Amber Brethour Module 6 Assignment 2 Summary Grades Reflection Math Interventionist (K-5)

Reflection on Deriving Accurate, Fair, and Defensible Summary Grades

Chapter nine of Chappuis and Stiggins’ 2020 book Classroom Assessment for Student

Learning, Doing it Right- Using it Well provides very useful ways to derive accurate, fair, and

defensible grades. The three concepts within this chapter that had the most impact on me were

ensuring that grades reflect achievement, planning formative and summative assessment data to

collect, and using grades to communicate, not to motivate. The one concept that I want to

implement in my classroom is organizing my grade book by learning target, not by the type of

evidence.

The first concept that stood out to me in chapter nine is ensuring that grades reflect

achievement. Chappuis and Stiggins (2020) mention that “our first responsibility as teachers is to

ensure that grades provide an accurate reflection of each student’s actual level of achievement”

(p. 305). The first step is having measurable learning targets. Additionally, we need to use

activities and assessments that accurately measure student learning and provide data that shows a

student’s proficiency level. Lastly, there must be no items affecting a grade that do not measure

achievement or proficiency. Items such as participation, zeros for missing work, and extra credit

can give a false sense of student learning and achievement. It is important that the grade book

grade shows a student’s achievement level and reflects what they know and can do within that

subject.

The second concept that stood out to me in chapter nine is planning what data will be

collected formatively or summatively. Chappuis and Stiggins (2020) state that “your first

decision in preparing to track student learning is to determine which information will be used

formatively and which will be used summatively” (p. 323). When planning a unit, it is important

to not only plan for summative assessments, but also for formative assessments. Teachers need to

determine the best ways to track student progress throughout the learning process as well as at
Amber Brethour Module 6 Assignment 2 Summary Grades Reflection Math Interventionist (K-5)

the end of the unit. This will help them use formative data to make daily adjustments to

instruction, while also knowing what summative data they need to keep and use to figure into the

final grade. Additionally, teachers should differentiate them in the grade book. Formative

assessments should be entered using numbers or symbols, while summative data is entered as

raw scores or percentages.

The third concept that stood out to me in chapter nine is using grades to communicate,

not to motivate. Chappuis and Stiggins (2020) found that “when we allow motivational intent to

influence academic grades, we cripple the grade’s ability to communicate with any accuracy

whatsoever” (p. 310). Grades should not include other factors that are meant to encourage

desired behaviors, such as effort or productive learning practices. Simply stated, grades are

meant to communicate to students, parents, and teachers how a student is performing or their

achievement level within a specific learning target at a specific time, nothing else. Promising A’s

or threatening F’s is not the way to motivate students or increase their engagement.

The one concept that I want to implement in my classroom is organizing my grade book

by learning target, not by the type of evidence. My grade book can tend to get very jumbled and

hard to read at times. Although I try and mark everything with a standard, I just record

everything in list form based on the date given. As described by Chappuis and Stiggins (2020)

“traditionally, we have tended to categorize summative assessment information by the type of

evidence- homework, quiz, lab, test, homework, and so on- rather than by the learning

represented” (p. 332). A better way to organize a grade book is by the learning target assessed.

Keeping my grade book this way will allow me to better track student progress and learning and

will give me a better idea of what each student knows and can do within a specific learning

target.
Amber Brethour Module 6 Assignment 2 Summary Grades Reflection Math Interventionist (K-5)

References

Chappuis, J., & Stiggins, R. J. (2020). Classroom Assessment for Student Learning: Doing it
right -- using it well. Pearson.