Ty Duncan, ESC 17 Senior Specialist
“I haven’t got the slightest idea how to change
people, but I keep a long list of prospective
candidates just in case I should ever figure it
out.”
---David Sedaris
http://www.ascd.org/publications/books/109052.aspx
 The
Practice of Giving Students Zeroes –
Number 1
 The Practice of Combing Academic -Performance with Citizenship and Work
Habits – Number 2
 The Practice of Giving Extra Credit – Number 3
 The Practice of Averaging – Number 4
Becoming a Great High School, pgs 76-83, 2009
“Students must be invited to participate in
determining the criteria by which their work
will be judged, and then play a role in weighing
their work against those criteria.” -- Alfie Kohn
What will the teacher give me on
this?
 What does the teacher want?
 Why did I get this grade?
 What can I do to improve this
grade?
 That grade/teacher/class is stupid.
I don’t care.

The Bell Curve
Norm-Referenced Tests
• e.g. ITBS, SAT, GRE, LSAT, Stat9, NAEP
• Purpose: To sort,
select, classify, compare
• Information: How one
compares with others
• Results: reported as
percentile (%) rank
• Always yields a bell
curve
• Assumes a non-aligned
curriculum
The J Curve
Criterion-References Tests
• e.g. TExES, TAKS, license/
certification, teacher-made
• Purpose: To determine
knowledge of defined criteria
• Information: How well
an individual performs
• Results: Reported as % of
criteria known
• Goal is to yield J curve
• Assumes an aligned
curriculum
• Assumes most people can
learn most things in time.
Time
 Experience
is NOT the best teacher
 “If you do not have a theory to provide a
framework to understand your experience,
you do not accumulate 30 years of
experience…” Myron Tribus
 Just because you were graded on a bell curve
doesn’t make it the best approach to
teaching and learning today.
Turn to Page 13 in the Marzano book.
 Number off at your table 1-4
 Number 1 you read “The Imprecision of
Assessments (pages 13-15)
 Number 2 you read “Grading” (pages 15-16_
 Number 3 you read “Norm-Referenced Grading”
(pages 16-17)
 Number 4 you read “Standards based Grading”
(pages 17-19)

You will teach this section to your table in 8
minutes.
 He
who gets the most right correctly after
one exposure is the smartest and deserves
the most credit.
 Hard work!!
 Effort!!
 Determination!!
 Perseverance!!
 Turning work in on time!!! (He who doesn’t
must not know the content)
 70% -- If you know only 69% you must be a
failure



Fair?
Equal?
Equitable?
 Assessment
of learning provides evidence of
achievement
 Assessment for learning serves to help
students learn more
Richard Stiggins
“Cramming does not provide meaningful information
that remains in the brain as neural networks to which
connections can be added…”
Marilee Springer-Learning and Memory
Grades must be based on
what students have learned,
not what they have done.
Behavioral issues must be
separated from academic
issues for grading purposes.









Failure?
Laziness?
Lack of Content Understanding?
Perseverance?
Family Support?
Great Teaching?
Great Learning?
“Playing the Game”?
Memorizing?
Pick one of these and make a case for it at your
table.
Rubric: A scoring system that allows teacher to place
value on components of a given assessment product.
• States the criteria to be examined and assessed;
• Usually contains a scale (ex. 1-4) of different points
possible per criterion;
• Provides students with expectations about what will be
assessed and standards that need to be met;
• Increases consistency in the rating of student mastery;
• Provides students with “road signs” - information about
where they are in relation to where they need to be.
“When you don’t get
input it feels like school
…
When you do get input –
it feels like learning.”
George A., Student,
Redding CA
Citizenship. The student understands the importance
of voluntary individual participation in the
democratic process. The student is expected to:
(A) explain the role of significant individuals such as
Thomas Hooker, Charles de Montesquieu, John Locke,
William Blackstone, and William Penn in the
development of self-government in colonial America;
 (B) evaluate the contributions of the Founding Fathers as
models of civic virtue; and

Does a student who matches the people found in
(a) on a worksheet deserve a hundred in the grade
book?
 How do you define FULL KNOWLEDGE of the student
expectation above?

Ms. Smith’s 9th Grade Algebra Class – 1st 6 Weeks
Student A
Student B
HW 1
HW 2
Quiz 1
HW 3
HW 4
Quiz 2
HW 5
HW 6
Quiz 3
Participation
Unit Test
0
0
100
0
0
100
0
0
100
90
100
100
100
63
100
100
54
100
100
61
90
58
6 Week Ave.
53.1
80.2
Quiz –daily grade; Test = 3 daily grades
• What do/should
grades measure?
• How much of a
role do/should
attitude and effort
play in a grade?
• What role
does/should
homework play?
• What is the
purpose of a report
card grade?
• Do/Should report
card grades and
TAKS scores be
similar?
Many assignments are not as “objective” as
teachers would like.
 Rigorous work is going to take a change in
the way we grade.
 Grading a standard and not work takes
increased teacher sophistication.

Rubric: A scoring system that allows teacher to place
value on components of a given assessment product.
• States the criteria to be examined and assessed;
• Usually contains a scale (ex. 1-4) of different points
possible per criterion;
• Provides students with expectations about what will be
assessed and standards that need to be met;
• Increases consistency in the rating of student mastery;
• Provides students with “road signs” - information about
where they are in relation to where they need to be.
Writing the
Constitution
:
Performance
Indicator
Write a letter to
the delegates
meeting to discuss
changing the
Articles of
Confederation. In
the letter,
summarize the
strengths and
weaknesses of the
Articles
of Confederation
and explain the
issues that are
evidence
of the weak
confederation.
(8.15B; 8.29B)
4
3
2
1
Evalua Analyz Compr Know.
te
e
e.
The letter
evaluates
the strengths
and
weaknesses
of the
Articles and
weighs them
against each
other in a
sophisticated
way that
would
persuade the
delegates.
The letter
analyzes the
strengths and
weaknesses
of the
Articles and
gives
evidence for
the
delegates.
The letter
demonstrate
s basic
comprehensi
on of the
strengths and
weaknesses,
but does not
summarize or
give
evidence to
persuade
delegates.
The letter
demonstrate
s basic
factual
knowledge of
the strengths
and
weaknesses
but does not
explain,
summarize or
give
evidence to
persuade
delegates.
8.1.b
8.2c
8.4b
8.5f
8.7d
8.7e
4
Point
Scale
100
Point
Scale
Ty
3
4
4
3
4
4
3.66
92
Larry
4
3
3
2
4
1
2.83
85
Tony
2
4
2
1
2
4
2.5
63
Frank
1
2
3
4
4
3
2.83
85
Oscar
4
2
1
2
1
4
2.33
59
Kyle
4
3
3
4
5
4
3.83
96
• Average the 4 point scale and multiply by 25 to create the hundred
point number for grade reporting.
• This also becomes your targeted intervention document for students
who are failing to grasp the content.
• The learning is also not complete on this document as I would be
willing to go back and change the grade if they demonstrated greater
understanding during the six weeks.
http://shs.westport.k12.ct.us/jwb/Rubrics/DiscRub.htm
Truth In the Middle?
We can separate behavior from content!
 We can measure the standard at the appropriate
level of rigor and complexity!
 We can begin utilizing rubrics and conversion
scales to satisfy policy and ensure students are
learning!
 We can monitor individual student progress
much like the chart system Marzano has on page
115-117 in his book!
 We can provide appropriate targeted
interventions when students cannot meet the
challenges of increased rigor in the classroom!
 We can begin crucial conversations regarding
student feedback and grading!
