Read the following article before starting on the WR3 assignment for EVOC

518. Chances are that whatever grading system you are currently using
can be improved by following suggestions in the article. If the institution at
which you teach requires you to use a specific grading system, use that
system, but please continue to look for ways to make grading less
threatening and more meaningful.

First published in  Readings for Vocational Instructors by Ronald K. Pendleton

(McGraw Hill, 1993) and the updated version (copied below) is included as part of
Dr. Pendleton's E-TEXT for EVOC 501. For a printable pdf copy - click here. 

GRADING STUDENTS
by
Ronald K. Pendleton

Assigning grades to students is one of the most difficult things that instructors
encounter. Most educational institutions are encumbered by some sort of "A"
through "F" grading system. Unfortunately, such systems usually do much more to
inhibit genuine learning than they do to stimulate it. 

In fact, the very concept of such grading perpetuates failure. It is derived from a
system of instructional delivery that is based on reading and lecture as the primary
sources of information. Courses are structured into rigid 50 minute periods and
students are processed like pieces of meat stamped with different grades. The idea
is that large numbers of students are given a series of reading assignments and
"exposed" to the insights of an instructor after which they are tested to determine
how much of what they have read and heard they are able to regurgitate.
Normative statistical concepts associated with grading have established the
expectation that a specific percentage of students taking any given test will score in
the "F" range, a specific percentage will score in the "D" range, a specific
percentage will score in the "C" range, a specific percentage will score in the "B"
range, and a specific percentage will score in the "A" range. 

It is sometimes suggested that students have a "right to fail" and that one of the
functions of an instructor is to sort out those students who can "hack it" from those
who cannot. Back when there were lots of jobs that didn't really require an
education, students who failed could simply go to work. That is not the situation in
our contemporary, highly technological world, and as we are learning the hard
way, the only avenues open to students who fail are welfare and crime. 

We can no longer afford to simply herd students into educational holding pens,
throw in a little mush and hope for the best. We must devise competency based
courses that will prepare students to do specific things that they need to be able to
do in order to earn a living and become responsible members of society. We must
devise good competency based courses and devote whatever resources are
necessary to insure that the students we send into them will succeed. 

In conjunction with the development of competency based courses, we must also

support improved counseling and guidance programs that can effectively track
students into courses that they are prepared for and in which they will be able to
succeed. Screening needs to occur before students enter a course, not during the
course. With effective counseling and guidance to track students into well designed
competency based courses, there is no reason why student success rates should not
be 100%. 

Even though grading is inconsistent with the principles of effective competency

based education, it is still required in most of our educational institutions. Where
grading is a requirement, there are a number of things that instructors can do to
minimize the damage that "A" through "F" grading can cause. In most cases, an
innovative instructor can counteract most of the damage caused by "A" through
"F" grading systems by incorporating competency based strategies such as those
described below. 

PASS/NO PASS 

Whenever possible try to establish a system of "pass/no pass" grading that is

directly related to explicitly defined course competencies. Such a system requires
the instructor to stipulate all of the specific skills that a student is expected to
master. In other words, the instructor must indicate exactly what students are
expected to be able to do and then devise an evaluation instrument that will
indicate whether or not the students are able to do those things. Skills should be
organized sequentially so that as soon as a student has demonstrated competency at
a particular task, he/she moves on to the next task in sequence. Obviously,
developing this type of instruction requires quite a bit more of the instructor's time
and talent than simply preparing lecture notes. If a pass/no pass system is not
possible, the grading system should be organized so that the letter grades reflect
proficiency (or lack of proficiency) at specified course competencies. Grading
must be as objective as possible. 

CLARITY 

Whatever type of grading system is in effect, be sure that it is clearly explained to

students and that it is administered consistently and objectively. Do not make up
the grading system as you go along. Students have a right to know exactly what
they need to do to earn an "A" or "B" (in most grading systems any grade lower
than "B" is considered to be a failure). The grading system should be thoroughly
explained on the first day of class and a written grade policy provided to every
student. A great deal of anxiety can be eliminated if the instructor simply indicates
what it is, specifically, that students are expected to do as the result of instruction,
and what sort of instrument will be used to determine whether or not they can do
it. 

MAKE UP 

Provide students with an opportunity to "make up" work that did not earn full
credit initially. The basic goal of competency based instruction is for students to
succeed. That doesn't mean just giving them a passing grade, it means providing
them with the opportunity to correct mistakes. The focus of good instruction
should be to develop student competency, not to produce a "normal distribution" of
student grades. On the other hand, some students may require more time to master
some competencies than is available in the existing instructional situation, so
providing opportunity for remediation has to be weighed against how much time
the instructor has to devote to dealing with student "make up" work. In some cases
it is certainly appropriate to have students repeat courses in order to get the
additional time that they need to acquire specified skills. 

MULTIPLE INDICATORS 

Use as many different indicators of student performance as practical. A mid-term

exam, a final exam and one project or paper, usually does not provide a good
indication of student accomplishment or provide students the opportunity to
remediate. Several quizzes are almost always preferable to one big test and projects
should be broken down into stages so student progress can be monitored.
Performance tests are also much better indicators of student accomplishment than
are written tests. The idea is that the test should measure exactly what the
instructor stipulated that students should be able to do as the result of instruction.
Tests, and other performance indicators, should reflect what students are going to
be asked to do in the "real world". 

POINT SYSTEM 

A point system is almost always preferable to assigning letter grades to individual

projects or tests. The awarding of points can (and should) be directly related to
explicitly defined student performance criteria. When students meet those criteria,
they earn the points; when they fail to meet the criteria, they fail to earn the points.
The total points earned by the end of the course can then be converted to an "A"
through "F" letter grade. The use of an innovative point system makes it possible to
integrate competency based evaluation into the normative grading systems still
used by many educational institutions. The usual result is higher grade point
averages, because students will earn "A" grades for demonstrating clearly defined
competencies. While certain types of administrators would consider such tactics to
be subversive, any instructor who is truly concerned about students, should be able
to see the benefits of such subversion and employ it effectively. 

STUDENT RECORD 

It is extremely beneficial to provide students with a structured method of keeping

track of the points that they have earned so that they can determine their "grade
status" at any particular time. This will help to eliminate the "grade anxiety" that
has been created by years of exposure to normative grading systems. It also helps
to develop a sense of responsibility and to reinforce the idea that students do, in
fact, have control over the scores that they are earning. One of the basic purposes
of education is to help people become responsible for their own actions, and
keeping track of their own scores certainly helps to establish the importance of
such responsibility. 

LEGITIMATE FAILURE 

In spite of everything that an instructor can do, there will still be some students
who, for whatever reason, are simply unable to meet specified competencies. If
such students cannot be transferred to other courses, or helped in other ways, they
must be failed. There is only one standard for passing a competency based course:
clear demonstration that the specified competencies have been met! When any
student is in danger of failure, it is important for the instructor to document that
student's performance, and all attempts to help the student improve, so that if the
student does fail, that failure cannot be attributed to anything that the instructor
did, or did not, do! 

The following book by Howard Krischenbaum, is one of the best books ever
written about grading and is highly recommended for all teachers (click
on the title for more information from amazon.com):

 Wad-Ja-Get? the Grading Game in American Education

Follow this link to see: WR3 - System for Evaluation of Studen