A Different Kind of Curve
Next month, I'll start my 18th year as a teacher. One thing I've learned over the years is there's always more to learn. Most of the time when you turn a good idea into reality, it works for a little while before some kids figure out a way to circumvent it. But one idea a friend of mine and I came up with many years ago still works well for me today. It's a curve for grading tests that actually works! Here is a link to a spreadsheet calculator you can make a copy of and use! What does that mean, that it works? Everyone's heard of the bell curve of old, but that's been widely denounced as unfair. A certain percentage of students make A's and a certain percentage make F's, even if only a few points separate the highest and lowest grades. If the highest grade was 100 and the lowest a 90, you would still have students making F's. My friend and I agreed that was ludicrous. Another common method of curving grades is to simply add a certain amount of poin...