More Assessment, Less Grading

Assessment of a student's work need not be equated with grading it, even when a final course grade must be assigned. Let me describe the practices I have developed over several years. In each course I require a journal/workbook and set a variety of written assignments, including steps towards a final project report. For each assignment submitted I make comments on a cover page that show students their voice has been heard and reflect back to them where they were taking me. After the overall comments I make specific suggestions for how to clarify and extend the impact on readers of what was written. I usually ask students to revise and resubmit the assignment, sometimes more than once if I judge that continued dialogue around written work can still yield significant learning. This process departs from most students' expectations of "produce a product one time only and receive a grade." Moreover, most students are uncomfortable exposing their work and engaging in extended dialogue over it. They are apt to misconstrue amd resist this revise and resubmit requirement and need to be coaxed along (see fieldbook entry, "From 'dialogue around written work' to 'taking initiative'"). I have certainly won over many students, but I cannot yet say how many have been able to implement an equivalent system in theor own teaching.

Grades come in only at the end of the semester. I assign an automatic B+ for the written portion of the final grade for satisfactory completion of 80% of the assignmentsósatisfactory meaning no further revision and resubmission requested. (The 20% slack allows students to make tactical decisions around competing priorities in their work, lives, and course work.) I make clear that my goal is to work with everyone to achieve the 80% level. Students who progress steadily towards that goal during the semester usually end up producing work that meets the criteria for a higher grade (described below). Students who do not reach that goal are pro-rated from B+ down to C for 50% of assignments saisfactorily completed. (I have cross-checked the pro-rating procedure by grading individual assignments for these students and the results have always been the same.)

Not grading each assignment during the semester helps teaching/learning interactions stay focused on the student's process of developing through the semester. It keeps time and space for students and myself to appreciate and learn from what each other is saying and thinking.

Let me spell out some additional details of this assessment and grading system to help anyone interested in adapting it to their own situation.

1. I keep copies of the comments (using carbon paper!) and assignments so I can refer back to previous versions and review the student's overall development to date.

2. Usually the written assignments count for two-thirds of the final grade, with participation and contribution to the class process making up the other third. An automatic B+ is given for the participation/process portion of the final grade if they fulfill 80% of a list about 20 participation/process items, where 13 or 14 items correspond simply to "prepared participation and attendance" at the class meetings. Another two items are "minimum of two in-office or phone conferences on your assignments and project," which ensure that students' responses to my written comments can be aired before they fester.

3. A rubric is used to determine whether a higher grade is earned. Student who show half of the qualities in the rubric earn an A-. Students who show almost all of these earn an A. Qualities in my rubric include:

A sequence of assignments paced more or less as in syllabus, often revised thoroughly and with new thinking in response to comments.
Project innovative, well planned and carried out with considerable initiative, and indicates that you can guide others to think critically about the use of numbers in society.
Project report clear and well structured, with supporting references and detail, and professionally presented.
Active, prepared participation in all classes.
Completion of most preparatory and follow-up homework tasks
Process Review that shows deep reflection on your development through the semester and maps out the future directions in which you plan to develop

4. Although I do not emphasize this way of looking at the course, students can tally their grade along the way. If there are 10 written assignments, each one satisfactorily completed earns 10 points up to a maximum of 80 or a B+. Similarly, participation items fulfilled would copunt as 5 points. The student would then have to combine their points giving 2/3 weighting to writing and 1/3 to participation.