EDU6160 Blog Post Assignment #6

For this blog post, I will be discussing the use of student grades as a factor in evaluating teachers, and use of state test results to evaluate a school district. To begin this post, I think that it is important to consider the following statement made by Shermis and Vesta (2011), “Grades are complex communicative devices serving many functions. They are the result of the several events included in the range, anchored by the quality of instruction at one end and student effort at the other” (p. 349). This statement encompasses the understanding that student grades are both useful for evaluating the teacher and the student. I believe that within this statement it is imperative to cogitate the meaning of quality of instruction for the discussion topic at hand. In my opinion, quality [physical education] instruction should be measured based on a student’s improvement towards meeting a learning standard and a student’s enhanced level of wellbeing in regards to their physical, social and emotional health. If evaluated in this manner, I believe that grades can effectively assess a teacher’s abilities. However, I believe that there are a handful of student grades that don’t describe a teacher’s effectiveness. When considering my content area of health/fitness, although we do not perform a state test, students are required to perform an array of fitness tests at the beginning and end of each semester (i.e. pacer, sit and reach, sit-up and push-up). A student’s performance is graded based on their ability to reach the state standards for cardiovascular endurance, flexibility, muscular strength, and muscular endurance. Once inputted into WELNET, students’ grades are sent to the district and then to the state for further data analysis. I believe that these grades fail to express a student’s progress over the course of the semester and their level of wellbeing in regards to physical and mental health. Thus, not portraying a teacher’s quality of instruction.

References 

Shermis, M. D., & J., D. V. (2011). Classroom assessment in action. Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield.