How do you decide WHAT to grade?

[DragonFaerie]

I'm trying to get a good system in place in anticipation of high school and having to prepare high school transcripts, and I'm having trouble decided what to give grades on.  Math is easy.  Saxon has tests after every 5th lesson.  Done.  But what should I grade on in history?  Or science? The curriculum I'm using doesn't have much built in to grade.  For example, DD's history has 4 tests for the semester.  That's it.  Her science has 5, I think.  And what about English?  Obviously I will have her read, but even if I have her do some type of essay or project for the book, it's still only going to be a handful of grades, which doesn't seem like enough.  But what else should I grade?  Daily work doesn't make much sense.  "Good girl.  You sat still and read your history assignment.  You get a 100 for today."  :confused1:   But I also don't want to give her more work just so I have something to grade, either.  So what do ya'll do?

[regentrude]

I grade very little.

Before high school, I grade one comprehensive final exam in math at the end of each semester, because it is high school level work and I need substantiation for their records. I have the foreign language quizzes graded automatically through the online system, because I am not fluent and not competent to evaluate the work. I give no other grades.

 

In high school, I grade one math final per semester, one science test per month, longer writing assignments in history/English (every few weeks).

That's it.

 

Daily work is evaluated and checked. But I neither give nor record grades, since I find the purpose of daily work to be practice.

 

[Juliegmom]

This has been the most difficult thing for us this year, especially for history and English/literature. I'll have to come back to this later when I have more time. I'd love to see the feedback from this question.

[DragonFaerie]

I grade very little.

Before high school, I grade one comprehensive final exam in math at the end of each semester, because it is high school level work and I need substantiation for their records. I have the foreign language quizzes graded automatically through the online system, because I am not fluent and not competent to evaluate the work. I give no other grades.

 

In high school, I grade one math final per semester, one science test per month, longer writing assignments in history/English (every few weeks).

That's it.

 

Daily work is evaluated and checked. But I neither give nor record grades, since I find the purpose of daily work to be practice.

 

So what do you do if they don't get a very good grade on a final test or writing assignment?  Are they just stuck with a poor grade for that class/semester?

 

ETA: BTW, I agree that daily work is about practice and the learning process.  That's why I'm struggling with what should "count," so to speak.

[regentrude]

So what do you do if they don't get a very good grade on a final test or writing assignment?  Are they just stuck with a poor grade for that class/semester?

 

In my home school, I teach to mastery.

Every writing assignment is reworked until it passes my criteria for an A.

In math, my kids have to take a pretest; if they do not do well, they are not permitted to take the exam, but must spend more time on review.

To me, it makes no sense to give a poor grade and move on despite insufficient understanding of the material.

 

 

 

[DragonFaerie]

In my home school, I teach to mastery.

Every writing assignment is reworked until it passes my criteria for an A.

In math, my kids have to take a pretest; if they do not do well, they are not permitted to take the exam, but must spend more time on review.

To me, it makes no sense to give a poor grade and move on despite insufficient understanding of the material.

 

I teach to mastery, too, which is why I'm having such trouble here. My kids make corrections on every assignment.  But, that doesn't mean they don't sometimes miss questions on tests.  For example, DS mixed up two terms on his grammar test and then didn't follow the instructions on a whole section.  He got something like an 81 on the test.  Well, if that was his only grade for the whole semester, it's not exactly indicative of what he really knows.  It's indicative of his lack of attention during that particular test.  So what would you do in that situation?

 

And on writing assignments, do you help them edit and rework the assignment to ensure that it gets an A before you actually grade it?

 

[regentrude]

I teach to mastery, too, which is why I'm having such trouble here. My kids make corrections on every assignment.  But, that doesn't mean they don't sometimes miss questions on tests.  For example, DS mixed up two terms on his grammar test and then didn't follow the instructions on a whole section.  He got something like an 81 on the test.  Well, if that was his only grade for the whole semester, it's not exactly indicative of what he really knows.  It's indicative of his lack of attention during that particular test.  So what would you do in that situation?

 

If the low grade was due to not following instructions, the consequence would be that my student would have to go through the entire procedure again because he had not paid attention and would have to take a different test the next day.

I want grades to reflect subject mastery, too.

 

 

 

And on writing assignments, do you help them edit and rework the assignment to ensure that it gets an A before you actually grade it?

 

On writing assignments, of course I help them edit. That's my role as a teacher. I do not sit down and "grade" a final version: my student gets to stop reworking the assignment when I am satisfied.

[DragonFaerie]

If the low grade was due to not following instructions, the consequence would be that my student would have to go through the entire procedure again because he had not paid attention and would have to take a different test the next day.

I want grades to reflect subject mastery, too.

 

 

 

 

On writing assignments, of course I help them edit. That's my role as a teacher. I do not sit down and "grade" a final version: my student gets to stop reworking the assignment when I am satisfied.

 

I understand what you're saying about the writing.  What I mean is, when it comes to the final writing assignment that will constitute their one grade for that class, what do you do if they don't do well on it?  Would you give them a different assignment and have them do it again as you would with a test?

[regentrude]

I understand what you're saying about the writing.  What I mean is, when it comes to the final writing assignment that will constitute their one grade for that class, what do you do if they don't do well on it?  Would you give them a different assignment and have them do it again as you would with a test?

 

Oh, I did not make myself clear. As I wrote earlier, for English and history, I consider ALL the longer writing assignments (which occur every few weeks) for their grade for the class. And each of them is worked until I consider it A work.

[DragonFaerie]

My oldest is 12.  I actually still do not have plans to use grades.  If it is not done right it is done again.  If my kids don't get it, we do it again.  If they flubbed up due to laziness, I deal with it in various ways.

 

I guess I see grades as a system of communication that makes sense in certain circumstances.  I don't need them to communicate to myself.  This is not to say I don't want to get a sense for how my kids are doing, but I don't need to assign grades to it.  KWIM?

 

I do talk to my older son about what a teacher might look for when grading something.  Because of course in the future there will be that.

 

And frankly, why would anyone care about my system of grades?  I'm not an official school. 

 

What will you do for high school transcripts?  I would love to not do grades at all, except I thought transcripts had to have them.

 

 

Oh, I did not make myself clear. As I wrote earlier, for English and history, I consider ALL the longer writing assignments (which occur every few weeks) for their grade for the class. And each of them is worked until I consider it A work.

 

Ah, okay.  I think I understand now.  So their whole body of work for that class will be an A because they reworked each individual assignment until it was an A.  Do I have it now?

 

BTW, I'm not trying to be difficult with all these questions.  Trying to figure out how to do this is making me crazy.

[regentrude]

Ah, okay.  I think I understand now.  So their whole body of work for that class will be an A because they reworked each individual assignment until it was an A.  Do I have it now?

 

Yes.

 

This is where standardized tests - as much as a nuisance they are - can be helpful. I have no qualms about giving an A in English based on my personal assessment when this is substantiated by a perfect or near perfect score on the English section of ACT/SAT or literature subject test. I would question my method of evaluation if there were a large discrepancy. Since by measurable criteria DD did fine, I decided not to overthink the grading.

 

Grading math and science is much easier, IMO, because there it is clearcut whether something is correct or not.

[DragonFaerie]

Yes.

 

This is where standardized tests - as much as a nuisance they are - can be helpful. I have no qualms about giving an A in English based on my personal assessment when this is substantiated by a perfect or near perfect score on the English section of ACT/SAT or literature subject test. I would question my method of evaluation if there were a large discrepancy. Since by measurable criteria DD did fine, I decided not to overthink the grading.

 

Grading math and science is much easier, IMO, because there it is clearcut whether something is correct or not.

 

Ain't that the truth! :D

[regentrude]

One more thought: you are thinking about the need for grades for high school transcripts. You could also not grade anything at home and base the grade you assign solely on some outside evaluation. For example, you could decide to give the course grade based on the result of the SAT subject test.

My DD pretty much unschooled English in 11th grade and her A is based on a perfect score on the SAT2.

[regentrude]

Well I assume colleges will want them, but I really wonder how seriously they will take them.  Do they really just take my word for it?  I'd be surprised.

 

In the end, they will have to take your word since they do not see how you assigned the grades, what assignments you gave etc. They will, however, see whether your grades are in agreement with any outside validations such as standardized tests. They will be more likely to believe in the validity of mommy grades when they agree with test performance whereas mommy As with low test scores may cause them to question your assessment.

[DragonFaerie]

"Mommy As."  :lol:

[My3girls]

I'll use standardized tests at the end of the year to assign grades to classes that I am not outsourcing. Of course for any outsourced classes, I'll use the grades assigned. I'm hoping to get them into at least a few AP classes since those test grades will be taken seriously by universities. The classes I teach aren't accredited so I don't see the grades really mattering that much. I have a couple of years yet to change my mind on that, though. Lol

[DragonFaerie]

I'll use standardized tests at the end of the year to assign grades to classes that I am not outsourcing. Of course for any outsourced classes, I'll use the grades assigned. I'm hoping to get them into at least a few AP classes since those test grades will be taken seriously by universities. The classes I teach aren't accredited so I don't see the grades really mattering that much. I have a couple of years yet to change my mind on that, though. Lol

 

How will you use standardized tests for grades?  Are there tests available somewhere for every high school class?

[My3girls]

Probably not, but there are things like this out there http://www.cde.ca.gov/ta/tg/sr/documents/cstrtqbiology.pdf. I'm not going to stress the grades overly much. Like I said we aren't accredited so they aren't going to think much of an A, but if I give them a C, their going to be all the kid got a C in homeschool?! Give them straight A's. The colleges are going to look at their SAT, essays, and such more than their mom given GPA, kwim? I'm more worried about them getting the right amount of hours for a credit, the right number of credits to graduate, their ability to write a kickbutt essay, and being ready for the SAT. If you haven't already looked at some University homeschool entrance requirements, do it. You'll see that a lot of them really don't care about homeschool grades.

[DragonFaerie]

Probably not, but there are things like this out there http://www.cde.ca.gov/ta/tg/sr/documents/cstrtqbiology.pdf. I'm not going to stress the grades overly much. Like I said we aren't accredited so they aren't going to think much of an A, but if I give them a C, their going to be all the kid got a C in homeschool?! Give them straight A's. The colleges are going to look at their SAT, essays, and such more than their mom given GPA, kwim? I'm more worried about them getting the right amount of hours for a credit, the right number of credits to graduate, their ability to write a kickbutt essay, and being ready for the SAT. If you haven't already looked at some University homeschool entrance requirements, do it. You'll see that a lot of them really don't care about homeschool grades.

 

Thanks.  This makes me feel better.

[Momling]

I grade entirely on assessments, not on daily work. I give quizzes for geography, math, history, chemistry and French. I don't bother grading English... though I might when we do a unit study.

The geography and French quizzes come from their textbooks, the math is the chapter review, I create quizzes / tests for chemistry and history.

[EndOfOrdinary]

If your have a subject like English which could encompass multiple areas, you can weight their grades on each component. This is what most public schools, and many colleges do. Something like participation 5%, Tests 50%, essays 20%, homework 10%, quizzes 15%.

 

We do this only it is with the categories of Grammar 20%, Composition 20%, Analysis 45%, and Discussion/oratory 15%. Grammar are the grades given on the 18 chapter tests in the grammar book. Composition is the organization and conventions of his essays (the direct usage of the grammar book in practice). Analysis is the depth of thought and ability to explain or lay out those thoughts in a clear, concise manner. Discussion is the practical application of the analysis or the delivery of speeches.

 

My husband is an English teacher, so when he grades my son's papers the rubric is broken down into the categories. The one hour consultation about the paper is the discussion component. In this way, each essay is taken into separate parts which encompass the major points we want our son to be able to walk away with from English. It safe guards against one bad paper being the killer of his entire grade by allowing the different functions of the paper to stand alone, as well as providing direct feedback to strengths and weaknesses. Most importantly, it provides a breakdown of why he received the grades he did. I cannot inflate a transcript.

 

The category breakdown can be done for any subject.

Math: tests, discussion, analysis of problem, projects/practical application

History: essay analysis, discussion, projects/tests, contemporary or personal connections

Science: Labs, discussion or presentation, qualitative analysis, tests

Foreign Language: discussion/usage, written assignments, tests, projects/cultural knowledge

 

This is a very simple way to make just about any style fit into something directly measurable.. Even if you unschooled your student, they are doing something. You can make the categories anything that works for your life and your student.