LAST Blog

• Please read the articles that are attached at the bottom of the page. Of the obstacles listed in the first article- which is the most difficult to overcome? In the second article, what is your opinion on the distortion of the zero? In the fourth article, which myth do you think is the most prevalent in your school? In the final article - did anything surprise you about what colleges look at during the admissions process?
• In "Five Obstacles to Grading Reform", the hardest obstacle to overcome will be obstacle 5: Students should receive one grade for each subject or course. Many teachers include participation, homework or effort as part of the student's academic grade. Process criteria was encouraged for many years because it gave students a chance to receive a better grade if they were trying hard and gave a better final result.  Unfortunately, it does not give an accurate measure of academic performance.  Performance data lets individual students know where they stand in the development of needed competencies. 
• In "The Case Against Percentage Grades", the author notes that a zero is unfair. Students improving a grade by 10 points is very different then trying to go from a 0 to a 60. Recovering from a 0 is in most cases unattainable. Having a grade scale of 50-100 or in 20% increments for each grade would be a better way comprehend if skills were met. The argument is that a student is getting a grade for nothing if they get a 50%.  However, failing is failing and 50 is a failing grade in most schools that use a percentage system.  To quote Gusky, "It's time to abandon grading scales that distort the accuracy, objectivity, and reliability of students' grades."
• Myth 3: Transcripts can not identify if the curriculum is modified is a myth. My school is required to show if a student's work is modified, stating it on the report card for future educators to read.  We were told not to state that a child has an IEP and reading this article, made sense. Why would a parents want to read each 9 weeks that their child has an IEP?
• After reading, “Standards Based Grading and College Admissions,” I was surprised with the admission process. Not only are college students evaluated by their SAT scores and transcripts, but the rate of difficulty the courses they took in high school. It will be interesting to see how colleges will evaluate districts that use competency based grading, knowing that Nashua is looking into this and my own children will be included in this process.