....the more I read lately, the more I’m convinced that what we need is not standardized, objective grading systems but more subjective grading systems, those that allow the teacher to personalize assessment for each student and students to have a role in defining the assessments. This should be done, though, in the framework of high expectations and defined learning targets. I’m still new enough at this to be idealistic, but I think SBG is the way to allow this to happen.I don't want to elaborate too much on this because I'm trying to peer pressure him into spinning it off into a separate post. All I want to say is that his comment captured everything I've tried to communicate in 50+ posts, but he did it in three sentences.
Go visit his blog. Follow him on twitter.
I totally agree with this. Along the lines of increasing subjectivity of assessment: One of the most liberating parts of switching to a more-SBG system this past year was being able to look at an assessment and make a professional judgment as to student mastery. I'm no longer tied to "3 out of 5 means a 60%," but instead I can say, "they got two wrong, but they were small errors, and this student actually has a strong conceptual understanding of this topic. 3.5/4: demonstrates strong understanding with minor errors." It feels great! And I'll be damned if it isn't a better depiction of what the student knows than a crudely calculated percent.
ReplyDeleteLiberating is a great word for it. I feel the same way.
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