Joining the Conversation Characters: Susan M. Brookhart Thomas R. Guskey Gretchen Smith Stephen Tchudi Bruce W.

Speck Robert J. Marzano Narrator (played by me)

Act One

Setting: The setting is in a conference room at a college campus. It is around 10 a.m. and sunny outside. All of the professors and doctors have met with the narrator to discuss their thoughts on grading. The table is set up for a debate (round table).

Narrator: Good Morning everyone! Lets start off by introducing ourselves. My name is Janavia Cousins. (looks to the person to her right for them to introduce themselves and so forth). As you know I am hosting a study about grading. Now that we have gotten that out of the way I think we can start debating. What does grading mean to you? Brookhart: Good Morning. My name is Susan Brookhart. Well I think the primary purpose of grading, for both individual assignment grades and report grades, should be to communicate with students and parents about students achievement of learning goals.

Guskey: Good Morning, my name is Thomas Guskey. I think grading is something that requires careful planning, thoughtful judgment, a clear focus on purpose, excellent communication skills, and an overriding concern for students. Smith: Good Morning, my name is Gretchen Smith. To me grading is what one does to determine the quality of work. As far as communication goeswhat is there to communicate about once the grade is recorded? Do you think your mind will be changed once you talk to a student or parent and that their grade will improve? (looking at both Brookhart and Guskey waiting for their responses) Brookhart: Grades are only one way to communicate student achievement and should be used with additional feedback methods. Guskey: Agreeing with Susan I might add the communication process after grading is to help the student improve on the next assignment, not to increase the grade of the already graded assignment. Grades based on specific learning criteria and standards have direct meaning and serve well the communication purposes for which they are intended. Brookhart: Thank you Thomas. Referring back to the additional methods of communicating are portfolios, narratives and conferences. Each can be accomplished through setting a purpose, planning the logistics, collecting the evidence, interpreting the evidence, communicating the information, and listening to the response. Smith: Your responses seem to be weighing more towards more in depth school work. Essays perhaps?.. (Narrator sees that Smith was getting ready to ask a debatable question and kindly interrupts) Narrator: This brings us to my next question! How should certain pieces of work be graded? For example, should a personal essay be graded on the same scale as a research history paper? And so forth. Smith: Absolutely not. How can one grade someones personal thoughts and feelings? I dont think personal work should be graded at all, evaluated maybe, but not graded.

Brookhart: For work that is to be graded or scored, several types of scales can be used. Points or percents and rubrics are the two most common ones. Factors other than achievement should be assessed, but not graded. For these other factors, ability, effort, attendance, and attitude, the best feedback is verbal and self-referenced. Narrator: I think this is a good time for a recess. When we return I have a few more guests that want to express their thoughts on grading. Im very excited!

Act Two

Setting: Same exact setting from Act One except for it is around 1 p.m. and three more people have been seated at the round table.

Narrator: Welcome back (looks in the direction of Guskey, Smith and Brookhart) and Welcome! (looks in the direction of Tchudi, Marzano and Speck) For this segment of my study I have asked Stephen Tchudi, Robert J. Marzano and Bruce W. Speck to join us. (Each nod to the announcing of their name)