GRADING AND REPORTING METHODS

• LETTER GRADES
 The most common and best known of all grading methods.
 Mostly composed of five-level grading scale.
 Letter Grades use series of letters (often A, B, C, D, and F) or letters with plusses (+)
or minuses (–) as an ordered category scale.
 Letter Scale with Descriptors - each letter grade is paired with an explanatory word
or phrase.

Note: Descriptors must be carefully chosen, to avoid additional complications and misunderstanding.

Advantages:

• A brief description of students’ achievement and level of performance including students’

potentials can be provided to parents and other interested persons.
• Based on parents’ experience when they were still studying, it is easier for them to believe and
understand what letter grade means.

Disadvantages:

• Requires abstraction of a great deal of information into a single symbol (Stiggins, 2001)
• Despite educators’ best effort, letter grades tend to be interpreted by parents in strictly norm
referenced terms. The cut-offs between grade categories are always arbitrary and difficult to
justify.
• Lacks the richness of other more detailed reporting methods such as standards-based grading,
mastery grading, and narrative.
 DIFFERENT INTERPRETATION OF LETTER GRADES

Grade Criterion-Referenced (Standards- Norm-Referenced Combined Norm- Based on Improvement

Based) Referenced and
Criterion-
Referenced

A • Outstanding or Outstanding: Outstanding: Very Outstanding:

advanced among the highest high level of Much improvement
• Complete knowledge of or best performance performance on most or all targets
all content
• Mastery of all targets

B • Very good or proficient Very good: Very good: Better Very good:
• Complete knowledge of most Performs above the than average Some improvement
content class average performance on
• Mastery of all targets most or all targets
• Meets most standards

C • Acceptable or basic command Average: Performs Average: Acceptable:

of only basic concepts or skills at the class average Some improvement
• Mastery of some targets on some targets
• Meets some standards

D • Making progress or developing Poor: Below average or Making progress:

Lacks knowledge of most content Below the class weak: minimum Minimal progress on
• Mastery of only a few targets average performance for most targets
• Meets only a few standards passing

F • Unsatisfactory: lacks Unsatisfactory: Far Unsatisfactory: Unsatisfactory:

knowledge of content; below average; Lacks sufficient No improvement on
• No mastery of targets among the worst in knowledge to any targets
• Does not meet any standards the class pass
• PERCENTAGE GRADES

 Foundation of many state grading policies.

 These are the ultimate multi-category grading method.
 Percentage scale which can range from 0 to 100.
 Generally more popular among high school teachers than elementary teachers.

Advantages:

• Allows for maximum discriminators in evaluation of students’ achievement and performance

• Maximizes the variation among students, making it easier to choose students for honors or
representative for special programs

Disadvantages:

• Requires a great deal of abstraction

• Interpretation of meaning of a percentage grade extremely difficult
• The cut-offs are no less arbitrary but a lot more
• Because of a large number of grade categories, it is less reliable and more subjective.

• STANDARDS-BASED GRADING

 An intentional way for teachers to track their students’ progress and achievements
while focusing on helping students learn and reach their highest potential.
 Level of Mastery
 Based on students’ mastery or understanding of various lessons and skills.

In an effort to bring greater clarity and specificity to the grading process, many schools initiated
standards-based grading procedures and reporting forms. Guskey and Bailey (2001) identify 4 steps in
developing standards-based grading. These steps are:

1. Identify the major learning goals or standards that that students will be expected to achieve at
grade level or in each course of study.
2. Establish performance indicators for the learning goals.
3. Determine graduated level of quality (benchmarks) for assessing each goal or standard.
4. Develop reporting tools that communicate teacher’s judgement of student learning progress
and culminating achievement relation of the learning goals and standard.

Advantages:

• When clear learning goals or standards are established, standards-based grading offers
meaningful information about student achievement and performance to student, parents
and to others.
• If information is detailed, it can be useful for diagnostic and prescriptive purposes.
• Facilitate teaching and learning processes better than any other grading method.

Disadvantages:

• Takes a lot of effort.

• Often too complicated for parents to understand.
• May not communicate the appropriateness of students’ progress.
• PASS OR FAIL GRADING

 Pass or Fail - simplest alternative grading method available to educators.

 Binary Grading System – meaning no letter grade will be recorded. Instead, students
will receive either a passing grade or a failing grade.
 Late 1800 - pass and fail grading was originally introduced in college level courses in the
college in order for student to give more importance to learning and less to grades they
attained.
 1970’s – Pass or Fail was most popular in most universities and colleges. They utilize this
to various programs.

Advantages:

• Simplifies the grading process for teachers and students.

• Use of single minimal cut-off and only two grade categories improve the reliability of
grades assignments.
• Pass/Fail grading has the potentials to make learning environment more relaxed by
focusing students’ attention on learning rather than on grade. (Goldstein & Tilker 1971).
• Pass/Fail grading is what students will face in many real-life situations.

Disadvantages:

• Students gain very little prescriptive information

• Students spend less time studying if pass/fail grading is used than when a wider
striving for excellence.
 Method Advantages Disadvantages
Letter Grade • Convenient; • Broad, sometimes unclear indications of
• Concise; performance;
• Familiar • Often includes a jumble of factors including
effort and improvement.
Percentage • Easy to calculate, record, • Broad, sometimes unclear indications of
Grade and combine; performance, false sense of difference
• Familiar between close scores;
• High scores not necessarily signifies mastery
Standards-Based • Focus on high standards for • May not reflect student learning in many
all students; areas;
• Pre-established • Does not include effort or improvement
performance level
Pass/Fail • Simple; • Little discrimination in performance;
• Consistent with mastery of • Less emphasis on high performance
learning