See here for a printable version of the above graphic.

The graphic is from A Repair Kit for Grading: 15 Fixes for Broken Grades by Ken O’Connor. This book is one of my favorites as it is a quick read that deals with just the nuts and bolts of standards-based assessment and grading practices. The 15 fixes serve as the basis for the book.

As a classroom teacher, I was never on the receiving end of formal professional development on standards-based assessment and grading practices. It was not until I became an administrator when I decided to educate myself on the topic. As I soon found out, there were glaring discrepancies between my practices and the research in several books on assessment and grading. In fact, I had committed many of the classic mistakes cited in these books: averaging grades, grading group work, forcing students to adhere to strict deadlines when handing in assignments, giving zeros, etc.

I have also found, many educators never receive formal professional development on standards-based assessment and grading practices. But we must educate ourselves beyond our classroom experiences. If we do not, we are doing our students a disservice by potentially grading them the same way we were graded when we were students, which, of course, can be problematic. Looking back, there are several changes I would make to my assessment and grading practices if I were to return to the classroom as a teacher.