Katrina Roxas

LTM 631
As the Middle School Science Teacher at Darrell Lynn Hines Academy, I
have seen much happened in the last nine months. I teach 6th, 7th, and 8th
graders with the three sciences: Physical, Earth and Life Science. When I
accepted the position, I thought it would be okay if I became friends with the
students and just really prepared everything well in advance. I was an optimistic
individual who wanted to save all of the students that sat in my classroom. After
the first month, I realized that what I wished to happen was out of my reach. I had
to lower my expectations in order for the largest amount of students to succeed.
It has been such a long journey this past year, but I would not have changed
anything in it. Ive learned about my students, my co-workers, and most
especially myself. The main thing I learned about myself was where my boundary
laid. I didnt know how strong I was until I needed to be strong. In my mind, I
always thought about what my students needed and what they deserved. That
was the driving force behind my first year teaching.
In my 7th grade class, there are many students who are classified as
Special Education students. At the beginning of the school year, the schedule
was set up where all of these students were together in my class and had a
Special Education teacher (Ms. G) who travelled with them to each class. This
was beneficial because she would modify the assessments I had and would
really help my students in ways I didnt know how. There were a few times where

we had whole group instruction and the teacher would take her students with her
to the Resource Room. It was a great system we had going. However, when Ms.
G left to pursue a new job, it made my work load 10x larger. How would I be
assessing these students? Will they be receiving the proper grade in my class?
How would I know what the proper grade was? These questions, this class, and
these students are how I came up with my research question.
The question I chose to research was What are some impartial grading
methods that can be used for students with disabilities in a general
classroom? With this question, I hope to tackle numerous problems that I have
encountered in my own classroom. Since September, Ive felt that the guideline
for grading my scholars with IEPs to be fuzzy. I mean that in the way that I was
not given a clear-cut instruction on how to grade these students. This is plausible
in the sense that not every child is the same, but a simple outline with some
pointers would have been sufficient for me to find my way. I was ecstatic that I
had Ms. Gage to help me with this at the beginning of the year, but I have
struggled since she left.
In class, we have been learning how to teach our exceptional learners.
Along with the course, we have been exposed to numerous laws that have
protected the rights of those exceptional learners. In regards to my research
question, I chose to examine IDEA. IDEA, which stands for Individuals with
Disabilities Education Act, is a federal law that requires schools to provide
special education and related services to kids with disabilities who require them.

Through this law, standards are set at a place for student achievement and will
also guide how help is made available in schools to address the students needs.
It ensures that children with disabilities have the opportunity to receive an
appropriate public education (IDEA-the Individuals with Disabilities Act, 2014).
Having this law enacted has done tremendous things for those with disabilities.
There are about 5.8 million children in the United States who received special
education services. They started receiving the services because of the IDEA law.
About 40% of those 5.8 million are students who identify with a specific learning
disability (Lee, 2014). These students are able to work with all children, instead
of only those within Special Education. From my classroom alone, its been
beneficial for my students with an IEP to be put with their friends and classmates.
Ive seen my students make strides with the other students in their class. There
have been times when the students work really well with their friends. For
example, I had the students complete a model of a cell. The cell could either be
an animal cell or a plant cell. My students worked with each other and their
friends. The objective was to create a physical model of the cell and create a
PowerPoint to accompany the model. The PowerPoint was to inform the
audience on the function of each organelle. One of the students brought in the
materials for their model and the other student worked on the PowerPoint
slideshow. They worked so well together and it was because they all worked
together.

The best way, from the research that Ive read, was to grade the students
using a standards based grading approach. Using the traditional grading system
would be detrimental for these exceptional learners because their brains do not
function at the same level as their counterparts (Jung & Guskey, 2010).In a
performance assessment, students reveal a number of their skills. Some of these
skills include their problem-solving abilities, knowledge, and an understanding of
science by creating and making things. They would also show their knowledge of
developing projects, solving various problems, and produce numerous written
products. Especially in Science, these skills are so important. Science is not just
paper-and-pencil assignments. There are a lot of projects that require group work
and the people skills to in order to be successful in class and real life. When
doing research, scientists require the opinions of their fellow scientists in order to
solidify the research theyve done. Students respond well to the simulations done
as well as giving presentation. Earlier in the school year, I had the students
create a model of the water cycle. Within the model needed to be a clear
explanation of what was going on and when it was going on. I know my students
struggled with it at the beginning, but they eventually were able to get the
presentation done. When it was time to present, all they had to do was give the
information they learned. They create notecards and were able to present with no
problems. As their teacher, it felt really good to see them succeed and to see
how happy they were with the knowledge they gained.

These are just a few examples of why performance based assessments

work well with our exceptional learners. They respond well to these types of
assessments. At the beginning of the school year, I administered a paper-andpencil assessment on Rocks and Minerals. The grades received by the students
at that time were not up to par, even though we spent much time on reviewing
the material prior to the test. When I asked them why they did so poorly, they
replied that they were nervous and didnt know what to do half of the time. It was
disheartening to hear because I had no idea how to accommodate them. Ms G
was still around at that time and suggested doing more projects with the
scholars.
Educators are in need of clear and specific guidance in developing a
grading scale. We are not able to do it alone, hence why working closely with the
Special Education instructors is our best bet in making sure all of the
accommodations for our students is appropriate. Making sure that our students
are graded fairly is very important. One of the main things an employer is looking
for are decent grades. If a students grade are diminished because of an IEP,
that would not be fair to the student. A five-step model was enacted to guide
educators on how to grade our scholars.
The first step of the model is to Ask whether the standard is an
appropriate expectation without adaptations (Jung & Guskey, 2010). This first
step is addressing whether the standard needs accommodating or not, based on
the content of the standard. The second step is If the standard is not

appropriate, determine what type of adaptation the standard meets (Jung &
Guskey, 2010). In this step, the educator determines what kind of
accommodation or adaptation is needed in order for the student to succeed. The
third step is If the standard needs modification, determine the appropriate
standard (Jung & Guskey, 2010). The appropriate standard is what the
instructional team believes the student could reasonably achieve by the end of
the academic year with services. The appropriate standard would be what the
student could achieve by the end of the academic school year, based on the
belief held by the instructional team (Jung & Guskey, 2010). The fourth step is
Base on grades on the modified standard, not the grade-level standard (Jung &
Guskey, 2010). This is crucial since it would be ineffective to base their grade on
the grade-level standard when that was not the standard they were working on.
The fifth and final step of this model is Communicate the meaning of the grade
(Jung & Guskey, 2010). This is important for the student, their family, and the
whole instructional team. It will make known what standard the student actually
met which is being based off of the modified standard.
I am personally working on implementing this with my own students. The
way the model is set up makes grading the students less difficult for me. I know
what I need do. Now its just figuring out how I do it. A good way for this type of
grading method to be established would be to have professional developments
for staff about it. It will give a clear instruction on the expectations of the
instructional team as well as the Administration team.

A good way to differentiate instruction is by utilizing resources online that

modify the assignment based on the student. For example, Achieve 3000 is a
great resource for students. The program places each child within a certain
Lexile score and whenever they are assigned an assignment, they will modify the
article and assignments to the students Lexile score. This is helpful, especially
for someone like me, since I did not know how to modify or create
accommodations for my students.
After this research, I have concluded that the best way for students to be
graded is to use a standards-based grading system. Granted, DLH Academy has
implemented this for all students of my classes. However, being by myself in
teaching these students, I feel more confident in my abilities to accommodate
and modify my students assignment. It all the more gives meaning to why I am
doing what Im doing.

Works cited
IDEA-the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act | Center for Parent
Information and Resources. (n.d.). Retrieved May 01, 2016, from
http://www.parentcenterhub.org/repository/idea/
Jung, L. A., & Guskey, T. R. (2007). Standards-Based Grading and Reporting; a
Model for Special Education. TEACHING Exceptional Children, 40(2), 4853. doi:10.1177/004005990704000206
Lee, A. (2014). How IDEA Protects You and Your Child. Retrieved May 01, 2016,
from https://www.understood.org/en/school-learning/your-childsrights/basics-about-childs-rights/how-idea-protects-you-and-your-child
Salend, S. J. (1998). Using an Activities-Based Approach to Teach Science to
Students with Disabilities. Intervention in School and Clinic, 34(2), 67-72.
doi:10.1177/105345129803400201