Grading Exceptional and Struggling Learners

Dr. Lee Ann Jung is the founder of Lead Inclusion and Professor of Practice at San Diego State University (SDSU). She is a former special education teacher, administrator, and full professor at the University of Kentucky, where she was director of international partnerships. She has authored ten books and numerous articles focused on inclusive education, assessment and grading, Universal Design for Learning, and multi-tiered systems of support. Over the past 25 years, Lee Ann has partnered with public, independent, and international schools across the United States and more than 45 countries, supporting leaders and educators to redesign service delivery models, strengthen MTSS implementation, and align practice with contemporary research.Lee Ann serves on the Advisory Committee for Exceptional Youth for the U.S. State Department′s Office of Overseas Schools. She has received competitive funding from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) for autism research and from the U.S. Office of Special Education Programs (OSEP) for teacher preparation. She has chaired the Classroom Assessment Special Interest Group of the American Educational Research Association (AERA) and is Section Editor for Special Education in the Routledge Encyclopedia of Education.Lee Ann leads MTSS and inclusion audits, leadership support, professional learning, and long-term systems redesign. Through Lead Inclusion, she directs and teaches in the Leadership for Neurodiversity Program, a six-course online program in partnership with SDSU. Lee Ann particularly enjoys the messy, meaningful work in the space between research and practice—helping schools move beyond fragmented special education initiatives toward coherent, sustainable systems that serve all learners. In her community, she is a member of Circle of Blue, a philanthropic organization supporting Golisano Children′s at the University of Kentucky.Thomas R. Guskey, PhD, is Professor Emeritus in the College of Education at the University of Kentucky. A graduate of the University of Chicago’s renowned Measurement, Evaluation, and Statistical Analysis (MESA) program, he began his career in education as a middle school teacher, served as an administrator in the Chicago Public Schools, and was the first Director of the Center for the Improvement of Teaching and Learning, a national educational research center. He is the author/editor of twenty-seven books and over three hundred articles published in prominent research journals as well as Educational Leadership, Kappan, and The School Administrator. Dr. Guskey served on the Policy Research Team of the National Commission on Teaching and America’s Future, and on the task force to develop the National Standards for Professional Development. He was named a Fellow in the American Educational Research Association and was awarded the Association’s prestigious Relating Research to Practice Award. He was also awarded Learning Forward′s Outstanding Contribution to the Field Award and Phi Delta Kappan′s Distinguished Educator Award. Perhaps most unique, in the 158-year history of his undergraduate institution, Thiel College, he is one of only three graduates to receive the Outstanding Alumnus Award and be inducted into the Thiel College Athletic Hall of Fame. His most recent books include Implementing Mastery Learning (2023), Instructional Feedback: The Power, the Promise, the Practice (with Smith & Lipnevich, 2023); Get Set, Go! Creating Successful Grading and Reporting Systems (2020), What We Know About Grading (with Brookhart, 2019), and On Your Mark: Challenging the Conventions of Grading and Reporting (2015). He may be contacted by email at guskey@uky.edu, Twitter at @tguskey, or at www.tguskey.com.

"The model presented in this book is the best one I know for approaching the difficult task of grading exceptional and struggling learners. It makes sense, and it honors principles of learning, instruction, and validity of measurement. Examples show how the model applies to a variety of struggling students. The book is clear and readable. I recommend it for teachers at all levels."

• About the Authors1. The Challenges of Grading Struggling Learners2. A Foundation for Change3. The Inclusive Grading Model4. Accommodations and Modifications5. Measuring Progress on Modified Standards With Gerry M. Swan6. Facilitating Change7. Frequently Asked Questions About Grading Struggling LearnersConclusionReferencesIndex