Rick Wormeli

Who is Rick Wormeli? Keep reading to discover why I included a photo of this forward looking educator. Hint: It is not because he has grey hair.

More and more I have been encouraging students to redo essay assignments. Essays are my high stakes proof of understanding assignments. I break down essay assignments into four parts.

Students begin by turning in a research assignment. This consists of a list of references with quotes, notes and summaries for each reference. I often let teams do the research, with each team member being responsible for finding a certain number of references. Team members then discuss the value of each reference and help each other assemble their individual list of references. Once the references are turned in I give a small grade indicating my confidence that these references and notes will lead to a successful paper.

After the research has been approved students are required to individually write an outline for their paper. What is the criteria for a good outline? I tell them that someone should be able to write a good essay using nothing but the material they find in the outline. The thesis, the claims, and the evidence should all be included in the outline. The outline also receives a small grade.

Next the students write the essay. When the essay is complete each student must have one or two other students read and critique the essay. While the critiques are happening the essay writer must ask questions from and take notes on a prepared form. The essay writer then goes back and edits her essay and submits it along with the evaluation form.

If after all of this is done, if the essay writer is not satisfied with her grade, she may rewrite the essay one time for regrading. This has been pretty successful, especially with students who received poor essay grades. They read my notes. They ask me questions. They rewrite their essays and almost always receive a higher grade. Sounds good. Maybe I have this whole thing figured out.

But then I listened to a couple of Rick Wormeli videos and started rethinking this process. He is a standards based grading guy. This is something I have been looking at more and more. With a standards based system students do and redo until they meet the standards. When they meet one set of standards, they move onto the next set. At various points these can be translated into letter grades, but the focus should always be on meeting the standards.

To be honest, my school back in the ’70’s went to standards based grading and it was pretty much a bust. There were lots of check lists and lots of writing, and little understanding by anyone. Standards based grading has come a long way since then. We have the C3 Framework. We have digital portfolios. We know much more about standards now than we did a half century ago. (Yes, I am that old.) I am eager to revisit standards based grading and will be looking for inspiration and edification from Rick Wormeli’s videos and books.

If you would like to join me in exploring standards based grading, watch these two videos. See if they make you want to do something different. Send me a reply.

Rick Wormeli: Redos, Retakes, and Do-Overs, Part One

Rick Wormeli: Redos, Retakes, and Do-Overs, Part Two