Carrollton-Farmers Branch ISO Grading Procedures

Frequently Asked Questions

What goes on the first progress report of the 9 weeks if no summative has been assigned or graded
yet?
Formative assessment grades may be included on progress reports and must be designated clearly as
formative grades; however, they will not be reported on the 9-weeks grade, final semester grade, or
final end of the year grade.

What will our talking points be for dealing with students and parents who are most concerned about
class rank and getting into college?
We can assure them that the integrity of class rank will be based on student mastery of the state
standards and NOT behavior, effort, daily work, homework, or formative assessments given as students
are learning new content/concepts. The grade will have more integrity and validity under the new
procedures than the old procedures.

What factors are to be considered when "placing" a child who does not meet the promotion criteria in
the next grade?
• Age
• Assessment data
• Teacher recommendation
• Academic history
• Student and parent interviews
• lEP status

Will there be more professional development about formative assessment?

Learning about formative assessment and how to progress monitor student learning will be a continual
professional development focus in the district. Some ofthis work will be done during the Instructional
Improvement Process (liP) with teacher teams, and some will be done through more formal professional
development.

How will EOCs fit into the new grading procedures?

The district will comply with the state's direction on EOCs and adjust our procedures as necessary.

What does the following statement in the Grading Procedures document mean? "In determining
grades consider the more recent information and discard outmoded evidence if appropriate."
The grade will be based on a minimum of six summative grades plus a comprehensive semester exam. If
the summative grades toward the end ofthe semester show improvement and progress of learning, and
IF the student performs well on the comprehensive semester exam, then the teacher may use the trend
line summative data and the data from the semester exam when assigning the final grade.

The bottom line is that we want to assign grades based on true learning and mastery ofthe standards
and not penalize students for taking longer to learn.

Does this mean that in addition to using the more recent evidence in determining the final grade as
either passing or failing, that I can raise a student's grade based on the more recent evidence?
IF the later evidence assesses the same standard(s), then an earlier summative could be dropped from
the average. However, all grades shall be based on a minimum of four summatives plus a
comprehensive final exam (secondary); therefore, no more than two summatives could be dropped
from the average to compute a final semester grade.

Is it "real world" to give students an opportunity to reassess on summatives?

We believe such opportunities are available in the "real world." For example, teachers are given an
opportunity to have a second PDAS evaluation ifthey so desire. Additionally, when a driver receives
his/her first ticket, he/she has the opportunity to attend a driving class to mitigate the consequence of
the ticket. Reminders are often given to teachers regarding deadlines for multiple reasons, such as
submitting grades, lesson plans, Signing forms, etc.

More importantly, having multiple opportunities to assess sends the message that hard work and
continued effort will be rewarded. We reinforce hope and the feeling that it is never too late. These are
important lessons to be learned.

Will points be deducted for late work?

No.
The assessment/feedback on student work must reflect the level of mastery demonstrated by the
student. The mark on the paper or project pertains solely to the student's acquisition of desired
knowledge and skills and should not include student behaviors such as timeliness.

Assessment/feedback on the timeliness of work completion will be reflected in the student's effort
grade.

The procedures state the final exam counts 20% of the final grade and no reassessment opportunities
are afforded. What if the final exam score does not reflect the student's actual level of mastery and
skews the final grade?
The teacher should exercise professional judgment based on the district's grading principles. Ifthere is a
preponderance of evidence to override the final exam grade and/or ifthe teacher has an alternative
method of assessment that clearly confirms a different level of student mastery, the additional evidence
should be weighed in lieu ofthe final exam. The teacher should submit a written rationale to the
campus principal for approval.

FAQs from Ken O'Connor

How can you support the idea of not giving zeros, late penalties, or opportunities for extra credit that
count for grades?
I continue to support the idea of not giving zeros, late penalties, and opportunities for extra credit
because they are educationally undesirable practices.

The alternative to zero that holds the student accountable is that, ifthey have not provided sufficient
evidence of learning, the school provides times and places for support that the student must attend
until sufficient evidence has been provided.
How can you ignore the real world consequences of plagiarism?
I do not ignore the real world consequences of plagiarism as I recommend behavioral AND academic
consequences for academic dishonesty.

What suggestions do you have about how to handle the retake issue?
When we have a learning orientation, I think it is the ideal to offer unlimited retakes; but there should
always be conditions attached to retakes and the practical reality is that there may have to be a limit to
the number of retakes.

The conditions that should attach to all retakes are:

1. No students should be allowed any retake (first or fifth) until they provide evidence that
they have done something that increases the likelihood that they will continue to improve .
2. Not all retakes need to occur at a time that is convenient to the student.

Could you explain why it is not a good practice to always average a student's grade even though you
are not using zeros? What about putting more weight on certain assessments?
If by averaging you mean the mean, it is fine ifthe student's performance is consistent but we teach in
math that the mean is an inappropriate measure of central tendency when there are outlier scores, and
unfortunately, students often have outlier scores-and they are usually low outliers. There are two
other legitimate measures of central tendency that should be considered-median and mode, but the
determination of grades should be based on the student's most consistent level of achievement with
emphasis on the more recent. Please note I said 'determination' of grades, not 'calculation.' For me
grading is not simply a mechanical, numerical exercise. It is an exercise in professional judgment.
Teachers are not just bookkeepers, we are-or should be-professionals.

What is the best practice for formative vs. summative?

I believe that all of the grade should come from summative assessments. Research is very clear that
when formative assessment is used to support learning, subsequent student performance improves
dramatically. The classic article is Black and Wiliam's "Inside the Black Box" in the October 1998 Kappan
magazine.

You state that quizzes, most homework, and most daily work have no place in grades. Why, then,
should a student do homework?
To practice so that they can get better in the same way that they practice for band and basketball

When a teacher has 180 students and is expected to provide regular summative and formative
feedback, how is this possible without having deadlines?
Assessment is a sampling procedure. You need enough evidence to make the judgments you have to
make (determining grades), not too little or too much. Teachers frequently collect a lot more evidence
than they need, so you can make it more manageable by requiring at least three but no more than 9
summative assessments for each grading period (preferably 5 to 7). Apart from anything else you then
have fewer deadlines for students to meet. Other benefits are that the assessments will probably be
higher quality and you have time for a process of instruction and formative assessment that will lead to
greater achievement by the students on the summative assessments.

You also need to provide support consequences for students who miss deadlines. That is, there need to
be times and places where students are required to attend to get the support they need to complete
required summative assessments.
If students have not submitted sufficient assessment evidence by the day teachers have to determine
grades, the grade they get is an "I" for "Incomplete" or "Insufficient Evidence," regardless ofthe grade
they would get based on the evidence they have submitted. The "I" grade has the same impact as an
"F" and should appear on the report card and in the transcript.

Can you give some guidance on how comprehensive summative assessments and final exams should
be?
It is appropriate to have culminating assessment(s) for the entire course that requires students to show
they have acquired the enduring understandings and that they can bring together their understanding
from each ofthe units in the course. Culminating assessments should be appropriate to the learning
goals ofthe course but usually should provide opportunities for students to 'write, do and say' what
they know, understand, and can do. This means a 'comprehensive final exam' may be all or part ofthe
culminating assessment, but usually the culminating assessment should include a performance task.
This approach should not be new to students as they should have experienced a similar approach to
culminating assessments for each unit of the course.

In considering a standards based report card, I am confused about how this all applies to the
elementary school student. The growth for younger children isn't a huge amount. Parents want to see
a percentage. How do you explain the subjectiveness of the grading system?
What parents and students (should) want to see is specific information about areas of
strength and areas that need improvement, e.g., "Karen" excels in number sense and
measurement, is competent in measurement but has difficulty with geometry and data
analysis. Percentages do not provide that information or in fact any information of value.
The sooner we eliminate them from grading and reporting systems the better it will be
if our objective is clear communication. Assessment and grading are inherently subjective,
and that is not a bad thing or something for which we have to apologize. What is bad is
teachers making different judgments based on the same evidence. What we have a
professional responsibility to work on is consistency with subjective judgments.