Effort & Participation Grades

What are effort and participation grades? 

Participation

The first component of participation is class attendance, being present to participate (Roy, 2018). Additionally, other aspects of class participation include promptness, as well as responding and contributing in different settings consistently (Roy, 2018). More subject areas, like participation, can be difficult to assess as well as difficult to communicate clear expectations. In one study, a teacher used note cards every class to ask students for their own perception of their level of participation.  The teacher concluded, “This activity helped me in not only documenting their level of participation but it also helped me sustain conversations with students, anticipate and respond to their questions, and get to know them as individuals” (Roy, 2018, pg. 6). Stiggins (2018) emphasized that assessment for learning must acknowledge the there is a critical component of teachers and students working in collaboration. 

Effort

There is a serious problem when teachers do not take responsibility for students whose effort wanes due to self-doubt and hopelessness (Stiggins, 2008). Sadly if these self-perceptions continue, these students stop trying altogether and never master essential skills nor become lifelong learners (Stiggins, 2008). Effort refers to attention to detail, time on task focus, and quality of work. Together with the students, teachers can co-create expectations for how to assess both effort and participation. When considering teacher and student assessment collaboration, the extent to which students are involved in using the assessment and keeping records of their own growth, students are more invested in their learning and build the capabilities to accurately communicate about their learning (Stiggins & DuFour, 2009).

What is your stance on this topic?

With student-friendly rubrics, students can self-assess and determine their own levels to set goals and monitor progress. When this type of assessment shifts to the student, the student owns learning and progress to improve effort, participation, and motivation. I do not think effort and participation data should factor into academic performance grades, but rather be a point of collaborative conversations between students, teachers, and partners. The ultimate goal of providing self-assessment opportunities on effort and participation is to increase student engagement.

References

Roy, L. (2018). More than a warm body: assessing student class participation. Reference Librarian, 59(4), 219–224. https://doi.org/10.1080/02763877.2018.1483310 

Stiggins, R., & DuFour, R. (2009). Maximizing the power of formative assessments: when teachers work together to create assessments for all students in the same course or grade, the results can be astounding. Phi Delta Kappan, 90(9), 640.