Student Accountability: If not grades, what?

In my last post we talked about the tradition of grading students and how they no longer reflect the students ability or mastery of certain standards or skills.  The past four years I have seen students receive a C or lower for not turning in one assignment and receiving a zero.  A student that missed school for being sick or on a family vacation that forgot to turn in one assignment is now failing a class.

To fog the issue further, depending on the teacher a student with the following grades: 95, MA (missing assignment), 84, 90, MA, MA, 88, 97 could end up with an "F" or on the "AB" honor roll.  Grading practices in today's school systems are not consistent.  Imagine that you are employed at a company that builds computers and you consistently miss two days a week and continue to receive positive reviews at the end of each quarter.  Now, lets imagine that the computer company is bought out and a new manager is placed in your department.  Now your two days a week results in consequences and eventually termination.

What happened in the scenario above is exactly what our students experience every year as they walk into a new teachers classroom.  Anyone that has attended college knows that the first exam or paper is the most difficult because they do not know their expectations or testing style.  As a teacher I receive a lot of questions on how I grade versus their child's former band director and why they are so different.  So what could be the solution to what seems to be an overwhelming issue?

In short, there is no silver bullet, however we must start looking at assessments as a tool and not as a reward and punishment system.  Marzano suggest in many of his books that feedback needs to be given constantly with no grade attached and that instead of assigning zeros for missing work the appropriate punishment is making them complete the work in a time manner.  A couple of suggestions as to when students can complete their work are:

• Before school
• During school (planning/study period)
• After school
• Silent table at lunch
• On the activity bus on the way to a field trip (my favorite)

Imagine what would happen if the grading policies changed and became about mastery of skills and students no longer fought the high stakes grading that often could ruin an entire semester of hard work. I know someone is saying, "I would help that one child out!"  That statement is exactly why the grading policies of education need to be looked at.  It is my belief that when grading policies improve behavior and moral will follow.