Big C said:
BearlySane88 said:
Big C said:
movielover said:
San Ramon High Schools are looking to copy Dublin High, and others, in adding "Equity Grading". A missed test equals a 50% score, homework isn't graded, tests can be taken multiple times, etc.
There are misconceptions about "equity grading", but if you understand it, it's probably a good thing. Some possible flaws, of course, just like everything else.
Example of possible flaw: Lazy teacher lets students retake tests and then gives them the exact same test (so students just memorize the answers). I have seen this and it is just cringe-worthy. Good God, at the very minimum, change the order of the questions and the order of the choices (in a multiple choice test). Should be a different test that tests for the same learning objectives.
Please enlighten me about how it is a good thing to not hold students accountable? You don't get do over after do over in your job. Why are we training students to think that's the norm? We wonder why we have these soft Starbucks baristas complaining about a work uniform.
When you speak of not holding students accountable, is it the part about retaking tests?
One could argue that they are still accountable, just by the end of the semester. Or, you could have it where they get somewhat reduced credit for each time they need to retake it.
The concept of being able to retake tests only got to be a thing towards the end of my career. Students would ask if they could retake it and I would say "sure". Rarely did they actually take me up on it. Then, once they found out it was a similar test, but not exactly the same (in other words, they actually needed to know the material instead of memorizing the answers from a friend's test), they never took me up on it. Not one time.
But they could have.
Students in my middle school classes can retake a test if they score below a 75% but they can only receive up to a 75% on the retake. I'm not rewarding a student for not being prepared for an exam the first time. Do I want them to fail, no. Do I want them to learn the material, yes. Do I also want to teach them the lesson that preparation and effort will give them positive results, yes. I give them the opportunity to practice the material and raise their grade but I don't hand them an A on a silver platter.
Late homework is two points off every day it's late until it's down to 50% of the grade. My homework assignments are usually 10 points so even a day late cuts into the grade pretty heavily. My school's policy is that I have to accept any late assignments up to two weeks late so they get a 50% at that point because I could give them lower but again I'm not trying to fail kids and I want them to do the work.
My 6th graders grades are weighted:
60% test, 15% homework, 15% classwork (mostly quizzes), 10% participation
My 7th graders grades are weighted:
65% test, 15% homework, 10% classwork (mostly quizzes), 10% participation
My 8th graders grades are weighted:
70% test, 10% homework, 10% classwork (mostly quizzes), 10% participation
