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Ethan Guthrie Herrell
Fair Isn’t Always Equal: Chapter 12

While the author referenced problems with grading scales in the last chapter, in this chapter he takes it on exclusively. This is rather puzzling. After all, for most of the book, the author has strongly pushed against the traditional letter grades. They have been discounted as inaccurate and ill-suited to education based on standards and mastery. But, the author says, the 4.0 scales are better than the 100 point scales because they leave less wiggle room for subjective judgment.

The author dismisses teachers who insist on making distinctions between an A and an A+, or a C and a C+. Especially on the 4.0 scales, does the .01 difference between them really stand for a difference in mastery? Hardly. Mastery cannot broken down so easily to percentage points. The 4.0 scale carries a lot of baggage however. When students and parents look at it, the first thing they typically do is try to convert it to a 100 point scale and see if the score is near the top, in the middle or on the bottom. 5.0 or 6.0 scales don’t have such weaknesses, but that is because they are less familiar to people, and so aren’t as popular. toc

Sam Leal
Chapter 12: Grading Scales

This chapter made me think a lot more about grading scales. I never really thought about maybe being graded for a whole quarter on a 1 thru 4 grading scale. I just never thought it was around. But from reading this chapter the smaller scale starts to make sense. It’s true that teachers using a 100 point scale often defend the grade that a student receives based on how the numbers were crunched and not upon the students mastery of the grade. The quote from the chapter that really made me start to think was where it said a student asked a teacher this, “My average is a 93.4. Can’t you just give me the A? I’m so close.” And the teacher replies, “You just didn’t have that last ounce of ‘umph’ to get yourself over the top. This was pure mathematical calculation, and the numbers don’t lie. It wouldn’t be fair. You’ll stay with a B+.” This shows how the students mastery of the material isn’t even thought about it just is all about the students grades as numbers. This is a case where I believe a smaller scale would be more appropriate. Because then less thought would be into the numbers and more thought would be into whether the student really did master the material, he mastered some but not quite all, or he still needs some time to keep learning more.

Cidney Mayes
Two common types of grading scale gone over in this chapter are the 4-point grading scale and the 100-point grading scale. Contrary to popular belief, the 4-point scale is less subjective than the 100-point one because “smaller scales make individual distortions less likely” (152). Using a larger scale can allow for subjectivity in ways that the 4-point scale can not, such as aspects of the grade that reflect non-academic mastery. Using a 4-point scale is usually accompanied by a rubric, and the criteria for mastery are clearly stated, where a grade given on a 100-point scale can be much more ambiguous.

I think that there is a time and place for each scale. Using a 4-point scale is useful in grading projects and assignments that require very specific skills and knowledge to be demonstrated by the student to show that they have mastered the material. Using a smaller scale forces the teacher to be incredibly specific about the goals for their students and the objectives that they want them to meet. The book also recommends using a non-traditional scale that puts a more positive focus on the student’s level of mastery, with terms like “not-yet-achieved” or “You’re not done” (158), which I also like and would like to use in my classroom because it looks at students who are not yet meeting the standard as being in the progress of moving towards mastery, not just simply failing to grasp the material.

Colby Hill
Most of this chapter is on grading (what a surprise!) and the idea of a 100 point grading scale versus a 4.0. I have always thought that switching over to the 4.0 scale would be the best, so I do agree with Wormelli to an extent. This scale allows everything to be viewed easier. For example, in my high school the lower grade you could get is a 75 before failing. In my middle school, and I think in University of Maine at Farmington, it is the sixty that is the lowest before failing. I feel like the number gets distorted through this and the numbers mean different things to different people, but the 4.0 scale is seemingly universal. Colleges want to see a 2.5 (as an example) in order to accept you, for instance. I feel that the 4.0 grading scale is more accurate and concise representation as a grade. What about teachers? It would be the easiest to grade the class through 100, but the report cards give a 4.0 grade. I’d like to explain a little more. It would be frustrating to grade an essay or a quiz in a 4.0 scale. Because of this, regular class papers ought to be given back with 100 point scale, but converted to the 4.0 in the gradebook and powerschool (or whatever the student uses to view his or her grades). This way it’s a bit easier for teachers to grade and record and students can see their work in two different lights.

Karina Sprague
This chapter compared the two most common grading scales; the 4 point scale and the 100 point scale. Both of these scales are equal when converted into letter grades, but they are very different in other ways. The common reason that teachers use the 4 point scale is because it is less restrictive than the 100 point scale. By grading using 1,2,3, and 4, you have more wiggle room. Teachers use the 100 point scale because it is more precise and it gives the students and exact rating of their work. The four point scale allows for more variation in grading while the 100 point scale is easier for the students to understand their exact ranking. I strongly believe that if grades are to be used, teachers should use the 100 point scale because it is easier to match up with a letter grade and it offers a variety of levels. If a student gets a 4, they will only know that they did well. By using the 100 point scale, we can show students how well they did. For example, if they did pretty well, they could get a 90, but if they did really well, they could get a 99 or a 100. For some people, this chapter raises the question “should grades be used at all?”. I think that grades should absolutely be used to show the students growth and, if nothing else, to give the students and the parents an idea of the student’s performance. If we didn’t have grades, the teachers would have to write a narrative about each student to send home to the parents, or have parent teacher meetings once a week to keep the parents informed of their child’s performance. Grades are an good way to keep parents connected and informed.

Elizabeth Sargent
Larger grading scales are subjective, and points can be easily lumped together. A smaller scale makes it easier to judge mastery as a teacher. Students need to earn every part of the grade, every single point. Yet, the points they earn shouldn’t be set in a negative light. For example, using a minus symbol next to any letter grade makes students that receive them think less of their mastery. Using a 100-point scale compared to a 4-point scale makes it harder for students to learn from their scores. 4- point scales have rubrics which let students look at what they will be graded on ahead of time. Students will know what to “look for” and know what they must be able to demonstrate to show mastery. As teachers, it is important to make sure students achieve mastery. By giving them grades that don’t reflect that, what are we telling them? In the classroom, students work hard to get good grades. They don’t usually care about the mastery. Yet, we make it so that students can pass without a full mastery. I think that the grading scales need to be change but not just without a minus symbol, but as a clear defined line. Where students achieve mastery or do the material and activities and assignments over again, until they master the material. This is what I feel would truly teach students, the only problem left is getting students to want to learn about all the various materials we, as teachers, need to teach.

Emily Haskell
Chapter 12: Grading Scales

In this chapter the author stresses the importance of understanding your grading scale. It is important that you understand your grading scale and can justify it because there will come a time when a student questions their grades and in turn, your grading scale. One of the issues discussed here is what kind of scale you should use. Some say that you should solely rely on a simple point scale while others believe that teachers should really focus on what is mastered and essentially learned by the student.

Often times a smaller scale such as a four point scale better shows the student’s mastery of a subject. This is because these point scales are more closely related to a goal, such as something you may find on a rubric. I think something like this is really important and certainly helped me when I was in school. With rubrics it is very easy to know exactly what the teacher is looking for and what mastery entails. This was also helpful because, as opposed to a 100-point scale you have a number grade and a justification for the grade that you received. = =

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Jordan Hale
There are two main grading scales that the majority of schools use today; the 100-point scale and the 4-point scale. Each has their disadvantages, and well, advantages. The point of grading is supposed to be to assess the student’s mastery of the content. There are conversations every day that happen about grades, that shouldn’t happen because there is no consideration for the content, just the number on the report card. This chapter highlighted a conversation from a teacher and a student where the students is mere tenths of a point away from an A- and fighting for it, and the teacher says it would be fair because the “numbers don’t lie”(153). The teacher is protecting their butts by showing the student and parents that the student earned these numbers and when you punch them into a calculator, this is the average. Grading should be used to assess the student’s mastery of the content. It should help show the student where they need to improve, and what the teacher needs to teach.

Ken O’Connor has a strong argument for using a 5-point grading scale. Use a standard based assessment based on a 5-point scale. At the end of the grading term, the grade book will tell you whether they got an A or an F. “If at least 50% of the ratings are 5s and the rest are 4s, the grade is an A, if at least 75% of the ratings are 4s o better and the other 25% are not lower than 3, then the grade is a B, and if 40$ of the ratings are 3s or better and the other 60% are not lower than 2, then the grade is a C.”(1540. As a logical learner, being able to look at a grade book and right off the bat assess how the student has mastered the content without even looking at a calculator will help the teacher communicate to the student their needs for improvements.

Spencer Hodge
Chapter 12 of Fair Isn’t Always Equal talks about the two most common grading scales that are used in schools today. These scales are the 100-point scale, the most common and larger grading scale used in schools, and the 4-point scale, the smaller yet still efficient grading scale usually used with rubric grading. I think that a rubric grade scale would be good for projects, because it lays out all of the expectations for the project, and it tells the students how they can achieve a good grade, by telling them what benchmarks they need to hit. I think that a 100 point scale would be better for tests because in a test you can get some of the answer wrong, but still have a lot of it right; a 100 point scale makes it easier to grade a test where most of the answer is right, but some of it is wrong. I feel as though I will have to have more in field experience to see what work better for certain things, but until then my opinion stands.