Grades (cue ominous music)

Ah, grades.  I don’t know a single teacher who likes grading or doesn’t find it problematic.  So, what are we to do?  (Other than flee to the sanctuary of institutions such as Evergreen State College?) While many teachers would like to do away with grades altogether, the reality of our situations demand that we find a way to grade that leaves as good a taste in our mouths as possible.  Throughout the course of our discussions about grading, assessment, and rubrics I’ve begun to clarify a few things I currently believe about assessment in a writing classroom:

1. Students should receive only a few grades.  In a university quarter system, perhaps four during the term.  If I don’t want students to focus heavily on grades, I can’t grade every piece of writing they do.
2. A bulk of the course grade should be weighted in a final portfolio.  If I believe that students will learn and improve their writing over a quarter, I should place the greatest value on that improved writing.
3. Giving few grades does not preclude a great deal of feedback over the course of the quarter—from the instructor, from peers, and from the students themselves.  This feedback should be ongoing; it is my goal that students learn how to assess their own writing.
4. Rubrics can be incredibly helpful tools for instructors and students in facilitating learning and fair assessment.  In the past, I have given students rubrics about a week before a final draft was due.  After our discussions at NIWP and reading Heidi Goodrich Andrade’s article “Teaching With Rubrics: The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly,” I plan to revise my practice.  Andrade advocates using rubrics as an instructional tool:  they help clarify goals for the entire class, including the teacher. She (and Rodney) also advocate creating the rubrics in collaboration with students.  Assessment is more meaningful and helpful in learning if students are invested in the assessment.  Also, there is no reason students can’t assess their own writing and their peers’ writing using the same rubrics the teacher will.  If students have practice in applying a rubric, it will be more meaningful and more transparent to them.
5. I should always strive to be as transparent as I possibly can with my students.  My various assessments (including grades) should not be processes and judgments shrouded in mystery, but rather part of a dialogue about their writing (both process and product).