The school I work in is a perfect storm of students and families whose first language is not English, students living in or near poverty, and the resulting achievement gaps and apathy toward school.  My Art 1 classes are where I meet many of these students, so a big part of my job is doing whatever I can to counteract the long term negative effects these students experience from lacking the advantages of others and teach them skills for success. Feldman (2019) attests that grading should exclude student behaviors and focus on academic performance. 

I have always believed in personal responsibility. When faced with hardships, one must take control of their own lives and do whatever is required to be successful. However, the more time I've spent with my students, the more I've come to realize that the hardships I've faced and overcome in my life are not comparable to those many of my students are facing. I still believe it's part of my job to teach my students to be accountable for their own work and how they spend their time, but there are ways in which I can teach those skills in ways that are more equitable.

Mastery-based grading is one way I've attempted to address inequities. With so many students who do not feel competent at school and feel art is an innate skill that can't be taught, there are quite a few students who walk into my room already defeated. Mastery-based grading gives students a grade based on their knowledge at the end of the grading period as opposed to an average of their work over time as Feldman (2019) recommends for equitable grading. By expecting students to make corrections and resubmit their work, I am able to slowly instill in my students my belief that every one of them is capable of learning the content, and that by putting in the work, they can be successful. 

By grading student work in daily bite-size pieces, it is easier to focus on the one or two elements being assessed, making grading more objective and avoiding implicit bias. 

For example, when a student completes a daily journal entry, it either meets expectations or it doesn't. There are only two items being assessed in these journals: the progress photograph of their work and whether their writing . I'm not grading them on subjective quality. I simply ask myself two questions based on the learning the student is meant to be demonstrating.

Is the image legible/taken according to taught procedure?

Does the writing completely address the prompt?

These yes/no questions result in only three possible grades: 100, 50, or 0. If they don't earn a 100, they are expected to correct the work and resubmit it.

As discussed in the Student Needs section of this site, students can be disadvantaged in many ways and don't face the same inequities every day. In the Plug and Play curriculum, there is an assignment given everyday. However, if a student is dealing with an unforeseen issue that will be resolved with time, such as the ones below, they can simply pick up from where they left off when they are more able to complete the work. Sometimes, they need support from a classmate, so that student may also be "off-task." There's no penalty or judgement in these circumstances. Most of the time I feel unable to address the vast number of issues my students deal with on a daily basis, so the least I can do is respect them enough to give them a bit of time to come to the course content when they're ready. Of course, there are limits to the amount of time I can give before the lack of work begins to create gaps in knowledge and I have to step in, but that is far less common than these occasional "bad days." 

Another grading inequity that Feldman (2019) points out is incorporating homework into a student's final grade. He points out that students without an internet connection at home, a suitable place to focus on the assignment, time to complete it after work, or a parent to help them are punished for their lack of resources (Feldman, 2019). I never expect a student to complete work at home unless they have had a long period of inactivity. Typically, with the time built in at the end of the grading period and consistent focus, a student can be up to two weeks behind the original due dates and still catch up in class. 

You may view comments on the various sections of the site here. To participate in the discussion, please join the Plug and Play Group. You can set the frequency of notifications by changing your subscription setting, so you won't receive any messages you don't want. 

Feldman J. (2019). Beyond standards-based grading: Why equity must be part of grading reform. Phi Delta Kappan, 100(8), 52-55. https://doi.org/10.1177/0031721719846890