Grading Mainstreamed Students

Each year, I answer a number of questions related to the grading of our mainstream DHH kids.

Each year, I lament our inability to make this process EASIER for you all.

Two questions commonly asked:

Do I need to use differential standards in grading the deaf / hard of hearing kids in my classroom?

How do I record / track grades for the said children?

The answer to the first question is, generally, no. I don't like differential grading for my kids, because I think that it dilutes the basic message of standards competency for our kids. Our students will take the HSEE, just like each of your other students. Our kids are not exempt. They will receive either a diploma or a "Certificate of Completion", just like your other students. And just like you, we hope that most of our kids will manage to bring home a diploma, as anything less adds uncertainty to their post-graduation college and career future.

Our students may, however, have other modifications per their IEPs - additional time for test-taking, reduced homework load, etc. The SDC teacher following each mainstream student will typically review with you any modifications that are in place. It's also pretty common to add modifications later in the school year, after we've had a chance to see how things are going.

I am hoping that Mrs. Mackenzie will chime in here if her philosophy differs from my own! :)

Recording and reporting of grades (the second question) has been an ongoing concern and the source of many questions each school year. Presently, our deaf and hard of hearing students are not in the school Pathways system. This means that all mainstream grades have to be tracked and recorded separately, which is (in my opinion) a REALLY TERRIBLE THING ™. My perspective is that we ask enough of you guys without turning grading into a major chore as well.

I've had a couple of different answers re: adding our students to Pathways. The first response is that the addition of our students would exceed the cap / limit for our school license in terms of numbers, pushing the costs to Hart-Ransom up a notch. A second, more recent explanation is that adding our kids to Pathways generates serious headaches when it comes to state reporting requirements.

Our SCOE information systems lady has recently promised to speak with the Hart-Ransom office in the hopes of coming up with something. I continue to hold out hope that a solution will be discovered soon.

In the meantime - what's a buried-alive instructor to do? (Other than cry out feebly from under the avalanche of paperwork?)

Option A: Give everything to me.

That's right - just send all their work to me. I can even correct it if you'd like. The downside to this is that I don't know your weighting systems or grading policies, etc., so my kid might wind up being graded rather differently than the hearing student sitting across the aisle from him/her.

Option B: Record all scores for the DHH kids in a separate Excel spreadsheet.

This method seems to be the current method of choice. Mrs. Montgomery was using a nice little spreadsheet for mainstream math last year; I have the file if you are interested, or you MIGHT be able to convince her to share if you ask nicely. I've tried bribes in the past, but she is a woman of integrity and only niceness works. Just sayin'.

Option C: Run all student assignments through a shredder, or use as birdcage lining.

NOT RECOMMENDED. ;)

A final FYI: I attempt to send out progress reports / report cards at (or very close to) the same time that you send yours home. It's super helpful to me if I can have all the information in-hand by the time you are sending your own reports home.

Thank you so much for everything you do to support our kids!