With more than 25 years of practice and research under his belt, Joe Feldman, former teacher, principal, and district administrator, speaks from experience when it comes to current inequities and challenges districts and schools face with grading. In this conversation with eSchool News, Feldman, author of the recently updated article Fairness rating, discusses the importance of equity in education, particularly in the context of grading practices. He emphasizes how the COVID-19 pandemic and events like the George Floyd protests highlighted the need to address these inequalities, explains the flaws in traditional grading practices, and advocates for the need for change. He also explores how technology can help achieve more accurate, fair and motivating assessment methods. Listen and scroll down to see other takeaways and an excerpt from his book:
➔Traditional grading practices have flaws, including inaccuracies, biases, and demotivation, and the pandemic has exposed these shortcomings, leading educators to reevaluate their grading methods.
➔technology can offer benefits in assessment by providing support for generating questions and allowing students to demonstrate their knowledge in a variety of ways. It can help reduce the limitations of traditional assessments.
➔To implement equitable grading practices in schools, it is essential to provide teachers with access to research and support to change their grading methods. Understanding the “why” behind these changes is crucial for successful implementation.
To download the first chapter of Qualifying for Equity, click here. Below is an excerpt:
First of all, this book is for teachers. They are the professionals most responsible and most intimately involved in grading our students, and therefore are in the most powerful position to make grading practices more equitable. As a former (and therefore lifelong) teacher, I know that most of our work as teachers in a school is isolated: we work in separate classrooms, teach different courses, rarely share the same groups of students, and have a very different daily teaching. schedules (and “preparation” periods), which means very few opportunities to converse with each other, let alone engage in deep pedagogical discourse.
I write this book to support a critically important conversation that helps teachers become more informed and aware of the impact of our traditional grading practices, and that equips them with the understanding and strategies to implement more equitable practices. This book is also intended for those who are responsible for the grades students receive: school and district administrators, board members, and other officials. This book will give you a clearer idea of the urgency of improving traditional grading and can inform your vision for how more equitable grading will improve passing rates, reduce grade inflation, strengthen instruction, and even save money. Better grading can be a lever for system-wide efforts to promote more equitable opportunities and outcomes for students, particularly those historically most disadvantaged. In your non-teaching role, you can encourage, normalize, support, and demand a critical conversation about grades, and provide the inspiration, incentives, resources, and “cover” to those who are part of that conversation. Given the amount of professional development we provide to teachers on curriculum design and instructional planning, how can we not invest resources into improving how teachers grade?
For parents and caregivers, conversations about children’s grades are very important and yet often intimidating. By strengthening your understanding of grading, you will be more qualified to be true partners in your child’s education. Perhaps slight pressure can be put on schools and then partner with them to improve their scores. This book can also be informative and empowering for students and their advocates, to pull back the curtain on a system that directly and deeply affects them. Instead of just being the recipients of grades, students can actively participate in a community discussion about how to grade more equitably.
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