Sum24 Culturally Responsive Teaching with ESCALA4

Summer 2024 Escala 4

PSYC 135: Psychology of Multicultural Groups

Grading for Equity / Cultural Context / High & Low Contexts

Reflection on Instructional Change:

Based on my course data, I noticed most students did really well in my class. However, there were certain groups of students in particular students who identified as Native American or African American, who although only represented about 7 students in total in my classes, about half failed my course. I want all students to be able to succeed and pass my class so I wanted to implement changes in the way I grade assignments to see if this could be more equitable.

One practice I implemented was changing the way I grade assignments and due dates. In my evaluation of my student data, I noticed that although most students did really well, there were some students who didn't pass the class. So the goal was to making my grading practices more transparent and equitable. The goal with these practices were to make it flexible so students had options in assignment submissions and to also allow students opportunities to grow/learn in the class. The goal of this practice was to make it more equitable to decrease the number of students failing my course.

This semester I allowed students to do revisions, I implements first deadline/second deadline, I made assignments at the end of the semester worth more, and I made all assignment on a 0-4 grading scale. These were all meant to make the grading much more equitable. So far, I've seen that these practices have been working really well for students except for the first/second deadline so I will be changing that next semester.

After completing the Share & Analyze session, some of the feedback I received was to think about submission deadlines as related to equitable grading practices and to think about how to balance the class with more low context activities. Next semester, I will rethink allowing students to submit assignments late or have rolling deadlines. I also want to take some days for students to be able to do activities independently or provide options for students who may not want to interact collaboratively that day.

**Evidence of Instructional Change**

Description of grading policies posted on my class Canvas page. First I discuss that the first half of the semester is worth less than the second half. Then I explain the due dates and revisions process.	Share and Analyze slide which describes the changes I made in class to making grading more equitable.

Before Course Syllabus

After Course Syllabus

**Faculty Bio**
	Paulette Garcia Peraza is an assistant professor in the Psychology department. She is Salvadoran American and first in her family to graduate from college. Her research focuses on the culture in higher education institutions and how that culture affects the experiences of minoritized (e.g., first-generation, ethnic-racial minorities, working-class) undergraduate and graduate students.

Funding
	This work was supported by: US Department of Education Hispanic Serving Institution Project TECH4Equity US Department of Education Hispanic Serving Institution Project STEM4Equity P031C210012 *Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation or the US Department of Education.