Assessments, Assessments Everywhere, but not a Test to Grade?

Originally written 4/14/14 for my Masters of Education in Teaching in Learning Classes

After attending the Spring Conference yesterday my mind has been overflowing with new thoughts and ideas.  The two sessions that were probably the most thought provoking were the ones on whether homework should be graded and then the use of Standards Based Grading.  In keeping with the spirit of those discussions I read an article written by Dan Meyer called "How Math Must Assess".  Grading in such a hot button topic right now, I think even more so in Math classes.  Do we allow students to retest? Do we make them? Are students at all motivated?  Are we doing them a disservice by allowing them to retake tests?  Should homework be graded when we say that it is just practice?  If we don't grade it will the students actually do it?

I found this article very interesting as he approaches grading more from a standards based approach, but that he in a way created his own standards.  However, one thing he talked about was the stress and all the material that is thrown at a student on a test, and that they often make it difficult to pinpoint where problems are.  They are also very time consuming, especially if we are allowing students to retake tests for better grades.  His approach is assigning each skill a 4 point value and only testing on one or two skills at a time.  Students can go back and reassess (using a much smaller, quicker assessment) to improve their scores at anytime, always taking and keeping their highest score.  Once they have shown mastery of the skill a couple of times it is checked off as completed and the student does not need to worry about being assessed on it again.

He stated that students in his classes are much more motivated to retest and get the help that they need because the pieces are much more manageable and they can easily see where they need additional help.  Is it the correct approach and the final answer?  Probably not because methods are always adjusting and improving, but something that might definitely be worth checking out.