Overheads for Unit 11--Chapter 15 (Grading and Reporting)

OH 1
The Challenge

Aim
To provide results
 In brief,
 understandable form
 for varied users.
The big questions
1. What should I count—just achievement, or effort too?
2. How do I interpret a student’s score? Do I compare it to:
 other students’ scores (norm-referenced),
 a standard of what they can do (criterion-referenced),
 or some estimate of what they are able to do (learning potential, or self-
referenced)?
3. What should my distribution of grades be, and how do I determine it?
4. How do I display student progress, or strengths and weaknesses, to students and their
parents?
Where do I get the answers?
 Your school may have some policies or guidelines
 Apply what you learn in this chapter
 Consult your teaching colleagues, and then apply your good judgment
 Learn from first-hand experience

OH 2
Functions of Grading and Reporting Systems

1. Improve students’ learning by:

 clarifying instructional objectives for them
 showing students’ strengths & weaknesses
 providing information on personal-social development
 enhancing students’ motivation (e.g., short-term goals)
 indicating where teaching might be modified
Best achieved by:

 day-to-day tests and feedback

 plus periodic integrated summaries

2. Reports to parents/guardians

 Communicates objectives to parents, so they can help promote learning

 Communicates how well objectives being met, so parents can better plan

3. Administrative and guidance uses

  Help decide promotion, graduation, honors, athletic eligibility
 Report achievement to other schools or to employers
 Provide input for realistic educational, vocational, and personal
counseling

OH 3
Types of Grading and Reporting Systems
1. Traditional letter-grade system
o Easy and can average them
o But of limited value when used as the sole report, because:
a. they end up being a combination of achievement, effort, work
habits, behavior
b. teachers differ in how many high (or low) grades they give
c. they are therefore hard to interpret
d. they do not indicate patterns of strength and weakness

2. Pass-fail
o Popular in some elementary schools
o Used to allow exploration in high school/college
o Should be kept to the minimum, because:
a. do not provide much information
b. students work to the minimum
o In mastery learning courses, can leave blank till “mastery” threshold
reached

3. Checklists of objectives
o Most common in elementary school
o Can either replace or supplement letter grades
o Each item in the checklist can be rated: Outstanding, Satisfactory,
Unsatisfactory; A, B, C, etc.
o Problem is to keep the list manageable and understandable

4. Letters to parents/guardians
o Useful supplement to grades
o Limited value as sole report, because:
a. very time consuming
b. accounts of weaknesses often misinterpreted
c. not systematic or cumulative
o Great tact needed in presenting problems (lying, etc.)

5. Portfolios
o Set of purposefully selected work, with commentary by student and
teacher
o Useful for:
a. showing student’s strengths and weaknesses
b. illustrating range of student work
c. showing progress over time or stages of a project
 d. teaching students about objectives/standards they are to meet

6. Parent-teacher conferences
o Used mostly in elementary school
o Portfolios (when used) are useful basis for discussion
o Useful for:
a. two-way flow of information
b. getting more information and cooperation from parents
o Limited in value as the major report, because
a. time consuming
b. provides no systematic record of progress
c. some parents won’t come

OH 4
Systems with Multiple Forms of Grading and Reporting

They’re a good idea

 Sensible to supplement letter grades
 Have separate ratings for achievement, citizenship, etc.
 Good example on p. 385
How should you develop one? The system should be:
1. Guided by the functions to be served
 will probably be a compromise, because functions often conflict
 but always keep achievement separate from effort
2. Developed cooperatively (parents, students, school personnel)
 more adequate system
 more understandable to all
3. Based on clear statement of learning objectives
 are the same objectives that guided instruction and assessment
 some are general, some are course-specific
 aim is to report progress on those objectives
 practicalities may impose limits, but should always keep the focus on
objectives
4. Consistent with school standards
 should support, not undermine, school standards
 should use the school’s categories for grades and performance standards
 should actually measure what is described in those standards
5. Based on adequate assessment
 implication: don’t promise something you cannot deliver
 design a system for which you can get reliable, valid data
6. Based on the right level of detail
o detailed enough to be diagnostic
o but compact enough to be practical
a. not too time consuming to prepare and use
b. understandable to all users
c. easily summarized for school records
 o probably means a letter-grade system with more detailed supplementary
reports

7. Providing for parent-teacher conferences as needed

 regularly scheduled for elementary school
 as needed for high school

OH 5
Assigning Letter Grades
What to include?
 Only achievement
 Avoid temptation to include effort for less able students, because:
a. difficult to assess effort or potential
b. difficult to distinguish ability from achievement

would mean grades don’t mean same thing for everyone (mixed message,
unfair)

How to combine data?

 Properly weight each component to create a composite
 Must put all components on same scale to weight properly:
a. equate ranges of scores (see example on p. 389, where students score 10-
50 on one test and 80-100 on another)
b. or, convert all to T-scores or other standard scores (see chapter 19)

What frame of reference?

 Relative—score compared to other students (where you rank)
a. grade (like a class rank) depends on what group you are in, not just your
own performance
b. typical grade may be shifted up or down, depending on group’s ability
c. widely used because much classroom testing is norm-referenced

 Absolute—score compared to specified performance standards (what you can do)

a. grade does NOT depend on what group you are in, but only on your own
performance compared to a set of performance standards
b. complex task, because must
i. clearly define the domain
ii. clearly define and justify the performance standards
iii. do criterion-referenced assessment
c. conditions hard to meet except in complete mastery learning settings

 Learning ability or improvement—score compared to learning “potential” or past

performance
a. widely used in elementary schools
b. inconsistent with a standards-based system (each child is their own
standard)
c. reliably estimating learning ability (separate from achievement) is very
difficult
 d. can’t reliably measure change with classroom measures
e. therefore, should only be used as a supplement

What distribution of grades?

 Relative (have ranked the students)—distribution is a big issue
a. normal curve defensible only when have large, unselected group
b. when “grading on the curve,” school staff should set fair ranges of grades
for different groups and courses
c. when “grading on the curve,” any pass-fail decision should be based on
an absolute standard (i.e., failed the minimum essentials)
d. standards and ranges should be understood and followed by all teachers

 Absolute (have assessed absolute levels of knowledge)—not an issue

a. system seldom uses letter grades alone
b. often includes checklists of what has been mastered (see example on p.
395)
c. distribution of grades is not predetermined

OH 6
Guidelines for Effective Grading
1. Describe grading procedures to students at beginning of instruction.
2. Clarify that course grade will be based on achievement only.
3. Explain how other factors (effort, work habits, etc.) will be reported.
4. Relate grading procedures to intended learning outcomes.
5. Obtain valid evidence (tests, etc.) for assigning grades.
6. Try to prevent cheating.
7. Return and review all test results as soon as possible.
8. Properly weight the various types of achievements included in the grade.
9. Do not lower an achievement grade for tardiness, weak effort, or misbehavior.
10. Be fair. Avoid bias. When in doubt, review the evidence. If still in doubt, give the
higher grade.

OH 7
Conducting Parent-Teacher Conferences
Productive when:
 Carefully planned
 Teacher is skilled
Guidelines for a good conference
1. Make plans
 Review your goals
 Organize the information to present
 Make list of points to cover and questions to ask
 If bring portfolios, select and review carefully
2. Start positive—and maintain a positive focus
3. Present student’s strong points first
 Helpful to have example of work to show strengths and needs
 Compare early vs. later work to show improvement
 4. Encourage parents to participate and share information
 Be willing to listen
 Be willing to answer questions
5. Plan actions cooperatively
 What steps you can each take
 Summarize at the end
6. End with positive comment
 Should not be a vague generality
 Should be true
7. Use good human relations skills
DO
 Be friendly and informal
 Be positive in approach
 Be willing to explain in understandable terms
 Be willing to listen
 Be willing to accept parents’ feelings
 Be careful about giving advice

DON’T
 Argue, get angry
 Ask embarrassing questions
 Talk about other students, parents, teachers
 Bluff if you don’t know
 Reject parents’ suggestions
 Be a know-it-all with pat answers

OH 8
Reporting Standardized Test Results to Parents

Aims
 Present test results in understandable language, not jargon
 Put test results in context of total pattern of information about the student
 Keep it brief and simple
Actions
1. Describe what the test measures
o Use a general statement: e.g., “this test measures skills and abilities that
are useful in school learning”
o Refer to any part of the test report that may list skill clusters
o Avoid misunderstandings by:
a. not referring to tests as “intelligence” tests
b. not describing aptitudes and abilities as fixed
c. not saying that a test predicts outcomes for an individual person
(can say “people with this score usually….”
o Let a counselor present results for any non-cognitive test (personality,
interests, etc.)

2. Explain meaning of test scores (chapter 19 devoted to this)

 o For norm-referenced
a. explain norm group
b. explain score type (percentile, stanine, etc.)
c. stay with one type of score, if possible
o For criterion-referenced
a. more easily understood than norm-referenced
b. usually in terms of relative degree of mastery
c. describe the standard of mastery
d. may need to distinguish percentile from percent correct

3. Clarify accuracy of scores

a. Say all tests have error
b. Stanines already take account of error (because so broad). Two stanine
difference is probably a real difference
c. For other scores, use confidence bands when presenting them
d. If you refer to subscales with few items, describe them as only “clues” and
look for related evidence.

4. Discuss use of test results

 Coordinate all information to show what action they suggest

OH 9
Decisions in Assigning Grades

1. What should grades include (effort, achievement, neatness, spelling, good

behavior, etc.)?
2. Grades for individual assessments
a. criterion-reference or norm-referenced?
 if criterion-referenced, what standard?
 if norm-referenced, what reference group?
b. letter grades or numbers?
3. Combining assessments for a composite grade
a. what common numerical scale?
 percentages
 standard scores
 range of scores (max-min)
 combining absolute and relative grades
b. weight to give different assessments?
c. what cut-off points for letter grades?