About five years ago I found myself deeply engaged in a school-wide discussion on assessment practices. As the discussion continued, I found myself wondering:

• Why couldn’t standards-based reporting work at the high school level? 

• What would happen if I gave students multiple opportunities to demonstrate mastery of a standard?  

• Could this be the key to shifting students’ mindset from getting a good grade to focusing on learning the Spanish language? 

There were so many questions. 

Additionally, I wanted to effect change in the students’ mindsets from learning Spanish to fulfill a requirement to enhancing their options in the world after high school, whether that be in the workforce, military, or college/university setting.

Then, as if the stars were in alignment, that summer, an email from the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction offered an amazing opportunity: “Teachers, do you want to improve your teaching practice? Improve your students’ performance? Do you want to do this while earning CEUs and remaining in your classroom? We invite you to join the NC Action Research Network and conduct ‘real-time’ research in your classroom.” 

This was perfect! The journey began!

The steps I followed

• Research, research, and more research! I discovered leaders in the field of assessment such as Rick Wormeli, Ken O’Connor, Alfie Kohn, Mark Barnes, and others. Then I found Starr Sackstein’s Hacking Assessment: 10 Ways to Go Gradeless in a Traditional Grades School. This book resonated with me because it included step-by-step instructions that I could immediately implement in the classroom.

• Parents received a letter outlining the new grading procedures during Open House at the beginning of the school year, and the same letter was posted online in PowerSchool Learning.

• Students were introduced to how the new approach to assessment, grading, and reporting would be applied in class during the first weeks of the first quarter. 

  • Students received narrative feedback in place of traditional percentage grades on all formative and summative assessments from the teacher, their peers, and themselves. Students were also given direct instruction on how to give meaningful feedback.

  • Students organized all work in a portfolio labeled with the standards addressed during the quarter.  Students kept a progress tracker within their portfolio to keep up with all of the standards, assignments, feedback, and strategies used throughout the quarter. They could also keep an e-Portfolio within PowerSchool Learning if they chose to.

  • I tracked student progress toward meeting the standards in my PowerSchool Learning Standards-based Gradebook instead of recording traditional percentage grades in the PowerTeacher GradeBook. Students also brought home standards-based progress reports.

• At mid-quarter and at the end of the quarter, the student and I would discuss their progress towards meeting the standards as well as determine the sole traditional percentage grade to be recorded.

Standards and assessment

I started with the focus standards from the North Carolina Standard Course of Study/World Language Essential Standards for each thematic unit. Standards are assessed on the three modes of communication: interpersonal, interpretive, and presentational. Below is an example of the first unit of study in my Level-2 Spanish course. The priority objectives are highlighted and those are the objectives that must be taught within the unit. Presentational and interpersonal assessments were assessed using the PALS Level-2 Analytic Writing and Speaking Rubrics.

As my district required me to give numerical grades, I used the following 4-point scale: A = 4 (Excelling), B = 3 (Meeting), C = 2 (Approaching), D or below = 1 (Beginning). I converted the ratings on the PALS rubrics to fit my 4-point scale in order to transfer numeric grades on assessments into the grade book. EE = Excelling (4), ME = Meeting (3), AME = Approaching (2), and DNME = Beginning (1). Interpretive assessments were scored in this manner as well. The number grades 1-4 were only inserted in the gradebook while narrative feedback (audio or written) was recorded on all assessments.  

Below are reflections from students in a Spanish 2 class about their experience with this style of grading. As I read their reflections, I grouped them into categories or themes that kept coming up. Each number represents a student and what they thought about each part of the process.  

That was then…this is now! 

After my action research, I went on to lead several professional development sessions on my work, and our district has implemented standards-based approach in grades K-2. There are now ongoing conversations at the district level about mastery grading.

Now at a different high school, I’m fortunate to have the support of my administration to maintain my grading practices, although a few things have changed. Due to the pandemic, we were in a hybrid model for the rest of the school year. I have given more feedback verbally, either in real time or recorded in our new LMS, Canvas. Students record my verbal feedback on their progress trackers. I converted the mid- and end-of-quarter conferences to Google Form reflections with the option to also meet face-to-face via Zoom. 

Students also receive a traditional percentage grade mid-quarter as well as at the end of the quarter. To be clear these grades are not averaged; the end-of-quarter grade replaces the mid-quarter grade. 

During the pandemic, I have really struggled to give timely feedback. Everything has taken such a long time to create, follow through, and facilitate. But just when I felt like this approach to assessment and feedback was just too hard to maintain, one student gave me the inspiration to continue.

Here is what she said:

I think this method of grading is extremely effective in not only seeing my growth as a student but also in encouraging me to improve in areas where I need to. It allows me to see how and where I can improve without worrying about an arbitrary number that the system has calculated, and it considers the fact that I am human, and that I make mistakes. This also allows me to assess myself based on how well I think I have done, and what grade I feel I deserve based on that. For these reasons, I think more teachers should adopt this grading practice with their students.

—11th grader Parkland Magnet High School

You may feel that maybe jumping all into this approach seems overwhelming, but my suggestion is to start small: 

• Focus on one class  

• Try taking one assessment and using narrative feedback instead of a percentage

• Confer with your students at least once a quarter

• Keep evidence of your students’ progress over time via portfolios 

• Start having conversations with your administration to see what you can implement

Most of all, keep an open mind, be flexible, and know that the process of reforming your assessment and grading practices will change over time, and that’s okay! The growth you see in your students—as well as yourself—is well worth the journey.

Rhonda Higgins is an IB Spanish teacher at Parkland Magnet High School in Winston Salem, NC. She is also a married mother of three daughters—17 years, 5 years, and 8 months old. When not in the classroom, Rhonda enjoys long-distance running and spending quality time with her family.