Introduction/The Purpose of Grading

VIDEO SUMMARY
From the program, Grading and Reporting Student Progress

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A low mark may flag substandard effort, but it gives little indication of what is learned as a whole, and all too often, is viewed as punishment. Myra Munroe, an educator, states that, We want real things to happen and what we found is that what we were doing with our report card wasnt really what was actually happening in the classroom. She explains, What we wanted to do was to look at student learning and what it is that we want to report out to parents. Parents say to me, I dont have enough information, what else can you tell me, how else can we report this, says Ms. Jane Bailey, an educator. As a teacher myself, when I taught high school, I was always frustrated that a letter grade didnt tell the story. Dr. Thomas R. Guskey, an expert in grading and assessment, adds, I truly believe that there is no area in education today where the gap between what we know and what finds its way into practice is greater than what it is in grading and reporting. When emphasis is removed from grading and placed on learning, grading becomes a more accurate reflection of what is learned, and students understand the expectations.

The most important thing thats changing is that were moving towards greater consistency in terms of what kids understand is expected of them, says Damian Cooper, an educator. He adds, What is quality performance? What is quality work and are the standards for quality understood by students? Are the standards understood by their parents and by teachers?
This program discusses ways to change grading and reporting student progress from a punitive system to one of evaluation that encourages learning progress. The first videotape includes looking at the purposes of grading; reporting that communicates with the student and parent; carefully examining grading and reporting methods currently in use; and grading as an incentive to learning more. The second program in this issue of the Video Journal introduces other methods of reporting and communicating progress; changes in grading practices that reward progress; and the relationship between grading and assessment.

Introduction/The Purpose of Grading

From the program, Grading and Reporting Student Progress

Change can happen to better serve the student, parent and teacher, with grading that is reflective of learning. Grading that is reflective of learning takes effort. The first step in making grading more effective is looking at the purposes of grading. Dr. Thomas R. Guskey is a professor of education at the University of Kentucky. He has worked at all levels of education and is now an international leader and authority on grading and assessment. He outlines the purposes of grading.

Dr. Guskey states that One of the reasons we use grades is to communicate achievement status of students to their parents and to others. Thats clearly an important reason. Another reason we use them is to provide students with self evaluation. He adds that a Third reason that we use the grading reporting is to select, identify, or group students for certain educational programs.
He notes, You have to have a certain grade point average to get into certain programs, or students with lower grades are recommended for special remedial kinds of activities providing incentives for students to learn. Dr. Guskey adds that, Now indeed some people debate this idea. But theres lots of evidence to confirm it. For example whats the first thing your students want to know when you announce theres going to be a quiz or test? Does it count? How many points will be on it? And suppose you turn to them and said, No, it doesnt count. Well, who studies for a test that doesnt count? And so clearly there is some incentive value to document performance and to evaluate the effectiveness of certain programs. He states that finally, grading provides evidence of their students lack of effort or inappropriate responsibility. What we tend to do is try to come up with a reporting policy that serves all of these purposes. And what we generate serves none of them very well. Dr. Guskey acknowledges, You cant serve all of these purposes with a single instrument. In fact, in some cases, these purposes are counter to each other to the degree that if you want one and two, youve got to give up three and five. He says If youre focusing on one and two, what youre hoping for is that the kids do well. If all the kids do well, everybody gets a high grade. If everybody gets a high grade, you have no variation. If you have no variation, you cant use it to select or group. And you cant use it to evaluate because in order to use it for that, you have to have variation. They are counter to each other. In deciding on the overall purpose of a reporting system, it is important to state what the purpose of the report is. Dr. Guskey notes that If youre going to change your report card, if youre going to change your reporting system, then you need to decide first what the purpose is. Once you decide that, all of these other issues fall into place. He says, Youd be surprised how many school districts finally, after long debate and serious discussion, come down and say, all right its really number one.

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Introduction/The Purpose of Grading

From the program, Grading and Reporting Student Progress

Dr. Guskey continues to describe the conversation: They say Were going to use it to communicate the achievement status of students to their parents and others, and I say, Thats great. I ask, Youre going to communicate to parents, right? Right. Parents have to understand the information, right? Right. Are the parents on your report card committee? No. Hmmm.

According to Ken OConnor, an educator, Grading should only be about achievement, not mixing in behaviors, which is so often done when we put in attendance, and participation and all those sorts of things. He says, We need to be clear that grades are for achievement.
Carolyn Skinner, an educator, comments that, Our report card is written almost entirely with curriculum indicators. When Im doing a report card, I sit down, I think what indicators have I covered and did I plan to cover this term. Kids need to know they own the learning, because its a process that theyre part of, says Sue McKenzie-Robblee, an educator. They also need to be a part of how we describe their learning and how they share their learning with their teachers, with their parents, with their classmates, and with other kids in the school. She adds, They need to know what theyre good at and why their good at what their good at. So for me, reporting and assessment all has to focus on what kids can do, not what they cant do.

Get the rest of the video on PD 360 by signing up for a free 30-day trial. Would you like weekly strategy updates? Sign up for the Strategy of the Week for fresh ideas sent straight to your email inbox. Segment Length: 6:31

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