From The Archives: Shifting Grading Practices With Jessica Liew - E084

The EduGals Podcast

In this episode, we are joined by a special guest from the Vancouver School Board, Jessica Liew, to chat about shifting our grading practices in the classroom. We'll get into all things assessment, focusing on standards-based grading, growth mindsets, and proficiency scales. Get ready to get nerdy about assessment!
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Featured Content
**For detailed show notes, please visit our website at https://edugals.com/84**

• Jessica Liew:
  • Vancouver School Board
  • Secondary Technology Support Teacher
  • Social Studies Teacher
  • Contact: [email protected]
• Resources Mentioned:
  • Grading for Equity by Joe Feldman
  • Grading Smarter, Not Harder by Myron Dueck
  • Going Gradeless, Grades 6-12 by Elise Burns & David Frangiosa
  • Tom Schimmer and Katie White
• Key Takeaways:
  • Focus on the skills, using content as the vehicle to practice (skills matter more than content) - performance vs rehearsal
  • Feedback first
  • Focus on student learning and growth not grades and points
  • Organizing your gradebook based on skills not tasks
  • What are the outcomes of your course? What are the transferrable skills?
  • Avoid the omnibus grade, assessment should only focus on the learning and understanding
  • Ditch late marks, bonus marks, zeroes, 100-point scale, participation marks
  • Carrot and stick approaches to grading don't work to support learning
  • Is homework necessary or equitable?
  • If you stop putting marks on everything, students stop asking what their grade is
  • Changing your language around assessment can change student language as well
  • Organizing gradebooks by standards helps provide focus on where students need to improve
  • Standards-based grading is not a one size, fits all
  • 4 point scale:
    • 1 - Beginning (just starting to work with the skill, needs lots of support)
    • 2 - Developing (partial understanding, lacks consistency)
    • 3 - Applying (proficiency, complete understanding)
    • 4 - Extending (work is exemplary, NOT beyond grade level)

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