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Standards Based Grading in AP U.S. History (APUSH)

By: peacefieldhistory2 Comments

Last year I attended a workshop by Rick Wormlei.  Over the years I’ve been a teacher, I’ve developed a hesitancy and “leeriness” of any and all workshop presenters.  I’ve been to enough bad workshops over the years, and sometimes, they were just awful.

This workshop blew away all of my expectations.  Wormlei was engaging, and interesting, and just overall fantastic.  He looks a bit like Steve Martin, and has a similar sensibility.  It felt as though I was completing professional development with a very knowledgeable stand-up comedian.

Wormlei’s presentation was focused on the ideas of Standards Based Grading.  Essentially, Wormlei argued (and continues to argue) that a student’s grade should only be a representation of how well they’ve mastered the content or skills of the class.  I’ve heard about this approach for years.  When it was initially proposed by our principal several years ago (he made us read a book), I found it ridiculous.  How can one make a kid accountable if they don’t grade homework?  Will kids complete any homework on time ever again?  Are we supposed to accept late assignments?  Allowing them to retest or redo anything whenever?  It sounded like a teacher’s horror story.

Wormlei explained it differently, and he made it make sense.  Without rehashing everything he presented, I thought I would summarize my system for SBG in my APUSH class this past year.  If you’d like to learn more specifically about Wormlei’s approach, I’d check out his book, Fair Isn’t Always Equal.

In my class, I had to make quite a few decisions before I could implement SBG.  Once I started with a particular system, I couldn’t really change it within the school year.  APUSH moves too fast, and ultimately, I would just confuse the students.

First I had to deal with the fact that APUSH combines skills and content.  How would I assess the skills, and how would assess the content?  Would I assess both at the same time?  Switch back and forth?  Only consider content or skill?

Eventually, I decided to assess content directly through the stimulus based multiple choice.  On each test, I would include 5 SBMC for each Key Concept (1.1, 1.2, 1.3 etc.).  The students would also need to know content for the short answer questions and the essays, but they would be labeled as skills.  I know this seems like a very small sample, however, the SBMC take a while for students to complete, and they are hard to come by.

I created a simple 5 point rubric for my SAQ.  They’re usually graded with three points, but with SBG, I determined that it would be best to grade everything out of 5 points.  For the essays, I decided to grade each skill separately.  APUSH long essays are graded out of 6 points and the DBQ essays are graded out of 7.  Each point would be graded on a 5 point scale, and imputed into the grade book separately.

A typical test had 15 MC, 2 SAQ and 1 long essay (I give them over 2 days, I have 40 minute class periods).  For quizzes, I usually give 1 SAQ.  I would love to throw some SBMC on each quiz, but I don’t really have enough questions to consider doing so.

The second part of SBG concerns re-testing.  According to SBG philosophy, students should be able to re-test and rework any assessments to demonstrate mastery.  Logistically, speaking, this sounds a bit like crazy talk, and frankly, it is.  The College Board hasn’t provided teachers with very many questions to utilize in the classroom.  Therefore,  I had to come up with some way to allow students the opportunity to retest without having to write a bazillion questions myself or allow students to take advantage of the policy, and retest without really thinking until they earned the score they wanted.  I decided to allow everyone the chance to re-test once.  Students had to sign up, and indicate the sections they wanted to retest.  A student might indicate that they wanted to retest 1 SAQ, KC 8.1 and the essay.  If they wanted to retest any component of the essay, they had to write a completely new essay.  The retest would be offered after school, and students had to attend on the same day, or they forfeited their ability to retest.

For the most part, this had worked.  I would love to cut down on the number of retests I give next year.  I also need to have a formal slip I require the students to fill out for their retesting (right now, I just have them e-mail me).   I also need to require students to review their errors with me prior to retesting, particularly for essays.  I also need better multiple choice.  This is why I’ve been writing so many on my own, and I will continue to do to so for the remaining periods.

Finally, I needed to figure out how I would combine my school’s grade book – an old style 100 point scale – with the SBG 5-point scale I had devised.  I eventually came up with the following conversion scale to explain the conversion to students.

  • 100% –  You scored 5s on all summative assessments.
  • 95% – You scored mostly 5s on your assessments. (more than 80%)
  • 90% – You scored an almost even amount of 4s and 5s on your assessments.
  • 85% – You scored mostly 4s on your assessments.
  • 80% – You scored an almost even amount of 3s and 4s on your assessments.
  • 75% – You scored mostly 3s on your assessments. (more than 80%)
  • 70% – You scored an almost even amount of 2s and 3s on your assessments.
  • 65% – You scored mostly 2s on your assessments. (more than 80%)
  • 60% – You scored an almost even amount of 1s and 2s on your assessments.
  • 55% – You scored mostly 1s on your assessments. (more than 80%)
  • 50% – You have not submitted any evidence to assess your work.  

This works for the explanation.  What I actually have them do at the end of the quarter was have them fill out a chart.  From the chart, they find the middle range of their grades.  This is one of my favorite parts of SBG.  A student’s score should reflect where they are most of the time, and it reflects that better when you find the middle range instead of an average.

My next concern was how I would make sure my students completed their homework.  I teach in a small rural school district, and I have about 20 students in my class each year.  Most of the students I’ve had in grade 7 before having them in APUSH.  Therefore, I’ve already developed a rapport with them and their parents.  I’m very lucky in this respect.  I’ve found that most of the students completed their homework whether is was graded or not.  I made the assignments reasonable, and I gave out a packet for each Period.  This way, students could plan to complete the homework around their busy schedules.  I also linked every question I asked with one of the key concepts.  If they wanted any chance to retest, the homework packet for that unit needed to be complete.

This has worked fairly well.  I typically checked the homework every time an assignment was due, and then I gave them a C – complete or I – incomplete, at the end of the Unit for the full packet.  Unfortunately, I was a little overwhelmed by making the packets this year.  Therefore, accountability was sometimes lost.  Next year, I plan to require students to have complete packets if they wish for the opportunity to retest quizzes or tests.  They will also need to make sure that they complete any in-class assignments.  I’ve found that while I’ve had to cajole some students to complete assignments or keep them after to finish the homework, it is still much better than the traditional system of grading homework.  The homework is very clearly regarded as practice, and the students know that I will never cover all of the information in class, so they need to cover some on their own.  Also, it really discourages cheating.  It is SO EASY for students to cheat these days, and most all of them are doing so in some form or another. With this system, there’s really no reason to do so.  They can, but they miss the content, and they won’t earn a grade anyway.

The one area where I really missed the mark with SBG this year was with having students reflect on their growth and progress with their skills.  This is a crucial component of SBG.  I was so concerned with “making all the things,” they I barely paused to have the students reflect.  I attend to check this for next year.

With one year of SBG complete, I would say that I will most likely stick with some form of this system for the rest of my teaching career (it’s half over at this point).  I hope this helps to explain how SBG can work in a high school classroom, and how it can work with History.  I will also be writing a post about how I’ve implemented SBG in my junior high classes soon.

I decided to add the documents I’ve created for Standards Based Grading to my TpT store.  I know that they took me bunches of time to create, so I thought they might help others teachers implement SBG more easily.  You can find them here – Standards Based Grading – APUSH.

Are you thinking about trying Standards Based Grading?  What questions do you have?  Please leave any questions or comments below.  


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Comments

  1. 2

    Royvia says

    September 13, 2019 at 10:14 am

    Great post.

    Reply

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  1. Standards Based Grading in Middle School - Peacefield History says:
    December 9, 2018 at 10:39 am

    […] already written about my new grading practices for AP U.S. History.  I wanted to make sure that I also told you how I’ve decided to change my grading practices […]

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Peacefield History is filled with all topics teaching and history related. Follow me for trends in education, teacher tech tips, history related reading, and other more general musings.

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I had a small win this Friday, and I needed it thi I had a small win this Friday, and I needed it this week. I told my AP students that I was excited about this quiz idea, and they laughed. Honestly, there’s not much to look forward to in a pandemic, and if an exciting quiz is it, well so be it. 

I took the idea of hexagonal review and turned it into a quiz. It was assigned in Google Slides, and I could see the minute they start editing, and the minute they finished. This also worked remotely, and it even worked for my students who have iffy internet. Zoom in to read the directions, and let me know if you have questions. (My Kardashian example is an inside joke with my AP kids.) 

#socialstudies #iteachhistory #iteachAP #socialstudiesteachersrock #iteachmiddleschool #iteachhistory #socialstudiestips #remoteteaching #hybridteaching
You are watching an insurrection. This is domesti You are watching an insurrection. 
This is domestic terrorism. 
This is not a representative Democracy. 

Period.
𝗝𝘂𝘀𝘁 𝗮𝘀𝗸𝗶𝗻𝗴???? ⁣ 𝗝𝘂𝘀𝘁 𝗮𝘀𝗸𝗶𝗻𝗴???? ⁣
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I don't think we should be first on the list by any means... however, when I see teachers from other states getting that coveted shot in their arm, I wonder when it will be our turn. ⁣
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I just want some information.⁣
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#socialstudiesteacher #socialstudies #teachinghistory  #hybridlearning #weareteachers #teacherlife #middleschoolsteacher #teachersfollowteachers  #distancelearning #iteachhistory #
This post might be two days late, but that's becau This post might be two days late, but that's because I'm all about finding "balance" this year. Balance between...⁣
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work/life⁣
school/home⁣
plenty/simplicity⁣
productivity/relaxation⁣
the past/ the future⁣
growth/contentment⁣
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I can over think everything at every moment of the day. This year, I just want to live and savor the days instead. (This might just be because I'm 40 now, but I see those days as they pass, and they are fast y'all.)⁣
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#socialstudiesteacher #socialstudies #teachinghistory #TpT #teacherspayteachers #teacherlife #middleschoolteacher #teachersfollowteachers  #distancelearning #iteachhistory #distancelearning  #engagingteaching #historyteacher #iteachmiddleschool #iteachAP #teacheronbreak
Accurate. Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to t Accurate.

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to those who celebrate in this season! I’m just trying not to eat ALL the spinach and artichoke dip that I made... #selfcare #thedipistheselfcare
My students have been playing "For Crown or Colony My students have been playing "For Crown or Colony?" over the past week, and I needed a new way to make sure that they were understanding/paying attention to what they were learning from the game. I wanted this check-in to be quick, easy to mark, and with minimal clicking on my part. @Padlet came to my rescue. Here's how I set it up.⁣
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1. I posted a question with directions. My post was the only item visible on the page.⁣
2. Student didn't have to log in, they just created their own posts and added their names at the top. ⁣
3. To prevents students from copying each other, I make the posts require approval. This way, I could see all the posts, but they could not. I could provide a check next to their names as I gradually approved the posts. ⁣
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This worked. Students would review the posts the next day to see how their interactions with the game differed. It was easy and quick, and we all need more of that this year. I hope you're thriving and not just surviving right now in your classroom!⁣
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Allison⁣
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#socialstudiesteacher #socialstudies #teachinghistory #TpT #teacherspayteachers #hybridlearning #teacherlife #middleschoolsteacher #teachersfollowteachers #historyteacher #distancelearning #iteachhistory #distancelearning #cooperativelearning #padlet #missionus #forcrownorcolony  #iteachmiddleschool
So basically today was about how much I look like So basically today was about how much I look like my Bitmoji. 🤷🏻‍♀️ #greatkidslongyear #iteachmiddleschool #socialstudiesteacher #iteachhistory #hybridteaching #socialstudies #bitmoji #teachersofinstagram
I'm EXHAUSTED, but I'm starting to figure out how I'm EXHAUSTED, but I'm starting to figure out how this hybrid learning thing works. (It probably helps that I have the sweetest kids under the sun this year!) Since I've had a couple nights of actual sleep, I decided to blog about some of the ideas I've had for cooperative learning this year. It's definitely more difficult, but it's not impossible. (Especially since I've fallen in love with Google Breakout rooms.) Click the link in my profile to learn more!
I have a million tasks on my plate right now, but I have a million tasks on my plate right now, but I may have spent some of my Saturday rearranging my plants. Swipe to see some of my faves. (Yes I have fave plants, don’t you?!) 

#noregrets #havetograde #plantsaremyhappyplace #plantlady #houseplants #sundayvibes #homedecor #sundayscaries
The day after the President told teachers that the The day after the President told teachers that they were focusing too much on slavery in our history, we talked about slavery in my AP class. Why? It's a HUGE part of U.S. History, and not shocking, it also a HUGE part of my curriculum. Slavery comes up often in my classes because it's so fundamental to our development as a country. I'd traditionally done this lesson as a silent conversation, however, I decided to have my hybrid class use Jamboard instead for this lesson.  I gave them 8 "thought provoking" prompts. They had to respond using the ideas they generated by reading two articles (Nash and Kendi). Then, they had to respond to a classmate's posts on each slide. ⁣
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It was an intense and silent period. Students were clicking, typing and THINKING. Their brains were flying and focused. It was interesting, when the bell rang it startled all of this. The initial feedback was that they really enjoyed the experience. We had nine slides filled with details and ideas. Of all that I have done with hybrid teaching thus far, this was probably my favorite. ⁣
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I had a bit of a lightbulb go off with this experience. We're often tasks with "summing things up" at the end of every lesson. With this lesson, I made it about the PROCESS. Thinking, critical thinking, doesn't always lead to an immediate resolution. My students still learned, despite not having a summation.⁣
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This is not my lesson. I've blogged about it previously, and all the resources are there. Click the link in my profile to grab them.
I had another post scheduled for this evening, but I had another post scheduled for this evening, but right now all I can think about is this tremendous loss and my concern for our country. She lived an admirable life, and the fears we have because of her death make me so sad. 

Image from @theimpeccablewoman
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One of the best things I did for myself this past One of the best things I did for myself this past year was revive my garden. It had fallen to pieces the previous year. I was overwhelmed by life, and the garden was way too big for just me. It had become a place of stress instead of joy. This year, I cut it in half and had my Dad help me rebuild the beds. With a smaller garden, I was able to maintain the space properly. It looks so much better, I grew veggies and flowers again, and I love going out there now!

Never forget to keep a space for yourself. Both a tangible space and one in your mind.
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I still look serious here however, because despite these positive experiences, we all have to stay vigilant. Keep cleaning, socially distancing, and keep that mask on! I want to at least keep hybrid schooling in my life, and that will only happen if our cases stay low.

Get some rest this weekend!
So, my first day back with students went by in a f So, my first day back with students went by in a flash, so here’s a picture from the morning before the school day.

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I hope your day was good also, and if it wasn’t, I hope it gets better soon!
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