FIAE Chapter 14

In this chapter, report cards while using differentiated grading is discussed. Because many report cards are designed mainly by focusing clearly on the grade and less on the growth or mastery gained, communicating differentiated grading is difficult. The best suggestion that this chapter offers is to focus on the objective of the reporting system, which is to communicate mastery of the student on the desired essential understandings. Without a comment section or the ability to mark the rubric with indication of notes, than the rubrics becomes less worthwhile because there is simply a report of the composite grade with no indication of mastery. This becomes particularly important when working with a student who has an adjusted curriculum. When a student is reported of having a high grade, but has not mastered the same content as the other students, the grade isn't reflecting the mastery of the same standards, but this doesn't mean that their mastery is any less significant. This is just something that needs to be noted for future reference, so that other educators, parents, and most importantly students know that they are still mastering important content, but that they still have some work to meet the standard. This goes back to the idea of weighted grade. If a student is still getting the same amount of mastery, but different material, they are still worthy of the same grade. This also relates to the confusion one   might have when attempting to grade on multiple subjects in one assessment. In the previous chapter it makes a good point of discussing that using gradebooks as representation of grades in the different topics instead of the different assessments it creates a more accurate depiction of the student's mastery.

FIAE Chapter 13

Chapter 13 strictly discusses discovering the gradebook format that works best for your differentiated classroom. As the book so wonderfully states, "Flexibility, not rigidity, enables trees to withstand the changing winds; it's good advice for our gradebooks as well." This statement is a great way to be introduced to when thinking about gradebook formats. Using gradebooks to focus on the standards in which the student was assessed, instead of the assessment itself makes gradebooks more worthwhile, especially for reporting services. It helps make it easier to understand which topics each student hasn't fully mastered in relation to the standards, not to the percentages of what each assessment they completed. Once again, this goes back to the idea of differentiated instruction. Differentiated instruction is teaching everyone the same objectives but using different methods to get there. If you use a gradebook in the way that the book is suggesting, then differentiated instruction is being supported in the gradebook as well as in the learning process in the classroom. After all, how else are you supposed to actually use differentiate instruction if you aren't using it in assessment and grading? As the book also mentions creating a gradebook this way allows the teacher to weight their categories for each student for a more accurate representation of the student's mastery. The chapter also suggests using a median or mode as a more accurate representation of reporting a composite grade for an individual student, rather than using the mean when there is a higher difference in scores.

FIAE Chapter 12

In chapter 12 of Fair Isn't Always Equal, it discusses the difference of smaller grading scales and larger grading scales. The main argument of this chapter is that using smaller grading scales is more useful for depicting an accurate grade. It moves away from the exact percentages that come from using a large grading scale. Larger grading scales seem to only really be beneficial when it comes to calculating a class ranking, which is going against differentiating by supporting the grade over the learning. Using a smaller grading scale also allows the teacher to grade on knowledge gained or used, rather than the content, because it helps to create rubrics that are moving away from just getting the correct answer. Instead, these rubrics focus on the multiple variables that relate to the objectives of the lesson. By doing this teachers are now able to effectively communicate to the student what they've mastered and what they haven't. It also allows the teacher to assess what needs to be reintegrated into the following lesson, or what the class as a whole isn't understanding.

Another suggestion in this chapter is to work with abstract ideas of grading scales, moving past the typical association with letter grades or converting other grades into letter grades. Using things like 3.0, 5.0, or 6.0 scales help move students, parents and teachers away from those old relationships, that once again, focus more on the grade than the learning, even if not intentionally. Other ways to use grading scales in this fashion are to come up with descriptors that go something like A, B, C, and "not yet achieved." With these descriptors the students understand that failing isn't in the equation and it clearly communicates that anything below a C is not worthy of  a true grade. I think this related back to the previous chapter's conclusion that putting in a 60 is better than a zero. Instead of thinking of a product as a failed piece, it is just considered incomplete.

FIAE Chapter 11

In this chapter of Fair Isn't Always Equal it discussing six of the major grading issues. Included in these is the issue on whether or not to record a zero in the gradebook or to give nothing lower than a certain percent, such as a sixty. Personally, until I read this chapter, I didn't really understand why a student shouldn't receive a zero for any assignment not completed. However, once the understanding is made that any zero would result in skewing the final grade lower than the actual accomplishment of the student. In all actuality, using zeroes in the  decreases the accuracy of the gradebook, and therefore practically defeats the purpose of using percentages in the first place.
Another issue that I changed my opinion on after reading this chapter was weighted grades. In all reality weighting grades doesn't really benefit the student, the teacher, the parents or the school. Weighted grades tend to be used in classes that are considered for more advanced. Although this seems logical at first, when considering a differentiated classroom and what grades mean in one, it isn't. Grades are meant to representative of mastery of material. If students are mastering the same amount of material but at a more advanced level, then that doesn't constitute for weighted grades. Weighted grades would only make sense in courses where students are learning a vastly larger amount of material, which wouldn't exactly be fair to any students. Just because students are working at a more advanced level doesn't mean that they should be expected to do more work, they should be expected to do the same amount.

FIAE Chapter 10

In chapter 10, redoing work and receiving full credit for it is discussed.

Policies about redoing work should go under careful consideration. Not because they shouldn’t be allowed, but just because there are many ways to allow redone work that doesn’t fully benefit the student. The best policy to have is to understand that students want the same courtesy that a teacher, as an adult, would expect, but to also understand that, because the student isn’t an adult they do need regulations, and a plan on how to redo the work. I can say from personal experience that I understand how difficult it is to try and make up work when you’re battling a sickness, and teachers are responding to your cries for help. I do believe that redoing work can be beneficial, but I also believe that it should be done within a timely manner so that the student is able to move forward and benefit from the next assignments on the agenda. I also think that if a student is behind in work, or if they can’t seem to master the work assigned, assessing their understanding through conversation is one of the best ways. It keeps students comfortable and less stressed about a grade and allows them to focus on what they really know. It’s harder for the teacher to assess if they’re comparing it to concrete evidence from other students, but the crucial part is that the student has proved that they have mastered the material.  

FIAE Chapter 9

This chapter focused on the things not to do when incorporating differentiation into grading. I found this chapter really helpful, because it is confusing on how to combine differentiation with assessing students.

One concept that I really took away from this chapter was confabulation. I can recall countless times when this has appeared in my life, through my own ignorance and through talking to people with a clear lack of understanding. It’s funny to me that even though I’ve been confronted with this again and again, I still didn’t fully understand it. In some ways I believe that this happened from signals in our brain being crossed, or maybe subconsciously we were being bothered by something, or maybe we simply couldn’t recall things because of outside factors. I didn’t fully grasp that this occurs from not fully understanding something, and this makes a huge difference when dealing with secondary education level students. These students are ones who are low on self-esteem and high in pride, so it is only natural that they are going to project that they’re an expert on things that they aren’t. Obviously, when looking at this from a teacher’s perspective, it becomes clear that “two of the greatest allies in the battle against confabulation are frequent assessment and revision of instruction” (117). If students are filling in missing critical details with their own inventions then assessment should reflect this. If a teacher uses frequent assessment they can more easily avoid it and then they can work on revising how to teach the missing information. I really thought that this was a helpful thing to think about when assessing students. 

FIAE Chapter 7

This chapter was really about learning about grading and what it really is.

I can honestly say that I had all these preconceived notions that rubrics were the best tool to use in a classroom and that they keep the bias out of grading, they help push students and motivate them to do better. After reading this chapter I am unconvinced. Though I still think that rubrics are a fabulous idea, I have to say that there is clearly always bias in any classroom, especially in grading. As teachers we give ourselves the right to judge other people and how biases can play into how we judge our students.

Making grades reflect less of our ideas of how well they’ve completed work it makes sense to “build their learning and achieve mastery throughout the grading period” (100). Making grades feedback instead of a finalization of the material helps create an atmosphere that cultivates learning. It can help students find motivation while keeping them on track. Feedback can give students something to think about, and it creates a respect between the teachers have with their students. If students feel like the teacher is giving them opportunities for improvement and is leaving the learning open ended, which feedback can do, it’s much more effective for the student. Showing students their improvement helps focus on the positive and lets the student know that teachers can appreciate the work that went into getting as far as the student did. As many teachers know from personal experiences, students are already really critical on themselves, so feedback can help boost their feeling of self-worth, while helping them see the things that need  improvement.