Striving for the "acceptable" grade (Part 2)

When I last left you, Jolene had been wanting to switch math courses because she wanted to be able to get an A in math and spend less time achieving that grade. Our plan was for Jolene to take the next test and see how it went and she would decide based on that result.

Jolene earned an A- on the Unit 2 Test. She decided to stay in the honors course.

I know, this is kind of a quick ending to a long story, but it was really as easy as that. Why? Because there was only one important thing - her grade. There was no discussion as to how long she spent preparing for the test.

A few weeks later, she remains in the class and her grade is at an A-. But there's been no discussion involving me about whether her other classes are suffering or if she has, in fact, reduced the amount of time she devotes to her math homework.

Today, we had our Unit 3 Test. I have no idea how Jolene did and I probably won't look at the tests until Thanksgiving break. (Yes, I do school work during my "break". In fact, most teachers I know use their breaks to do work. Often a significant amount of work.) At the end of today's test, Jolene commented that the test was difficult. But, she didn't leave my room crying.

No, today it was Brenda who left crying. Brenda, my superstar. Brenda, like Jolene, is a new student at my school. She considered trying to move on to the third-year honors course. In the end, she opted to stay in my second-year honors course, and this has proven to be a pretty good fit for her. Her grades have often been near or at the very top of my class.  But, she has been learning a lot and the class has not been as simple as she had thought it might.

Today, Brenda melted down at the end of the test. Time was up and just as Brenda was about to hand her test to me, she noticed that there was a page 6. She looked at me and asked for time to complete page 6. I told her no, that I had not been able to give students in the other period extra time, so it would not be fair to give her additional time. Moreover, the last page had one problem that was worth 2 of a possible 34 marks. There is absolutely no way that 2 marks will have any impact on her semester grade. Brenda has already demonstrated to me remarkable mathematical skills. She readily recognizes pattern and is proficient at explaining how the ideas connect.  Despite all of this, Brenda broke down crying over not having gotten to do anything on page 6.

I'm not sure about this, but I'm guessing Brenda's breakdown has many more reasons behind it other than the math test she just took. Regardless, not finishing the test ignited her feelings and brought them to the surface. Since I don't know what's going on with her beyond my math class, it's not fair to say that the almighty letter grade is the main culprit here. But, the letter grade certainly has played a major role. It's as simple as this. If the test had no grade associated with it, would Brenda have left my class sobbing today?

Striving for the "acceptable" grade (Part 1)

I had an experience recently in my honors math class that reminded me of this blog. So here I am again. But only for 15 minutes. Go.

I got an email a few weeks ago from our registrar saying that Jolene (not her real name, of course) was dropping the honors course and changing to the Algebra 2 course. "Wow," I thought. What was this all about? My gut feeling was that Jolene was doing just fine. Maybe not at the very top of the class, but certainly in the top half. (And I suppose it's contradictory of me to have used my grades as a way to think this through. Do I contradict myself? Okay, then I contradict myself.) From my observations of Jolene in class, I certainly did not notice her struggling to the point of giving up. So, to check on my gut feeling, I checked my online grading program (my school requires me to use one to my revulsion) and discovered that her grade at the time was an A-.

I immediately emailed Jolene's advisor writing that this was not a good idea, that Jolene was doing very well from a grade standpoint and according to my observations and impression of her in class. (As I only had 12 students in that particular section at the time, I very much trust my classroom impression.) Jolene's advisor, Liz (not her real name), wrote back saying that Jolene was spending so much time on her math homework that she wanted to drop the honors course so she could devote more time to her other classes. Jolene had been relying on other students, it turns out, for a lot of help, and always worked to get a perfect homework assignment.

This, on the surface, sounded like a very good reason to change courses, but, I replied back and suggested that she could likely spend less time and still earn a B. Furthermore, homework assignments in my class are not graded and I have no expectation that a student get every question correct by the day it is due. Rather, my expectation is that the student do as much as they can on each problem and get help as needed. (I had other discussions with honors students around the same time that made me realize I had not adequately communicated these expectations to my student.)

Of course, the main sticking point was the grade. I found out that Jolene's preference was to switch courses so that they could get an A in math and have more time to spend on other subjects. She mainly wanted to switch because she was concerned she might not be able to get an A in the honors course.

Jolene, Liz, and I met to talk this over. I emphasized to her that she seemed to have a very good grasp of the ideas, that her results were indicative of this, but that it was certainly possible her grade could be a B. I did my best to emphasize that I did not think her getting an A was paramount. My opinion was that the Algebra 2 course would be too easy and she would be bored and that, in the end, this would lead her to a less rich education. Liz, her advisor, supported me on all of this, and we devised a plan: she would take the next test before switching and use that to make her ultimate decision. (Again, something that was grade-dependent, but at least something the student would identify as tangible.)

What happened? You'll have to wait for my next post as my 15 minutes are up.

This is a test. This is only a test.

Grades. Yuck. I don't like them. My students don't like them. Alfie Kohn doesn't like them.

Here I am sitting in my classroom while my Algebra 2 students are taking a "unit test". Why? Because I am supposed to assign each student a letter grade that is meant to represent their... what? Math ability? Feats of memorization? The ability to regurgitate what I told them? Their understanding of certain math problems on this particular day?

A test is a pretty easy way for a teacher to defend a letter grade. Compared to other forms of assessment, they do not take too long to create, correct, and grade. Math tests in particular tend to be easier since there is (normally) one correct answer and only a few different ways to arrive at that answer. It will probably take me two hours of work to correct and grade the test my students are taking right now.

But how valuable is it really? And I am in fact harming the love of learning that I want to instill in my students by giving this test? And if I think that I am, why on earth don't I stand up and say, "Stop! Put your pencils down and let's get something meaningful done."?

One, because I'm tired. Last night, when I sat down to write the test, I had a pretty good idea how long it would take me and by what time I would be able to let my head hit the pillow. As I said before, tests are easy. I want to spend time with my two-year-old and with my wife and I know how to write a test and how evaluate a test. It's a known quantity and is not scary for me. I feel pretty certain that after I finish this test, it will be a decent tool to help me assign semester grades to my students.

Two, I prefer to follow the paths of those who have gone before me. And all of my colleagues from all of my schools, as far as I know, depend on tests to determine grades as much, if not more, than I do. Frankly, it's a bit daunting to jump off the diving board if I've never seen someone else do it before me. If I try something totally new, something that no one I know has tried, then I run a greater risk of the experience not being meaningful or effective. I only have so many teaching days and if I lose a week, I don't get it back. If I know someone has tried a particular project, then I feel more confident. I have been searching for alternatives to tests, but so far, I lack the necessary gurus. And don't send me a web link. A web link is not going to help. I need someone to sit down with me, and explain what they did and how it worked and why they liked it.

Three, I don't know that my school would look very favorably on me not giving tests. I do that with my Advanced Mathematics class, but that is not a pre-AP class. In fact, the typical student in there is likely never taking a math class again. So nobody can tell me that tests are necessary to get them ready for some big standardized test to come. I believe, but am not sure, that if I did not give tests in my Algebra 2 class, that I would get a "talking to" by some one. I know for certain that I must give a final exam (which I was planning to write during this period, but, hey, this blog is better for my soul, right?). It may be that I have sufficient flexibility in the format of that exam that I could design something that is not so test-like. But, I have a fear that would not go over so well. Hopefully, my fears are irrational.

I am sure there are other reasons I continue to give tests. But, I don't want my posts to be too long. So, now I shall stop. The testing, however, will continue...