The Number One Problem: they won't do it if I don't grade it

Every school and district that I visit has the same number one problem: Students and other stakeholders (admin, caretakers) are focused on points not learning.

I get to travel around the country and beyond and talk about assessment in world language classes. I am so lucky. I have my dream job! In all of my day-long assessment workshops, I ask teachers to identify their number one grading problem from a brief list.  Their problem: students and other stakeholders are focused on points, not learning.

This is the Numbers = Learning mindset. Or Grades = Compensation. Or Compliance= Learning. 

Every. Single. School. This comes up a lot on various social media groups too. 

Now, I've already written at least one blog post where I talk about this (OK, actually this one and this one) but today, I want to address this issue head-on and in a very direct (and possibly blunt) way.  

Who's problem is it to solve? 

The first thing that we need to be clear on: it's OUR problem, and it's OUR problem to address. 

Other stakeholders have a role, of course, but we don't have much influence on them. But our own actions, assessment decisions, and words are (usually) under our own sphere of influence. So...

Teachers: This is OUR problem. 

What I observe is that although everyone is having the same issues, everyone seems to just shrug their shoulders and say "that's the way it is" and/or not try to do anything about it. As if it's one of those things, like gravity, or needing oxygen to survive: something immutable, unchangeable, and completely out of our control. 

It is just not true. 

As teachers, grades and grading are very much in our realm of influence. The way we approach grades and grading is under our control!  

Yes, of course we have guidelines, departmental expectations, etc. And yes, often those guidelines are absolutely bananas and completely unreasonable and one more thing in an absolutely maddening heap of unreasonable things that are asked of teachers.  

Within all of that: we are a significant part of the system that creates those guidelines and expectations.  We are the teachers who are trying to better ourselves and our practice, the thought-leaders, and the department heads. (I know this for a fact simply because you are reading this! You care enough to learn more.) 

Additionally, we have an awful lot of influence over our own classroom practice. We can influence the culture of grades and grading in our classrooms, and maybe (eventually, or depending on your role), in departments, schools, and districts. 

We can shift the culture of grades and grading in our own classroom.

One caveat: Assessment systems and expectations and beliefs are so incredibly varied across the US that it is unlikely that any one teacher will be able to follow all of my suggestions, and you might choose not to because you don't like them! However, I bet there are one or two things you CAN do that will make a difference. 

Honestly, if a Numbers = Learning mindset is your biggest problem with grades and grading, why wouldn't you try to change what you can? So let's get started. 

Solution #1: Make grades meaningful. 

There is a technical term: "hodgepodge grading". What this means is that everything is tossed into a grade book to make up a grade: tests, quizzes, in-class activities/worksheets, homework, behavior, projects, presentations, note taking, exit tickets, bell ringers, participation, preparedness, and a whole lot more. 

Don't believe me?  If you just google "Spanish 2 syllabus" or "French 1 syllabus", you will find a huge range of things that are included in grades.  

Aside from the massive equity issues in grading for accuracy, participation, preparedness, behavior/compliance, and homework, what do any of those tell us about what a student knows and can do in the target language? 

Wait, doesn't accuracy tell us what a student knows and can do? 

Well, yes, AND. 

The problem with accuracy: Accuracy is not even expected of Advanced-Low speakers of the language- that is, the minimum proficiency level for teachers (in most states).  Learners are supposed to show increasing accuracy as they move up the proficiency levels, but remember: errors in accuracy (e.g. gender agreement, subject verb agreement, conjugation, etc.) are not even marked on the AP exams. 

Read that again!

So how do we make grades meaningful? 

• Link performance descriptors to number or letter grades. Read more here: What goes in the gradebook (Deskless Classroom) and Grade for Proficiency (The Comprehensible Classroom)
• Stop giving extra credit. For anything. 
• "Assess what students know and can in the target language, and minimize or exclude everything else" - Martina Bex. 

Solution #2: Say this instead

Censor yourself. If at any point you find yourself saying "this will be graded" or "you better do this for the grade", stop, take a breath, and say this instead: "I can't wait to see what you can do."

If you answer questions like "is this graded?" or "how much is this worth?", stop, take a breath, and say this instead: "show me what you know." 

When you threaten students with grades ("this will be graded"), you are indicating that you don't care what the students know or can do, you just care about their numbers. The grades. The compensation. THE COMPLIANCE. Even if that is the furthest from the truth! Your words and actions are what students hear / see and make meaning from. 

Every time a student asks how much it is worth, they are calculating the benefit/cost of doing it, doing it well, or not doing it. They are treating grades as compensation. 

With enough consistency, most will slowly stop asking, and many will slowly start to see that their work is what's important. You can help them make this shift! 

Solution #3: Make every graded assignment worth the same number of points (including summative assessments).

In my class, that was 10 points. Everything was 10 points. Even tests. I simply programmed my grade book to figure out the weights of the categories (interpretive assessments, presentational assessments, "work"). 

"But they won't do it if I don't grade it". 

Grading everything and putting weight to everything is *not* the solution. If it was, why hasn't it worked yet?  

Additionally- is that true for every student? Probably not. 

Getting at the why- why won't they do it- takes more work, and more time- but grading more doesn't change the root problem. 

You can't control other people. But you can make change in your own classroom: your words, your policies, your practice. 

Want to read more about the intersections of assessment, equity, and actual solutions? I have written so much about assessment: here's everything on this blog.   I also write for The Comprehensible Classroom on Setting Standards, Performance vs. Proficiency, Finals and Midterms, and more!