Including homework and employability skills in class grades: An investigation of equitable grading outcomes in an urban high school

Abstract: Historically, race and poverty have been contributing factors when considering gaps among students in their academic achievement. The purpose of this study was to determine how employability and homework scores within traditional points and percentages weighted grading models impact grades from an equity lens. This study analyzed 779 students’ semester math grades at an urban high school to see if students’ grades were inflated or deflated due to including homework and employability scores in the grade. Final grades which included homework and employability points were compared to each student’s overall summative assessment scores to determine grade inflation or deflation. We then analyzed if including homework and employability points in the grade helped or hurt student’s grades based on race and socio-economic factors. In comparing grading results based on students’ socio-economic statuses, there were statistically significant differences.

Griffin, R., & Townsley, M. (2022). Including homework and employability skills in class grades: An investigation of equitable outcomes in an urban high school. Practical Assessment, Research, and Evaluation, 27(1). https://scholarworks.umass.edu/pare/vol27/iss1/27/  

Four Things We Have Learned While Discussing Grading Reform With Parents

By Matt Townsley & Chad Lang

A quick scan of news headlines about districts taking a step back from their grading changes suggests parents and/or community members often have reservations or an incomplete understanding of the changes happening inside the district (see examples from the media here and here).

We have firsthand experience with grading reform, supporting educators in implementing standards-based and standards-referenced grades, supporting administrators in navigating the steps to help their systems move forward, and facilitating parent meetings stemming from grading changes.

The purpose of this blog post is to share four things we have learned while talking with parents and schools about grading reform.  We believe that school leaders and grading committees can use this information as they plan to communicate with parents and community members. 

1) Parents want to know what is not changing as much as they want to know what is changing.


No teachers we have ever met woke up daily and intend to do literal or figurative harm to students, grading included. With this in mind, parents should find solace in systematic changes with the intent to be made more transparent than less.  Simon Sinek’s Golden Circle principle might serve schools best looking to communicate in order of the why, then the how, before the what of grading change.  Schools and parents can get sideways from the beginning when that order is inverted (the what and how before the why) and knock-down drag-out arguments stemming from minutia (such as how often teachers should update their grade books) may eviscerate the overall change the school was intending to make with their new grading practices and philosophies.

While it may seem helpful to prioritize communication with parents and other stakeholders in the area of educational research from Guskey, Brookhart, or Reeves about why grading practices are changing, it is equally (and perhaps even more) important to share traditions and practices that are not changing.  For example, if grade point averages (GPAs) will still be determined, as many standards-based high schools continue to do, school leaders should communicate to parents that this practice will remain unchanged. Furthermore, high school administrators should be prepared to share with parents that the high school transcript will be staying the same; therefore, student scholarship eligibility will remain the same. 

2) Parents want to know how this change will benefit their child.

Parents are right to be concerned that grades can affect a child’s future, but it might not be in a way they are thinking.  While GPAs will most certainly play a role in future opportunities for graduating seniors, what might be more problematic is that their grades don’t accurately represent what their child knows, understands, and can do…today! 

The United States is suffering from abysmal 6-year student completion rates for four-year degrees and increasing needs for remediation at the collegiate level. Once parents understand grading that is more transparent regarding what a child knows, understands, or can do, they will have a more accurate picture of what their child’s readiness is for future endeavors. Getting into college, the military, or a vocational or specialized school is not the goal. Completing programs, degrees, and certificates that exemplify competencies reign supreme.

We like to think of a standards-based grade book or report card as being like the “multi-point inspection” that a mechanic offers vehicle owners.  Within this multi-point inspection, we can find out the status of brakes, windshield wipers, the battery, and other important components of the vehicle.  Similarly, a standards-based grade book or report card provides detailed information about strengths and areas for improvement. Emphasizing this level of detail to parents can help them see how standards-based grading will benefit their child. 

3) Parents may not be familiar with the language or format of the new electronic grade book or report card and will need to be given explicit information to understand the “new way.”


Because parents experienced their K-12 school grading with points and percentages, they have come to expect the same for their own children.  Furthermore, with online access to electronic grade books that have traditionally communicated points and percentages (and report cards that have emphasized letter grades), parents’ childhood grading experiences in school have been further reinforced.  School leaders should seek out ways to help parents navigate the “new way” of reporting student learning.

Some schools have chosen to create a unique website landing page (see Des Moines, IA and Wautoma, WI).  Still other schools have created videos that walk parents through understanding the new look of the electronic grade book.  The most successful schools we know create drafts of communication tools and share them with a small group of parents to pilot and give feedback, before pushing them out to all parents. By understanding questions that may arise from a smaller group of parents, school leaders can leverage the pilot parents’ feedback to anticipate the questions other parents may be thinking. 

4) Parents will need guidance on the purpose of grades.

As schools transition to grading practices that are more equitable, fair, and transparent, the purpose of communicating proficiency becomes the primary purpose of grades. As grading experts (Brookhart, 2011; Brookhart et al., 2016) have long pointed out, this can be problematic when combined with other purposes of grades that seek to create distinctions between students.  As challenging as it is for a universal symbol, letter, or grade to represent one purpose, trying to serve more than one is impossible.

The paradox of the 21st-century parent is that, like many other norms, customs, and traditions, they long for the normalcy of “what it was like when I went to school” while demanding today’s schools do what is right, fair, and equitable. Unfortunately, much research about traditional grading practices hinges on tradition and belief regarding extrinsic motivation than it does on research and enduring learning of knowledge and skills. School leaders should be able to articulate to parents an agreed-upon purpose of grades early and often during the transition to more effective grading practices.

Conclusion 

Laura Link and Thomas Guskey (2022) found schools that transitioned to new grading practices failed primarily because grades that purported to communicate student proficiency simply did not do so. It wasn’t that the grades weren’t more valid and reliable than in traditional arrangements; it was more that students and parents were not contextualized enough to the “new” grading systems. 

While teachers and school leaders can feel that at times they don’t get the professional respect they deserve, suffice it to say that parents can be intimidated while discussing grades with teachers, which can manifest itself as defensiveness and even brashness. 

We have found that educators who treat grades, and their subsequent symbols, as other professionals do are highly effective in increasing the communicative function of grades. Students and parents should not be left to their own devices to interpret professional evidence of learning without context.  Fancy apps and student-information systems can do more harm than good without quality communication and context to accompany them. Data delivered instantaneously and more readily available doesn’t make it any more accurate if parents and students don’t fully understand what they are looking at interpreting and what actions need to be taken from the data provided.

About the authors
To connect further with Dr. Matt Townsley, follow him on Twitter. To connect with Dr. Chad Lang, follow him on Twitter or check out his Learning with Interesting People podcast.

Overcoming the implementation dip in standards-based grading

One of the things we know about leading second order change — such as when a school transitions to standards-based grading practices — is that it often involves an implementation dip (see McRel’s Balanced Leadership research). For example, we should anticipate that students will initially question the value of completing homework if there is no point value attached to it. After all, our schools have often (in the past) trained these very students to complete their assignments for the sole purpose of earning points: “Be sure to do this one, it is worth 50 points!”.

Accelerating out of the implementation dip

One question I am often asked by educators beginning to implement standards-based grading is “How do we help students accelerate out of this inevitable dip?” Refocusing the classroom and school culture on learning rather than earning takes time, but it can be done! *Below is one classroom action and one school action that may help students accelerate out of this dip.

  • Ask students to self-assess their homework (i.e. using emojis or a Red(no idea), Yellow(still unsure), Green(got it!) before turning it it. After the teacher provides some narrative feedback, he/she will also assess the students’ learning using the same emoji or color scale before turning it back to the student the next day. This self-assessment and quick feedback strategy often adds value to the assignment from the student’s perspective. When teachers value an assignment, students are likely to value it as well.
  • Hold students accountable (outside of the grade book) for not completing their homework assignments. Unfortunately, some students will need additional time and support to understand the nexus between completing purposeful assignments and learning the course standards. Some schools have created a catch-up time during or outside of the school day for students (see one example here) who frequently do not turn in their assignments. For example, if a student has not turned in any assignments for a course within a five day window, they may be required to attend catch-up time.

Interested in learning more about accelerating out of the implementation dip? Consider reading Making Grades Matter: Standards-Based Grading in a PLC at Work (2020, Solution Tree)

[*Author’s note: Unfortunately, there are students who do not choose to complete many assignments, regardless of the grading system that is used. Therefore, none of these strategies are intended to be all-inclusive or viewed as a “silver bullet” solution.]

Top 5 Standards-Based Grading Articles (2021)

As 2021 comes to a close, it time to sift through the list of published literature from the past twelve months. This year’s list includes a combination of articles written for practitioners as well as articles published in academic journals. Note to returning readers: This year I chose not to include any articles that I authored or co-authored, and will instead highlight those separately in the near future.

The following is a list of what I believe are the top five articles from 2021 (in alphabetical order by lead author’s last name) related to standards-based grading.

  1. Guskey, T. R. (2021). Undoing the traditions of grading and reporting. The School Administrator, 78(5), 32-35. [Available online]

    Dr. Guskey discusses how some schools revised their grading practices during COVID-19 and how this might continue in 2021 and beyond. Specifically, he suggests schools should use fewer grade categories and report multiple grades to enhance the meaning, reliability, and accuracy of communicating student learning.
  2. Lehman, E. E. (2021). Leading leaders in rethinking grading: A case study of implementation of standards-based grading in educational leadership. Journal of Research Initiatives, 5(3). [Available online]

    The purpose of this paper is to share the process of how one university instructor worked toward a shift to standards-based grading (SBG) in a graduate Educational Leadership program. Dr. Lehman shares best practices in grading as well as the challenges of implementation of standards-based grading.
  3. Link, L. J., & Kauffman, K. D. (2021). Are your grading policies legally sound? How to avoid court entanglements when student grades are challenged. School Administrator, 5(78), 45- 48. [Available online]

    In this article written for the national school superintendent professional association (AASA), Link and Kauffman offer five guidelines derived from relevant court rulings to help school leaders establish grading policies and practices that not only are legally sound but also equitable and meaningful.
  4. Percell, J. C., & Meyer, B. B. (2021). Resolutions for a new paradigm: Addressing common issues in standards-based grading. Kappa Delta Pi Record, 57(4), 185-190. [paywall access]

    After implementation of a new standards-based grading initiative in one school district, the authors’ research revealed five prominent issues, and corresponding resolutions were developed to address needed changes in standards-based grading.
  5. Wakeman, S. Y., Thurlow, M., Reyes, E., & Kearns, J. (2021). Fair and equitable grading for ALL students in inclusive settings. Inclusive Practices. Available first online at https://doi.org/10.1177/27324745211055398

    In this article, the authors examine the four criteria for high-quality inclusive grading outlined by The William & Mary Training & Technical Assistance Center for grading within the inclusive classroom: (a) grades are accurate, (b) grades are meaningful, (c) grades are consistent, and (d) grades are supportive of learning and discuss how these criteria could be applied to provide a more fair and equitable grading system for students with significant cognitive disabilities.

What grading articles from 2021 would you add to this list?

Also, see my previous “top” articles lists:

Top 5 Standards-Based Grading Books (2016-2018)

In early 2016, I listed what I thought were the top ten books written about effective grading practices. Many books have been written about standards-based grading in the last three years, however I wanted to highlight five that have impacted me the most.

Here we go!

  1. O’Connor, K. (2018). How to grade for learning, K-12 (4th ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press.
    Ken O’Connor has written a fourth edition to what may be the most widely read book on effective grading practices, which is why the third edition was noted on my initial top ten list. Beyond the theory behind each of the grading guidelines are implementation examples from schools across the world.
  2. Rinkema, E. A. & Williams, S. (2018). The standards-based classroom: Make learning the goal. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press.
    This book focuses on more than just grading practices. By looking at curriculum, instruction, and assessment, educators can envision a classroom-wide shift to more effective grading practices. I admit that as a teacher I often over-emphasized feedback and grade book revisions at the expense of designing effective instruction. Rinkema and Williams provide a realistic and useful blueprint, one I wish would have been available ten years ago.
  3. Wormeli, R. (2018). Fair isn’t always equal (2nd ed.). Portland, ME: Stenhouse.
    The first edition was on the initial top ten book list as well. While much of the content is updated, the main message is still the same: transitioning to more equitable grading process is just as much (or more) about mindset than it is classroom moves. I recommend this book for any teacher or group of educators who would like engage in thinking more deeply about the “why” behind standards-based grading.
  4. Schimmer, T. (2016). Grading from the inside out: Bringing accuracy to student assessment through a standards-based mindset. Bloomington, IN: Solution Tree Press.
    Not too long after posting the initial top ten book list in January 2016, this book by Tom Schimmer came out. A few months later, I secured a copy and was especially enamored by the chapters entitled, “Five myths of standards-based grading” and “How to repurpose homework.” This is on my highly recommend list for those working towards standards-based grading practices.
  5. Schimmer, T., Hillman, G., & Stalets, M. (2018). Standards-based learning in action: Moving from theory to practice. Bloomington, IN: Solution Tree Press.
    Speaking of Tom Schimmer, this book written with Garnet Hillman and Mandy Stalets is worth buying, too. Each chapter includes underlying research, a plan for action, and talking points to be used with parents. Whether the reader is looking for perspectives on redos and retakes or effective feedback, this book provides helpful guidance.

What book(s) from 2016, 2017, or 2018 would you add to this list?

Top 10 standards-based grading articles (2016-2018)

In early 2016, I wrote what I thought were the “Top 10 standards-based grading articles” available at that time. Nearly three years have past and a number of quality articles have been written in that time.

Here we go!

  1. Brookhart, S. M., Guskey, T. R., Bowers, A. J., McMillan, J. H., Smith, J. K., Smith, L. F., Stevens, M. T., & Welsh, M. E. (2016). A century of grading research: Meaning and value in the most common educational measure. Review of Educational Research, 86(4), 803-848. [Available online]
    Too often, those of us in education receive some of the same questions from multiple audiences. In the case of changing grading practices, I often hear, “Why do we need to change our grading practices? They worked for me!” One article I often point to is this one, which I believe will someday be seminal work in our field. The authors conclude, “One hundred years of grading research have generally confirmed large variation among teachers in the validity and reliability of grades, both in the meaning of grades and the accuracy of reporting.” In other words, traditional grades have all kinds of problems.
  2. O’Connor, K. (2017). A case for standards-based grading and reporting. School Administrator, 74(1), 24-28. [Available online]
    Ken has written a number of excellent books and this article seems to sum them all up in a concise way. Although the original audience of the article was school superintendents, I feel confident sharing it with anyone interested in an overview of both why and how grading practices should improve.
  3. Buckmiller, T., Peters, R., & Kruse, J. (2017). Questioning points and percentages: Standards-based grading in higher education. College Teaching, 65(1), 1-7. doi:10.1080/87567555.2017.1302919.
    Standards-based grading can be done in higher education! Tom, Randy and Jerrid document the perceptions of students in an educational technology course. In fact, the learners reported SBG was clear, more fair and a means for going beyond “playing the game of school” in college.
  4. Scarlett, M. H. (2018). “Why did I get a C?” Communicating student performance using standards-based grading. Insight: A Journal of Scholarly Teaching, 13, 59-75. [Available online]
    Dr. Scarlett proves yet again that standards-based grading cane be done in higher education, this time with an impressive attention to the planning and implementation details.
  5. James, A. R. (2018). Grading in physical education. Journal of Physical Education, Recreation & Dance, 89(5), 5-7. doi: 10.1080/07303084.2018.1442063. [Available online]
    It seems like standards-based grading early adopters are typically in the core content areas such as math, ELA or science, due to the accessibility of state and national standards documents. In this article, the author describes what SBG looks like in physical education. This write-up will inevitably be helpful for schools going “all-in: with SBG and few PE examples to draw from.
  6. Buckmiller, T., & Peters, R.. (2018). Getting a fair shot?. School Administrator, 75(2), 22-25. [Available online]
    Buckmiller and Peters receive fifteen points of extra credit for landing on this list more than once. When high schools make a change to standards-based grading practices, one of the often-noted concerns is around implications for the higher education admissions process. Through interviewing staff at several university admissions, the authors document several themes which include, “Letter grades and transcripts based on standards are acceptable, if not preferable, in the eyes of admissions offices, but with some caveats.” In other words, high school students experiencing SBG are getting a fair shot when applying for college.
  7. Reeves, D., Jung, L. A., & O’Connor, K. (2017). What’s worth fighting against in grading? Educational Leadership, 74(8), 42-45.
    It would be hard to NOT include this article collectively written by three of the most often cited experts in the grading reform field. Reeves, Jung and O’Connor clear the air and suggest several non-negotiables schools should consider in their quest to better communicate/report student learning.
  8. Wormeli, R. (2017). We have to prepare students for the next level, don’t we? AMLE Magazine, 5(1), ##-##. [Available online]
    The title speaks for itself. Rather than worrying about the next grade or institution of learning, educators should “…not sacrifice good instruction because those in upper levels are not there yet. Instead, we employ what we know works, and we spend time mentoring those above us in what we do.”
  9. Townsley, M. (2018). Mastery-minded grading in secondary schools. School Administrator, 75(2), 16-21. [Available online]
    I hesitated to include one of my own articles in this list, but by golly, I think it does a nice job describing what standards-based grading can look like at the secondary level. Feel free to let me know in the comments if you think my thinking was severely clouded when elevating this one to the top ten.
  10. Tucker, C. (2018). Rethinking grading. Educational Leadership, 75(5). [Available online]
    I’m not sure how I missed this article until a month ago when I was doing a literature search. Catlin lays out her fears and successes when implementing standards-based grading in a way that really resonated with me.

What articles would you add to this list from 2016-2018?

Why is standards-based grading slower to catch on at the secondary level? One idea…

One of many possible reasons why standards-based grading has been slower to catch on at secondary level when compared to elementary settings….
From a study of nearly 3,000 K-12 teachers:
The evidence gathered in this study shows that nearly all teachers believe that grading plays a role in the teaching and learning process. However, the data show that elementary and middle/high school teachers’ views remain widely different. Elementary teachers tend to see grading as a formative process rather than an end state. They are more likely to give students multiple opportunities to evidence academic mastery and use homework as a means to learn about students’ progress rather than score it for completion.
(emphasis, mine)
Link, L. (2018). Teachers’ perceptions of grading practices: How preservice training makes a difference. Journal of Research in Education, 28(1). Available at https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/EJ1168160.pdf

Top 5 pitfalls to avoid in a standards-based grading system shift

Are you thinking about making the shift to standards-based grading in your building or district?  Based upon hundreds of phone calls, consultations, workshops and emails, here’s a list of five pitfalls I have observed that school leaders should avoid.

  1. Use exceeds as a descriptor in the grade book at the secondary level.
    Nothing frustrates Sally and her parents more than realizing the teacher taught the class how to learn the concept in class, but in order to get the highest mark in the grade book, Sally must come up with some type of application or knowledge beyond what was taught on the assessment.  Instead, consider removing “exceeds” and replacing it with “understands the standards” for the top indicator.
  2. Fail to communicate the standards-based grading shift.
    Traditional grading has been around for over one hundred years, so there’s reason to believe a shift to something new or different will require communicating a solid rationale and plan, repeated multiple times in multiple mediums.  Of McRel’s twenty-one leadership responsibilities, communication is one that takes a hit during second order change (and yes, standards-based grading is likely a second order change for many teachers, parents and students in your district).  Tell ’em. Tell ’em what you told ’em. And tell ’em again.
  3. Do not report practice in the online grade book at the secondary level.
    We know that reporting academics separate from work habits is a cornerstone of standards-based grading/reporting.  At the secondary level, the standards (rather than quiz and test numbers) are often reported through an online grade book , leaving little, if any room to document work habits.  Whether it’s retrofitting a grade book designed for traditional grading practices, or using a grade book more in tune with standards-based grading practices, it only makes sense to continue reporting levels of homework completion to parents, despite these assignments not counting towards the final academic grade calculation.
  4. Forget to tell stakeholders what is staying the same during the shift in grading practices.
    If your middle school is switching to a standards-based report card, be sure to let parents know you will continue to host parent-teacher conferences twice per year.  If your high school is shifting to a standards-based grade book, parents will want to know final course grades are still reported on the transcript, and that grade point average will be communicated with university admissions offices.  In addition to communicating what’s changing, don’t forget to let them know what will remain the same.
  5. Inconsistent implementation
    During the first year of standards-based grading implementation, we surveyed parents and students to find out their perception of this change.  Frustrated Roger = Frustrated Roger’s mom and dad, and one of the biggest sources of this angst was inconsistent implementation.  While we had an agreed upon purpose of grading and board-approved grading guidelines, we relied on (often inconsistent) institutional knowledge rather than a documented tight and loose implementation guide for our teachers to operationalize the tenets of SBG.  Somewhere between “every teacher for his/her own” and a lockstep approach is usually a good place to land.  Ensuring teachers are supported to implement agreed upon standards-based grading non-negotiables, will help students and parents adapt more quickly to the change, because they’re seeing it in multiple courses and/or grade levels.

What other pitfalls would you add to this list?

Recommended reading:

Frankin, A., Buckmiller, T., & Kruse, J. (2016). Vocal and vehement: Understanding parents’ aversion to standards-based grading. International Journal of Social Science Studies, 4(11), 19-29. [Available online]

Peters, R., Kruse, J., Buckmiller, T., & Townsley, M. (2017) “It’s just not fair!” Making sense of secondary students’ resistance to a standards-based grading initiative in the midwestern United States. American Secondary Education, 45(3), 9-28.

Peters, R. & Buckmiller, T. (2014). Our grades were broken: Overcoming barriers and challenges to implementing standards-based grading. Journal of Educational Leadership in Action2(2), [Available online]

Swan, G.M., Guskey, T.R., & Jung, L.A. (2014). Parents and teachers’ perceptions of standards-based and traditional report cards. Educational Assessment, Evaluation and Accountability, 26(3), 289-299.

Urich, L.J. (2012). Implementation of standards-based grading at the middle school level (Doctoral dissertation). Retrieved from http://lib.dr.iastate.edu/etd/12492

“It’s just not fair!” Making sense of secondary students’ resistance to a standards-based grading initiative

A new peer-reviewed article I co-authored is now available in your local academic database!

Peters, R., Kruse, J., Buckmiller, T., & Townsley, M. (2017). “It’s just not fair!” Making sense of secondary students’ resistance to a standards-based grading initiative. American Secondary Education, 45(3), 9-28.