December 2013:  RPS Book Study Reflection


The biggest takeaway for me has been the necessity for us to be very specific with our grading / reporting measures.  In particular, I think best grading practices not only report averages; but they also include a detailed look into the student's current level of mastery.  There were several chapters that referenced ways in which to improve one's specificity of grading, but I felt Fix # 11:  "Don't rely only on the mean; consider other measures of central tendency and use professional judgment" summed it up best.  The author's viewpoint was that when grades are merely reported through the use of a mean score, outlier scores (high and low) are overemphasized and they can distort the final grade.  He also went on to say that grading should be a determination and not just a mathematical calculation.  In short, the student's scores may report one thing, but you as a professional educator will need look beyond and use your best judgment in determining a final grade.  A quote that comes to mind is, "Whenever I hear statistics being quoted I am reminded of the statistician who drowned while wading across a river with an average depth of three feet." (McMann, 2003, n.p.)