ParticipationPoints

__**Should We Use Participation Points?**__ When deciding whether or not to assign participation points, it is essential to consider your beliefs as a teacher. Before entering into a grading commitment, ask yourself: Based on your research and experience, is classroom participation critical to student learning?

If you believe that it is, then it follows that participation should be expected of every student. And if it is an expectation, then it follows that effort in this area should count toward the students' grades. Not everyone agrees that participation should be graded; Jacobs and Chase (1992) "identify several reasons for not grading class participation," including that student behavior is subjective and that teachers rarely provide clear instruction on how to improve participation (cited in Bean & Peterson, 1998). However, in their article "Grading Classroom Participation" Bean and Peterson also state their belief that "grading class participation can send positive signals to students about the kind of learning and thinking an instructor values, such as growth in critical thinking, active learning, development of listening and speaking skills needed for career success, and the ability to join a discipline's conversation." While Bean and Peterson's research is focused on classroom participation at the university level, their points are directly applicable to the secondary classroom. Secondary teachers also want their students to think critically, learn actively, develop life skills, and discover the joy of academic discourse. Choosing to give participation points may tie into these goals.

Additionally, giving participation its own grade can help to free teachers from bias during other forms of evaluation. For example, imagine Susie, a student who constantly wanders in late to class. Susie’s teacher is tempted to mark down her homework or be harder on her essays, because of her lack of good citizenship in the classroom. The teacher can prevent this bias by separating the two grades completely.

__**Discussing Participation with Students**__ It's worth noting that some teachers say "Citizenship Grade" rather than "Participation Points" to promote the idea that participation is critical to good citizenship both inside and outside the classroom.

Participation/Citizenship grades cannot be assigned sloppily if they are to be used well. There is too much room for subjectivity, and the teacher must guard against this by preparing a system that is consistent and fair.

Additionally, “in order for students to know how to effectively participate, a clear statement of expectations is required from the teacher” (Wing, 1982, cited in Bess & Bess, 2002). We can’t expect our students to be wonderful citizens unless we first define what that means!

//Two viewpoints:// Some teachers start everyone at an 80% or 85% for Participation/Citizenship. These teachers are up front with their students, sharing with the class that they expect reasonable, B-level participation from everyone, and that everyone will therefore start out with Bs. Students who come to class on time, are attentive, and take advantage of participation opportunities will easily be able to achieve As, if they so desire. Students who come to class on time, are attentive, but do not contribute greatly to discussions or take leadership roles in groups (etc.), will maintain a B. Students who do not come to class on time, are not attentive, and do not participate will see this grade drop progressively throughout the unit/quarter/semester.

Other teachers prefer not to tell students exactly how many points they will need, in order to receive an A or B (etc.). They like to leave enough flexibility in their participation systems in order to adapt as the need arises. If you prefer to maintain a great deal of flexibility, be sure to let students know how they can earn the points, and be sure to let them know when their participation grade is slipping, so that they can make the necessary adjustments. Be as transparent as possible if you expect compliance.

__**Assigning Points to Participation/Citizenship**__ Above all, a participation points system should be:
 * Clearly understood by the teacher and students
 * Based on visible and/or tangible evidence (behaviors) that can be measured objectively, at least to a great extent.

Each participation-oriented behavior can have a pre-assigned point value that students may track themselves or that the teacher may track, if preferable.

Being transparent about how these points are earned is critical. Participation opportunities can even be listed on the board along with the agenda, at the beginning of every class. For example, if agenda item 2 is “Students share examples of last night’s homework,” you might add “Volunteers? +5 participation points.”

Points can be earned for behaviors such as:
 * Completing entrance/exit slips (and other writing for formative assessment)
 * Pair sharing
 * Completing practice exercises
 * Contributing to whole-class discussions
 * Listening
 * Engaging in peer review
 * Finishing group tasks (taking leadership roles in collaborative projects, etc.)

Points can be lost for behaviors such as:
 * Being tardy to class
 * Unexcused absences
 * Speaking out of turn/while teacher is speaking/without raised hand
 * Attention is focused on homework from another subject
 * Attention is focused on socializing/text networking
 * Cell phone rings

Additional strategies for enhancing classroom participation: //from// [|“Grading Classroom Participation”]
 * Create activities in which participants report on homework already prepared
 * Include an e-mail component for class participation
 * Increase wait time
 * Develop techniques for quieting discussion dominators
 * Coach problematic students and reward progress

Example Participation Rubric:** ([|See teach-nology.com])

(Retrieved from [|Associated Content)]
 * Example Participation Point Scheme**

ESL Classroom Participation Point Scheme:

Attendance: 5 points (1 point for each day of the week) Points here should be kept relatively low as sometimes unexpected absences can not be avoided. You can implement a note system as well that can recover half or a whole attendance point if the absence is excused. This point is, of course, at the teacher’s discretion.

Homework: 5 points per assignment. Regardless of the grade obtained on the assignment, if the student turns in the work they are participating and should be given the allotted amount of points. This is also provided that the assignment is on-task and not simply a note jotted down so as to assure participation points for homework. As always, allotment of homework points and the rules regarding it are at the discretion of the teacher.

Quiz: 5 points (one quiz can be given weekly on an allotted day, for instance Fridays). By keeping a quiz scheduled and having it affect participation, as well as their quiz and attendance score, the student has more incentive to be present for the event. The student receives points for taking the quiz regardless of a pass or fail. Since a quiz is generally the day’s events, taking the quiz signifies participation. Deduction of points for behavior is at the teacher discretion.

Daily Questions: A point allotment for this section is up to the teacher. Two or four points a day keeps it easy and even when it comes to grading. These points should be kept and recorded for records and proof. Points earned can be reported on during a regular or weekly report card. Also, a daily participation column can be allocated for record keeping purposes.

Note: All discretionary decisions should be marked on the grade sheet and the paper that the student receives so that there is proof of a reason for the deduction.

"This scheme provides teachers with the tool they need to urge students into participation. The answer to the subjectivity problem isn’t to merely do away with the grading of participation; instead, we simply need to add more objectivity to it. An ESL classroom benefits most from the use of the language, i.e participation. Thus, this grading scheme allows the continued encouragement and use of participation as a guideline, and also provides an answer to age old subjectivity disagreement. The students are happy, as they have something to base their grades on, and the teachers no longer have an intangible grading scheme to work with."

*

(Retrieved from [|Washington State University)] "Class participation is important for the success of the class. You all have communication experience and sharing that experience with the rest of the class improves the quality of class discussion and student learning. Accordingly, 50 points (almost 10%) of your grade depends on your active participation in class. Below I’ve detailed how participation points are assigned."
 * Example Participation Grading Scale**


 * 50 participation points (an “A+” grade) means**:
 * · You attend class every day.
 * · You to arrive to class on time, and prepared to discuss the assigned reading.
 * · You remain for the entire class, unless prior acceptable arrangements have been made with me.
 * · You are engaged and attentive throughout the class period.
 * · You respond to questions and actively participate in class discussions


 * 45-49 participation points (an “A” grade) means**:


 * You attend class almost every day (with very few exceptions)
 * You arrive to class on time, and prepared to discuss the assigned reading.
 * You remain for the entire class, unless prior acceptable arrangements have been made with me.
 * You are engaged and attentive throughout the class period.
 * You respond to questions and actively participate in class discussions


 * 40-44 participation points (a “B” grade) means**:


 * You attend class almost every day (with a few exceptions).
 * You to arrive at class on time and you remain for the entire class, unless prior acceptable arrangements have been made with me.
 * You participate in class discussion, but not regularly.
 * You are sometimes disengaged and distracted during class.


 * 35-39 participation points (a “C” grade) means:**


 * You miss several classes or,
 * You are sometimes late for class or leave early.
 * When you’re in class, you are engaged and participate.


 * 30-34 participation points (a “D” grade) means:**


 * You miss class frequently.
 * You participate in class discussion sporadically on the days you do attend.


 * 29 or less participation points (an “F” grade) means:**


 * You miss class frequently.
 * You rarely, if ever, participate in class discussion.

__**Additional Resources**__ [|“A Participation Points System Good For Every Task”] (Dee Anne and Michael Bess, Asia University, Tokyo, 2002)

[|“Grading Classroom Participation”] (John C. Bean and Dean Peterson, Seattle University, WA, 1998)