History of Grading

Time Grading Systems

1800’s List of skills mastered and those requiring practice

1910

Widely fluctuating marks create systems for reducing teacher/grade variations

Percentages used to measure student achievement in high school.

Percentages replaced by rating scales: Excellent, Good, Average, Poor, and Failing

A through F

1930s Grading on the Curve – ranking students1980- school reform that requires students to demonstrate complex forms of thinking

Variations from traditional systems include:• Performance assessments• Portfolios• Elimination of grades all together• Combination of traditional and

alternative practices

Purpose of GradingThe main purpose of grading is to inform

our pedagogy. A grade should tell the student, the teacher and the parents how a student performs in comparison a well-defined standardized outcome.

The grade should help direct the students further learning by identifying the student’s position on the journey to mastery.

The ideal grading system must: Accurately measure achievement on

specific and well defined outcomes Describe a learner’s place on the journey

from beginner to mastery in an overarching way.

Weights more recent heavily than past work

Therefore, this grade should describe what the student knows and what the student can do, compared to the aims and goals of the program.

The ideal grading system will not allow unrelated behaviours to affect the grade. Thus, it does not measure attendances, attitude, late assignments, etc.

Learning becomes more explicitLearners can confirm, consolidate

and integrate new knowledgeLearners are scaffolded to higher

level of knowingLearners learn what quality looks

likeLearners learn the language of

assessment

Best practice in grading help ensure:

Looking Ahead…