Fair Isn't Always Equal: Chapter 7

This chapter goes over the idea that grading is an abstract concept. It explains that it is hard to determine the validity of grades because all teachers grade differently. Teachers have a bad habit of grading students based upon personal reasons, whether consciously or not. This is something that needs to be avoided completely. It is completely wrong to grade someone based on their personality or home situation. The chapter explains that one must have a system in place to ensure that they grade consistently each and every time they grade. It is also encouraged that teachers collaborate with other teachers who have the same students, in order to discuss grading and methods of doing so. However, this can become a touchy subject because all teachers have differing perspectives on grading. They should also be careful not to compare students' grades with other students. The book explains in an example that a single essay, given to several teachers, has received grades ranging from A's to failing. There is really no explanation for why our society relies so heavily on grading to determine so much in a students' future, since grading does not necessarily express the appropriate level of mastery. Since grading is so objective, the chapter emphasizes that teachers provide ample feedback to students' work, that way students understand what can be improved and what has been done well, rather than having a simple letter that is an unclear indicator of achievement.

The class generally seemed to agree that grading is a very abstract concept. Many recounted stories in which their teachers were not clear about assessment--they simply received letter grades for their work with no feedback and no understanding of how things could be improved. Many also commented on the fact that grading is an unfair practice since it tends to be so inconsistent. The majority of responses mentioned that feedback is far more important than grading, so that students know what they have done right and wrong. Many explained that grading does not accurately symbolize mastery--leaving several with the question, "Why DO we use grades?"

Fair Isn't Always Equal Chapter 8

Abstract
This chapter was dedicated to answering questions about grading and discusses grades and how we should administer those grades. “Effort, attendance, behavior, participation, were the things mention in the chapter. They discussed what grading was for, what it accomplished, and how it needs changes” (Beth). “Grades should provide documentation of mastery, give students feedback on their work and allow students to succeed and not be used to motivate, punish or sort students” (Margaux). “Participation is another form of attendance grading that is often used by teachers as a grade inflator: there are often cases where class participation just means showing up” (Newcomb). Participation, I think we can all agree, is a very important part of the classroom and as Newcomb said that “if participation is to be graded, participation needs to occur.” Shauna said it best when she said: “teachers need to take into account when grading that life happens especially for teenagers and that when looking at attendance or participation grades they should count in terms of seeing that the student is learning in whatever way that may be.” This makes us question do grades do any good?

Reflection
Melissa agrees with “the idea that feedback is more important than the actual grading of an assignment” from the book. A lot of people agreed with Beth’s comment on how this chapter “help out a lot.” “Sometimes grades don't mean anything to me because although I did poorly I put a lot of effort in, or maybe I didn't try but still got an A. I like that the chapter gave tips on how to decipher grading policies and such so that the student will be more informed” (Becca). Amber, like most people who read this chapter I’m sure, had “never thought about the negative effects of grades until recently, but now that I have I believe that they have two sides.”

Fair Isn't Always Equal: Chapter 10

Chapter 10 is about the idea of letting students redo work. Letting students redo their work is the choice of the teacher, but there has to be a system in place so students do not take advantage of it. There are several ways that this can be accomplished. One way to accomplish this is to have a parent sign the original assignment. This signifies that the parent is aware of the situation. The assignment can also be changed. That way it is not the same, but still has a connection to the content. Teachers also need to keep in mind that students are human and sometimes need extra time to complete an assignment or might need it modified for it to be understood. This chapter also talked about extra credit. Teachers have to be careful about extra credit because too much can cause the grade not to be a true representation of how the student is doing. Extra credit should be used sparingly and there also needs to be a system (when looking at this link, go to page 4 as an example of an extra credit system) in place.

Most people agreed that having the opportunity to redo work is a good idea. However, in order for this idea to be successful, most agree that a system needs to be in place. Also, most people agreed that the student is also a person and has a life of their own. Having a life can cause things to get in the way of an assignment being completed on time, so, the teacher should be able to be flexible. However, the student still needs to be held accountable for their work.

Multiple Intelligences: Chapter 10

Chapter 10 of Multiple Intelligences went over appropriate assessment methods for a classroom made up of students of multiple intelligences. The book introduces a method of assessing differing from the traditional standardized testing. It describes a concept called "Authentic Assessment"--a method in which students are assessed for their mastery of a subject through observing performance. The students can demonstrate their knowledge by problem solving or producing a project, rather than on-demand testing. Rather than answering a series of multiple choice questions, as would be done in standardized tests, the students are asked to perform tasks in real life scenarios, making the learning more relevant to the student. The chapter provides detailed charts with examples of authentic assessment for each type of learner in each type of subject. It also emphasizes the importance of observation--teachers must get to know their students in order to properly assess them. An example of documenting observations would be making videos of students presenting products. By keeping these videos, the teacher is able to measure progress. Progress is an important thing to consider while assessing, which is often neglected. Students can also keep track of their own progress, through journals and various other methods of personal assessment. Students and teachers are encouraged to compile portfolios in order to document the progression of work the student has produced. Through portfolios, students are able to demonstrate their strength in the multiple intelligences, as well as develop a sense of pride in the work they have accomplished.

The class responses were pretty similar. Everyone seemed to like the idea of authentic assessment, and many people felt that standardized tests are not an appropriate way to measure understanding. Many people mentioned that they enjoyed the way in which the chapter gave charts full of examples of assignments to properly assess learners of multiple intelligences. Some reflected back upon the types of assessments they had in high school, mentioning that authentic assessment would have been a much better way of demonstrating their learning. There were some mixed reviews on portfolios--some seemed to love the idea while others found it less useful. Overall, however, it seemed as though the majority of the class agreed with what was said in the chapter.

Fair Isn't Always Equal Chapter 6

“Creating Good Test Questions," chapter 6, illustrates the importance of using a variety of questions and prompts when designing a test . It suggests using a mixture of traditional prompts such as: multiple choice, true/false, matching and some non-traditional ones such as: exclusion brainstorming, analogies, and diagrams to creating test that fit into your differentiated classroom. The chapter goes on to talk about how to use numerous ways to create test questions that are not used to stump or confuse students, but instead they are used to help determine if a student is truly "mastering" the topic. All of the combined suggestions help create the best possible assessment. Designing your test with the students in mind and figuring out what works for them is very important. Each student hates some parts of tests or does poorly on certain styles, such as multiple choice, matching, or essays (which I feel was said a lot in our reactions).The chapter stresses to make tests efficient for students as well as keeping exams only as long as they need to be so they don't get worn out and beware of timed exams, since a lot students do not work very well under pressure.

Mikes reaction to this chapter speaks volumes when he says: "Creating tests and grading them is such a rewarding experience for the teacher because you see progress in each student. I think that when you create a test, it gives you a chance to show you are human to your students by putting humor into it, or making it a positive experience, not just a stressful one". A lot of people felt as if this chapter was full of "practical information" (Beth). Creating test is hard. The wording and organization process is stressful and writing effective tests to make sure that your students will succeed in is an even harder task. Everyone seemed to feel as if "making tests is very hard, and it was very nice to have some advice on how to make tests better" (Erich) and this chapter gave some good advice. This chapter also goes into how "there is NEVER a reason to trick students. All questions should be clear and should be about common sense details, not obscure details, such as the color shirt a character was wearing in a certain scene" (Becca). In the end this chapter brought some clarity to creating tests and hopefully will be very useful to us in the future!

Fair isn't Always Equal Chapter 4

This chapter discusses the three different types of assessments. These are: portfolios, rubrics, and self-assessments. A portfolio is a collection of completed student work over a period of time. This allows the student to reflect on their work and progress. Portfolios are also extremely flexible and can be used in every subject and they allow students to develop organizational skills. The second assessment is a rubric. These are a very powerful tool that allow teachers to address areas of achievement. Rubrics can be analytical, which means the address specific skills within the larger topic, or holistic, which means it evaluates assignment as a whole. A rubric also lays out what is to be expected of the students and shows the requirements they are suppose to meet before hand. The last type of assessment are self-assessments. These are used so the students can evaluate their own work. It is important to let the students think back on what they did. A self-assessment also gives feedback to the teacher.

Most people favored using a portfolio or a rubric. Many favored the portfolio because it shows the progress of a student. It also allows the student to look back and reflect. This chapter also outlined how to make a good rubric which many people found helpful. They did not realize that creating a rubric could be so complicated. Rubrics were also favored because they spell out exactly what is expected and the student will know exactly how they are going to be graded. Many also recognized the importance of self- assessment as well.