Group+Grades

= Group Grades =

Excerpts from A Repair Kit for Grading, 15 Fixes for Broken Grades :
Fix #6: Don't include group scores in grades; use only individual achievement evidence. Grades are broken when they include group scores from work done in cooperative learning groups. The fix is to ensure that all evidence used to determine grades comes from individual evidence of achievement **

__Kagan's Seven Reasons for Opposing Group Scores (Grades):__ Group scores (grades) If a group score is given, there is a danger of a student receiving credit for something he/she did not complete. Often one or two students complete the majority of the work. Cooperative learning has encountered parental and student resistance in some schools/districts because of group scoring. In the extreme, parents have taken teachers, principals, schools and districts to court over the issue. The parents generally have won because judges followed the principle that no student's grade should depend on the achievement (or behavior) of other students. Another issue with giving scores for products or performance developed in cooperative learning groups is that the strategy is cooperative **learning,** which implies that any activities that occur in groups are learning activities, and any assessment of them is best considered formative assessment. Such assessment is for practice and should not produce scores that are part of a grade. Recognize that cooperative learning is a learning activity, not an assessment tool. After a class has experienced cooperative learning, teachers can then assess students **individually** to find out what they know, understand, and can do as a result. This **individual** assessment could involve one or more of the following:
 * 1) Are not fair
 * 2) Debase report cards
 * 3) Undermine motivation
 * 4) Convey the wrong message
 * 5) Violate individual accountability
 * 6) Are responsible for resistance to cooperative learning
 * 7) May be challenged in court
 * Suggested solution:**
 * 1) teacher monitoring of cooperative activity work
 * 2) an essay response based on questions formulated during the activity
 * 3) a class discussion of the questions and responses generated
 * 4) a test on the content of the questions formulated and responses generated.