Kate,
I am a follower of your blog and others who use SBG in their classrooms. This year I am implementing it with my Algebra classes this year for the first time with the hopes that next year I will be able to do it with my Pre-Algebra classes as well. I teach 8th grade in a middle school.
I love SBG. It is working very well, minus a few small issues that I am trying to address. Since I do not have a blog of my own (school district policy), I am resorted to emailing those that use SBG to find a solution to my issues. I hope that you are able to help, even though you are busy being a teacher yourself. If you are not, feel free to pass this along to anyone you think could provide me with some assistance.
Being a math teacher, I love lists:
1. Any suggestions for how to make creating reassessments easier? Even though I do not currently use it to help me, I have Examview available to me, but it is only organized by Chapter in the book, not skill and in order to find the skill I need I have to view ALL problems available for the chapter and weed out what isn't necessary. I haven't been able to find an easier way, which is why I don't use it. So then I am finding that my reassessments are mostly hand written and given to the students when they come in. I want a better way to organize my problems into skill electronically to use from year to year and I can't figure it out.
2. Since I teach middle school, specifically 8th grade, I found that by only keeping track of the highest score (in my hard copy and electronic gradebook), I have NO idea how many times a student has reassessed. Which causes three problems, one I don't know what specific reassessements per skill they have taken so they don't receive repeats, two I have no way to gauge their continual struggles if I don't know how many times they have taken a reassessment, which also prevents me from sharing that with a parent. With that information I feel I could have a great discussion with the student and parent about their comprehension of said skill. And three, I am finding that my students are just coming in to reassess over and over and not coming in to receive help BEFORE reassessing. I want to find a way to almost force them to come in for help, for example, before their fourth reassessment of a skill, they have to come in for additional help in that skill first. But then I have to keep track of that information somehow and I don't have enough spots in my gradebook. :)
3. Actual grading, I use the 5, 4, 3.5, 3, 2, 1, 0 scale with the 5 being two 4's. I sometimes struggle with what would receive a 3 or a 2. I only use 3.5 if a smaller mathematical and non-conceptual error is made, but the difference between a 3 and a 2 seems to be my gray area...I don't know how to decifer between the two.
Okay, I think that is it. Thank you for reading and if you can't address my questions, please forward them to someone you think could help!
How about 987 someones I think could help? Comment away.
32 comments:
1. I am still writing them out by hand. I agree it's a pain. But I like to look at their old quizzes and make sure the new question addresses their misunderstanding. I have dreams of writing my own questions using Examview. Also someone, I think it was Amber Caldwell but not totally sure, writes a whole stash of questions on index cards she can yank out at a moment's notice.
2. I haven't tried the program Shawn Cornally wrote because we're mandated to use mygradebook.com and the prospect of double accounting makes my head explode, but it sounds like you should give it a try. His blog is ThinkThankThunk and sorry I don't have a link but it should be easy to find if you poke around there.
3. I'm not sure someone else can answer this question for you. I use a 3 for "conceptual error" and a 2 for "wrote something correct but is still basically out to lunch."
I too am an 8th grade algebra teacher :)
1. When I write my original assessment, I make two versions. Usually I just change the numbers. One goes to male students the other to female students. That way I know who had which one. For reassessment, I just switch it. That at least gets me through the first time. After that I'm usually handwriting them too.
2. I really struggled with this too. This is what seems to be working for me right now. Students have a spread sheet with LTs listed on the left. As I return their assessment they record them in the correct LT row. Most current score is the one on the right and the one in the online gradebook. For my records I have a binder for each class. Each page is a learning target. I have the students' names on the left side and I record all their scores. Again the right most score is the most current. Ss have different numbers of assessments. Not perfect but not driving me crazy just yet :)
3. I use a 4 pt scale. 4 - I can do any problem successfully. 3 - I can do basic problems successfully. 2 - I can begin a problem but am unable to finish correctly. 1 - I understand what the problem is asking but do not have a strategy to begin. 0 - Do not understand the problem situation. I score a lot of 2s. I like the % translation the gradebook automatically does but I don't really have control over that right now.
I hope that helps a little bit. Good Luck!!!
i use examview too, and it has an option to view items by "list" i believe it is. then you put in the chapter, and you can search by "topic" which is all the objectives from the textbook listed out. they're the same concepts i use for my students, so it works out perfectly! if you don't use the book's "topic"s then you can search by keyword or state standard or whatever you like on that same screen.
i've heard the suggestion to use index cards, but i hate writing by hand, so i'll just type them up on a word document and print them out for my students right at my desk. it's handy to have a printer in your room. :)
1. Generating assessments is especially hard when a student is on her fourth try and you want a different way to test the skill each time. The practical solutions I found are limiting the rate of retries and requiring appointments a day ahead of time.
2. I'm writing software for exactly the purpose of supporting teachers like you. Please watch myblog for an announcement in the next couple of days - beta testing opens soon and I would love your feedback.
3. I also got confused in the whole 1-3 range. I found myself making it up, more or less, and that worked fine. Now I recommend just combining the whole range into a single number, so the scale goes 0-4. A two means what a three used to mean (mechanical errors), a zero means the student hasn't shown any evidence of any understanding, and a one is everything in between.
Good luck!
1. I write them out by hand and sometimes electronically. Yeah, it's a pain.
2. What I generally do is I don't hand back their requizzes. I do this for two reasons. 1) Then I can give the same requiz to a bunch of students and not worry that it's being passed around. So I basically have a round 1 requiz, a round 2 requiz, etc. And 2) That gives me a reminder of how many times each student has requizzed soemthing. I know that there's the disadvantage of the student not being to go over his or her mistakes, but for now it's a sacrifice I'm willing to make.
3) Nothing to say there.
I'm not using SBG (as the classes I teach at the grad level are not easily divided into separately assessable topics), so my suggestions are more theoretical than the result of practice.
1) Index the stock of questions yourself, in a separate document if you need to. This takes some time, but only once.
2) Always keep all grades, even if your final report is only a summary (max, most recent, average, decaying average, ...). Throwing out data is not the point of SBG, using it more wisely is.
three) Limit the number or timing of reassessments. The goal is to have them study, then show you that they have learned, not to give them many random shots. The students are just seeing it as a chance to make more points without work.
3) The scale is somewhat arbitrary. Give more points when students show more understanding, fewer points when they show less understanding. Don't pretend (to yourself or others) that it has any deeper meaning.
1. ??
2. As GSWOP said above, the whole point of SBG is not a way to give a grade, but rather a different way of thinking about information and feedback. Keeping only the highest grade subverts the intention of the philosophy, I think. I'm keeping a spreadsheet with various pages that index each students result on each question taken. This allows me (and the student) to see a running record of a students growth (or lack of it) in each topic. I'm trying to create a database to do this more cleanly and I'll post about that if I am successful.
3. I use a 0-3 scale, no decimals. For me four levels is the most I can differentiate any performance into. 0=no clue; 1=understood the question and part of the concept but had a signifigant skill/conceptual error; 2=clearly understood the concept/process/skill but had a pretty minor error; 3=nailed it.
Not a teacher yet, still an undergrad, but I've been thinking, researching, and writing a lot about SBG for my classes.
1. Organize problems by skill as you go through the chapter, and write them in a word-processing doc or something. Save the ones your write by hand, and at the end of every day type them up in the doc.
2. I'm creating a spreadsheet that you enter each new reassessment in, so no information is deleted, and it can automatically count the number of reassessments in each skill for the whole class. (and do a shit-ton of other things. It can give a 5 if the two previous assessments were 4s, for example.) It's not too difficult to program. Then you have to transfer it to the official book, which is annoying but simple.
Require them to remediate before reassessing. They have to show you what they've done before you allow them to reassess.
2. About getting them to get help:
When do they get to reassess? I'd do the following:
--the first reassessment is at a convenient time for the student
--second, third, fourth reassessments they have to stay after school for.
--if they reassess after school, they have to stick around after they finish the reassessment while you grade it it. Then you point out to them the parts where they are going wrong, and tell them what they need to do before they can reassess again.
Granted, it's after school time for you--don't do if it it's going to make you crazy, but it gets them to the required face time that you want.
oops... my post above should say I do not like the % the electronic gradebook gives :(
1. Any suggestions for how to make creating reassessments easier?
I type the assessments by hand, and then copy-paste and change numbers.
Since I teach Algebra 1 to students working WAAAY below grade level, I'm keeping my SBG quizzes very basic.
That means that they get to see the test "with the numbers changed" before they take it.
I used to HATE this type of test! Until I realized that I can make tests so conceptual that it doesn't really matter that they see it ahead of time. Sure I'm getting them to memorize, but memorize writing and explaining and drawing in such different ways, I end up feeling pretty good about the breadth of their knowledge.
2.I have NO idea how many times a student has reassessed.
No good answer to that, I'm afraid. I keep all copies so that if I'm talking to a parent, I can pull them all, but that's tedious.
3. the difference between a 3 and a 2 seems to be my gray area...I don't know how to decipher between the two.
That IS the hard one, but I have something that makes it easy. Putting these into a gradebook, a
5/5 (or 50/50 points) = 100% A
4/5 = 80% B
3.5/5 = 70% C
3/5 = 60% D
2/5 = 40% F
1/5 = 20% low F
So to me, the difference between a 2 and a 3 is passing or failing.
I've also been trying (with a disappointingly low amount of success) to make coming to tutoring mandatory for students with 2 or 1 on a quiz after *3* tries in class.
So for me, a 3 means "I think this kid is close enough. They'll get there in class" and a 2 means "They're just lost! They need tutoring."
I hope that helps! Please continue to write to us!
~ Surani
Lots to say, but too tired to write it out.
1. I think this year it's kinda hellish for me. But I have kids email me by Sunday at 5pm if they want to reassess on Tuesday in study hall. (I only let them reassess 2 skills at a time.) I type out individual assessments for each kid. That being said...
I save the document in a folder called "Reassessments" and title each test as follows:
"2010-10-22 Skills 2 and 7 (Steve Martin)"
(The date, the skills, and the student name.)
That way if Mary wants to reassess Skill 2, I can just copy and paste that problem. And maybe change around a few numbers.
It's a lot of work now, but when I do this next year, I will have started creating a comprehensive test bank.
2. I spend way too much time entering grades. I use, and LOVE, Shawn Cornally's gradebook. It's amazing. Period.
I also am aware that it's electronic, and I don't have a way to electronically back it up on my computer. So I also keep a paper gradebook.
To allow room to show reassessments, I give each student 2 lines, and each skill gets 5 columns.
The top line is for in-class assessments. So for skill 2, I might write: 9/28 and 10/2 in the first two columns, and then for each kid I will write their scores for those in class assessments.
If a student reassesses a skill, I put the date and the score in that second line.
Wow, it would be easier if I had my gradebook here and I could upload a scan.
As for forcing them to get help for reassessing -- I tell them they must prove to me that they've done remediation work before they can reassess. And they have to articulate it. [http://samjshah.com/2010/10/08/changing-the-conversation-specific-and-student-led/]
3. I don't think this is something I can help you with. Sometimes it's a close call, but I always go with my gut: "what's their level of understanding?" I give them a score to 4. I don't give myself 5, because I don't want to be able to give them a "middle" choice (3). I can usually tell if they all of it (4), most of it but some small but significant error (3), some of it (2), or very little of it (1). If I had given myself too many gradations, I wouldn't be able to differentiate.
Sam
When I make an assessment, I grab a stack of notecards and write out an additional 5 notecards per standard. Each notecard contains 2-4 problems, depending on the standard and what is required to show mastery. I label each notecard with the standard title at the top and assign each one a different number (1-5). I keep these in an old card catalog. When students come in to retest, I pull out the standard they request. I can have up to 5 students retesting at one time on the same topic. While this does take some time to create, I reuse the cards every year. I also create a master answer page and this makes grading retests very easy.
I also have each student create a portfolio for class. (This is really a manila folder with their name on it.) I put a standard list in it with several blank columns. When a student wants to retest, I make them go to the back of the room and get their folder. They bring it to my desk and I record the number of the retest on the notecard on their standard list under attempt 1. This ensures that a student does not get the same notecard if they need to retest it.
The benefit of the portfolio is that I have a record of how many times a student retests but it doesn't clog up my gradebook. When the student receives a graded retest back, he or she records their score on the standards list. I only write it in my gradebook if it is a higher score then what I have recorded. I use a 3 line gradebook, and this helps. I also do not keep attendance in this gradebook, but in a separate gradebook.
For marking in the gradebook for retests, this is what I tried: If a student made a 60 on the first test and a 75 on the retest, I typed in 75.60 for their grade. The good thing was I knew they retook the test and improved. The bad thing was if they did worse the second time and kept their original grade, then I didn't know how to mark that they took the retest but it didn't help. Maybe you could do 60.01 so the .01 tells me they took a retest? Not sure how much that helps you, but that is what I tried to do! :)
Here is how I use examview to reassess:
First, I find the problem I need from the bank. Yes, this takes some time but it will be worth it in the long run.
Next, I create a new test file and copy that single question into it. I name the file with the concept number and name.
I have all of these files in a folder on my computer so when a student wants to reassess, I open up that file, make their name the title of the test, and hit print. That way I can print them out ahead of time and have them ready when the student comes in.
For the concepts where I want to be able to ask the question in more than one way, I put each question on a different page in my examview file. Then, I can just print the page that has the appropriate question.
As far as how students go about reassessing - I have them sign up on a clipboard with their name and concept # they want to reassess. When they come in for help, I highlight their name. This tells me I need to make a quiz for them. After they reassess, I cross their name off of the list.
1. I teach science so I'm not going to be much help here. We can change examples fairly easy and get at the same conceptual ideas. I don't lean too heavily on tests though and I'm comfortable with just talking with a student after school for a bit, probing a little, and going with that.
2. I record by time, not assignment, so in Powerschool I just input a score on Friday based on how they're doing. I just enter a score in every Friday. The kids keep track of their quiz scores in a portfolio. You definitely want a system for scheduling reassessments. If they want to come after school for one they need to articulate what they're working on and how they're working to improve it. Then they need to show some sort of evidence that they've actually done something. In practice, this usually means they'll attend a tutorial, do some additional practice work, or just write a summary if they've been doing something else like internet research or getting a friend to teach them. After reassessment I'll also randomly check in on them a few days later just to check for retention. A few quick oral questions.
3. I use a 0-4. 4 is beyond what was taught. 3 is complex stuff. 2 is simple stuff. I'm very black and white here. For a 2 you need to get ALL of the simple stuff. So 100%. No gray areas. For 3 you need all of the simple and all of the complex stuff. Again, no gray areas. The 1 score is the only fuzzy one.
Good luck. There's a lot of good work out there. It took me awhile to get a system that lined up with my philosophy but it's worth it.
1) I wrote out mine by hand, used ExamView and borrowed from other people. I think you just need to figure out a system that makes sense to you. LOTS of great suggestions in this comment thread.
2) Use Shawn's gradebook if you can. Otherwise, creating a page in a 3-ring binder for re-assessments per student might make sense.
3) I used a 4 point system with a 3.5 in there. My take: the fewer score points you have, the easier it is to figure out what each one means.
Plenty of great suggestions here. Good luck tweaking your system.
For some skills, Kuta software is very helpful. Our district purchased "Infinite Algebra," "Infinite Algebra 2," "Infinite Pre-Algebra" last year and this year they are supposed to be getting us "Infinite Geometry." And the software developers are very responsive if there is something you want that is not there. You can adjust the level of difficulty from very easy to very challenging. Their website will let you download a free 2-week trial.
Wow!! First, thank you to Kate for posting my email to her blog. It makes me even more jealous that I don’t have one of my own to gather my own responses to my questions. One day…
Thank you to everyone for your feedback. I will try and respond as best I can…
While I dislike handwriting the quizzes, I do agree with Kate that I like them because I can ask to see the student’s prior quizzes and create a question to address their specific misunderstandings.
I am aware of Shawn's program and thought that I signed up for it at some point, but I will keep an eye on that for sure. We use an online gradebook system as well, but I also use a paper gradebook that I created in Excel and just print out with the blank squares and the student roster typed in for each new quarter. With all the skill quizzes, I find that to be a gem!
Sarah, I would love to talk with you further since we are both 8th grade Algebra teachers...I broke my skills into quarters and will be giving a quarter "final" at the end of each to focus on retention because I have to give the district end of semester and end of year finals, so I want them to remember the skills. Do you drop the scores if the student does worse on a second (or third…) reassessment? I currently keep the highest score. The students have a chart where they keep track of their scores as well; they get a sticker when they master…it’s funny how much 8th grade students love stickers.
Katie, thank you for the hints about Examview, they were able to help me figure it out just a little bit more. I do have a printer in my room, but I find that trying to type them on the fly and print them out is too rushed.
Riley, I do require them to sign up the day before; it’s mainly because they need a pass to get out of lunch or to come before school. I created a sign-up sheet that the students sign up for when they want to reassess (before, lunch or after school) and what specific two skills they want to take on that day. Ideally, I would actually look at those two skills PRIOR to the student coming in to reassess, but that didn’t happen this quarter. I would love to be a part of your beta testing…I will keep checking it out. Thank you.
Gasstationwithoutpumps, indexing is good…since my quarter just ended I hope I can do that this weekend before the next quarter starts. I do want to keep all of the data, just don’t know how to organize it or where to keep it. Still working on that one. I will be limiting the timing of reassessments, more so forcing them to show me what they have done to work on said skill before taking a reassessment. If they can’t show me what they have done, or come in for individual help, then they can’t reassess that skill. How am I going to track that? Not sure, I think adding part of that to the pass and to the sign up sheet and they have to produce something, maybe.
Kevin, I am with you on showing where they are RIGHT NOW, but my principal didn’t like the part of SBG where the grade can go down. She said that it could be a concern at the end of a quarter that the parent and student think the grade is a B and then is drops to a C due to a change in the skill quiz grades. Remember, I teach 8th grade so my parents are much more involved. I didn’t push further with that topic with my principal, I wanted to try and keep data this year that I could show her this summer in support of it before next year. Your spreadsheet sounds very interesting; I would love to see it once you are ready to share. I also like your 0-3 scale, makes sense.
Jameson, do share your spreadsheet…sounds perfect! :) I am going to require them to show me something before they can reassess starting with this new quarter, I think it will be better for all of us.
Lsquared, I LOVE your idea. Right now, most come in during their lunch (which is also mine), but I like making them come in before or after for future reassessments. Hmmm…I will have to consider that one.
Surani, thank you for making the grading so much clearer!
Sam, the gradebook explanation did help. Thank you.
Amber, I LOVE your notecard idea. I am going to “steal” it and modify it a bit. . On the back of the note card I could write the names of the students who have already taken that reassessment, so there are no repeats. It would have to be updated each year, but that's not such a bad idea. I do have the students keeping portfolios as well, but I like your idea of keeping track of the reassessments in the portfolio too. Maybe I just need to modify my skills checklist a bit to leave room for reassessments.
Jen, good idea. I also think I need more lines in my gradebook, but using another way to keep track is always helpful.
Justina, Perfect! Your explanation of Examview definitely makes sense. Printing ahead and everything too sounds great, thank you for responding!
Jason, I have also done different types of reassessments with the students as well, they aren’t all just quizzes. I like that flexibility, if a student likes to talk through the problem on the board, why not let them? Yes, I agree about the reassessment piece. I do have a system for signing up, just not one for me to keep track of the scores they get. See above for a better explanation.
Matt, I have been doing a mix just like you, Examview, hand written, older tests, etc. So far it has been working, but I can see how I haven’t organized it enough to be useful to me next year. That’s my goal.
Grading – Okay…I really do use a 4 point system when grading the skills, but where a 5 means two 4’s in the gradebook. This is just so I know that they have it mastered, like Dan Meyer’s system, but after reading everyone’s responses…I might have to re think the scale.
I created my Algebra Skills list and broke it into quarters since I am bound by them teaching 8th grade in a middle school. I made it one document so the students can see what they are learning each quarter, tied them to the sections in the book and added 21st Century Skills that are assessed each quarter as well. So far my first Quarter skill list has been dead on and worked out well. I hope second quarter does too, it starts on Monday!
Thank you again for all of your comments. I would be willing to share what I have created with anyone who wants to see it. This was VERY helpful and I appreciate everyone’s time!
Jessica, I'm confused about you not being able to start a blog. Your school can stop you during school hours, but why not do one from home? As long as you don't mention the name of the school, wouldn't it be ok? (Or have they explicitly forbidden you to blog about your job?)
I just asked a question for SBG folks on my blog: How many students do you have?
It seems like folks here have some pretty complex and labor-intensive systems. I don't know how you do it.
I believe a rubric should be clear enough that a student (with the necessary content knowledge) would grade a quiz the same way the teacher would. That said, if you as a teacher are having trouble differentiating between, for example, a 2 and a 3 then why have both. Just combine them into one score.
And I hope I don't come across as testy here, but I can't let this pass...
"the difference between a 3 and a 2 seems to be my gray area...I don't know how to decipher between the two.
...
3/5 = 60% D
2/5 = 40% F
...
So to me, the difference between a 2 and a 3 is passing or failing."
The difference in scores can't just be whether it's a passing or failing score. It needs to say something about the student's understanding of the content. Otherwise you're just playing a different game and completely missing the point of SBG.
Can you imagine yourself as a student who failed a quiz with a 2 but your teacher can't explain to you what you need to do differently to pass with a 3?
I don't think you are testy, this is a great (and useful) conversation. Being questioned as to why I do something makes me either defend it with facts or revise it to improve it.
I do have a clearly defined rubric for each of the points on a skill, it came directly from someone else who posted it online in reference to SBG. What I was getting at is even with using the rubric to assist me when grading individual quizzes and skills, I find that it is hard for me sometimes to decide if the process shown on the problem is a 2 or a 3.
I have no problem combining the scores into one, but then what would that look like?
Again, currently I grade each skill out of a total of 5 points. They take each skill twice in class. For a basic explanation:
5 = You have completely mastered the skill on two skill quizzes, meaning you received two 4’s, which makes your overall skill score a 5. You have completed this skill! You “get” it!
4 = You have demonstrated a thorough understanding of the concepts involved, have clearly showed all steps of your reasoning, have used notation correctly, wrote exemplary and clearly, and have made no algebraic errors.
3.5 = You have demonstrated a thorough understanding of the concepts involved, but you might have made a small notational error, or a very small (non-fatal) algebraic error. You are almost there!
3 = You have a firm grasp of the skill, meaning you have demonstrated a full or almost understanding of the concepts involved, but you possibly didn’t show steps of your reasoning, didn’t use notation totally consistently, could have written clearer prose, and/or made a slight (but non-fatal) algebraic error. You still need help with this skill.
2 = You have demonstrated some conceptual understanding of the skill. You possibly have some confused reasoning, did not completely answer the question, did not use consistent notation, wrote muddled prose, and/or made more than one (non-fatal) algebraic errors. You still need help with this skill.
1 = You have demonstrated weak or no conceptual understanding. You possibly have confused reasoning, poor prose, and/or made one or more serious (fatal) algebraic errors. You still need a lot of help with this skill.
0 = You left the problem blank; no attempt was made to solve the problem. You still need a lot of help with this skill.
Now, the side issue to all of this is that my district doesn't use a standard grading scale (90-100 A, 80-89 B, etc)...the grading scale is the following... (only sharing a few parts of the scale)
93-100 = A
83 = B
73 = C
70 = D+
65 = D-
I am starting a new quarter on Monday and will be sharing with the students a few changes to our current SBG system, reassessments, skill checklist, getting help, etc.
Thank you for sharing your thoughts...we can only get better from conversations like this!
Sue, it has been frowned upon to blog in my district. I can't specifically say why, but I do know that there have been a few people who have been asked to take things down or remove their blog when they were found out. I WANT one badly, but am afraid to start down that path. I see the benefits greatly in just following others blogs (and pimping Kate's blog for this post) and I respond to things when I can, but I worry that I would put the time and effort in just to be asked to remove it.
And the other part is I can't think of a catchy fun name for my blog. :)
Thanks for asking!
Kate, thanks for letting me "steal" your blog by putting my email on there. I have gained so much from the comments that I wouldn't have been able to gather in any other situation. I appreciate your assistance in helping me (& others) work to understand SBG more and challenge ourselves to become better teachers!
(I really hate seeing people use the word pimp for these sorts of things. Real pimping is part of something that is so oppressive to women.)
Jessica, if you really want to blog and are worried about being asked to remove your blog why not blog under a pseudonym? Just be sure not to mention your school or district by name and don't blog at school. I know it's not quite the same, but at least you'd be blogging!
The Kuta Software is amazing. It is so easy to create tests and other assessments. Our math department uses it for reassessments as well. It is definitely worth the money!
I use a different color for each reassessment (sp?). I also number my improvement quiz problems and I use a different problem for each week. My students have 3 weeks following the last test that the concept appears on to remediate. I do this so that they won't wait until the last week of the semester to get started. Right now they are averaging one attempt at each concept per week. I hope this helps.
I use a 4 point scale (with half points) that converts something like this:
4-100%
3.5 - 90%
3 - 85%
2 - 70%
1.5 - 60%
1 - 55%
0 - 0%
I hate the zero, but it gets kids to try next time and retake concept quizzes. It isn't perfect, but I need to give a letter grade (even though I really don't want to).
One of the more powerful things in Examview is the Info pane. You can customize the information in there and select by criteria. Last summer, I was paid by my district to enter our core standard codes and question levels into Examview test banks for use by all science teachers in the district. Most folks just skip over it because its an extra few clicks, but it really is useful.
For me, it means I can break down their score by level (and I used Costa, so 3 levels) and they get the rubric - Missing 1's is a 1, ALL 1's and some 2's is a 2, ALL 1's and 2's and some 3's is a 3, ALL 1's, 2's, and 3's is a 4. This means show them exactly where they went wrong and they can clearly see their own weakness. We have some who use a 6 point scale with half points, but I settled on straight 4. It seems to be working in that students are working to understand the material. I am considering half points for next year to add a little nuance, but I really like that with a full-point system, they must know ALL five standards for the semester to earn a C or better.
I had a grade meeting with a student who clearly understands the underlying concept but cannot use the scientific language to describe it. I gave him some strategies to work on vocabulary and turned him loose to study (I won't allow them to waste my time and theirs by not showing some evidence of additional work - tutor session, online review, Cornell notes, etc. - before a retake). He easily made the jump from a 1 to a 3.
I still have some lingering apprehension about the assignment of grades, but standards-based proficiency grading is the most comfortable I've ever been in giving grades in my entire career.
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