Contract grading part 2: How we made it happen at the school level

(The previous post explained *why* I moved to contract grading with my 9th grade AP Physics 1 class. Today I'm discussing institutionally how I worked with my colleagues and my administration to make contract grading happen.  The next posts will discuss how I communicate with parents; and then how I make this particular style of contract grading work on a day to day basis with my class.)

A few years back, a history-teaching colleague presented to the faculty and at an external conference his experience with "contract grading".  His contracts for a required 9th grade course painstakingly listed the descriptive attributes of students who get grades of A, B, and C.  He allowed the students themselves to contract for whichever level best described them.  Then, he held the students to their contract, demanding levels of in-class engagement, paper rewrites, and out-of-class effort commensurate with what the students themselves had agreed to.

My approach is much simpler.  In an AP class, there's no such thing to me as settling for B-level effort.  Students who are good fits for AP physics do all the assigned work to the best of their ability, redo whatever they bombed the first time, engage enthusiastically and diligently with laboratory exercises, and finish all test corrections.  Someone who's only partially willing to do these things shouldn't get a low grade - they shouldn't be in this advanced class to begin with.

On this colleague's model, I proposed to the dean and the headmaster that all of my AP students would contract for an A, by pledging to do each of the items in the paragraph above.  They were quite receptive to the idea, especially as this history colleague had already demonstrated that non-traditional grading approaches neither brought forth the apocalypse, nor a flood of burdensome complaints. The headmaster made the very important suggestion that all students should contract not for an A but for an A-minus, on the grounds that nobody is perfect.  It turned out that this small change was critical to the success of the approach.

We ended up with the contract that you can read here.  

In practice, now, a small committee including the academic dean and the head of admissions select students who they think can handle the AP Physics 1 course as freshmen.  I've asked them to cast a wide net!  That is, they don't just rank by standardized test scores - which they can't anymore anyway since our school's admission process went test-optional.  These folks are all quite familiar with the incoming class.  They make their best guess at choosing a team.

Then, on the first day of class, I explain to the students (orally, and in writing on the course syllabus) that they have been selected for the AP physics section.  In three weeks, I tell them, I'll have an individual meeting with each student.  If by then they've lived up to the terms of the contract so far, and if I judge that they are likely to be successful in the college-level course, I will offer them the contract to sign - at which point they may choose to sign, or to switch into the general physics course.  I remind them that I have chosen them to be part of this team, so that I am invested in their success.  That I will be honest with them if I think they can't handle the course, so that they can just concentrate on each assignment and leave the long-term planning to me.

But what about their GPA?  

Here's what the contract says about grades:

Your marking period report will indicate an (unweighted) grade of A- each term during the year.

After AP score reports are released in July, your transcript will be adjusted according to the scale below.  This will increase the overall GPA for all those who earn 3 or above – which, historically, has been virtually everyone.

However, if your in-class performance is better than your AP score equivalent, your transcript will reflect the in-class performance.

AP Score     Transcript Grade

5             A and honors bump

4             A- and honors bump 

3             B+ and honors bump

1 or 2             B

Note the out that I've left myself and my students: someone who's done well all year won't be penalized for having one bad day on May 9.  That said, the AP exam is pretty darned consistent.  It's rare that someone significantly underperforms what I've seen from them all year.  In practice, my goal is to eventually counsel out anyone whose in-class performance is below the 3 level, so that *everyone* will earn a weighted B+ or better.  Those students who aren't getting 3s on most practice exams are invariably better off building skills in our very strong conceptual physics class, and then returning to the AP course junior or senior year.  

Here's where the headmaster's genius suggestion solved problems I hadn't anticipated.  A student who truly is trying to game the GPA system in the short term is better off with an earned A in general physics than the automatic A- in the AP class!  And a student willing to take a class below their intellectual level for the purpose of earning a higher grade is someone I don't need in AP physics, any more than the football team needs someone who only joined to impress potential sexual partners.  The students who choose to stay - which, so far, has been all of them - understand that they're taking a small GPA hit for now, but in return are freed from the angst of worrying incessantly about whether they're perfect.  

When someone inevitably asks in class about grades or GPAs, my response is gentle, but clear about two points:  (1) Read the contract for details, and (2) If GPA will have any influence on your decision to remain in the college-level section, you don't belong here;  I'm happy to help you switch into the general class, where you're likely to earn a natural A.  They get the message very, very quickly - such that the SECOND student who tries to ask about grades is hurriedly and firmly shushed by classmates.

The next post will describe how I communicate all of the above to parents and advisors.  Then I'll get to discussing the nitty-gritty of how the class works on a daily basis.