Focus your grading on student understanding rather than creating a curve to help each student learn as much of the content as they can.

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Goal:
  • More students finish the course knowing more.
    • It’s what students know in the end that matters, not the letter grade average of the class.
Reason:
  • School is a opportunity for students to learn and grow, the goal of our classrooms should reflect this as opposed to teachers working hard to keep the class average around a particular grade letter.
Action:
  • Create tests that represent what students should know.
    • Don’t try to make a test that will result in a certain percentage of students getting certain letter grades.
  • If it is feasible to retest students, do it!
    • The goal is that they learn as much as possible, not that they get an A, B, or C.
    • Strategies for retesting:
      • Retest a single question by putting an optional question on the final exam so that they get a second chance to show what they know.
      • Give an additional (short) take-home exam where students can demonstrate their knowledge about a particular topic.

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Ellen Spertus
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