September 22, 2011
Overall
Well, we have reached the end of term 1 and progress grades are going out this weekend. Overall, I am still extremely pleased with the entire system. I feel like student progress is easily quantifiable, track-able, and readily communicable to parents and students alike.
Tests
Everyone has taken their first round of summative assessments and the results are as one would expect. Most of the general chemistry grades are C’s and B’s, with the occasional A or D. I did two separate assessments, one knowledge based (DOK 1 and 2) and one application based (DOK3). Overall, students did better on the DOK 1 and 2 (basic recall and explanations) assessment than the applied assessment but again, that was expected. I hope to include more application based activities in the classroom through the year to build those skills. All students are afforded the opportunity of a retake if their formative assessments support their claim that the test was a poor representation of their knowledge. I have had a good number of students take advantage of this opportunity as so many claim test anxiety. It really does seem to be an epidemic. However, though there are a good number who did improve their scores, it seems most students rushed into the retake after receiving a lower-than-desirable score without reviewing or stopping to ask why they achieved the score they did. Thus, several saw no improvement on their reassessment. The reassessment, while the same material, was different from the original test. It would seem that despite multiple homeworks proving their knowledge, some students are still unable to perform on tests. I think I will need to do more inclass formative assessments to ensure proper data collection. I also think I will need to be stricter with my requirements for retakes. Currently, I am more likely to give a student the benefit of the doubt but this first round proves that it seems to waste both their time and mine if I am overly kind.
Grades
Interestingly enough, the grades for first term are about what I would expect them to be: honors chemistry has mostly A’s and general chemistry has mostly C’s with a few B’s. However, I am seeing the stark effect of eliminating the zero from my grading system. In all the chemistry students I have, all of them have some vague idea of what is going on and thus are entitled to a score of a 2. An F on the traditional grading scale is meant to indicate a student who has learned nothing or does not have the mental capability/behavioral discipline necessary to succeed in the course. I have no student who fits that category. I do have several students who are not putting forth the effort necessary and since the subject does not come easily, they have currently earned the equivalent of a D in my class. I feel that by eliminating the zero, student grades have become an accurate representation of the learning of the student. They are almost exactly the grade I would give the student were I to assign grades based on my observations. I hear the students talking about the grades in terms of the 5 points scale as well. They seem to understand where they stand in the course so much better.
Student Response
I seem to be getting a wide variety of student responses to the system. Last week, I handed out a short survey asking if they understood the system, if they liked it and how it could be improved. Several students did not like the SGB system simply because it was different, citing that reason specifically. Most students complained about the fact that homework does not count towards their grade. This was expected since so many students use homework to pad their grade. They complain that they are doing so much work for no reward. Most of them are not seeing the correlation between the homework grades and test grades. Maybe after another round of summative assessments, they will begin to see the pattern. I did speak to several of my old students today, from last year. Their first words in response to my explanation was “that seems fair” and to them, that was the most important part. They mentioned how they appreciated the fact that a student who excelled was not punished by being forced to do all the homework and a student that needed more practice could get it. They liked the idea of test retakes, even given the proof stipulation and were very fond of the idea of being allowed to not master a concept on the first go round. Parent teacher conferences are next week and it will be interesting to see the type of feedback I get from the parents. I send home a letter this week that explained exactly how I came to the percentage seen on the report card and how a student could improve that grade if he or she wishes. I am still hopeful and incredibly pleased with the overall effect of the entire system.
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