Post on 06-Sep-2018
Tests, Grading, and a Growth Mindset
Matt Wallace, PhD UC Davis
School of Education
Goal for today…
… and beyond
Stepping Outside Our Comfort Zone
Promoting a Growth Mindset!!!
With your neighbor(s)…
1. Introduce yourself if you have not yet met each other
2. Take turns sharing what (if anything) you are doing to promote a growth mindset with your students
Pair-Share
Stepping Outside Our Comfort ZoneOur thinking about a Growth Mindset…
• intelligence and ability is malleable • we are in control of our learning & achievement • success is influenced by effort, perseverance,
and input from others
“I don’t get it…yet! But, I will if I work hard, struggle along, seek input from others, and keep an open mind.”
Stepping Outside Our Comfort ZoneSome of how we’re promoting a Growth Mindset in our classrooms…
• messages noting that everyone can learn math ‣ youcubed’s week of inspirational math
• treating mistakes as normal & valuable ‣ “my favorite no”
• challenges, “hard” questions, struggle, and genuine problems lead to learning
‣ cognitively demanding tasks
• math is about learning (not achievement), and learning involves partial understandings
‣ place more emphasis on explanations than answers
With your neighbor(s) take turns…
1. Sharing what you would do with the work sample if it was a student’s answer to a problem on test (e.g., what scores, grades, marks, comments… would you write)
2. Explaining what a typical test & grading scenario looks like in your class (i.e., what do your tests entail, how do you grade them, and what do you and your students do after they are graded?)
Think-Pair-Share
Original problem Student work sample
Our Test & Grading Scenarios
Teacher A
Teacher B
Unit Review
Unit Test
Test Corrections
Graded w/ general rubric
4 pts. - meets standard; 3 pts. - appr. standard;..
Our Test & Grading Scenarios
Teacher A
Teacher B
Unit Review
Unit Test
Test Corrections
Graded w/ general rubric
4 pts. - meets standard; 3 pts. - appr. standard;..
Teacher CBi-weekly
cumulative Test
Graded w/ points per step
rubric
Lowest grade
dropped
Our Test & Grading Scenarios
Teacher A
Teacher B
Unit Review
Unit Test
Test Corrections
Graded w/ general rubric
4 pts. - meets standard; 3 pts. - appr. standard;..
Teacher CBi-weekly
cumulative Test
Graded w/ points per step
rubric
Lowest grade
dropped
Teacher D Unit Review
Unit Test
Graded w/ points per step
rubric
Optional Test retake
Our Test & Grading Scenarios
Our Test & Grading Scenarios
Our Test & Grading Scenarios
😠
Our Test & Grading ScenariosThis doesn’t make sense! You tell us
mistakes are valuable—that they are a good
thing—but then you give us a bad grade when we
make mistakes.
Our Test & Grading ScenariosOur test practices did not complement the other growth
mindset work we were doing!
Our Test & Grading Scenarios
Teacher A
Teacher B
Unit Review
Unit Test
Test Corrections
Graded w/ general rubric
4 pts. - meets standard; 3 pts. - appr. standard;..
Teacher CBi-weekly
cumulative Test
Graded w/ points per step
rubric
Lowest grade
dropped
Teacher D Unit Review
Unit Test
Graded w/ points per step
rubric
Optional Test retake
Preparation so as to avoid mistakes
Our test practices did not complement the other growth mindset work we were doing!
Teacher A
Teacher B
Unit Review
Unit Test
Test Corrections
Graded w/ general rubric
4 pts. - meets standard; 3 pts. - appr. standard;..
Teacher CBi-weekly
cumulative Test
Graded w/ points per step
rubric
Lowest grade
dropped
Teacher D Unit Review
Unit Test
Graded w/ points per step
rubric
Optional Test retake
All grading systems
penalized mistakes
Our Test & Grading ScenariosOur test practices did not complement the other growth
mindset work we were doing!
Teacher A
Teacher B
Unit Review
Unit Test
Test Corrections
Graded w/ general rubric
4 pts. - meets standard; 3 pts. - appr. standard;..
Teacher CBi-weekly
cumulative Test
Graded w/ points per step
rubric
Lowest grade
dropped
Teacher D Unit Review
Unit Test
Graded w/ points per step
rubric
Optional Test retake
Correcting mistakes only lead to partial credit
(i.e.,initial accuracy is valued more than
mistakes)
Ignores mistakes
Learning from mistakes is optional
Our Test & Grading Scenarios
• “False growth mindset” leads students to endorse a more fixed mindset in math (Dweck, 2015)
• Endorsing growth mindset practices but reacting negatively to mistakes leads to students developing a fixed mindset about IQ (Dweck, 2015)
• Mistake friendly environments lead to increased effort in students’ work (Steur et al., 2013)
• Assessments can convey a message to students about what kinds of mathematical knowledge and performance are valued (NCTM, 1991)
• Tests should match the teaching and learning that comes before it (NCTM, 1991)
Other Considerations
Tests to Promote a Growth MindsetOur new approach to better value mistakes on tests…
Tests to Promote a Growth MindsetOur new approach to better value mistakes on tests…
1. Students take test at end of unit—this time as a rough draft
Tests to Promote a Growth MindsetOur new approach to better value mistakes on tests…
1. Students take test at end of unit—this time as a rough draft
2. Written feedback, along with praise or brain growth comments, given on test; scores for initial answers/solutions recorded on a separate rubric
Tests to Promote a Growth MindsetOur new approach to better value mistakes on tests…
1. Students take test at end of unit—this time as a rough draft
2. Written feedback, along with praise or brain growth comments, given on test; scores for initial answers/solutions recorded on a separate rubric
3. Students revise test in-class based on feedback/comments—this is their final draft
Tests to Promote a Growth MindsetOur new approach to better value mistakes on tests…
1. Students take test at end of unit—this time as a rough draft
2. Written feedback, along with praise or brain growth comments, given on test; scores for initial answers/solutions recorded on a separate rubric
3. Students revise test in-class based on feedback/comments—this is their final draft
4. Scores for effort & use of feedback/comments added to separate rubric
Tests to Promote a Growth MindsetOur new approach to better value mistakes on tests…
1. Students take test at end of unit—this time as a rough draft
2. Written feedback, along with praise or brain growth comments, given on test; scores for initial answers/solutions recorded on a separate rubric
3. Students revise test in-class based on feedback/comments—this is their final draft
4. Scores for effort & use of feedback/comments added to separate rubric
5. final scores (as initial, perseverance, and total scores) are given to students
Tests to Promote a Growth Mindset
Independently read “Assessment Rubric” Handout
Adapted from C. Schettino
Tests to Promote a Growth Mindset
Adapted from C. Schettino
“Rough draft” scores
Tests to Promote a Growth Mindset
Adapted from C. Schettino
“Rough draft” scores “Final draft” scores
Tests to Promote a Growth Mindset
Adapted from C. Schettino
“Rough draft” scores “Final draft” scores
Final “initial” score
Final “perseverance”
score
Tests to Promote a Growth MindsetAn example…
Tests to Promote a Growth Mindset
Student work sample
An example…
Tests to Promote a Growth Mindset
Student work sample
✓ ✓
An example…
Tests to Promote a Growth Mindset
Student work sample w/ teacher feedback
✓ ✓
An example…
✓ ✓
Tests to Promote a Growth Mindset
Student work sample w/ teacher feedback & student revisions
An example…
Tests to Promote a Growth Mindset
Student work sample w/ teacher feedback & student revisions
An example…
✓ ✓
✓
✓
Tests to Promote a Growth MindsetSome noteworthy constraints…
• some teachers could not deviate from departmental pacing guide
• some teachers required to use common departmental assessments
• all teachers required to use departmental grading scale
Tests to Promote a Growth MindsetSome noteworthy constraints…
• some teachers could not deviate from departmental pacing guide
• some teachers required to use common departmental assessments
• all teachers required to use departmental grading scale
…and our solutions…
• “review day” was eliminated to accommodate two days of testing (24hr. turnaround on feedback required)
•
• created supplemental problems that were focus of 2nd testing day
• split percentage in half—one part for initial work & one part for persevering
Tests to Promote a Growth MindsetSome noteworthy “take-aways”…
• Not sure if this work lead to increased test scores…
Tests to Promote a Growth MindsetSome noteworthy “take-aways”…
• Not sure if this work lead to increased test scores… but this was not what we were hoping to change!
Tests to Promote a Growth MindsetSome noteworthy “take-aways”…
• Not sure if this work lead to increased test scores… but this was not what we were hoping to change!
• teachers notice much less “I don’t get it” kinds of comments in class
Tests to Promote a Growth MindsetSome noteworthy “take-aways”…
• Not sure if this work lead to increased test scores… but this was not what we were hoping to change!
• teachers notice much less “I don’t get it” kinds of comments in class
• teachers notice more time between when students started a task and when they asked for or needed assistance (if at all)
Tests to Promote a Growth MindsetSome noteworthy “take-aways”…
• Not sure if this work lead to increased test scores… but this was not what we were hoping to change!
• teachers notice much less “I don’t get it” kinds of comments in class
• teachers notice more time between when students started a task and when they asked for or needed assistance (if at all)
• teachers noticed students were farther along in the problem solving process before they asked for or needed assistance (if at all)
Tests to Promote a Growth MindsetSome MORE noteworthy “take-aways”…
• we were able to include more, and students seem more open to, demanding tasks
Tests to Promote a Growth MindsetSome MORE noteworthy “take-aways”…
• we were able to include more, and students seem more open to, demanding tasks
Before After
Tests to Promote a Growth MindsetSome MORE noteworthy “take-aways”…
• we were able to include more, and students seem more open to, demanding tasks
You are given the triangle ABC with coordinates A=(-7,6), B=(-4,3) and C=(0,9) and triangle PQR with coordinates P=(3,-8), Q=(0,-5) and R=(6,-1). Write a valid argumentas to why ∠B ≅ ∠Q . Be sure to justify your statements with valid criteria stating why triangles and their parts are congruent.
Before After
Tests to Promote a Growth MindsetSome MORE noteworthy “take-aways”…
• we were able to include more, and students seem more open to, demanding tasks
• feedback* is difficult to provide with large/multiple classes
✴ feedback includes info about current performance (e.g., “I like how you…”) and how to improve without doing work/thinking for students (e.g., “you might try…” or “remember that…”)
Tests to Promote a Growth MindsetSome noteworthy “take-aways”…
• we were able to include more, and students seem more open to, demanding tasks
• feedback is difficult to provide with large/multiple classes
Tests to Promote a Growth MindsetSome MORE noteworthy “take-aways”…
• we were able to include more, and students seem more open to, demanding tasks
• feedback* is difficult to provide with large/multiple classes
✴highlighting mistakes
Tests to Promote a Growth MindsetSome MORE noteworthy “take-aways”…
• we were able to include more, and students seem more open to, demanding tasks
• feedback* is difficult to provide with large/multiple classes
✴highlighting mistakes
Tests to Promote a Growth MindsetSome MORE noteworthy “take-aways”…
• we were able to include more, and students seem more open to, demanding tasks
• feedback* is difficult to provide with large/multiple classes
✴highlighting mistakes
✴allow student to select problems they feel good about and the ones they think are not going well; options/suggestions are offered as feedback
Tests to Promote a Growth MindsetSome MORE noteworthy “take-aways”…
• we were able to include more, and students seem more open to, demanding tasks
• feedback* is difficult to provide with large/multiple classes
✴highlighting mistakes ✴allow student to select problems they feel good about and the ones they think are not going well; options/suggestions are offered as feedback
✴ codes
Tests to Promote a Growth MindsetSome MORE noteworthy “take-aways”…
• we were able to include more, and students seem more open to, demanding tasks
• feedback* is difficult to provide with large/multiple classes
✴highlighting mistakes ✴allow student to select problems they feel good about and the ones they think are not going well; options/suggestions are offered as feedback
✴ codes ✴ test on Fridays
Tests to Promote a Growth MindsetSome MORE noteworthy “take-aways”…
• we were able to include more, and students seem more open to, demanding tasks
• feedback is difficult to provide with large/multiple classes
• it’s best if you ask students to use different color pens/pencils
Pair-shareWith your neighbor(s), discuss the following questions…
• What ideas do you have for your test and grading practices?
• How is this different from what you did described earlier today (with the student work sample)?
• How do these ideas reflect you stepping out of your comfort zone (if at all)?
Thank You!
Please contact me for any other information.
Matt Wallace
mtwallace@ucdavis.edu