Putting Classroom Grading on the Table: A Reform in Progress

AERJ, 2019

Despite the ubiquity and complexity of grading, there is limited contemporary research on grading students in schools. There is, however, an outpouring of publications and consultants promoting new approaches. Many eliminate effort and behavior scores, remove the zero, adopt a four-point system, advocate rubrics, or promote their own software packages. To study changes in grading, we collected data in two New York high schools undergoing a year-long professional development program on rethinking grading. We not only used existing literature on grading to frame our study but also relied on institutional theory and teacher identity as frameworks. We found that productive teacher change occurred, but it was partial, tentative, contingent on school-wide support, and not without frustration on the part of teachers. KEYWORDS: classroom assessment, school reform, teacher change I don't think any teacher likes grading. It's time consuming. Assessing the work isn't much fun. Developing good lessons and teaching well are a lot more fun.-Gia (A 10th-year visual arts teacher) BRAD OLSEN is a professor of education at. His research and teaching focus on teachers, teaching, and teacher education (with emphases on professional identity and school reform); sociolinguistics; philosophical perspectives on education; and qualitative research methods. His most recent book is

Online Submission, 2009

This study explored teachers' views on several decisive issues regarding grading and reporting student learning. Data were gathered through a survey administered to 556 K-12 teachers from a medium-size, Midwest school district with a student population that closely approximates national student demographics. MANOVA analyses revealed few differences among teachers of different subject areas, but striking differences in the perceptions of elementary and secondary teachers. Elementary teachers expressed more progressive perspectives on grading, saw grades primarily as a way to communicate with parents, and more often distinguished achievement from behavior indicators in assigning grades. Secondary teachers based their grading practices on what they perceived would best prepare students for college or the work world, believed that grades helped teachers influence students' effort and behavior, and were committed to the mathematic precision of grade calculations. Possible reasons for these differences are explored and implications for reforms in grading policies and practices are discussed.

Teaching and Teacher Education, 2010

Despite the recommendations of some measurement specialists, teachers do not always assign grades based on achievement only. The primary purpose of this study is to clarify the meaning of grades, and to examine some of the factors teachers consider when assigning final grades with a focus on borderline cases. The sample consisted of 516 American public school teachers, selected via stratified random sample in a major metropolitan school district in the Southeast. A 53-item survey using Guttman’s mapping sentences, previously piloted in a separate school district, was created and distributed. Teachers were provided with scenarios that described student ability, achievement, behavior, and effort and the teacher was asked to assign both a numerical and letter grade. A four-way between-subjects ANOVA was conducted with the student characteristics ability, achievement, behavior, and effort as independent variables and final grade as the dependent variable. Findings demonstrate that teachers abided by the official grading policy of the participating school district assigning grades based primarily on achievement under most circumstances, however, in some borderline cases teachers report considering non-achievement factors. Implications for pre-service and in-service professional development are discussed.

JPP (Jurnal Pendidikan dan Pembelajaran), 2022

This study empirically investigated teachers' perceptions, current assessment grading practices, and views towards classroom assessment grading practice. The study randomly sampled 204 teachers and utilized three questionnaires for data collection. Cronbach Alpha Coefficient established the reliability of the various questionnaires. Frequency counts and percentages were used to answer the study research questions, while Pearson correlation was employed to test the study hypotheses. The study found that teachers do not positively perceive assessment grading practice, included non-achievement factors when grading students' assessments and used subjective knowledge when grading assessments. However, teachers viewed the assessment grading practice as an essential tool for quantification of students learning. Subsequently, significance difference was found between teachers' experience and teachers' perception towards assessment grading practice and views on the classroom importance of assessment grading practice. Nonetheless, no significant difference was found between teachers experience and teachers' current classroom grading habits.

2009

Teachers' classroom grading and assessment practices are important elements of assessment reform. The purpose of this study was to examine the effect of classroom learning factors such as class size, subject area, and school size on teachers' classroom assessment practices. The results of a survey of 513 high school teachers showed evidence that teachers had implemented some aspects of assessment reform and that one classroom learning factor (i.e., subject) had a modest effect on teachers' practices. The results also indicate a need for more research on factors that affect teachers' assessment decisions and the effect of these decisions on implementing assessment reform.

2015

as well as Dr. Terry Reid for providing valuable advice instrumental in enabling me to complete this study. I appreciate their dedication to guiding students like myself through the challenging dissertation process. In addition, I would like to thank the participants of the cooperating middle school. I owe much gratitude to all who contributed for their transparency and the time devoted to making grading reform successful for all learners. The professionalism and dedication of the educators in this school are to be commended, and without them, this study could not have been completed. Finally, my deepest love and appreciation go to my family and friends. I would like to thank my husband, Dave, for dealing with many extra duties, his unconditional love, Godly example, countless prayers, and enthusiastic support of our family dreams. My children, Brett and Katelyn, celebrated every completed page, did many extra chores, and displayed wonderful character and sacrifice. It is my hope that I can repay this debt of gratitude to them as they conquer their own educational dreams. My parents have always stressed the importance of perseverance and have encouraged me in every endeavor. My dad and mom not only revealed to me the treasure of hard work and caring for others, they also helped me see the freedom offered from education and championed my love for teaching. I could never repay them for the love and sacrifice they have shown our family. My school family was a constant support, and I thank them for listening, advising, always laughing, and serving as the sisters I never had.

2017

Implications for Student Achievement Communication ………………………………… 91 References ……………………………………………………………………………………………………………….. 95 Appendix A ……………………………………………………………………………………………………..……… CHAPTER ONE communication is the assignment of report card grades by teachers and student performance on standardized assessments. This generates the question: Do traditional grading practices and standardized testing accurately measure and communicate student academic performance? Purpose of the Study This exploratory mixed method research study sought to identify how teacher perceptions of assessment practices through a traditional grading system compares to student performance on a criterion-referenced, standardized test. Further investigation into specific content areas was used to identify if there is a relationship in performance within this variable. Research Questions The study explored the relationship between teacher assigned report card percentage grades and student performance on the criterion-reference Nebraska State Accountability Assessment. The variance of relationship between the content areas of reading, math, and language arts for students enrolled in fourth grade was measured to determine if specific content areas influence the degree of association for the two performance measures. The study sought to answer the following research questions: Research Question 1. How strong is the relationship between teacher assigned student report card grades in reading and scores on the Nebraska State Accountability Reading Assessment for students enrolled in fourth grade? 10 Research Question 2. How strong is the relationship between teacher assigned student report card grades in math and scores on the Nebraska State Accountability Math Assessment for students enrolled in fourth grade? Research Question 3. How strong is the relationship between teacher assigned student report card grades in language arts and scores on the Nebraska State Accountability Writing Assessment for students enrolled in fourth grade? Research Question 4. How do fourth grade teachers perceive grading and assessment practices to clearly and consistently communicate student achievement? Definition of Terms The researcher chose to define the following terms to clarify them for this study. To ensure clear understanding throughout the study, the following terms and acronyms have been defined: Adequate Yearly Progress. Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) is a term introduced with the No Child Left Behind legislation and indicates whether a school or system has made sufficient progress towards meeting school or system improvement goals.

2002

This study investigated possible differences in the perceptions of three stakeholder groups (teachers, students, and parents) regarding grading and grade reporting. Data were gathered through questionnaires completed by 215 teachers in 2 states, 4,265 elementary school, middle school, and high school students, and 944 parents. Different forms were developed for the different groups, but the items were nearly identical. Teachers at the elementary level tended to believe that an ideal distribution of grades would have most students receiving the highest grades possible. The ideal distribution patterns of teachers at other levels and most students were similar, but parents had more mixed ratings, with parents of elementary school students generally perceiving that students would attain high grades, and those of older students expecting a more even distribution of grades across grade categories. Overall, as grade level progressed, teachers, parents, and students all tended to rank communicating with parents as a less important purpose of grading and providing feedback to students as a more important purpose. All groups recommended the inclusion of multiple sources of information in determining grades, but parents seemed less well informed about the evidence to be considered in determining grades. (Contains 4 tables and 13 references.) (SLD) Reproductions supplied by EDRS are the best that can be made from the original document.

Educational Measurement: Issues and Practice, 2013

Standards-based progress reports (SBPRs) require teachers to grade students using the performance levels reported by state tests and are an increasingly popular report card format. They may help to increase teacher familiarity with state standards, encourage teachers to exclude nonacademic factors from grades, and/or improve communication with parents. The current study examines the SBPR grade-state test score correspondence observed across 2 years in 125 third and fifth grade classrooms located in one school district to examine the degree of consistency between grades and state test results. It also examines the grading practices of a subset of 37 teachers to determine whether there is an association between teacher appraisal style and convergence rates. A moderate degree of grade-test score convergence was observed using three agreement estimates (coefficient kappa, tau-b correlations, and classroom-level mean differences between grades and test scores). In addition, only small amounts of grade-test score convergence were observed between teachers; a much greater proportion of variance lay within classrooms and subjects. Appraisal style correlated weakly with convergence rates, but was most strongly related to assigning students to the same performance level as the test. Therefore using recommended grading practices may improve the quality of SBPR grades to some extent.

Phi Delta Kappan, 2015

Making clear linkages between standards, assessment, grading, and reporting that are concisely reported work for the betterment of ALL students. Grading and reporting are foundational elements in nearly every educational system. Grading represents teachers' evaluations-formative or summative-of students' performance. Reporting is how the results of those evaluations are communicated to students, parents, or others. Because of their fundamental nature, educators must ensure that grading and reporting always meet the criteria for validity and reliability. And because of their primary communication purpose, educators must also ensure that grading and reporting are meaningful, accurate, and fair. What research tells us The first step in sound classroom assessment practices associated with grading is to ensure that grades are meaningful. In determining students' grades, teachers typically merge scores from major exams, compositions, quizzes, projects, and reports, along with evidence from homework, punctuality in turning in assignments, class participation, work habits, and effort. Computerized grading programs help teachers apply different weights to each of these categories (Guskey, 2002) that then are combined in idiosyncratic ways (McMillan, 2001; McMillan, Myran, & Workman, 2002). The result often is a grade that is impossible to interpret accurately or meaningfully (Brookhart & Nitko, 2008; Cross & Frary, 1996). To make grades more meaningful, we need to address both the purpose of grades and the format used to report them. Purpose and criteria The purpose of grading is to describe how well students have achieved the learning objectives or goals established for a class or course of study. Grades should reflect students' performance on specific learning criteria. Establishing clearly articulated criteria for grades makes the grading process more fair and equitable. Unfortunately, different teachers often use widely varying criteria in determining students' grades, and students often aren't well-informed about those criteria. Recognizing that merging diverse sources of evidence distorts the meaning of any grade, educators in many parts of the world assign multiple grades. This idea