What are Effort Grades?

    

     Effort based grades consider how hard someone works or how much of an attempt has been made to complete work.  Participation based grades instead consider whether an action was completed.  Some similarities between effort grades and participation grades are the fact that the work does not have to be perfect in order to be worthy of earning credit. A difference between the two systems is how each grade is used to measure quality.  If an assignment required a group project building a PowerPoint presentation, a participation based grade might consider whether the PowerPoint was completed and if all group members were physically present for each step of the process.  Alternatively, an effort based grade might consider the quality of the effort expended by each individual member.  If a member was a hard-worker, even if the project result was not perfect, an effort based grade could score that effort accordingly. I believe there is value in providing an opportunity for effort/participation grades in a classroom.  The challenge to using these types of grades is that the use should be clearly detailed in the grading system, and there must be a consistent way in which the grades are provided.  Teachers are usually given a great deal of latitude in terms of how a classroom grading system is set up. Participation grades are usually outlined in a course syllabus, and there are clear expectations about how a student can earn any participation points.  For some teachers, this may mean answering questions in class at least two days each week.  Other teachers may require a student to read aloud one day each week.  Still other teachers may require students to be peer tutors once a week. 

        I believe that participation grades are more traditionally used in a classroom then effort based grades, although there are often variations of effort-based credit given on larger assignments and built into a grading rubric. For me, as a teacher I have a percentage of each nine week’s grade based on participation with clear expectations on how those participation points can be earned.

        I do not believe that some students should have more grades for participation or effort than other students.  When students have accommodations and modifications in a classroom, this indicates the students are receiving additional services based on need.  The IEPs written for that student would indicate specific alterations needed in the classroom.  Students with accommodations should not be afforded grading differences, so it would be inappropriate to provide different grades (to include effort or participation grades).  However, for students receiving modifications, if the IEP is written to include a different number of grades related to effort and participation, then it would be appropriate for the teacher to do so.  Without that difference being written into a student plan, I would consider it inappropriate to make such changes.

        It is possible that a student with modifications or accommodations may need their effort or participation grades to be calculated differently.  For example, if a student has accommodations due to severe social anxiety, it may be inappropriate to grade their participation as their ability to answer questions out loud.  It may become necessary to create different participation opportunities for this student  The needs of each student may dictate changes in how grading is accomplished.

        There are students who despite their great effort do not perform well on formal assessment opportunities.  Providing opportunities to earn credit in the classroom for participating in class discussions or working hard on assignments may be a motivating factor.  These types of students would benefit from additional grading opportunities. 

        Conversely, there are some students who are exceptionally gifted at performing well on formal assessments.  Sometimes these students are the ones who do not need to show any work on math problems and can successfully master a long, complicated exam.  That type of student may sit silently during most class periods and not want to speak in class.  Participation grades could potentially hurt their overall grades.  The important aspect of both examples of students is that a teacher must explicitly describe the way in which grades are measured so expectations are known and can be met. 

        I feel that students have many personal and classroom stressors.  Considering the amount of time and effort that goes in to work that is done in class each day by both students and teachers, it makes sense there should be more grades provided than just a simple grade on a homework assignment or a test. Taking effort into consideration for grading shows students that there is worth in being engaged in daily classroom discussions, coming prepared to class, and being a contributing member of the classroom.