Inquiry post 2: The impact standards-based grading has on students in the classroom

 I inquired about standards-based or mastery grading and its difference from traditional grading in the classroom. During my research, I learned that several instructional methods have come and gone in American education. During that process, only two methods of grading remained. There was mastery grading and comparative grading. There has been a long debate over the two grading systems, which comparative also commonly known as the traditional grading scale, won the debate (Juarez, 1994). Comparative grading was first implemented into the education system around 1785; however, despite the debates over the two grading scales, mastery grading was still being used. The first case that showed mastery grading was used in the Pueblo, Colorado school district as early as 1888 (Juarez, 1994). Ebal (1980) says that comparative grading brings more effort into students getting grades and keeping them accountable for their actions.

               Mastery grading is about getting rid of that traditional feeling of a 100-point scale and focusing on mastering the content. Schools that have implemented mastery-based grading, especially in the middle level, have seen a growth in their students' on achieving the skills that are necessary for real-world problems. Unlike traditional grading, teachers are skeptical about students having the accountability of turning their work in on time. “We realized that everything in education has changed, but the one thing that hasn’t changed was grading practices” (Alex, 2022). It shows in our schools that with traditional grading, it pits students against students. It even causes high anxiety when it comes to test taking. Students who learn in a classroom that uses standards-based grading show that students are more likely to be motivated over a longer time when it comes to learning than with traditional grading (Fink, 2015). Knowing that standards-based grading can have an impact on students' motivations is essential for the middle level. By using the standards that are given as the first step in teaching, it keeps students at the same level. Most school districts that use standards-based grading use a 1-4 or 1-5 scale. One would show that students are struggling with the skill they are learning. Five is, they have completely mastered the necessary skill. It also provides a more realistic view of where the students are.

               By using the standards to grade the students, it provides the students with an opportunity to not be put against their peers it is making each of them equals in learning. Along with making students view themselves as equals in the classroom, mastery-based grading also brings in a community unlike traditional grading. With community, teachers are being involved with the parents, and the parents are involved with the students. “Supports building relationships, you have conversations, which is an opportunity to develop those soft skills” (Alex, 2022). It allows trust to be created between the teacher and student. The students also learn to trust their work and the progress that it took to complete that work. With this information, I work with my students, figuring out where they are when learning specific skills. By using standards-based grading, I know where each student is with each skill that we learn and the progress that they make. I already use standards-based grading within my classroom, and by using the standards, I can create lessons and opportunities to better develop the skills my students are learning. Students are more focused on working to achieve mastery of the skill than on what grade they will get at the end of the assignment.

The Pressure (genre reflection)

 The day starts with a laptop. The laptop glows and shimmers underneath the lamp.

The lamp with its fluorescent bulb glows in the dark room.

Seconds turn to minutes. Minutes turn to hours. It is time to leave.

Big deep breaths, I tell myself

My shoes clipping and clacking against the smooth tile floors.

Clump, clump, I go up the stairs.

Big deep breaths

The halls are quiet. The halls are noisy. I stand there waiting for the class to arrive.

Big deep breaths. You’ve got this. You’ve prepared. This time it will be better.

The bell tolls. Grab your notebooks and textbooks as you enter the classroom.

I stand at the front. Eyes are on me. Agenda on the board. I stand. I wait.

Big deep breaths

Class has begun. The loudness is quiet. I can do this. Have confidence.

In one corner, my mentor teacher. In the other, my professor.

I am in the center of the ring. Textbooks open. My last  chance at success

I pace around the room, making sure no student stares at my back for long periods.

I stop. I stare. The silence is loud. It quakes in my ears. Thump. Thump.

The pressure weighs on my shoulders. They are writing. I need to step up. It needs to be perfect. I cannot fail again.

I pace and pace. Paragraph after paragraph. Silence. Silence. Silence. Not one answer to my question.

Big deep breaths

Sweat is shining on my hands as they grip the textbook. Throat dry as a desert. Gulp. Gulp. I look around me. Panic sets in. They keep scribbling. They keep staring. Seconds turn to minutes. Minutes turn to hours. My eyes flutter. The darkness surrounds me. I look up; three minutes remain. Tick. Tick. Tick. My head moves on a swivel looking at one student to the next then to the board quickly and swiftly moving slides to the next and the next until relief sets in as I made it to the end, and it’s the exit ticket. I tried to speak but was drowned by the bell.

Teaching Inquiry Project

Hello and welcome back. As a college student who is near the end of their college experience one of my classes has suggested an inquiry project on an area that is related to ELA. With this project I will share my findings that are within the classroom and beyond. The topic of my inquiry project is authentic assessment, and standards-referenced grading. I chose this topic because it has peaked my interest and would love to learn more about its fundamentals and how it is implemented in the classroom. This topic matters to me because I am currently in the process of using standard-reference grading and how it applies to authentic assessment. I want to make sure that the projects and assignments that I do within the classroom can allow for my students to meet their marks and provide assessments that can authentically applied for their next tasks within and outside the classroom. What I already know about this information is that we take the Kansas state standards that are given to us and we range on the scale of 1-4. four being excellent and one being not know the information. The standards are taken and assessments are created using the 1-4 scale to grade students on how well they know that standard. My next steps are to do research on the area to find out how this grading was created, why this grading is used in schools, and if this grading is better for assessments than the 100% scale.

Critical Engagement & Social Justice Blog #5

     Over the past few months, I have learned a lot about how our biases can affect the classroom that we teach in. One major issue in the classroom is social justice. Social justice can lead to identifying the inequities and promote the fairness of all students getting the education that they need. Meaning that we as educators need to break down the barriers that can lead to these inequalities based off of race, gender, and sexual orientation. Every student deserves a quality education, so they can reach their full potential. It is our jobs as educators to not only teach our students about their own biases, but to bring cultural differences into the classroom. We need to create a fair and divers classroom. There is far to much history related to the unjustness of students education. As we know in our history books segregation had huge impact on the education that African American students received leaving them far behind their peers. Gender inequality played a big role in the social justice in how females received their education.

The society that we live in today does not talk about these subjects. Schools barely incorporate literature on a divers level. Students don’t get to read about the stories that are written by an African American or those who identify with a different gender. Teaching our students can give them the skills and knowledge to see the injustice in there academic, personal, and political lives. To make a real change action must be taken. An in article that talks about when inclusion meets resistance one of the others mention that they were asked to take a book out of their lineup because it had a “gay” character in it despite the parents being ok with it. The administrator even told that educator to even remove books from their classroom libraries that had similar characters and themes. Greathouse was an author of this article and even stated that in 2018 there were 347 challenged books and that six of the eleven books at the top had LGBTQ+ content. That really goes with the survey that GLSEN conducted.

·       81% of students who were LGBTQ+  felt unsafe in school.

·       68% felt unsafe in school due to their sexual orientation, gender identity and characteristics

·       76% had experienced verbal harassment based on sexual orientation and gender

As teachers, we foster a belonging in the classroom. It is up to us to create a form of unity in the community. A great way to get an idea on how the students think about a topic of social justice is for them to write about their personal experiences. Ebarvia, in her book Get Free, talks about a read-think-share approach. I believe this is a great way for students to get first-hand experience with how other people think about the social justices around us. They read about the topic and think about how it affects them, and other people then share their thoughts out loud. With technology on the rise digital literacy is becoming more apparent in the classroom. Students have easier access to articles. Digital literacy can help us educators teach our students about how to recognize hate speech and go against it. Asking students important questions about what they are reading and the inner workings of that reading such as the characters, who wrote it, what the theme(s) the story talks about, and what stories are being mainly read. As educators we need to know what we are reading and why we are reading it. Knowing what your schools policies are on the type of books you can read in the classroom is going to be important. Even though the education system is not well rounded because the education system has failed most of our students. Those of the LGBTQ+ community and those of the minority community.

By adding diversity to our classroom, it can help students understand that culture and help them learn to respect it. The government is how every students gets a chance at education, but it is up to the schools themselves what that education is. What we teach is how students grow. There will be times when you try to read a new story about a character the students have never read about and it might fail the first time, but trying and trying again is what leads to success. Creating a safe place where students can enjoy a great book and belonging is the type of classroom I aspire to have.

 

Resources

Greathouse, P., Consalvo, A., Covino, K., David, A. D., Eisenbach, B., & Letcher, M. (2020). When inclusion meets resistance: Resources for facing a challenge. English Journal, 110(1), 80–86. https://doi.org/10.58680/ej202030849

Insights, G. (2024). Social Justice Issues in education: Unpacking inequities and solutions. Gray Group International. https://www.graygroupintl.com/blog/social-justice-issues-in-education

Staff. (2023). Critical engagement with materials. Learning for Justice. https://www.learningforjustice.org/magazine/publications/critical-practices-for-social-justice-education/curriculum-and-instruction/critical-engagement-with-materials#:~:text=Critical%20Practices%20for%20Social%20Justice%20Education&text=Critical%20engagement%20emphasizes%20the%20value,continually%20interrogating%20their%20own%20work.

Unknown. (2021). The 2021 National School Climate Survey. GLSEN. https://www.glsen.org/research/2021-national-school-climate-survey

 

KATE Conference Blog

 

The KATE Conference was an exciting time for me. The conference took place on November 1^st and 2^nd. Sadly, I was not able to make the first day of the conference. That does not mean I did not have a great time. I went to a breakout session that talked about the KATE Pages which is their blog and their Kansas English which is peer reviewed journals where teachers can write about anything English related to help out other teachers. I was more interested in learning about the blog than anything else. With their blog it is less formal, so more stuff gets published than with the Kansas English journal. I liked learning about how to submit work to the blog and that they showcase students works as part of their voices of America. That being said teachers and educators can show their short stories and creative work on the blog as well. There are limits to the number of words the post can be which I don’t think is a big problem but trying to get students to write 1000 words or less does seem like a problem. Students these days only write thinking that their teacher is the audience, but I believe getting them to publish their work on the blog is a great tool to help them broaden their audience.

The Peer-reviewed journal is a great tool for English educator and teachers. I especially recommend new teachers check out the column teaching tips. As new teachers come into our schools, we can never get enough help. Eventually problems arise and with the column teaching tips it is most likely that another teacher has had the same problem, and you read about their experience with that problem and gather ideas on how you can handle it. They even have book reviews, reflective essays, practitioner pieces, and Kansas-Specific Articles which are all helpful tools for a new English teacher. With the practitioner pieces teachers in the ELA describe how they teach a particular skill, text, or concept in their classroom. Scholarly articles have research-based studies and academic arguments that are supported by research done in the ELA or literacy education. The book reviews are help because if you are struggling to find a book to teach in the classroom you look at this specific column to get an idea on children’s/Young adult books and recent published English/literacy pedagogy texts. It help to continue to learn and absorb knowledge. With the pedagogy texts you can learn new ways to do assessments or even get ideas on how to teach a text in the classroom.

The reflective essays are about how to teach ELA and/or literacy in the classroom and as a new teacher stepping into the classroom you never have enough information to use. The Kansas articles are in general relatively easy to understand. They are articles that have been published about ELA/literacy that are specific to Kansas. I believe this website is essential for learning more about the English Language Arts classroom. The guess speaker Jason DeHart talked about how comics and graphic novels have gotten a better reputation in the classroom. He also talked about the complexity of these pieces can be, not just in the artwork but in the way it is presented with its themes. I thought it was really interesting to learn more about how we can use comics and graphic novels in the classroom. Not only that but picture books can be just as complex. There really is no perfect book to teach in the classroom. Every book be essential even if it does not spark every student in the classroom. As long as one student is inspired to continue reading and writing then I would say that the book was perfect for them. The KATE conference is an incredible place to learn more about the ELA classroom and a great way to make connections with other teachers and learn from their experiences.

With that said if this blog post has inspired you the dates are step for next year. Save the date for 2025 KATE conference October 24^th and 25^th. This is a great way to get student teachers introduced to more experienced teachers and as a student teacher myself I had a blast creating my own panel with my fellow classmates and teacher. I did a book talk on the book Invisible Son by Kim Johnson and how you can use this YA book in the classroom and if I can do it so can you.

Language Instruction Blog#4

 

It starts with understanding our biases once again. To create a classroom that integrate instructional knowledge that can facilitate students reading comprehension and to have a way that enhances their composing processes we start with the biases. In this case not just our personal biases but cultural biases and institutional biases. Ebarvia says “implicit biases have a very real and devastating impact on our students”(p. 27). Essentially speaking, we never stop and ask who we are helping, and how we are helping them. In an article published by Milo called Building equity: A guide to Anti-Bias Education in the classroom biases can be potential barrier that can be harmful to our students learning experience of all backgrounds. As educators we can start with our own understanding of cultural bias which is the interpretation of diverse backgrounds. It can affect our perception of  students based on their cultural backgrounds. Institutional bias is the system and structure that are within the educational institution. This can lead to disparities in resources and opportunities for different group of students. Thus, anchoring and In-group bias can come into play in the classroom.

One helpful way is to ask students what their language background is. It’s important to know if your students speak a different language at home and what kind of dialect they speak at home as well, and the same can be applied to school. What language did you learn to speak in school and what dialect did you learn in school? Amy Benjamin says in her book Engaging Grammar we need to turn our students into linguistic anthropologists. She says that “excellent writers need to be close observers of language styles”(p. 19). Linguistic anthropologists observe the language and describe the sounds and syntax of a community of people who speak in a comparable way. Everyone speaks a language and at least one dialect. Dialect is part of their language. Teaching students the importance of language diversity can help them grow as readers and writers. By incorporating poems and stories in the classroom that show native language and their dialects and compare them with formal English. In the English classroom teachers and educators mostly teach academic writing.

Academic writing is a formal, objective, and technical style of writing used in essays or research papers. Non-academic writing, which is more personal, have informal tones, and is used for entertainment. The only time this is really seen in the classroom is when the narrative unit is taught, and students are typically allowed to draft their own story in their own way. The first step in creating a great classroom that has diversity is to show case stories from other languages. They don’t expect you to have a story in the original language, so translations are a teachers go to source. Yes, technically with translations meaning of words, grammar structures, and even how the sentences are formatted can be lost. That doesn’t mean that those stories are a hindrance in the classroom. By introducing these stories, poems, and artwork to students in the classroom it not only validates those who speak another language but also enhances the other students composing process.

It wasn’t until I entered college that I got these kinds of literacy diversity. I was introduced to different stories from other countries. Introduced to distinct types of dialect. It needs to be sooner rather than later. The most significant part of developing students reading comprehension is to expose them to all the diverse types of stories out there. It makes them question the world around them and think critically about the information they encounter. When questions are asked in the classroom then the real reaching can begin. Without questions there can be no comprehension. “Students need opportunities to consider how language works in texts to create tone, rhythm, and meaning and how it should be used with intention” (Shanahan). Most words and accents can be less accepted by the mainstream media, meaning that unless it seems intelligent enough when talking or reading it will not be taught. That’s why majority of texts are white males. In some areas the way a person speaks has been tied to their intellect. When it comes to them learning knowledge of language such as grammar structures, students need authentic writing assignments that give them the opportunity to play around with words.

The aim of teaching antibias instruction with the aim of knowledge of language, so they can enhance their reading comprehensions, and their composing processes students need more than just the teacher as an audience member. They need a more authentic type of audience. Our students can get that authenticity by studying dialects, writing with a real audience in mind not just the teacher or their peers, and lastly seeking out mentor texts from all over the world. These steps can create a deep transferable academic experience for our students.

References

Ebarvia, T., Cherry-Paul, S., Johnson, A., Osborn, A., Parker, K. N., & Silvas, T. (2024). Get free: Anti-bias literacy instruction for stronger readers, writers, and thinkers. Corwin, a SAGE Company.

Leask, M. (2020, January 1). Building equity: A guide to anti-bias education in the classroom. Notion For Teachers: Free Templates & Resources. https://www.notion4teachers.com/blog/building-equity-anti-bias-education-classroom

Mid Michigan College. (n.d.). Academic vs non-academic articles. Mid Michigan College. https://www.midmich.edu/services/lls/library/articles/academic-vs-non-academic-articles#:~:text=Non%2Dacademic%20articles%20are%20written,not%20have%20any%20credentials%20listed.

Savini, C. (2021). How professors can and should combat linguistic prejudice in their classes (opinion). Inside Higher Ed | Higher Education News, Events and Jobs. https://www.insidehighered.com/advice/2021/01/27/how-professors-can-and-should-combat-linguistic-prejudice-their-classes-opinion

Scribbr. (n.d.). What is academic writing?: DOS and don’ts for students. Scribbr. https://www.scribbr.com/category/academic-writing/#:~:text=Academic%20writing%20is%20a%20formal,of%20content%2C%20structure%20and%20style.

Shanahan, E. (2021). Ya author: From finding error to finding wonder: A shift in grammar instruction. Voices from the Middle, 28(3), 14–19. https://doi.org/10.58680/vm202131174

The use of ELA Instruction blog #3

 Instruction in the ELA classroom is a stance where an educator can ask themselves is what I’m teaching antibias? Ebarvia mentions on page 204 in her book Get Free “that no matter what race you are, it’s true that readers often try to find themselves in literature”.  It goes to show that in the classroom just simply having literature where the authors are not mainly white men can provide the first step in an antibias classroom. Typically, one uses the textbook that is required of the curriculum, but every now and then the teacher/educator get the chance to pick their own stories, articles, novels to read in the classroom. We have to pick our non-texts with such pristine so that the students can demonstrate their understanding. Having poems, videos, and articles is a great way to establish resistance against white male authors and include authors of color, and indigenous authors.

Including inclusive texts in the classroom we first have to look at the fact that most schools don’t teach students equally and that is shown with the curriculum. One look and you can see that its not a neutral way of teaching but has always been ideological. I can say that until I reached college I never once read a story in the classroom that had a different author than being a white male. Including diversity even if one can’t find a novel to read a short poem or even a few can give students the inside look in how an author that isn’t a white male gives on their past, their ancestors, and even the present world from their eyes.

We have to consider that biases are built into everyday life. “The more that we normalize seeking multiple perspectives and ways of seeing, interpreting in the classrooms then the more students will seek those multiple perspectives outside the classroom” (pg. 216). That’s why having our students engage in questions about identity, diversity, justice, and action is highly important for their own development of antibias in the classroom. Introducing students to the framing effect in a way that when introducing a text(s) the way they interpret that information will be in a positive format where they question the subsequent information about the topic or issue. The way we introduce the text is the most critical of our decisions as a teacher/educator in the school.

On page 227 of Ebarvia’s book is a quote that says students need to identify and engage with biases that too often impede our ability to reason, because an important skill a teacher can give their students is the power of reasoning and how to do it well. One way to do that is have the student(s) research the bias, provide examples of the bias, and give solutions. That way other students can look at that bias and go they’ve got great solutions on how not to let that bias affect myself in the classroom. It is also a great tool for the teacher/educator to use as well. Considering that we are human not perfect beings it is nearly impossible to completely take out biases in the classroom. It’s how we manage ours and our students biases that make the classroom antibias.