Chapter 8 Abstract and Synthesis

Abstract (Ted):
Chapter 8 of Understanding by Design and Differentiated Instruction was about grading and reporting achievement. Grading serves two primary roles in our classroom: simplifying students’ work into a single summarizing letter and letting parents, students, and administrators know how students are doing in the classroom. The chapter contends that for grades to be useful, they must meet 6 guiding principles for effective grading and reporting:

• Grades need to be based on learning goals and performance standards
  
• Evidence used for grading should only measure the goals and standards being targeted, so avoid relying on extraneous variables
  
• Grading should be based on an established criteria, ruling out grading on bell curves or mandatory grade assignments.
  
• Grading and assessment should not be confused – while everything should be assessed for learning, not everything needs to be graded
  
• Grading based on averages is a poor indicator of student learning
  
• Achievement is the main item to report, so keep it separate from unrelated items in grading
  

The chapter goes on to say that differentiating instruction is very important, so grading two different types of learning can be difficult. Therefore, it becomes important to report standards and differentiation rather than one or the other. The three items that the book suggests reporting are achievement of goals, progress towards goals, and work habits. The reporting systems the book endorses are ones that capture these three traits, although it concedes that many districts require report cards and more traditional practices.
Synthesis:
The entire class seemed to agree on the three items that the book suggests reporting: achievement of goals, progress towards those goals, and, to some degree, work habits. We were all focused on the student reactions to grades and trying to downplay the importance of grades relative to learning in our classrooms, which is one of the things that the chapter supports. I found a website that mentions these same topics – downplaying the importance of grades in students’ eyes – along with offering valuable information on other practical elements of grading in our classrooms. It offers yet another six functions of grading, mostly ones that hadn’t been discussed in great detail in the chapter.
The reporting of grades to students and parents was another topic we worried about when it came to our own classrooms. We mostly all supported the standards-based grading and reporting rather than mere activity-based grading. It’s clear that the rest of the country, at least outside the field of education, is on the fence about standards-based grading. I found a page from an Iowa administrator resource site about a shift to standards-based grading encouraging administrators to have faith in the new system, reminding them that research will continue to support standards-based grading.

Chapter 5 Abstract and Synthesis

Abstract
Chapter 5 of Integrating Differentiated Instruction and Understanding by Design focuses on considering evidence of learning in diverse classrooms. The chapter starts by pointing out three key principles of effective assessment. The first assessment principle deals with looking at assessment as a photo album, rather than a snapshot. This means that it's better to have a wide, deep assessment sample rather than a single item of assessment. It was once said that "genius relies less on flashes of brilliance than it does on just plugging away." Photo album assessment means that there is more than one form of assessment for each content standard, and they should come from different intelligence areas. The second assessment principle demands that the assessment measure be matched with the goal it is assessing. This is the traditional "apples to oranges" argument. Educational goals can be divided into declarative knowledge (facts and knowledge), procedural knowledge (skills and techniques), and dispositions (attitudes). An assessment measuring dispositions or procedural knowledge will not effectively assess a student who has been instructed with declarative knowledge only. The assessment should always align with the goal being measured. The third assessment principle (which is brought up later in the chapter) demands that the instructor should know why they are using each type of assessment in each case, be it summative, formative, or diagnostic. I found a website that further explains these types.
The chapter makes it a point to further the distinction between inauthentic work and authentic work, ensuring that assessment have a real-life sense of importance to students. The chapter also introduces the GRASPS framework for assessment tasks. This means assessment should have:

• Goal relating to the real world
  
• Role with meaning for the student
  
• Audience from the real world
  
• Situation relating to the real world
  
• Products and Performances that are student generated
  
• Standards to judge performance success (page 70)
  

The chapter then makes it clear that diagnostic assessment is important to teaching. It says that students should be given choices in parts of their assessment, and offers a Tic-Tac-Toe board allowing students a lot of choice in their assessments. The next point the chapter makes is that teachers should make timely, specific, understandable feedback that allows for adjustment. Just as important as teacher assessment is student self-assessment and reflection. Giving students metacognitive abilities helps to solidify learning. A really good website explaining the importance of self-assessment to critical thinking can be found here.

Synthesis
The elements of the chapter that most people pulled out were the three assessment principles and the GRASPS framework for assessment. Everybody understood and agreed that the assessment principles would lead to better evaluation of students' understandings. It seemed to be a very common-sense sort of reading - we all agreed that a student with a certain intelligence preference would better express understanding in an assessment style tailored to that intelligence. The photo album assessment principle strongly stood out in agreement - we all noted that a single impression of a student's understanding will show less about that student than a long-term and comprehensive selection of assessment. The GRASPS framework and assessment principles will be very helpful in our classrooms in guiding our assessment decisions.