Grading Homework

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How to grade homework has been something I have struggled with ever since I became a teacher. Some teachers grade for completion and correctness. This means a student must complete all of the questions and get all of the answers correct to receive full credit. Other teachers just grade for completion and effort. In this case, students would have to attempt all the questions but they could still get full points even if they got some incorrect. Also, some teachers just check if the homework is complete or incomplete and do not give any points for it. Then there are even teachers who don't score or check homework at all. They just believe it is practice for the students but not a part of their grade.

Right now, I usually focus on completion. Because I teach math, I know students are going to make mistakes on their homework and I don't want to penalize them for that. I do give points for completed homework but I have considered getting rid of points and just putting in my grade book whether it was complete or incomplete.

I also struggle with what to do about late homework. Many teachers take off a certain amount of points or a percentage for each day it's late. Others take off points, but it is just a set amount and it doesn't matter how long ago the assignment was due. I use this method right now. I just take off one point for a late homework assignment. It doesn't matter if it is a day late or a week late. I know other teachers don't penalize students for late work because they just want them to do it.

I would love other teacher's feedback on how they grade homework and late assignments. Please take the survey below to let me know. If you are not currently teaching, I would still love your feedback. You could let me know what you would prefer if you were a student in my classroom. Create your own user feedback survey

Comments

  1. Tanneil KuchynkaAugust 9, 2019 at 10:29 AM

    I do a mixture of things. As teachers we know that it's impossible to grade everything so I grade for correctness on things that we do in class and things that I work on with them. If it's just extra practice I will check it off if it's done. I also struggle with how to do this. When I first started teaching I spent hours and hours of home time and sacraficed much needed sleep to correct everything! It took me a while to learn that I could not continue to do that. Since then, I have come up with a mixture that works for me. Missing assignments are always a problem. I spend so much time tracking it and rounding it up. We are allowed to give zeros at our school so eventually that's what happens to some but I give them so many extra opportunities. How do you handle missing assignments?

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    Replies
    1. Hannah FastAugust 9, 2019 at 8:58 PM

      It's so easy to send up spending hours of your own time on grading. I agree that you can't or shouldn't correct everything. I also encourage students to correct their own work a lot (although they don't seem to like to do this). For missing assignments I mark them as missing, which is a zero in the gradebook. Our gradebook is online so students and parents can check it anytime they want to. I find this is super helpful because usually students will then complete it and turn it in after they see it's missing online. Then I just consider it a late assignment and take one point off.

      Delete
    2. Tanneil KuchynkaAugust 10, 2019 at 8:18 AM

      Hannah, I agree having students correct their own work is a great thing. It can really help them to be accountable for their work. I like your ideas on late grading too. I take time to mark it as late in our online gradebook so parents and families can see it.

      Delete
  2. ED TECH 537August 9, 2019 at 9:26 PM

    I work in a district where many students are left to complete homework alone so I take this into consideration. I look at homework as a complete or incomplete and this grade goes toward the total homework grade. I do allow my students to complete it at lunch if they missed several since I don't want their homework grade to bring down their total grade.

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    1. Hannah FastAugust 13, 2019 at 8:25 PM

      Yes I try to make sure homework is at a level that students can complete it alone. I know many don’t have someone to help them at home. I try to give them time in class to at least start it too so they can get help from me.

      Delete
  3. Mari VenturinoAugust 10, 2019 at 7:51 AM

    I don't assign homework in science, I tell my kids and their parents I would much rather them spend that time with family or friends, helping around the house, or doing something fun. We are also very skill-focused in 7th grade science, so I grade for mastery. Classwork is not graded, although I do sometimes stamp notebook work (7th graders go nuts over stamps!) or dismiss students based on who has turned in something to Google Classroom. With a mastery-focus, the only grades students see are Mastery (M) or In Progress (IP), students can revise and resubmit Mastery Tasks as many times as they need in order to achieve mastery.

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    1. Eric A. SilvaAugust 12, 2019 at 7:55 PM

      That's very interesting that you use a mastery-based approach. Is that something that your whole school follows or just your class? I'm curious if that goes onto their report card as "Mastered" or if it converts over to a letter grade or percentage.

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    2. Mari VenturinoAugust 13, 2019 at 6:10 PM

      My whole department used Mastery-Based Grading, and most of our school is at least standards-based if not mastery-based. Unfortunately, we still need to report letter grades on the report card.

      Delete
    3. Hannah FastAugust 13, 2019 at 8:27 PM

      I like your approach Mari. When I taught elementary I assigned very little homework. They could finish most if not all in class as long as they were focused and working throughout the day. Families were surprised by this but I told them I wanted them to have time to do other things outside of school too.

      Delete
  4. DiannaAugust 11, 2019 at 12:12 PM

    I completed the poll! I think there are reasons why some students turn in their work late. Thus, I think it's good to be understanding.

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    1. Hannah FastAugust 13, 2019 at 8:28 PM

      Yes many students have legitimate reasons why their work is late. It’s better that they do it and turn it in late than not do it at all.

      Delete

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