Grading, Assessment and Learning

Engagement in action.

I started this school year knowing that my grading methods were less than perfect. Up until now I've based grades mainly on student's reflective blog posts. Enlightening to read and easy to access, blogs worked well for grading - except for when it didn't.  I noticed that the students who were the best writers, not the best art students, were earning the highest grades.

​We live in a imperfect world and grades are part of it, a part that is deeply important to students as they think about their education beyond high school. 

The challenge with grades is to find a way to make them valuable as an accurate reflection of the learning and growth that takes place during a child's time with me.
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So, who should earn an A in art? 

Grading reflection and growth is important, but it leaves out an important element: how students operate in the classroom. Do they just participate, going through the motions that are expected of them, or do they connect to the work? That connection is what I'm looking for, which is why I'm adding engagement to my grades. I'm defining it as enthusiastic participation in tasks and work. It will be graded weekly and account for around 20% of the final grade. ​

I'll still grade student reflections, but I'm including presenting and conferences with me as additional options. Some students are just blog-averse, which impacts their grades. Kids should write and do all sorts of things, like be on time to and eat their vegetables, but not all of them do. Making all of my students successful is my job and providing a range of choices helps me do that for more of them, so expanding options for reflection makes sense. 

Presenting unit artwork.

Engaged in group work.

Between providing choices for reflection and grading engagement I hope to come up with grades that truly capture the learning that's happening in my classroom.  To earn an A, students should be invested in learning and participate with commitment. They should also be able to analyze what they've learned through the art-making process and share the work they've created. I'd like my class to be about making art for art's sake; hopefully this new grading process helps me get closer to that ideal.