Teacher Tools Related to Grading

List of tools

  • Prioritizing Content and Related Assignments

    Prioritizing content involves reviewing the content to be covered in class during the marking period, applying explicit criteria to rate or rank the content on importance, identifying assignments related to the now prioritized content, and determining the grading criteria for the prioritized assignments.

  • Basing Part of Grade on IEP Goal Progress

    A grading adaptation involving progress on IEP goals is designed so the student is provided opportunities to practice and improve skills targeted while participating in the general curriculum.

  • Basing Part of Grade on Processes Used to Complete Work

    Processes are the steps, strategies, or tools students use to complete their work. Learning strategies, self-management strategies, or assistive technologies (ATs) can help students improve assignments.

  • Basing part of Grade on Student's Effort

    When teams consider a grading adaptation involving effort, they must operationally define effort as observable behaviors that can be measured.

  • Basing a Grade on Improvement Over Past Performance

    Grading adaptations based on improvement are designed to increase student motivation. Teams must identify a performance area on which a student has achieved below expectations and be certain the student has the ability and necessary support to improve with the implementation of the adaptation.

  • Changing Grading Scales or Weights

    Grading adaptations may involve changing the grading scale used to convert points or percentages to letter grades or shifting the weight or proportion that a particular type of assignment counts toward the report card grade.

  • Selecting the Best Grading Adaptation for Your Student

    Grading adaptations should be selected and designed collaboratively by the student, parents, and teachers to maximize the acceptability, fidelity of implementation, and effectiveness of the chosen adaptations. Teams should consider the procedures, potential benefits, and cautions of each type of adaptation prior to implementation.

Developed by: 
Dennis Munk, Ph.D., from Northern Illinois University