FIAE+B1+Chapter+12

toc

There are two popularly used grading scales: 4-point scale, and 100-point. While the 100-point scale is most often used in high school classrooms, the 4-point scale is best because, “the smaller the scale, the higher the inter-rater reliability” (152). That basically means that a grade in one class would be the same a grade in another class, in terms of accuracy. When assignments are graded using the 4-point scale, teachers discuss what each point value is worth and what it means to receive that grade. This is a part of what keeps grades consistent from one class to the next. Since there is less space between one grade level and the next, fewer “errors” by way of mastery are recorded. Also, the 4-point scale is very effective because it gives teachers the opportunity to take half-points and ¾ points off, rather than having to take an entire point/s off if the student has made a very small error. In the same token, teachers can also break down specific sections of grading within an assignment.

Andy
The one point in this chapter that stuck out to me had to deal with grade point averages. When I graduated from high school we had sixteen valedictorians! You may think, wow that is great, but if I told you that there was one of those sixteen who took only what was required to graduate with not one extra elective and did not one extra-curricular activity and then there was one student who played in three sports, was in national honor society, and finished high school going through five AP classes what would you think? At a certain point you need to realize when credit is due. Yes that one student got straight A’s but that other student who had taken five AP classes had to know everything the first student did, but had to go in depth ten fold on every topic! The author makes the comment saying that, “To make such distinctions artificially pins a student’s well-being to something superficial…” This was the bit that frustrated me. Give credit when credit is due, but also give praise when praise is due.

Brian
This chapter discusses the different grading scales, the two most popular being the 4-point scale and the 100-point scale. The book describes how the 4-point scale is a better method to use because there is less room for arbitration. Because there are fewer points, its easier to determine how significant one point, a half a point or a third of a point actually are. On the one hundred-point scale it is more difficult for educators to agree on the significance of one singular point because there are so many.

Damian
This chapter left me wondering to which grade scale I sided with more. A more focused grading scale leave much more room for uniformity across the board. Of course this grading scale is currently employed at the college level making transfer credits easier. A 100 point scale is also acceptable though, which allows for a more in depth grading criteria. The chapter cited that the four point scale is best because a smaller scale has a higher degree of cross professional reliability. I would disagree with this however. As educators we are entreated with the ability to decide as individuals what constitutes quality and what comprises perfection in academic terms. As long as we as individuals are allowed to determine passing and failing in any scale, we will never achieve academic uniformity. The 4 point scale mitigates this dilemma by reducing our grading parameters, but it does not-by any means-solve the issue.

Cassandra
100 points vs 4 points? I would have to say a true 4 points. With the 100 point, we have already seen the problems come up with the F. A failing grade ranges from a 0-60. That is 60 points for a heavy F and 10 points for the other four grades? Then you have the teachers who start the class off saying "I never give 100." They have the vision that 100 means perfect; therefore, the highest grade they would grant would be a 98--meaning best, not perfect. Also, what does a C mean? C students are supposedly average; however, the average student must receive 70% on most assignments. For this reason, I see a student with a 2.0 average and I cringe. It's an automatic reaction: they have a 50 average? NO! they are an average student! This makes more sense, there isn't a heavy F side and a small A side. Honestly, my High School's grade scales were worst than 10 points vs. 60 points. A's, B's, C's, and D's are all 8 points and the F's are 69 points.

Dan
I will be honest here, both of these systems are junk. I have already expressed why the 100 point is a bad idea. (Fail Scale) The 4.0 scale is right on it's tail. I believe in the 4.0 scale there isn't enough separation. Of course there is actually 40 numbers they can actually get. But to get an A you need to get within .5 points. To get a B you can have a range of 1.0 and 1.0 for C and 1.0 for D. Or is it 1.5 for D and only 0 for F? This doesn't solve any of our problems we had with using the 100 scale. In fact I would totally go to a new system universally around the world and use 20 points for each letter. This would make "C" a true average, but you would not be able to survive with "average" anymore. A student today can get through school being average. That same student can get the same scores in my scale but not be labeled that way anymore.

Ethan
This chapter talks about grading scales, the two main ones being the 100 point scale and the 4.0 scale. From reading the chapter it is easy to understand that Wormeli likes the 4.0 scale more because it provides more cohesiveness between classrooms and teachers. From reading further into this chapter, it seems like overall no grading scale is really very good. Everything is relative to the nature of the scale, and none seem to fully display the student’s true mastery. There are also so many variations on the grading scales in general like how an A could be anywhere from 90-100 or from 93-100 depending on the school. I feel like in my classroom it will just be important for me to manipulate my grading scale, whether it be the 4.0 or 100 point scale, to show a student’s progress over time and give a sense of their overall understanding and mastery.

Sean
On the topic of grading scales, we need to be very careful about how we choose to grade our students. We've all grown up with the 4 point and the 100 point grading scale, so it's what we're most comfortable with. But the 4 point grading scale seems very limited in it's effectiveness in rating a student's progress, and the 100 point scale has a very broad range for an F, while a very narrow range for an A. Both grading systems have flaws, so maybe it's time to find another system.

Darren
No matter how you discuss grading systems, they will always be vague. This chapter talks about the four-point system and the one hundred percentile systems--ultimately deciding that the four-point system is better because it allows for more cross-professional consideration. And I don't think that this is right. I don't think that either of them are particularly friendly to anyone but the teacher using it. What I mean by this is that the teacher using the method has a good idea of what a 3 or 4 could mean, but does that hold true for the teacher across the hall? What about the difference between a 93 and a 94? Honestly, is there even a difference? What grades do is put subjective quantities on work so that we can externally motivate students. At Mount Blue, the English department has a set of universal rubrics that were created to eliminate subjectivity, but they don't seem to realize that this will never happen. Not when you factor in 4's, 3/4's, 3's, 3-'s, 2's, and 1's and whatever other damn symbol you can put on work. If you're going to bother to distinguish that much in a 4 point scale, why not just use a more specific system to create the specifics? Why not eliminate grades altogether?--That's my vote. Because grades will always be subjective.

Unless we all become robots. Problem solved.

Josh
This chapter is all about different types of grading scales. Grading scales are either used in a 4 point system or a 100 point system. This causes teachers to justify their grades mathematically. What the math comes out to is the fair grade for the student. However, this does not take mastery into account, and more justification for student's grade than just mathematical reasoning is called for. Armstrong suggests using rubrics for assignments, which help to justify a grade clearly to students, but is also mathematically correct and uses a point system. Armstrong offered many different point systems in the chapter, to stress that interpretation of grades is not always universal. I did not like the 100 point grading system that went 94-100 and so on. There should be one universal scale for schools so that there is no mathematical differences between schools which could result in a lower grade for transferring.

Zack
In this chapter we learn that we can grade on two sets of scales, personally I like the 100 point scale a lot more than the 4 point scale. The 4 point scale makes it virtually impossible to fail a class since the number 1 is normally a D therefore it is impossible to get below it. This makes me really mad, some students deserve to fail with the work that they pass in and actually should fail with what they have done. The 100 point scale opens up many more opportunity's for the student to do well or not to do well. This means students will actually need to be able to think for themselves and actually try instead of knowing they will pass a class. This is quite a concept to get, especially when teachers give out too many easy grades already.

George
Chapter 12 talked about grading scales. The two major players were the 4 point scale and the 100 point scale. Both have strengths. The four point scale is a bit more personal and a half point here and there count more. I however am partial to the 100 point scale. Namely because it has a broad range to display a grade. The 4 point scale is limited by either decimals or fractions. The four point scale has the one benefit of being able to make the easy switch to comparing a grade to a GPA. That was one issue I had in high school was making that conversion.

Liz
Chapter 12 approaches how teachers label grades. Teachers often find themselves looking at the 100-point scale and the 4-point scale and how the grade reflects in letters. The chapter overall discusses the pros and cons of each. The main focus I received from the chapter is the understanding that the 4-point scale focuses on more the process and not just a final product. The process includes how a student arrived to an answer and their understanding of that process. It also shows how the two work together when teachers are given the task of reporting grades to a parent. In a finality the book leans towards grading using the 4-point scale. The books seems to like the ability to showcase mastery by using rubrics which makes sense. The rubrics they seek are labeled with helpful terminology regarding what a students capability seems to be over a topic. The chapter also stresses the need for teachers to gather information about students not focusing on their success at something but at the progress they make.

Jennifer
This chapter was about grading scales and the different types that you can use in the classrooms and how they would be effective. Personally I would use the 100-point grading scale because I like using points and then turning them into percentages. It is easy for students to understand what they need to do to do well on an assignment, project etc if a certain amount of points are allotted to a skill or inclusion of something in their work (ex. few spelling errors = 10pts, completed on time = 5 pts etc). This will also make it easier for me to create rubrics and use them for grading the work. Although there are many good things that come from using the 4.0 grading scale, I think I would have to use both before really deciding. I agree with the chapter that using rubrics is important and that a grading scale that makes it easier to use one is helpful. It is important for grading scales to help show a students mastery and progress, not just if they are getting something wrong or right.