Policy Dilemma

I am not sure why I chose this photo for tonight’s blog entry. Maybe I’m tickled pink? Maybe not? Anyway, this is a picture of my kid when she was just a bub. Now, she is a full-fledged tween and has revamped her bedroom recently to reflect that. She did a great job on her room BTW. Never thought it would be possible, but obviously I’ve been proven wrong. I like that.

What’s my blog about tonight? I’ve been wrestling with marking some papers for a course I am teaching and I am struggling with the assessment and evaluation expectations of the course when I am teaching about assessment and evaluation as it relates to the new BC curriculum. I am fascinated with this pedagogical and philosophical struggle I am facing right now as it reminds me of one I had about 10 years ago implementing Assessment for Learning (AFL) in my secondary mathematics classroom. It is different. It is not aligned to current policies and practices. Thus, I am faced with a dilemma. To grade or not to grade?

Back then, I grappled with the notion of NOT writing an interim report for all of my classes. It’s one of our required documents to report out to parents and students. I had nothing. With AFL, it’s about formative assessment practices, not summative. As a result, I had no GRADES accumulated for my classes yet. Nothing. What was I to report out? Make something up? Grade work habits? Give marks while students were in the middle of the learning process? It just didn’t seem right, hence the dilemma. At the time, I was so turned around with AFL. Years before, I would mark everything. So much so that students did not believe I was “on their side.” I was more like the EDU-POLICE, spending my time collecting grades. I did not feel good about that and neither did the students. It’s about relationships and learning. In the end, I opted to send a letter home to parents about AFL and what I was doing in class. Students understood the process as well. Things really transformed for me back then.

So, I blog… still procrastinating the marking of these papers. These individuals have already transformed since the submission of these papers. Their excitement for the new BC curriculum and it’s possibilities have been heightened. Their practice is shifting. These learners are just beginning their transformation and I am absolutely stoked for them. But what about these papers? Will grading them now help them? Can I provide a holistic mark that reflects their understanding and learning as demonstrated in 10 pages or less? This is only a snapshot of where they were… and I wonder if “grades” should be reserved until the end. Maybe I would have felt better about this if they had handed in their papers for formative feedback only. My brain could rest a bit more easier then. It’s these “traditions” that require questioning. Not to be defiant, but what would best serve the student and his or her learning?

I am only thinking out loud with respect to my current work as an educator. The assessment and evaluation process is another form of teaching and learning. Even during the course, it was in my curious making when I asked the students to re-design, re-construct, or re-develop a new evaluation framework for the course that would best fit them in their learning. This was an uncomfortable and difficult question to answer. Responses ranged from YOU DECIDE (as the teacher) to let the STUDENTS DECIDE who are being graded (it’s not our problem). Tough topic… why? It’s deeply connected to our values, beliefs, and pedagogy. Next Sunday I will be co-moderating with @MsSallySong on #bcedchat ASSESSMENT and the New BC Curriculum. It will likely be a heated yet animated Twitter Chat, much like any other assessment and evaluation topic we have hosted before. To review it, question it, or possibly CHANGE IT seems almost deviant, defiant, or disrespectful. I would disagree.

This needs to be questioned. We need to look at ourselves and ask how we are serving students and their learning as we assess and evaluate. Are we helping them grow, learn, and thrive? Or are we managing, belittling, or (shall I say) harming them? What is the purpose of assessment and evaluation? Are we doing it? And, are we doing it well? What needs improvement? What could be done differently? This is where teachers in BC are struggling the most. Other questions like… How do we grade competencies? What will communicating student learning look like? What about provincial assessments? ... are on the forefront of teachers’ minds (generally). We are so deeply embedded in our TRADITIONAL reporting rituals and practices because that’s what we know, which in turn heavily influences how we teach and how students learn. Sigh. I will continue this deliberation and I have papers to mark. I still question, is it 20%, 30%, or 5% of their final mark? Does it really matter? What does that really reflect? And, will it be an A+, A, A-, B+, B, or B-? This is such intuitive work and I wonder if I am accurately “judging” their work with a number or letter.