When the Grade Doesn’t Tell the Whole Story
Grading for Equity Through a Special Educator’s Lens
An English teacher’s perspective on grading for equity in a co-taught 8th grade ELA classroom
“She knows this! What happened?” I have said those words in frustration more times than I can count after a student has struggled through a written assignment or after a student’s test that doesn’t seem to match what we heard during class discussions or small group time. In my 8 th grade co-taught ELA classroom, my co-teacher and I examine student work and try to figure out what’s happening or what went awry. First, we think back to the lesson and talk about what the student said during class discussions and in our small groups and we consider the accommodations on the student’s IEP. We look at what the student was able to do independently and where the student needed support and then we try to figure out what the evidence is really telling us. That is one reason Joe Feldman’s work in Grading for Equity has resonated with me as an ELA teacher in a co-taught classroom for more than a decade. Feldman identifies three pillars of equitable grading: accuracy, bias-resistance, and intrinsic motivation. His framework asks educators to take a closer look at what grades actually
communicate to students, families, and teachers, what factors may be influencing grades, and whether our grading practices encourage students to fully engage in learning. Feldman’s book describes equitable grading around those three principles (grades should be accurate, bias-resistant, and motivating) which makes me wonder: What happens when the way a student accesses learning gets mistaken for the learning itself? That’s not a question I need to answer on my own; it’s one my co-teacher and I work through together.
