November 1996 Bibliography Reviews Grading Practices
A new bibliography from the Northwest Regional Educational Laboratory reviews literature and practices related to grading student work.
The Bibliography of Assessment Alternatives: Grading, includes papers about grading and reporting issues, sample innovative report cards, training materials on grading and reporting, and first-person narratives from educators who have tried to reform the way they grade students.
The bibliography is divided into two sections: a listing of the articles in alphabetical order by primary author, and an index. It describes 50 articles about grading and reporting student progress. Here is a sampling:
- "Questions Parents Ask," by Sandy Adams and Kim Young in Report Card on Report Cards. This article debunks assumptions about traditional grading systems. Some of the issues addressed are that traditional grading systems motivate students, accurately measure progress, are comparable across teachers, and have clear meaning. The article also provides a rationale for alternative reporting systems.
- Grading and Classroom Management: What Does It Mean to Earn a Grade?, by Susan Brookhart. This paper, which was first presented at the annual meeting of the National Council on Measurement in Education, explores three related questions:
- What do teachers mean when they say a student "earns" a grade?
- What does it mean for a teacher to be "fair" in assigning grades? and
- What do teachers mean when they say a student "deserves" a grade?
The paper also uses these questions as a basis to discuss the role of grades, and classroom assessment in general, in motivating students and managing classrooms.
- Testing and Grading Practices and Opinions in the Nineties: 1890s or 1990s?, by Robert Frary, Lawrence Cross, and Larry Weber. The authors report on a statewide study of the grading practices of high school teachers that found that a "large majority of teachers pursue practices contrary to sound measurement." The report also includes a 51-question survey that asks how grades are assigned, the types of assessments used to assign grades, knowledge about the technical concerns of grading, and opinions about various grading practices.
- "Talking with Parents About Performance-Based Report Cards," by Evelyn Kenney and Suzanne Perry in the October 1994 Educational Leadership. The authors report on their schools' attempt to revise their report cards to reflect new outcomes for students, parallel a scoring system used in their classroom, and provide detailed information to parents.
- "Reporting Reading Progress: A Comparison Portfolio for Parents," by James Flood and Diane Lapp in the March 1989 Reading Teacher. The authors offer suggestions geared toward helping parents understand portfolios. The article describes and suggests the content that should be included in a reading portfolio designed to show student progress to parents. Flood and Lapp suggest the portfolio include test scores, informal assessments, student writing samples that show improvement through the year, and samples of materials students can read at the beginning and end of the school year.
- School Administrator's Staff Development Activities Manual by Ronald Hyman. This book provides seven hands-on "constructivist" activities for administrators to use in professional growth workshops for K-12 staff. Chapter eight, "The Spelling Test," provides the most relevant assessment activity. The chapter provides an activity that focuses on issues associated with grading.
- "Honesty and Fairness: Toward Better Grading and Reporting" by Grant Wiggins. This article, which appeared in the ASCD Year Book 1996—Communicating Student Learning, outlines five practices that can improve student reporting. To improve student reports, the author notes, educators must ask: "Who is the audience and what is the purpose of the writing?" Report cards should serve the clients' needs, not the teachers'. Among the issues discussed are the need to provide evidence that justifies the grade, score, or judgment; to make information intelligible to the consumer; and to provide more than a single score.
Copies of the Bibliography of Assessment Alternatives: Grading is online as a PDF at www.nwrel.org/eval/library/pdfs/grading.pdf, and can be ordered from the Document Order Form in this newsletter.
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