Richard Karash said:
>My conclusion: Grades and Evals aren't absolute... They are just one
>person's opinion. Or one measure. Listen to them, put them in context
>with other inputs. Try to be self-reflective, self-aware and responsible.
>But, these aren't absolute."
Over the years, I have listened to many conversations about grades and
other processes for reporting to parents a student's progress. Letter
grades are simple. But what do they mean? My experience is that every
teacher uses different measures and criteria to determine grades. For
example, some teachers grade behavior, others don't; some allow late work
to be graded, some don't; and the list goes on.
An "A" from one teacher means something different than an "A" from another
teacher. Feedback to students and parents about areas of mastery, or
proficiency, is more specific than the letter grade. However, many
parents strongly prefer the letter grade and have been angry when schools
have attempted to replace grades with other, more detailed reports about
student progress.
Thanks for reading.
David Wilkinson
School Improvement Specialist
Des Moines Public Schools (IA)
Davidwilk@aol.com
--Davidwilk <Davidwilk@aol.com>
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