Reflection 3.

2
Standards-based grading ensured that my assessment was always clearly
connected to the learning targets. When students would complete an essay,
that grade would be broken down into expectations for various standards like
conventions, organization, and reasoning. Arbitrary points or a letter grade
were never marked on student work. Instead, students were assessed based on
their ability to meet target expectations on a 4 point scale. A 3 indicated
meeting the target, a 4 exceeded the target. A 1 indicated the student was far
off, a 2 designated that they were close to meeting the target. Students who
turned in incomplete work received a .4 for insufficient evidence. Missing work
was a 0. Sometimes expectations for each standard were articulated to
students on the assignment. Other times a rubric was used to indicate what
kind of work falls into each number on the scale. I feel like this method of
assessment was effective because I could see data about specific skills in my
grade book and how students grew in each skill over time. This was also helpful
for guiding my instruction because the standards aligned with the Colorado
Academic State Standards, ensuring that all student work was connected to
state expectations.
To monitor student progress, I often assigned practice work before larger
final assessments. If not many students reached the target in the first practice,
that was expected. However, the next practice should show growth, and the
final assessment should demonstrate the students personal bests so far. Minor
variations in this pattern are not concerning, but larger dips in success can
indicate an inconsistent understanding, a lack of support from me, or perhaps
minimal effort from the student. Providing students with time to review
feedback or revise work is one way to amend this problem. This might happen
on an individual level or on a whole class level if many students did not reach a
target they were expected to.
Students were involved with their own assessment through self and peer
checks of work before final drafts were due. Sometimes they used checklists or
rubrics to rate their own work. They also participated in peer critiques to help
others improve. Furthermore, I had students check their grades in class after a
practice assignment was complete in order to assess themselves before their
next practice (Was my work quality? Do I need to improve? How can I improve
next time?).
Assessments are often in the form of written work such as essays,
graphic organizers, poems, or responses to questions. Sometimes multiple
choice questions are used in reading assessments. Some alternative
assessments include keeping track of notes on Padlet and providing peers with
feedback. Formative assessments such as exit tickets or listening in on table-
talk conversations were also used to give students regular feedback. In these
instances, feedback was addressed to the class as whole. Looking at
anonymous student work as a class was also useful for providing whole class
formative feedback. These samples often showcased common strengths and
struggles of the class as a whole.