9th graders. Obviously my teaching them over the past 4 years has made no impact in their study skills or desire to be academically successful.
As for SBG, I have made a few minor tweaks. Students can only re-assess on Mondays and each skill may be re-assessed a max of 3 times. They can now earn 2.5/5 and 4.5/5 scores. Any student who scores below a 3 on their assessment MUST come in during lunch or after school for re-teaching. I'm hoping by being more harsh they realize it would just be easier for them to study a little bit and be successful themselves.
I am also reaping some of the benefits of re-using skills I have already created, which is cutting down on the time I am spending from week to week. I am also tweaking skills tests I've already given as I get better at writing skills tests that assess the exact things I want the students to grasp.
I am hoping that now the students see how things will be, they will adapt better to it. I will continue to be hopeful, because I think I have given them a system they can be successful in, but they need to earn that success.
Comment
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Comment by Sean Karsten on January 1, 2011 at 11:01am -
The scores on the SBG assessments still get turned into a percentage and letter grade at the end of the semester. 80% of the final grade is based on the SBG assessments and 20% comes from a final. I agree that knowing your letter grade throughout the semester serves only a basic purpose because the grade is fluid, I find that having a letter grade to look at makes the kids feel better about where they are.
I've seen talk about changing the grading structure because low grades are much more harmful to students, but in my room to get a 2.5/5 only requires a basic grasp on a concept, so few students should be lower than that unless they were absent for a length of time or completely don't care.
I'm still having big trouble with kids making up their skills now that I've set aside Monday as the make up day. Hopefully the turnaround will occur once we have conferences in 3 weeks.
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Comment by Beverly George on December 29, 2010 at 8:23am -
I love your positive attitude! Don't give up hope.... you're working against a system that has been in place for over 100 years, there are bound to be issues along the way! I'm curious as to how you are transforming a standards-based system into a traditional letter grade. Everything that I've learned about standards-based grading points to the absence of a letter grade or percentage. On a 5-point system, everything 3 and above was considered proficient.
Keep up the great work! I'm rooting for you!
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Comment by Sean Karsten on December 7, 2010 at 9:08am
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For me it comes down to knowing a process, no matter the numbers. The students have trouble studying a process where they might need to do a different operation depending on the situation. They don't want to study multiple types of problems or they want the same exact type of problem on every assessment. On the brighter side, not much room to go but up.
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Comment by Algebra Hottie on December 6, 2010 at 10:41pm -
"We have students who can get a 98% on a History test where they are given a study guide with questions that they can memorize the answer to, but continually fail math assessments they choose not to study for because they can't apply the same techniques."
I am working on this also. At one of our A4A meetings last year we discussed the ACT and the style of the test. Since I have clickers, I've made all my chapter tests multiple choice. Our discussion centered on the fact that this is the style they must take, might as well get them used to it.
When the students take the test, they get a piece of lined paper. I collect the paper whether the students use it or not. Even on the 4th chapter test, students still don't want to write anything down, they want to "pick an answer" like they would on a history test. Or how about the problem where they have to solve an equation and 4 potential solutions are given. Even though I've explained to them that you don't actually have to know how to solve the problem in order to do it...many are to lazy to even pick up a calculator, substitute the value in and see if it works.
Since I'm doing this with 8th grade and Alg I, I shall endeavor to keep working and try to enlighten the masses as to the method for taking a multiple choice math test.
Really puts a dent in your self-esteem...eh?
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