Personal Grading Philosophy:

Grading can be a controversial topic in education, but each teacher must

ponder their own beliefs and question what they want for their students. Grading
can either leave a student with a sense of inadequacy or improvement, stress or
satisfaction, confusion or competency. Their (grades) primary function is to
communicate mastery of performance and today they do anything but that.
Its a mess(Crouch, 2013, para.2). It should be the goal of a teacher to have the
grades in his/her classroom be anything but a mess. Rather it should be a well
thought out and explicitly communicated system, set in place to benefit the
learners.
What does good grading look like for a classroom? Many teachers have
different answers for this question due to the fact that the idea of grading can
encompass many definitions and preferences. The main idea that will be found
within this profile however is: Failure is not an option(). This profile was
compiled to continue to answer this very question for my own classroom grading.
This question needed to be answered, so that I can be prepared when in a
classroom. This profile was made to show my personal beliefs on classroom grading
based on research, and how I plan to carry out these ideas within my classroom.
I will combine many different theories and ideas from experts within my own
classroom grading; adapting and implementing numerous ideas from theorists and
experts in order to find my own style in order to benefit my students in the best
possible way. This profile reflects me as a teacher and shows my beliefs in grading.
It may seem as though there is a lot to know, learn, and sift through, but this will
be a document I am continuously adding to and growing in the ideas held within.

Purposes of Grading

(Glasbergen, 2014)

With grades, we document the progress of students and our teaching,

we provide feedback to students and their
parents, and we make instructional decisions
regarding the students (Wormeli, 2006, p.
103).
As a student and as a teacher the question
often comes up of what is the purpose of grading?
In the comic on this page it is clear that often the
purpose is unknown and the grading system itself is
unclear with the meaning. Before a teacher can start assigning grades and before a
student should receive them, it is necessary to know their purpose. Many people can
hold different opinions on the different purposes of grading, and according to
Guskey, there are six purposes teachers of the past indicate they use for grading.
These six purposes are:

Communicate information to parents about students achievement and

performance in school

Provide information to students for self-evaluation

Select, identify, or group students for certain educational programs

Provide incentives for students to learn

Document students performance to

evaluate the effectiveness of school programs

Purposes of Grading continued

Every teacher should be asking the purpose behind their grades and if
they go along with a theorist, but it is also important to make the purpose
manageable. As a teacher I do not want to try and accomplish every purpose
with my grades, because I could not accomplish them well in the way the
stakeholders most deserve. Instead I find it vital to focus on one to two
purposes to direct my grades. It should not be a purpose that encompasses all
of the purposes in one to two sentences, but it should in fact be a purpose
that I can follow through on. Nothing fits into one grade, and I do not except
everything to fit into one purpose. I will do well at what I do, instead of doing
it all half well.
So what is my purpose of grading? I have decided to make my purpose
of grading as follows:

My purpose of grading is to communicate clearly in various ways

to my students the product, process, and progress of their
work, so their learning and mastery is being accomplished.
Every teacher will have a different purpose for grading, but
this is the one I believe I can accomplish. If I ever felt like it was
too big of a purpose to do effectively, then I would adapt my
purpose until I felt that handling all three sections of my purpose
was possible.

Fair and Ethical Practices

Effective grading does not just come from giving a student a meaningless
letter or percentage in a gradebook. It comes from fair and ethical practices that
have been researched in order to provide the best quality of grades as possible for
stakeholders. In reflecting on the practices that I felt most fair to my students, I
found five ideas that represent my grading ideals.

Quality Feedback Over Meaningless Grades

Often homework or assignments are graded, but the students or academic
stakeholders have no idea as to want the grade means. Or other times feedback is
given but it has no reference to a students learning. A Good job! or Keep trying!
comment does not show a student how to do better or how to learn. What does
cause thinking is a comment that addresses what the student needs to do to
improve, linked to rubrics where appropriate(Leahy, Lyon, Thompson, & Wiliam,
2005, p. 22). Thus, emerges the idea of quality feedback providing more clarity and
helpfulness then a number or percentage may. When quality feedback is used, It
provides an opportunity for students to talk and think about their learning and for
the teacher to get inside their heads(Vatterott,2009, p. 41). When students are
talking and thinking about their learning and teachers are attempting to get inside
their heads, individualization is happening. The teacher is working towards the
individual student needs, which comes from fairness. Fairness is not everyone
getting the same, but is instead each student getting what they need. Therefore,
giving quality feedback over a meaningless grade is a practice which I feel is fair
and ethical.

Saying NO to Zero
Getting a zero on an assignment or assessment is never a good feeling to a
student, nor should it feel good for a teacher to give a zero. In teaching I agree
with the idea which states that giving a zero is a bad practice. It does not show
what a student truly knows. Often the situations surrounding a student that leads
to a low proficiency score or a zero is out of student control, but they are still

penalized with this grade. Is this motivational? According to a student from

Duecks article it is not. Penalties have never really motivated me, but a chance to
improve- thats motivating(Dueck, 2014, p.46). Giving a student a chance to
improve is what class work, assignments, and assessments should be about. One way
that this motivation can be instilled is through giving incompletes. I view this as a
fair way to grade. Giving an incomplete is allowing the student additional chances to
learn and show what they know; what is giving a failing grade allowing for? Making
students redo their learning until it meets high expectations demands far more of
both students and teachers than letting them take a failing grade- but it also
results in far more learning (Wormeli, 2011, p.26). Incompletes allow for more
learning while zeros allow for a stop in the learning process. It is my belief that
the fair and ethical idea is for the student to receive an incomplete and an
additional chance at learning.

Consistency
Consistency should be an idea that is instilled within each facet of the
classroom and in terms of grading is no exception. According to Guskey there are
three guidelines that are recommended in order to have clear consistency in the
classroom. The first is that the most recent evidence should always get the most
priority and greater weight. The second guideline is giving priority or greater
weight to the most comprehensive forms of evidence. The last of the three
guidelines is to rank order the evidence gathered in terms of importance to the
learning goals or standards. (Guskey, 2002, p. 779). Whichever guideline or
approach is used in a classroom, it should be consistent. Fairness in grading
dictates that teachers inform students about their grading policies and practices
in advance and then faithfully and consistently apply those policies (Guskey,
2002,p.776).

Fair vs. Same

Differentiating teachers will do different things for different students some
or a lot of the time. They will choose fairness over equality, and what is fair wont
always be equal (Wormeli, 2006, p. 195). Students struggle with the idea of
fairness. They often believe that this idea coincides with sameness. Does this

really seem ethical though? When coming up with an IEP (individualized education
plan) for a learning disabled student no one usually questions the differentiation
that is involved with their learning. Should this not be how it is for all students? If
it is fair and ethical to differentiate in learning to give each student what they
need, is it not then fair and ethical to do the same with grading? There are often
times that one approach does not work for all. Education is not a one size fits all
hat. It comes in a variety of different styles and sizes. So should grading be. Fair
and same are not interchangeable and, in fact they have very different definitions.
It is fair and ethical to grade differently for each student, giving the learner the
best opportunity to grow in knowledge.

Product, Process, and Progress

Thinking back on multiple report cards or homework assignments did it ever feel
fair to have only one grade in a class that required so much? Giving a student one
grade for all they have done is not showing the learning in multiple areas. "The
most effective grading and reporting systems establish clear standards based on
product, process, and progress criteria, and then report each separately" (Jung &
Guskey, 2010, p. 32). Product grades are grades which measure the end means. This
shows where the students are at in the end and is not meant to be averaged.
Process grades are grades for behavioral aspects such as effort or neatness, or
could be thought of as how the student reaches the product. Finally, progress
grades are grades which show the whole picture from start to finish. These grades
show how much the learning has increased over time. In order to have a clear idea
of what the student needs to succeed, each of these grades is necessary. They
should not be combined into one grade, for they do not have the same criteria.
Each bit of information is crucial to the success of the learner, which is why giving
a student product, process, and progress grades is more fair and ethical than
giving one grade that does not represent their true knowledge growth.

I will
Give Quality Feedback
When addressing classwork or homework I will give my students quality
feedback, not a meaningless grade. I have chosen this idea of quality feedback
because I want my students to learn from mistakes or continue to grow from
achievement. Instead of marking Good Work! or So Close! I want to use quality
feedback that allows them to see how to improve. Provide individual students with
precise feedback based on their specific needs(Dufour, 2009, para.7). I want to
address specific needs and give feedback to individuals. I want my students to
understand that their learning is the most important idea, therefore I will give
quality feedback.

Allow for Multiple Chances

Athletes practice over and over again when attempting to master a skill. Yes, it
is true some may be outliers and they accomplish the skill in the first attempt, but
most struggle to even get the basics on the first try. Yet in teaching it is asked of
students to perform correctly for a grade with no practice. Should they be at
mastery level at this time? No! They need practice and chances in order to reach
mastery. I will grade on summative assessments after the content has been
practiced often and has become muscle movement to the students. If the students
in my classroom still are not reaching the point where they are able to move on in
the content, they will receive an I (in progress or incomplete) and will keep
practicing until they get some of the muscle memory. I will not allow failure. I will
fight for my students to succeed. As found in the research section on page 28,
Making students redo their learning until it meets high expectations demands far
more of both students and teachers than letting them take a failing grade- but it
also results in far more learning (Wormeli, 2011, p.26). I want my students to learn
and this means giving multiple chances.

Grade Product and Process

Grading more than one area is crucial to student growth. Knowing which areas
my students struggle in and which ones they do not is important to help them

succeed. Therefore I will keep track of both product and process grades for my
students. This does not mean I want to cut out the progress grade completely, it
simply means I do not want it in the grade book. I want to grade the product in a
way that shows the most recent learning. This shows me where my students are
and what they actually know. This will not be a grade that is averaged, but is a
grade that represents the end result based on the standards the students are
learning. The process grade, which is based more on behavior, will be a completely
separate grade. These grades will use different scales, because they are grading
different criteria. (Both grading scales are laid out on page 35)

Differentiate
There is a broad, pervasive sense that differentiation and grading practices
are somehow at odds with one another (Tomlinson & Moon, 2013, p.125).
Differentiation will be taken into account with my grading practices as much as it is
taken into account with the way I assess or manage my classroom. Each student has
different needs and therefore their grades may be configured differently at
times. Tomlinson and Moon suggest sticking to three principles to make sure
grading is fair and ethical. 1. Grades should be accurate, 2. Grades should be
meaningful to those who receive them, and 3. Grades should support learning (2013,
p.128). What works for one student will not always work for another. Whether this
is in regards to assessment or grading is no matter, I will differentiate in my
classroom grading when it is appropriate for student learning.

Allow Grades to Guide Instruction

Grades are a source of data that allows me to guide classroom instruction. If
grades are done in such a way as to reveal information on more than one topic, they
can give way to further learning in the content. Grades can reveal student learning
or lacking of understanding, or my own ability to get my students to understand the
content. In my classroom I will frequently dwell on the grade data to not only guide
what I teach, but also how. If I can improve in a particular way for my students I
want to do so in order to progress their own learning.

I will not
Grade Homework
In my classroom I want to use homework as a learning tool for content
covered in class, not as an item to grade. When I give homework it will be
because I feel it will benefit the student to practice the content, not to see if
they have mastered right away. I want to encourage my students to take risks
in their homework and in their learning, not feel trapped by the need to get a
good grade. When it is turned into me I will mark it with quality feedback
instead of a grade so the student has a chance at learning.
Homework should be given only when the instructor feels it is essential to
student learning. If, for example, the teacher believes that by practicing a
skill and receiving prompt and specific feedback students will learn at higher
levels, homework is very appropriate and should be assigned (Dufour, 2009,
para. 6).
If a student has mastered the content in class and does not do the
homework, they will not be punished for that. They have already done the
learning and I will not give them a bad grade for it. Grading homework will not
be done in my classroom because it does not give accurate information
regarding how my students have learned. The usual aim for assigning homework
and providing feedback is to further student learning and
understanding(Dueck, 2014, p. 45). If students do not get it done there is most
likely an outside reason and I refuse to grade them on those reasons.

Give Zeros
Giving zeros will not happen within my classroom. There are far better ways to
motivate and encourage students to complete assignments(Guskey, 2002, p. 779).
When a student receives a zero, motivation is not gained to do better and
accomplish more. It is seen as a penalty and it is seen as defeat. No student should
have to see a grade of zero on their work. Assessment and grading strategies
geared toward enabling students to show what they know are much more effective
than penalties are in promoting student learning (Dueck, 2014, p. 46). I will have
strategies in place to ensure students can show what they know, even if that is not

at the same time as other students. Students will have multiple chances in my
classroom, as stated on page 31, and will not be penalized for not getting it right
away or having circumstances out of their control. Students will receive an I (in
progress or incomplete) instead of a failing grade because my classroom will be
about learning and not about penalizing.

Use Grades as a Weapon

Grades will never be used as weapons in my classroom. They will be used only to
benefit my students. All grades will be kept confidential from other students and
peers so as not to create a competition atmosphere or to have students comparing
themselves in believing they are better or in negative ways. Grades will be used to
help me as the teacher to instruct in a more beneficial way and to know where each
student is coming from. They are no to be used as weapons, but instead as tools.

Grading Systems/Scales
Standard-Based Grading System:
This type of grading system is a system that is focused on four main ideas in
order to show student achievement and make it meaningful. These four ideas are: 1.
Focus on clear learning targets, 2. Grading less, 3. Getting rid of bad grading
practices, and 4. Assessing students better (Varlas, 2013). Because this system is
aimed towards improving grading practices this will be the system I gear my
grading towards. I will base my students grades on specific criteria laid out by the
core curriculum and state learning standards. I will also separate my grades into
two* distinct grading categories of product and process.

Product:

This grade communicates a students specific academic

achievement to the clearly communicated learning standards. This grade will

consist purely of summative assessment/assignment grades. This shows the
final comprehension of the student and will therefore be the only grades
included in this section. Formative assignments or assessments will not be
included in this grade for the students are still learning and gaining
knowledge. It is not showing the students complete learning and therefore,
cannot be considered product grades. Once again product grades will consist
of summative level assignments in my classroom.

Process:

This grade communicates elements such as effort, behavior,

class participation, punctuality in turning in assignments, work habits, etc.

These grades can often be mixed up and included with the overall product
grade for most teachers. This is not a grade that shows what a student has
academically achieved, but is rather the non-academic progress. Both are
important to my grading system, but because they are grading separate
criteria they will be separate grades.
(Jung & Guskey, 2010).
Although this can often be seen as a very time consisting system, I believe it
will be more beneficial to the stakeholders in the end and will allow for a more
easily understood grading system.

*The third grading category is that of progress. This will not be implemented in my
classroom grading right away until the time comes where I feel as though I could
handle implementing all three effectively. The progress will still be monitored by
me and the individual student, but will not be a marking in the grade book.

Scales:
Within my grading of product and process, I will use two distinct scales. This
does not mean that I value one grade more than the other; it simply means that I
feel as though the different scales relate to the different content in clearer ways.

Product:

For product grades I am basing my scale off of Dufours ABCI

method. This states that if a student did not pass the quiz, test or other
type of assessment, they received an I grade (In progress) and could
continue to study and try again until mastery was reached (Guskey & Bailey,
2001, p.17). I will have the I (incomplete or in progress) grade being
anything below a 70%. That mean seem relatively high to most but I chose
this because I want to eliminate failing grades. When a student receives an
I it means that they must keep working and learning. Failure is not an
option. I set the bar so high for the fact that if my students are obtaining a
C grade, they have moved close to proficiency and I feel safe to move on in
content. The A, B, and C grades will then be set at equal intervals. A C will
be set from 70%-79.9%, B is set from 80%- 89.9% and A is set from
90%-100%. If a student who receives a C or a B wants to work towards
an A, they will also be able to show that their knowledge has improved,
however their system to do so will be laid out differently than that of a
student who has earned an I. (Blankstein, 2012) It is the difference
between teacher initiated and student initiated. This difference is laid out
in the involvement and timeliness plan. This whole scale would also align with
the standard based grading I plan to do by using this scale with the
standards. If my school required only one product grade, I would look at all
of the product grades for an understanding of where my students lie.

 Process:

For process grades I will use a different system of the E-S-N-U

scale. E-Excellent (Always), S-Satisfactory (Often), N-Needs Improvement

(Sometimes/Barely), and U-Unsatisfactory (Never) (Guskey & Bailey, 2001,
p. 17). I changed the grading scale for process grades because they do not
measure the same content as the product grade and I feel it is easier to
comprehend non-academics in the terms of this scale. I chose to lay out the
letters with the idea of Always, Often, Sometimes/Barely, or Never as their
descriptions, because I fell as though this will allow me and the other
stakeholders to clearly understand what the letters mean and where the
student is at. Since the process grade is a non-academic grade it will not be
in the form of percentages. Whenever this is laid out for stakeholders to
see, a key will be included as well as notes on the individual student so as to
obtain the clearest image of the grade.

Involvement & Timeliness

teachers must describe how they plan to evaluate students'
achievement, effort, work habits, and progress, and then must communicate
these plans directly to students, parents, and others (Guskey, 2001, p.3).

Teacher Involvement
Teachers have a crucial role and involvement in the grading system. They
assess, grade, and report non-academic and academic achievements to not only
students, but also parents/guardians, principals, and other stakeholders. Teachers
need to identify what is to be graded, how/when it should be graded, and
how/when to communicate this information to others.

What is Ms. Ks Involvement?

As mentioned above, I have a crucial role and involvement in the grading
system. When looking at the fact that I need to decide what to grade, I have gone
through my beliefs and ideals for grading and have decided what aspects of
learning I do and do not want to grade. (See previous grading sections for more
information) In my plan I have given two separate grades of process and product.
These grades would be given on the summative assessments as well as other
documents such as progress reports (See communication). On graded assignments
product grades would be located in the left hand corner while process grades would
be in the right hand corner (Sheldon, T., personal communication, October, 2014).
Since summative assessments do not happen as often and most other assignments
will simply have quality feedback on them, actual grade book recording will not
happen that often. However this does not mean that writing feedback and going
over student assignments will not happen every night, because it most likely will.
Whenever I get assignments back I will do my best to take them home and go over
them that day. I will aim for this because I want to help my students to continue
learning as soon as possible and the longer I take to understand their mistakes and
confusions, the longer they suffer. It would be my hope to be able to give these
assignments back the day after, but since I do not claim to be a super grader and I
want my feedback to be quality, I will give myself a 2-3 day maximum in returning

work. How and when I plan to communicate this information is laid out in the
communication plan on page 41. Therefore my grading involvement will include:

Implementing a grading system in place

Evaluating student work and giving quality feedback

Deciding on an appropriate grading scale for each grade

Choosing what to grade and what not to grade

Using research based practices to enhance systems and environment

Creating assessments that align with the learning targets and clearly
communicate achievement

Using data to modify in order to benefit students and enhance

understanding

Reporting and providing evidence of achievement

Student Involvement
While students do not have the same involvement in the grading system as a
teacher does, their involvement is still important. I want them to understand that
they are earning their grades and that I am not simply giving it to them. My
students will be taught how to take ownership of their own learning. As I have lain
out in the assessment portion of this profile I will ask three questions when
formulating assessments to check for student involvement:
-Will my students understand their learning targets?
-How will my students self-assess and set goals?
-How am I allowing my students to track their own progress based on the
objectives?
These ideas carry over into student involvement in the grading systems and
lead me to two items for student involvement. 1. Students will complete selfassessments periodically on different items to show me where they believe they
are in their learning. This could be subject level (how they are feeling in that
content), assignment level (rubrics), or a general level (how they feel they are
doing in academic and non-academic schooling). This will show me student
perceptions as well as cause the students to do a check of their own learning. 2.
Students will track progress in their progress journals in order to see how their
learning is in fact changing. I will have my students take on these responsibilities in
grading because I see the importance of student owned learning. I want my

students to carry a sense of ownership with them when they leave my classroom.
While I will still decide the grades in the end, I will involve my students in the
system itself.

Communication/Accessibility
Students
I want my students to feel as though they may always have access to their
grades and can communicate with me regarding what they are earning. They will be
aware of their progress through the self-tracked progress journals, they will
receive quality feedback and information on assignment sheets communicating
solutions, and any process or product grades will be known to them through
returned assignments/ assessments. If a student is ever wondering how they are
doing over all it will be known to them that they may always come and talk to me. In
addition to this, the students will have a student- teacher conference with me once
a quarter so that I can see how they are feeling, talk about their progress journals
and self-assessments, and have a conversation with them about where they are at
in their learning.

Parents/Guardians
Parents and Guardians will be invited at the beginning of year to the classroom
open house where I will discuss my grading system with them so they know what to
expect. I will explain that zeros are not given in my classroom and will explain the
protocol for if work is not completed when it is due. This explanation will include
ideas such as staying late to work on assignments, working during recess/ free
time, etc. I will also explain that homework is NOT graded and explain how this
process will look for their students as well. I will give them a time to ask any
questions they may have and to find out my reasoning for using the system and
scales I do so there is no confusion, but only clarity in the class system. In addition
to the open house I will communicate with the parents/guardians often because
they too should always have access to the grades of their student. I will hold
parent teacher conferences twice a year where we will review student progress
journals, academic and non-academic grades, and any grading concerns. I will keep
notes of student learning and progress within the gradebook so that I may review
these during the meeting as well. Report cards (see example on page 44) will
include not only a table for the parent/guardian to follow along clearly but will also
have personal notes regarding additional information about the student. Bi-weekly

progress reports (shown on page 45-46) will be set out for both academic and nonacademic grading. The progress reports will state the letter for how the student is
doing in the area as well as descriptions and information on learning and help that
could be given. Parents/ Guardians also will always have the option to meet with me
at any time to discuss any concerns or questions via e-mail, phone, or person upon
request.

Administrators
I will have open communication with administrators and administrators such as
the principal will have accessibility to the classroom grades at all times. My grading
system will be known and explained to the administrators and I will reference
research to back up my ideas with proof of quality grading practices. In addition to
giving the parents/ guardians progress reports, the principal will receive them as
well. These progress reports will not be given as often, unless requested, but will
instead be given about once a month. Report cards will also be seen by
administrators and will be available to contain additional notes for the principals
records and knowledge.

All stakeholders

(school board members, staff members, outside

organizations, etc.)
Any stakeholders who are not mentioned above will need to request grades
from me before they may have access to them. If I feel as though it would be
beneficial to the student to give out this information, such as in an instance where
a different teacher was working with the learner, then I would grant permission.
Otherwise it will be taken situation by situation.

Communication Examples
Report Cards:
Product:

Process:

*The comment sections of the product/process report card would be filled with information
regarding the student and the meaning of the grades. Since I have no students as of yet, I left this
as a half shell.

Student Name:

Date:

Progress Report- Academic

Language Arts:
-Spelling:

-Handwriting:

-Reading:

Mathematics:

Science:

Social Studies:

Student Name:

Date:

Progress Report- Non-Academic

Follows Norms:

Effort/Behavior:

Other Feedback: