As the basis for this project I have chosen to be a seventh grade English teacher. In this project I will demonstrate what I feel are some of the more important aspects of reporting student progress in a fair and valid manner. Through the four parts of this project I will attempt support and explain my choices for my grading policy.
Part One: (Methods of reporting progress) 15 points.
For my seventh grade English class I feel the three methods I would use to report student progress are traditional letter-grade system, checklists of objectives, and portfolios of student work. The traditional letter-grade system deals with the establishment of a letter grade for each subject. The most common letters used are A, B, C, D, and F, which represent a portion of a numerical scale. The advantages of this grade report system is that it is a clear-cut method of reporting student achievement in a well-defined grading system. Some of the more general strengths in the traditional letter grade system is how easily the grades are averaged and the fact that this method provides useful information in the prediction of future achievement of a student. The disadvantages for the traditional letter grade system are many. The disadvantages include such things as not fully explaining how the grade came about, differentiation from teacher to teacher of interpretation of the grading scale, and that the grade is a combination of many things such as behavior, work habits, achievement, and effort. Most importantly the final letter grade does not specify exact strengths and weaknesses of an individual student. The advantages outweigh the disadvantages in that due to the fact it is a traditional grading system widely used across the country, more people are familiar with it, and it provides a general sense of where the student stands. .
The second method of reporting student progress is a checklist of objectives.