Kevin O'Keefe

Abstract

Standards-based grading is an educational system used throughout the United States to increase student learning with a focus on mastery of clear standards. Evidence for mastery is demonstrated by a variety of assessments that have been differentiated for the needs of individual students. In a true standards-based grading environment, students move on to more advanced material when they have mastered all of the standards at their current level of coursework. Student growth scores are recorded and reported based on achievement in each standard of the course instead of type or date of learning event (e.g. quiz, test, project, or assignment). Since there is a focus on mastery of standards, this grading system is perfect for skill-based subjects such as performance-based music classes like band or choir. Unfortunately, there are many schools that use a traditional grading system. This can cause problems if trying to incorporate standards-based grading strategies into an individual class. This study will show that conflicts arise when trying to align grade-reporting and student advancement practices between the two systems. In addition, teachers may encounter pushback from stakeholders because of the ingrained nature of traditional grading in our social schema. Teachers attempting to incorporate standards-based grading practices into a class at a school using a traditional grading system may need to spend additional time developing strategies to solve these issues. Some possible solutions are suggested in this study.… (mais)

I'm always fascinated with people. What are people really like? What are average people really like? What does it mean to be average? From the moment I saw this book, I knew I had to read it.Later:What is the average American like? What does he do? Where does he live? O'Keefe sets out to answer these questions. His first stop is the U.S. Census Bureau, home to millions of statistics about Americans. From Washington, his venture becomes serendipitous, traveling to sites he thinks might harbor our average American. O'Keefe reminded me of The Know-It-All author, the fellow who decided to read the entire Encyclopedia Britannica, the man who spends the entire book telling his readers all the cool facts he learned. O'Keefe is like that, spewing out data and facts on everything from our average American's height and weight to his religious beliefs to his favorite leisure activities. O'Keefe ends up finding the average American in the county next to one in which he grew up and the average American is the man who was his school custodian. A fun read.… (mais)