Transcript Grading Special Education Students

Grading Special Education Students
Elementary, Middle School, and High School
Ages 5 - 17
“Research suggests that grading practices vary
considerably among schools and among teachers
in the same school, despite attempts in many
schools to build in more consistency and
predictability.”
http://www.greatschools.net/LD/school-learning/grading-students-with-ieps.gs?content=1018&page=all
Definitions
• An accommodation is a change in the course, standard, test
preparation, location, timing, scheduling, expectation, student
response, or other attributes that provides access for a student with
a disability to participate in a course, standard or test, and it does
not fundamentally alter or lower the standard or expectation of the
course, standard or test.
• A modification is a change in the course, standard, test
preparation, location, timing, scheduling, expectation, student
response, or other attribute that provides access for a student with a
disability to participate in a course, standard or test, and it does
fundamentally alter or lower the standard or expectation of the
course, standard or test.
http://www.cde.ca.gov/sp/se/sr/promoretntn.asp
Ethical Positions: Aligning with Institution
Grading
“Inflating grades is a bad idea...” Mandi, http://www.ldonline.org/xarbb/topic/14897
Every student should be held to the same standards regardless of disabilities.
Grading systems are in place to measure all students’ knowledge and skills. A
student’s grade should not reflect that accommodations have been made.
Accommodations are to provide students with disabilities an equitable chance to learn
and participate within general education.
Grading students only on effort and participation along with failing grades may
mislead both the student and parents. An unrealistic view of students skills and future
goals becomes likely. It can also hide a student’s true ability level and their areas of
improvement.
If modifications have been made to the curriculum of any course, it is important
that a student’s grade should reflect his/her achievement in the modified curriculum.
This can only exist as long as modified grades are made available to all. Any
modifications should be recorded in an IEP and be connected to the disability.
Automatically giving modified grades to all special education students would be
discriminatory and potentially violate Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973.
Ethical Positions: Aligning with Student Need
“An accommodation levels the “playing field” for those students, and
that though they may feel that it is unfair to the other students it is truly
their only way to have success in the classroom.”
Jennifer Fleming, http://www.ldonline.org/xarbb/topic/14897
How can an orange be compared to an apple and graded fairly based
on color and taste? When teachers use a “one-size-fits-all” grading system
without accommodations, students with disabilities can be left feeling
inadequate. Traditional competitive grading systems allow students a
chance to show effort and completion of assignments, but often fail students
when they take tests. Low grades negatively affect their self-esteem, cause
frustration and a loss of motivation.
Teachers should take into consideration what success looks like for a
student with special needs. Grades should be based on that success and
performance as defined by the student working to the best of his/her
abilities. Effort and participation should also be evaluated. Accommodations
and modifications are key to leveling the assessment playing field. A grading
system should be fair to each student. A teacher can maintain fairness with
grading by meeting individual needs through teaching and assessment.
Grading modifications can be made by either changing the methods for
assessment of redefining what the “grade” means.
A fair grading system . . .
• provides opportunities for high grades to be earned
• provides meaningful grades that reflect experiences
in the classroom
• includes flexibility as needed to meet individual
needs
• an equitable grading system
• maintains high student accountability even when a
grading system is individualized
• accurately matches grades to performance, even
when accommodations are implemented
Suggestions: grading adaptations
•
provide accommodations for assessments routinely used for classroom instruction. Do not give an assessment
accommodation for the first time on the day of a test.
•
prioritizing of content and related assignments for grading.
•
considering student effort when calculating a grade.
•
considering how well the student uses "processes" to complete his or her work.
•
basing part of the grade on the student's progress on IEP objectives.
•
considering improvement over past performances.
•
changing the weights that certain types of assignments count toward the grade or altering the grading scale used
to assign letter grades.
•
collaborate with the special needs teacher when assessing knowledge and skills.
•
missing or incomplete work is a common issue in all classrooms. Giving a student a zero for missing assignments
can drag down down the cumulative grade. A zero does not accurately reflect the amount of actual learning that
has occurred. Develop a policy that allows for make-up work so that students credit for turning in missing work.
•
differentiated assessment is an opportunity for students with learning disabilities to demonstrate their learning in
other ways than a traditional test.
•
providing formative (e.g., quizzes, laboratories) as well as summative (e.g., tests) assessments
Suggestions: IEP
•
know and understand students’ goals and accommodations on the IEP’s.
•
any discussion of a student with an IEP regarding his/her low or failing
grades should identify specifically the skills for which the student receives
the lowest grades. Accommodations in conjunction with the skill should be
evaluated for appropriateness.
•
parents, teachers, and students with IEP’s should have an understanding of
what the accommodations and modifications are in regards to grading.
•
the use of different, individualized grading procedures, based on modified
goals or standards, is legal only when such procedures are documented in
the IEP.
•
special grading procedures cannot be made for individual students (without
an IEP) unless the same procedures are made available to all students in
the class, otherwise, it becomes illegal.
Suggestions: Assignments
• multiple types of assignments designed to allow students
to demonstrate learning in different ways.
• blending extended assignments such as projects with inclass assessments, i.e. tests.
• providing an ample number of assignments and
assessments throughout the grading period.
• modifying the amount of reading that is needed to
complete the assignment.
• modifying the way in which the student will complete the
assignment or assessment (i.e, written, oral).
Resources
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National Association of Special Education Teachers. (2007). Series I - Step-by-Step Guide - Part
VIII: Grading Students with Special Needs. http://www.naset.org/2393.0.html
California department of education. (2009). Promotion, Retention, and Grading: Frequently asked
questions from the field regarding the promotion, retention, and grading of students with
disabilities. http://www.cde.ca.gov/sp/se/sr/promoretntn.asp
Multiple authors. (2008). Teaching Students with LD and ADHD: Grading special education
students. http://www.ldonline.org/xarbb/topic/14897
Munk, D. (2005) An Introduction to Grading.http://www.specialconnections.ku.edu/cgibin/cgiwrap/specconn/main.php?cat=assessment&section=main&subsection=grading/main
Munk, D. (2008). Fair and Equitable Grading Practices for Students With LD Who Have IEPs.
http://www.greatschools.net/LD/school-learning/grading-students-withieps.gs?content=1018&page=all
National Association of Special Education Teachers. (2007). Series I - Step-by-Step Guide - Part
VIII: Grading Students with Special Needs. http://www.naset.org/2393.0.html
Office of Superintendant of Public Instruction. (2008). Washington State’s Accommodations
Guidelines for Students with Disabilities. http://www.k12.wa.us/default.aspx