GRADING & REPORTING

Introduction
Seven things to consider discussing with your students before assessing (Bobowski, 2017):
 Explain where the test fits in the bigger picture. Any given test or assessment is just one piece of their
overall progress as students. This one test in this one day is not the sole measure of their potential or
their future. A better understanding of context will help them better understand how it all fits together.
 Share how the test results will affect their overall class grade. Often, students are unaware why they are
being tested or why the teachers need the data they are looking for. Is it going to be used for setting
student or class goals, establishing a grade, or for placement purposes? Share this information with your
students before the test so that they will understand clearly what the test score will mean to them.
 Pre-empt questions about what their data will look like and who will be seeing it. Depending on the age
of your students, you should consider sharing with them what results you'll be receiving after the test,
what results they as students, will receive and what will be shared with their parents.
 Take the fear out of the testing jargon. Words like evaluate, criteria, evidence and scores can be scary for
some students. While they may seem obvious and interchangeable to you as a teacher, it can help
students if you explain these terms to them and set their minds at ease.
 Clarify the testing environment. Some students are less familiar than others when it comes to testing and
how testing schedules can interrupt a given week. Providing better clarification can help alleviate student
stress. Let them know if it will be a one-day test or if it will happen over a period of days. Provide
insights into breaks, whether they can use the restrooms and what they should bring with them on testing
days.
 Make any transition to computers or tablets easy. If there is a computer lab being used as part of the
testing process, be sure they know where the lab is, how the computer will be used as part of the test and
how to log in.
 Provide the dates of the next assessment. When you explain growth over time to students, it helps to
share a basic schedule of how the assessments will be administered. Let them know when the next one
will occur and whether it will be similar to the one they are preparing for.
Functions of Grading and Reporting Systems
Grading and reporting systems have some very important functions in the educative process. Some of
these important functions are enumerated below:
1. Enhancing students' learning through: clarifying instructional objectives for them, showing students'
strengths and weaknesses, providing information on personal-social development, enhancing students'
motivation (e.g., short-tenn goals) and indicating where teaching might be modified. These can be
achieved through day-to-day tests and feedback and integrated periodic tests.
2. Reports to parents/guardians Grading and reporting systems also inform parents and guardians of
students on the progress of their wards. Likewise, grades and reports communicate objectives to
parents, so they can help promote learning and likewise, communicate how well objectives were met,
so parents can better plan.
3. Administrative and guidance uses. The administrative and guidance purposes of grading and reporting
consist in: (l) helping to decide promotion, graduation, honors, athletic eligibility; (2) reporting
achievements to other schools or to employers; and (3) providing input for realistic educational,
vocational and personal counseling.

Components of a Grading System

Airasian and Russell (2008) cite 3 components of a grading system:

Standards of Comparison. In relation to standards of comparison, the following questions are asked:
What standard for comparison will you use for grading? Will you compare a student performance to other
students' performance (norm-referenced grading)? Or will you compare student performance with a pre-
determined established standard (criterion-referenced grading)? Or will you compare it to what a student is
able to do (learning potential or self-referenced)?

If we go outcome-based or competency-based, we will be for criterion-referenced grading. The pre-

determined standards are the intended learning outcomes presented and explained at the beginning of every
lesson.

Aspect of Performance. The second component of a grading system is aspect of performance, i.e., what
aspects of performance must be graded? One group of educators claim only academic performance must be
graded. This academic performance to be graded include quiz and test results (paper-and-pencil tests),
assignments, products and performances to show processes learned. Examples are oral reports, projects,
interviews, portfolios.
 Another group of educators asserts that in addition to academic performance, student's motivation, effort
and participation should also be graded. One of the problems in grading student's motivation, effort and
participation, however, is the difficulty in determining the reliability of effort and motivation.

Weighting Different Kinds of Evidence. This refers to how much weight is given to the different
aspects or components of a student’s grade. Let us take a look at the weighing of the different kinds of
evidence in the DepEd grading system issued in DepEd Order 8, s. 2015.

Components Language AP EsP Science Math MAPEH EPP/TLE

Written Work 30% 40% 20%
Performance Tasks 50% 40% 60%
Quarterly Assessment 20% 20% 20%

Weight of Components for Grades 1-10

Technical-V'ocational
Core
Academic Track & Livelihood/Sports/
Subjects
Arts and Design Track

Work Immersion/ Work

Research/Business Immersion/
All other All other
Enterprise Research/
subjects Simulation/Exhibit subjects
Exhibit
Performance Performance

25% 25% 35%

20%
Written Work

50% 45% 40% 60%

Performance Tasks

Quarterly 30% 25% 20%

25 %
Assessment
Weight of the Components for SHS

Why Communicate Assessment Result

We document our assessment processes for accountability, institutional and individual memory.
Documenting the decisions made means learned lessons. Assessment results that have been thoroughly
discussed should be communicated clearly and accurately to learners as well as parents for improved
learning.

Sharing assessment results is an opportunity to tell an important and meaningful story. Your role is to
educate stakeholders about context, background, methods, results of assessment and to involve them in
making sense of the results and identifying possible solutions or next steps. These can be done during
Parents-Teachers Conference.

Some Pointers in Communicating Assessment Results

In order to effectively communicate our assessment results, we need to do the following: l) to
establish learning outcomes related to what we are assessing; 2) document the process we used to assess the
outcomes; 3) tie the results back to our learning outcomes to communicate whether the program or service
"worked" as we intended and 4) take note of decisions made as a result of the assessment process. This is the
essence of outcomes based teaching and learning.

We all agree that students are key education stakeholders. When they are involved in the assessment
process and in their own learning, the result is an improvement in achievement. An objective, transparent and
respectful assessment feedback to students drives home the points which the students need to work upon.
Giving Feedback to Students and Parents after Assessments

Giving feedback to Students and Parents after Assessments

Giving feedback is never easy. It is important that the feedback process is handled delicately. Below are
some points that can guide the teacher as an assessor during feedback:
 A cliche, which works effectively, is to open the session with a positive feedback.
 Know the expectation of the student/parent from the feedback session; it acts as a compass for the
teacher as assessor
 Be very specific and stick to the pre-defined parameters or competencies to make reference.
 Cite examples whenever possible to help the student/parent understand better.
 Involve the student/parent. Feedback has to be a dialogue and not a monologue which means that the
student/parent should be given an opportunity to discuss student's/parent's aspirations, motivations and
experience of the assessments.
 Be patient and display great listening skills to create the required trust and rapport with the
student/parent.
 Allow the student/parent to explain the intent behind his/ her action and differing opinion whenever
appropriate.
 Refrain from passing a judgmental statement; your statements have to be suggestive rather than stated as
absolute truths.

The feedback should help the students/parents become aware of both their areas of strength and areas for
development. It should encourage students/parents to do introspection, help students/parents to draw
inference and reach conclusions.

People are very good at hiding any feeling of hurt and upset. However, beneath the facade lies a
demoralized and de-motivated individual. For example, some students might start thinking "if that is what I
am like, am I really going to get where I want?" or "Is this what they think of me?" Such situation requires
very careful handling of feedback or else it can become the road to frustration.

If the desired level of trust does not exist between the teacher and the student/parent, feedback discussion
becomes very difficult and the purpose of feedback is defeated. If teachers share the outcomes and feedback
with the student/parent without allowing discussion or comment, the feedback session becomes a fiasco.
Where students/parents do not share hopes, aspirations or intrinsically commit to their development actions
no further progress can take place. It helps if the teacher knows the profile of the student/parent beforehand
as it later helps in navigating the feedback discussion appropriately. This results in greater acceptability of
feedback.

Reporting Students' Progress and Grades to Parents

Students' progress and grades are reported to parents through Report Card, Parents-Teachers conference and
written conferences. They are explained below.
Report Card. The Report Card is a standard method of reporting students' progress and grades to parents.
See sample report card for junior and senior high school from the Department of Education.for more
meaningful reporting of students’ progress, the meaning of grades is given. The DepEd gives the following
grade interpretation.
Descriptors Grading Scale Remarks
Outstanding 90-100 Passed
Very Satisfactory 85-89 Passed
Satisfactory 80-84 Passed
Fairly Satisfactory 75-79 Passed
Did Not Meet Expectation Below 75 Passed
Report cards convey letter grades like A, B, C, D and F sometimes with + or - so a student may get an A+ or
A-, B+ or B-, etc. Some report cards convey numerical grades such as 85 in Math, 93 in English and 88 in
Biology. Still other report cards simply have Pass or Fail. The DepEd Student Report Card include affective
characteristics such as Maka-Diyos, Maka-tao, Makabansa and Maka-kalikasan.
Written Progress Reports. These can be weekly, bi-weekly or monthly reports of the student's progress and
achievement (McMillan, 2007). These written reports may include the student's performance on tests and
quizzes, projects, oral reports.They also can include information about the student's motivation, cooperation
and behavior, as well as suggestions for how parents can help the student improve his/her performance.

Sample written progress report.

Parent-Teacher Conferences. Durham (2006) asserts that "parent-teacher conferences are both a
responsibility and an opportunity." The education of the learner is the primary responsibility of parents. In
this task of educating children, parents are assisted by the school. For the benefit of children then it is best for
teachers and parents to come together to discuss their children's progress. Parent-Teacher Conferences are a
perfect avenue for this purpose.

It has been a practice of schools to set aside a day for Report card distribution which is at the same time
the opportunity for parents and teachers to confer regarding their child's performance. Here are some
reminders for schools/teachers to get the most from parent-teacher conferences:
1. Announce the date for card-giving in advance. Or better still the school Calendar which should be
given at the beginning of the school year must already include the dates for card-giving and parent-
teacher conference/s. Parents are busy and can't just be there at the school's beck and call.
2. Be positive in approach. Start the conference with something positive and maintain the positive
atmosphere. There is always something good in every student. Even if a student has performed poorly,
try to find at least some areas in which the student has performed well.
3. Be objective. While you should be positive, be truthful and honest. Give an accurate picture of a
student's performance in order not to give false hopes to parents.
4. Have a listening ear. Act with empathy. Parents are parents. They will tend to favor their children.
5. Don't project an "omniscient "image. You don't know all the answers to questions. Refer the parents
to the right person. Example, the Physics teacher if the problem is the child's performance in Physics.
6. Practice good communication skills. Communicate criteria for grading. Have a dialogue not a
monologue where the only one talking is you (or only the parent).
7. Don't talk about other students. The focus of the parent-teacher conference should only be the parent's
child. Never compare the child with other students.
8. End with an encouraging note in the same way that you began with a positive note. It is not the end
of the world.
Why Report/Communicate Assessment Results

We document our assessment processes for accountability. So teaching leads to assessing learning;
reporting and communicating assessment results. These assessment results should be communicated clearly
and accurately to learners as well as parents for improved learning.

Sharing assessment results is an opportunity to tell an important and meaningful story. Your role is to
educate stakeholders about context, background, methods, results of assessment and to involve them in
making sense of the results and identifying possible solutions or next steps. This is reporting.

We all agree that students are key education stakeholders. When they are involved in the assessment
process and in their own learning, the result is an improvement in achievement. An objective, transparent and
respectful assessment feedback to students drives home the points which the students need to work upon.