For teachers: my example documents are now unrestricted!
Oops, rookie mistake 🤦♀️ Below is the copied text with teacher tips & corrected links 🤓
To teachers:
So I have approximately infinite ideas to share here, but I will try to be brief (not my strong suit 😆). (Reach out to me on Instagram or on the Substack chat available below if you want to start a follow-up dialogue—I look forward to hearing from you!)
To improve our grading practice (in all academic work), I think we need to break grading up into a few separate goals:
Provide feedback on student work to support future growth
Assess students’ current level of achievement/competency in particular skills
Communicate students’ level of effort on the assignment, as demonstrated by their completion of all requirements and timeliness of submission
Here’s my key trick to increasing the efficiency and effectiveness of grading writing: make feedback an iterative process throughout the assignment timeline. Then, the summative grade at the end of the process need not be laden with feedback and can instead summarize growth targets for future assignments.
Here are my suggested steps for this “new and improved” iterative feedback loop and targeted summative grading:
Establish a clear rubric at the start of the assignment. I recommend the “three-column rubric” (example of my own rubric). This style of rubric is more effective than the traditional grid rubric (publicly available example) because students need only read one description of how to meet expectations for each component of the task. In addition, a three-column rubric allows flexibility in nuanced assignment of points for each category, along with the opportunity to briefly and holistically document why you made each choice (emphasis on brief!). Finally, it sets “meets expectations” as below 100% (I choose 90%), which allows growth targets beyond expectations. Order the categories of the rubric in a logical grading order for you: I like to start with the overarching ideas (thesis/topic sentence), move to evidence/analysis, and end with organization/style/mechanics.
Establish a scaffolded writing process that meets the needs of the group. At a minimum, establish guidelines and a timeline for: brainstorming, outlining, drafting, and revising. Depending on the age/ability of students, brainstorming & outlining templates are very helpful (example of an outline for a first writing assignment in 7th grade history).
Use class time for the writing process throughout middle school and high school. I know “work periods” are anathema to many educators, but hear me out. First, in the age of ChatGPT, do we honestly think most students will resist this temptation when writing at home? Second, do we honestly think all students will pace themselves appropriately when working at home? My experience is that without strict guidance, procrastination is the norm. Third, class is where highly-effective iterative feedback happens. When all students receive a clear directive for how to use class time, they will lock in on that task, especially if the teacher plays calming, wordless music. Then, the teacher can circulate to each student to provide real-time feedback. I like to speak my comments while typing them into the students’ docs (spelling/grammar errors accepted as a sacrifice for speed). Then, the students can immediately integrate those comments into their work-in-progress drafts.
When it comes time to grade the work, move swiftly through each rubric, category by category. I recommend jumping around rather than reading the assignment linearly, using your established rubric category order. Do not write any comments in the document at this point; the students won’t integrate this feedback (see step 3 for when to comment in the document). Write terse comments in the rubric to justify your assignment of points above/below the standard, and summarize briefly your overall impression of the assignment and growth targets for the student.
Set a standard for the grading protocol for late work. I tend to be quite flexible given students’ circumstances (e.g. sickness or family/extracurricular commitments) yet also hold students accountable if they are simply procrastinating. I use decreasing grades based on late submission as a last resort.
Set a standard for if/when you will allow post-grading revision and how you will regrade revised work. I usually allow revision for scores under 70% and average the former and latter scores in order to accurately document their initial challenges and additional effort.
Require a metacognitive reflection (“thinking about thinking”) right when you return the grades, and then ask the students to review this reflection at the start of the next assignment (reflection example—for a Google form, make sure to send responses to students’ emails using the settings menu).
If you are interested in learning more about how to actually implement this system efficiently, stay tuned for my professional development course, which will launch sometime this summer or fall. I have very specific protocols for duplicating documents, sharing feedback, etc., that are too nuanced for a newsletter.
And, please do reach out with comments and questions! If you share on our substack chat (below) every reader of the newsletter can see and respond to your questions/ideas!