Grading Exceptional and Struggling Learners

by Lee Ann Jung, Thomas R. Guskey

A powerful model for helping struggling students succeed How can you ensure that you are grading your exceptional students fairly? Teachers receive very little guidance for grading students with disabilities, English learners, and those receiving services through a response-to-intervention (RTI) process. This practitioner-friendly book provides an effective framework for assigning grades that are accurate, meaningful, and legally defensible. The authors’ easy-to-follow, five-step standards-based inclusive grading model helps teachers:  

Genres: Education

128 pages, Paperback

First published September 28, 2011

Reviews

[Tina McLaughlin · Rating 4 out of 5]

My biggest fear in transitioning to competency-based education is how it will impact our struggling learners. This little book gave me the answers I need to move forward in our school’s grading and reporting discussion this year. It gives a clear and effective model for separating students’ product, process, and progress including specific guidelines on accommodations vs modifications and how to clarify the reporting and transcripts procedure. As a parent and an educator, I can see the positive impact this information could have on our students and their families. I recommend this book to other educators who may feel conflicted with what each grade truly means to our struggling learners.

[Kelly · Rating 4 out of 5]

Short but full of practical advice and strategies, this book focuses on how to make standards-based grading (competencies) work for all learners. I appreciate the sample report cards and the mandate that schools must determine what the purpose of a report card is and who the intended audience is. With particular focus on special education students, this book offers guidance for many of the questions we have at my school.

I like the emphasis on reporting on product, process, and progress and the need to be very clear about what we are assessing and why. The chapter on accommodations and modifications clearly demonstrates the differences between the two and provides structure and suggestions for assessing and reporting.

I am grateful for how the authors provide guidance for the many stakeholders and how all of these groups need to be heard and have something to offer.

This would be a great all-school read.

[Nicole · Rating 4 out of 5]

While I already use standards-based grading, my grade level team and I always have lots of questions on how to best assess the learning of students significantly below grade level as well as a variety of struggling learners. This book was a great conversation starter filled with some great ideas. I look forward to working with my team and creating a more clear plan for assessing all students next year.

[Rebecca · Rating 4 out of 5]

Quick and easy - mostly review but gave me a few new things to think about. My main complaint is that it did not discuss ¨exceptionial¨ except at the very end where it said - oh yeah, you could do the same for those kids too. Definitely targeted SpEd & ENL accomodations vs. modifications.

[Kat O · Rating 3 out of 5]

This made me think about a few things...and I went looking for report card sample immediately. Shout out to New Hampshire. looks like they really got it going on! :)

I was left wanting more concrete examples of how teachers weight their grading categories, however, to help me in an immediate sense. I'm in a district that is not doing report cards based on competency, process or progress. We are grading (arbitrarily often) on product only. On a 100% scale which is very typical, and we are not even making notations on report cards are transcripts about modified curriculum. This is giving a false impression to students, parents, and colleges who read the transcripts. It would be nice to have some more guidance around this and take the time as a district to evaluate our practices based on some of the research as well as other districts in the area (and other states) who spearheaded changes to their grading system.

I will also say that I found several (grammar) mistakes in the book which really annoys me. I can't believe that some people can get published so easily and editors are so lazy when this is supposed to be educational research that we should be taking seriously.

[Mary · Rating 3 out of 5]

I really liked the ideas and examples presented about how to grade fairly and clearly, however, not all the changes would be ones that I alone could make as a teacher. Report cards need to change to be more meaningful, clear, and tied to standards.

[Mar · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.5. Based mainly on standards in the USA, but still helpful for Canadian Educators. I especially appreciated chapters 4 and 5 which distinguished between modifications and accommodations.