Cara W. F. Hyson contributes to discussions of grading by explaining her seven (7) principles for grading students in her history classes:
Principle #1- Grades are always about percents.
Principle #2- Grades indicate a teacher’s ability to teach the material.
Principle #3- Students should not be allowed to share grades in the classroom.
Principle #4- The role of a teacher is not to stump the students.
Principle #5- A teacher should be willing to reconsider any grade given to any student.
Principle #6-Grades should be seen as an important part of the learning process, not the end of that process.
Principle #7- The role of a teacher is to teach and inspire.
Hyson teaches history at Lawrenceville School in Lawrenceville, N.J. She is a graduate of Yale University with a Master of Arts in Teaching History from Bard College.
Thanks, Cara, for offering this thoughtful list of grading principles. You set an excellent standard for all of us to try to emulate.
This is a 4th grade class: How do you feel about “in-class” group assignments (3 kids to a group) and matching up students who are typically disruptive and get very low grades with kids who are not disruptive and get A’s and B’s? My concern comes about when the class project, being a 3 week assignment, weighs in as 50% of the quarter grade. In this situation my daughter who usually gets A’s, ended up with a D- on the group project and there was a lot of disruptive flow in her work group. I understand the need to appropriately mix and balance skill levels and personalities of students but I question it when the project weighs in so heavilly with the quarter grade, at 50%. Any comments or suggestions? I am planning to meet with the teacher next week. Thanks.
See the email and my response posted on March 12, 2009 at http://www.robertheiny.com/2009/03/talking-with-teacher-abouit-grading.html