{"id":7518,"date":"2022-08-17T20:41:58","date_gmt":"2022-08-18T00:41:58","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/faculty-excellence\/?page_id=7518"},"modified":"2023-05-24T16:51:02","modified_gmt":"2023-05-24T20:51:02","slug":"plan-for-grading","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/faculty-excellence\/plan-for-grading\/","title":{"rendered":"Plan for Grading"},"content":{"rendered":"

Grades are powerful teaching tools, despite the angst they can evoke. Develop a strategy for grading that will leverage grades to maximize learning without putting yourself, the instructor, into an impossible workload situation.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Grading Methods and Strategies<\/a><\/h2>\n

On this page find recommendations for providing feedback, developing rubrics, evaluating student writing, and deploying time-saving techniques. In addition, learn about mastery-based grading and employ student self-assessment as part of your grading repertoire.<\/p>\n

Montclair Grading Standards<\/strong><\/h2>\n

The grade breakdown follows a familiar method for translating final letter grades to a 4.0 scale. Instructors are at liberty to determine how letter grades correspond to percentages or points, or to develop other logical and understandable systems.\u00a0 The Canvas default grading scheme is represented below.<\/p>\n

Research on grading practices at Montclair reveals what every student will tell you: instructors at Montclair subscribe to a broad range of grading theories and practices, and there is variation across disciplines — as is typically the case in American universities — but also across departments and even courses. Every department chair has access to university grade data and can be consulted to gain insight into the grading practices of their department and even in specific courses. Faculty working together to define grading criteria, rubrics, and systems can be extremely helpful in increasing students’ confidence that their evaluation is fair and equitable.<\/p>\n

Grading for Learning<\/strong><\/h2>\n

As a general rule, student learning is improved by frequent assessments that support regular practice and studying over infrequent high-stakes assessments. As an educated adult, you know that you learn new vocabulary by usage — reading, speaking, and writing a new word that has value to you — not by studying vocab lists. This same principle holds for all aspects of knowledge-building. The knowledge that students cram into their heads for a high-stakes multiple-choice test is not well-retained. That knowledge is much better retained through repeated and varied application: through conversation in a small group in class; application, extension or comparison to another context; incorporation in a written assignment; etc. Thus avoiding high-stakes assessments that encourage cramming (not learning) and rely on test-taking abilities doesn’t help us evaluate — grade — students for what we value, which is learning.<\/p>\n

We need to think deeply about how we can evaluate learning!\u00a0 And we also need to make it clear in all of our communications, including our rubrics, that we underscore our deep and abiding commitment to learning above all other achievements. Students aren’t always sure that faculty really care most about learning — the requirement and importance of grades in school and beyond undermines much of our preaching. What we can do is show that learning behaviors matter by rewarding such behaviors through grades.<\/p>\n

Develop a summary grade rubric that emphasizes learning behaviors<\/strong><\/h3>\n

For example, in the sample below, student work is distributed throughout the semester, and students are evaluated on a variety of different tasks, including a concluding semester project that asks students to reflect on their learning.<\/p>\n

Final Grade Criteria<\/span><\/p>\n

Short Homework Assignments: 20%<\/p>\n

Quizzes (4): 20%<\/p>\n

Group Project: 10%<\/p>\n

In-class Work: 10%<\/p>\n

7-page papers (2): 30%<\/p>\n

Reflective Essay on Learning: 10%<\/p>\n

Develop opportunities for revision\/improvement to reward succeeding at learning outcomes<\/h3>\n

It doesn’t really matter whether students achieve learning outcomes on March 1st or May 15th, does it? If you share that view, that what really matters is how students end the semester, consider strategies for how you might build in possibilities for students to meet learning outcomes at an alternative pace. Some useful strategies:<\/p>\n