Standardized Testing And A Grading System

Standardized Testing And A Grading System
As a student I never really thought much about the grading system used by our public education system. As long as I passed I really did not care too
much unless my parents put pressure on me to do better. I was an indifferent student who was fairly smart and did the minimum to get by. But that was
then and this is now. Going into the field of education has opened my eyes to the competitive world in which modern day students are pressured to
succeed. At the heart of this is the push for Common Core Standards, standardized testing and a grading system that is little changed since I was a
student. However, it is not only the students who are being graded anymore. In order to improve academic performance teachers are now being
targeted with grades on their performance. But is this really the best system we have for measuring success? In order to better understand how
education has evolved we need to understand how we ended up where we are today.
In the beginning there was only a pass fail system for education and students stayed with a teacher until they thought the student had achieved the
requisite knowledge necessary. It was not until the 1700's that a different system of grading was used. Unlike today's system this system was a
percentage system and was designed as a way in which educators could provide each other and parents with a way to gauge a student's ability. This
system was loosely based off of a system used for grading shoes made in a factory. The shoes were graded
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Standard Based Grading and Academic Achievement among students with Individual Education Plans Nesha Sanders University of the Cumberlands
Chapter One: Introduction This study will describe how standard based grading can affect academic achievement in students that have an Individual
Education Plan (IEP). Standards–based grading measures as student's proficiency based on their ability to perform a skill set forth by a state standard.
When standards–based grading is implemented students are given clear cut rubrics that outline specific standards that they are assessed on. Subjective
grading, i.e. extra credit, participation, getting assessments signed, etc. are not an effective way to measure student achievement because they do...show
more content...
For students, and parents of children with Individualized Education Plans, accurate information on learning progress is essential for understanding
effectiveness of academic achievement Background for the Study – Most students with disabilities (approximately 85% or more) have disabilities that
may create barriers to their learning but do not prevent them from learning to the same standards as other students, if they receive appropriate supports
and accommodations (*citation reference 2). Low performing students have always struggled with self–confidence and achieving success in the
classroom. Self–regulated performance or performance effort is largely a student responsibility; various external factors have been shown to affect it.
These factors often tend to vary as function of the student's self–beliefs in his or her competence to perform (Tuckman & Sexton, 1991). Working in
groups also appears to enhance the performance of this average group while engaging in goal setting seems to motivate those with low perceived
self–competence (Tuckman & Sexton 1991). Students with disabilities may struggle with accessing the content standard at grade level because they
lack the foundational skills needed to interact with the material at a higher level of cognitive complexity (Graham & Harris, 2013). Therefore, it is
important for special education teachers to understand the concepts addressed within the

The Pros And Cons Of A Traditional Grading System
Most schools use a traditional grading system that focuses on homework, class work, tests, and quizzes. Some schools have used alternate systems in
which the students are to do a long–term assignment to show what they have learned. The marvelous idea of a long–term assignment would be very
efficient. The logic behind forcing students to do graded work is unfathomable, because those grades will only matter for a given amount of time.
Schools should more openly consider switching from a traditional grading system to a long–term project grading system. The idea of a long–term
assignment is more logical given the fact that stress levels would be lower, creativity would flow, and students could acquire more skills. Adding agrade
to every piece of paper is overall a waste of time.
Correspondingly, long–term assignments could possibly lower stress levels of many people. Students would not be as stressed about having perfect
grades to satisfy parents, teachers, and a 4.0 GPA. Teachers could also receive a hand in less stress by not having tograde a paper for every student in
three separate classes. Parents and teachers would also not have to worry about students having to pass the standards of learning. Students would be
able to breathe without having to take a test or a quiz in every class. Additionally, school would become a more relaxing and tolerable place to go
everyday. Everyone has their own stressors without school and grades, but we are simply adding to them by grading

The Pros And Cons Of Standards Based Grading
"Failure is simply the opportunity to begin again, this time more intelligently," Henry Ford stated. Students need to learn to fail in life to eventually
succeed. Standards Based Grading (SBG) was created by Thomas R. Guskey. The point of SBG is to focus on the most recent work the student
displayed. Frankly, that concept is unrealistic. The reality is traditional grading provides a more effective means of showing student progress and
engagement. Not only is traditional grading understood universally, but the system motivates students to try their best on every assignment. Standards
Based Grading may make the learning environment more relaxed for students, but is that always positive? To put it differently, civilians who have the
perception that SBG is better are not understanding the reality that traditional grading is a more superior method. First and foremost, letter grades have
been used since the 19th century without any complications. "The traditional grading scale is universally recognized. Virtually everyone knows that
earning an A is good while earning an F is associated with failure. The traditional grading scale is easy to interpret and understand. The simplistic
nature of the system makes it user–friendly for teachers, students, and parents. It also allows for a direct comparison from one student to another within
a specific class" (Meador). Ultimately, parents remember and understand the letter grading system. It's easy to be happy that their child earned an

Why Grades Are Important Essay
Yes, grades are an effective means of motivating students to do their best work. If there were no grades why the students would like to work hard? Do
not they want to enjoy luxury and comforts in their youth? Surely, students want to enjoy their youth with luxury and comforts. They can not judge
themselves because they have no scale of judgment. It is the instructor only who judges the students comparatively and gives grades to them
accordingly. In this way, by receiving their grades students recognize their positions in the class. If their positions came to be low, they then try to
achieve higher positions by working hard because they want to achieve their goal of becoming great persons. As it is the nature of all the human beings
that no...show more content...
The farmer does his best to make his fields fit for better growth of the crops only in the hope of getting a good variety of crops so that they may
help him in earning high money. If he will not be able to get high money by producing a good variety of crops he will probably increase his
working hours to achieve his purpose because he does his work only for earning money to live in. Similar is the case with the students. Students
work because they want their instructor to give them high grades. Their future career depends on their grades they have made at this level. If they
got high grade their future will be bright because everyone gives credit to grades. Therefore, if students will get credit for their work they will
work even better for getting more and more credit. Otherwise, they will shirk work hard. Furthermore, God will also give rewards to those people
who have done good deeds in this world. That is why; all people do their best of doing good deeds so that they may be able to get reward from God
on their sacrifices and hardships. If there would be no reward from God, no one would want to do good deeds by facing hardships. Every one would
be free to committing sins or other bad deeds which will results in turmoil of the world. Same is the case with the students. If the instructor gives them
grades for their individual work they will

Grading Ethical Issues
The ethical challenge most unique to education deals with the issue of student grades. Ethical issues range from as blatant as changing a student's
grade to as grey as teacher grading practices. Unethical grading practices could be the result of parental pressure to change a grade, inconsistent
grading policies with a school or simply a teacher's lack of knowledge about research based grading practices. Educators have a responsibility and duty
to provide accurate information that reflects student learning. After all, educating children is the purpose of school, and students deserve accurate
information. It is not uncommon for students or parents to challenge a given grade, possibly threatening action against a teacher's job. Dr. Henry Parker
...show more content...
2). Ineffective grading policies can result in wide variations in grades across a school or even within a single teacher's classroom. There has been a
great deal of debate as to what constitutes fair and ethical grading practices. Supporters of the recent trend toward standards based grading argue that
items such as organization skills or timeliness do not assess whether or not a student knows a standard. O'Connor and Wormeli (2011) argue that "these
reports offer no precise documentation and render description feedback impossible" (p. 40). Furthermore, Randall and Engelhard (2010) reported that
in "some borderline cases [of student failure] teachers report considering non–achievement factors" (p. 1) to improve a student's final grade. Conversely,
other educators argue that the exclusion of some subjective topics such as effort, attitude, or participation do not give a clear picture of the whole
child's actual school achievement (Stitt & Pula, 2014). Stitt and Pula (2014) suggest that students who suffer from text anxiety tend to score lower and
may appear as low achievers when in fact the same student may be among the most motivated in the

Case Study 11: Should a Computer Grade Your Essays?
The case study discusses the April 2013 launch of Harvard/MIT's joint venture MOOC (massively open online course) essay scoring program, utilizing
AI (artificial intelligence) technology to grade educational essays and short answers, with immediate feedback and ability to revise, resubmit, and
improve grades.
In 2012, a group of colleagues, Les Perleman, Mark Shermis, and Ben Hamner, introduced over 16,000, K7–12 standardized school tests to the AES
(automated essay scoring software) to compare results of hand–scored essays; the results appeared to produce a more accurate grade, however, no
official statistical studies were performed to accurately maintain the claim.
Essay Raters...show more content...
Currently, EdX tools are free and tout trainability by educators. As demonstrated in the video IBM Watson: The Science Behind an Answer (IBM,
2011), the system uses algorithms gathered from the data stored in the system and "learns" answers by utilizing similarity of questions technique. The
instructors grade 100 essays and/or questions and as they are input, which inevitably become the tools that becoming the grading metrics.
Massively open online courses (MOOC) platform rests on "self–service" and utilizing EdX to allow students the opportunity to obtain certificates of
completion, versus degrees. The university will pay EdX a fee based on generated revenue for initial courses and "production help" revenue base for
course development, with a potential for future licensing. The passing rate is anticipated to increase an estimate 60 to 91 percent, causing scrutiny and
angst amongst traditional block and mortar educators; this translates to a speculated decline in educational quality and as well as the demise of trained
educators.
The first case question asks to define the intelligence level of the automated essay grading. The EdX system requires educators or graders to first, grade
100 essays then allow the system, using learning techniques; second, it trains itself to grade future

The Grading Systems That Teachers
There are two grading systems that teachers can use in the classroom. One grading practice that educator use is standard based grading. Standard based
grading measures students' proficiency on well–defined course objectives (Scriffiny 70). The other grading practice that educator use is current trend
/ traditional point–based grades. Current trend will motivate everyone and allows teachers to focus on instructing students. I believe that grades should
supports and develops student learning and it should help students take ownership and responsibility of their learning for life. Therefore, I would use
standard–based grading in order to have clear meaning behind grades, allow students to take ownership and responsibility and to make adjust
instruction.
First, I would use standards–based grading because grades should have meaning. I agree with Scriffiny, grade should have meaning to the student,
parents and the teacher. The purpose for grades is to provide feedback about student achievement (Marzano1). Current trend does not reflect or show
students' progress or the achievement. It does not show if the student met all of the objectives and standards. However, it does define or title the student
as a good/successful student or bad student. By any case, grade should never define or title the student. If educators focus on the current trends, students
would loose the interest and the real meaning of education. For example, in Korea, students and parents would do anything in

Standards-Based Grading Analysis
Standards–based grading is a movement that is gaining ground in education which involves "measuring students' proficiency on well–defined course
objectives" (p. 70). The author is a high school math teacher who took three years to implement standards–based grading in the classroom. The article
describes seven reasons for replacing a point based system with a standards based one. The seven reasons discussed were that grades should have
meaning, challenging of the status quo, we can control grading policies, reduces meaningless paperwork, helps teachers adjust instruction, it teaches
what quality looks like, and it's a Launchpad to other reforms. Standards–based grading is something that I knew very little about other than the set
criteria that grade schools have evaluated my own children on. The only real thought I had on the subject was how would those standards–based grades
transfer over to what colleges needed on transcripts....show more content...
The author showed to versions of a gradebook where one was a traditional and the other was standards–based. The regular gradebook shows scores and
places a value for what the student earned but does not show what the students knows. The standards–based gradebook shows a teacher how each
student is doing on a particular skill/standard and allows the teacher to evaluate their teaching based on how students are achieving on standards.
Critical concepts are not assumed learned. As a principal, driving teachers to use data in their classroom allows for easy interpretation of
standards–based grades. I will not be an expert on every subject taught in a school, however I can look at a gradebook like this and see areas that a
teacher could work on to improve instruction. As students show early mastery of skills, they can work on more challenging levels of work that would
be higher in Blooms

When a student is in high school the letter grading system is better to use than the pass or fail systems for several reasons, the first reason is because
it helps the student's progress more. .. The students would work harder to excel in their studies because they would have a standard to work towards.
Another reason to use the letter grading system is to keep the student interested in his or her achievements. If the undergraduate student sees how far he
or she has come. He or she will want to keep going. On the other hand, the pass or fail systems do not give the student an opportunity to improve. The
student will fail the class. The letter grade will help the students see how they are doing in the class. Another reason the letter grading system is better
is because it gives the student and teacher a chance to sit down and discuss what can be done to get a better grade. The letter grade helps promotes the
student inner ability to achieve a higher grade. The student will always want to be at the top of the class. If the pass and fail system is used than
students would not know how they are doing. The letter grade system gives the student an opportunity to redo assignments to get a better grade. The
pass or fail system does not give second chances. If the students have a D in the class, he or she can work on the...show more content...
Even though both systems have their pros and cons. The letter grading system is the best because it gives the student more chances to improve
their grade. The letter grading system will also encourage the student to reach for the stars. It will allow the student to ask for help when it is
needed and not wait till it is too late. The letter grade system should not be replaced with pass and fail system due to the lack of chances a student
have to get ahead. The pass and fail system does not help because it does not explain why you pass or fail the

Related Literature About Grading System
Chapter 1
1. Background of the study
Al Hedaya Alkhalifia is the first regular school be established in Bahrain, It's was established in 1919. The education in Bahrain was limited to
education in koranic schools who are studying the Koran. However, Al Hedaya Alkhalifia was limited to the teaching the children of rich people and
the owners of the important centers in the country and then become the public from the people.
It's a doubted by the ministry of education in Bahrain. as the time go the school has improved it teaching system and the activates to make the studying
more effective for the student and now this school have been secondary school for boys in Moharraq.
2. Company's Current Situation
Now, the school is using a manual...show more content...
In the grading process the teacher fill specific form (notebook) for the student's grades and store them at shelves, so they will be found when they are
needed. The school will ask the parents to bring personal information of the students. The teacher or the technician will enter this information into the
database (access). They can process this information in type of (adding, deleting and updating) using database (access). As a result they can view and
print out records of all the students. The same process will be done manually each time a new student will enrol in the school.
If any student or parent has any complaint, he/she print out the form and goes directly to the administration or management staff to talk to them.
1.1Theoretical Framework of the Study
Existing System
Input Processing Output
Proposal System

Input processing output
This proposed system will help the teachers to do the job faster, easier and more secure than the manual system, having all personal information related
to students saved into specialized notebooks or written forms is so dangerous in terms of storing the files, or deleting the wrong record to update it.
1.2. Conceptual Framework of the Study

Traditional Grading System Essay
Traditional Grading System
Education is undoubtedly one of the most important parts of any human society. Without it human beings could not have been at the current point of
time where we all know tremendously about life and the universe. We are now better off than we were. However, it is clear that there is still huge
variety of phenomena waiting for our discovery. The most important objective of education is to help human beings pursue their burning desires to
learn and reach their potential. In that way we progress. Therefore, it is vital to help or at least not hinder education to fulfill its goals.
Traditional grading system will be my focus of this essay. Grading as numbers or letters, a conventional way of assessing...show more content...
Finkelstein:
"When we consider the practically universal use in all educational institutions of a system of marks, whether numbers or letters, to indicate the
scholastic attainment of the students or pupils in these institutions, and when we remember how very great stress is laid by teachers and students alike
upon these marks as real indicators or measures of attainment, we can but be astonished at the blind faith that has been felt in the reliability of the
marking system. School administrators have been using with confidence an absolutely uncalibrated instrument...What faults appear in the marking
systems that we are now using, and how can these be avoided or minimized?" (Mark)
Can we find answers to his questions today?
Now let us examine the mostly accepted reasons for assessing students' achievements using conventional grading systems.
The one rationale for grading is to sort students like "potatoes" so that higher institutions – colleges and universities – and employers choose as
correctly as possible from these sorted "potatoes". (Alfie) Certainly higher education and future jobs are among most significant things in life. However,
the purpose of education, in particular high schools, is not to serve these institutions by sorting students like potatoes, but help pupils to discover their
interests, enhance learning, and reach their potentials. Unfortunately the study shows that the grade is not "a cogent predictor

Alfie Kohn discussed multiple fabulous points in his article, "Degrading to De–Grading". The author suggests more effective ways to assess students'
progress other than numerical or letter grades. Kohn goes into detail about why our current grading system is flawed. Grades can cause students to lose
interest in learning which causes them to stop taking challenges. If students are not engaged and interested than they are not retaining the information
they are being taught. The grading system can also cause students to develop unhealthy competition with one another for instance, "I got a better grade
than you!". Indeed, grades are a wonderful concept, but they tend to be more hurtful than helpful. In some cases, grades can have positive effects on
students. For example, setting goals for various assignments, or receiving help where they are struggling. Though, there are alternatives that could
make positive changes in the system.
Students lose focus when their teacher makes comments such as "You'll need to know this for the test" or "Pay attention you're going to need to know
this". Students are more likely to view it as a chore. "Study after study has found that students – from elementary school to graduate school, and across
cultures – demonstrate less interest in learning as a result of being graded" (Kohn, 167). Therefore, students don't take on challenging tasks. Instead,
they will look for the easiest possible route. "Thus, students who cut corners may not be lazy so

Changing The Grading System: Pass Or Fail System
The grading system actually affects how students do in school. The current grading system can confuse students and parents. Most students get
stressed out with the current grading system. I agree with Mr. Delaney that the grading system needs to be changed to a pass or fail system.
Changing the grading system can relieve students' stress. Actually, with the pass or fail grading system, you don't have to worry about low passing
grades such as C's or D's. By changing the grading system to pass or fail, you can set priorities which subject to work on more. In particular, it can
improve students' classwork and homework grades.In addition, students will have time to learn the difficult contents and have an opportunity to excel.
Also, you don't

Essay on Grading System Reform
Grading System Reform
Teachers have always used grades to measure the amount a student has learned. This practice is becoming ineffective. Many students have a wide
range of grades, which show that grades may not show what a student really knows. Therefore, the standard grading system should be replaced. Some
reasons why grades should be replaced are bad grades can hinder a child's performance, grades define who a student is in the classroom, and grades are
not an effective way to see if students have learned the material. The current grading system should be upgraded and every school should incorporate
the plus/minus system in their method of grading.
The public high schools began a grading system as a way of telling an...show more content...
A student can be excluded from their peer groups because they have a bad grade. Being left out can make a student not want to improve
academically. If they get bad grades others will see them as a poor student and will expect them to do poor in life. The process most schools use to
evaluate student performance is grade point average and class rank. The academic recognition programs that exist in the United States are driven by a
student's grade point average and class rank. Those measures serve as the primary method in establishing student recognition. If this ranking is not the
sole factor in the recognition program, it is always included in the student's assessment. The school culture recognizes individuals that are in the top
one–third of the school's class rank
The national dropout rate has been about 15 percent. In 2002, 11 percent of young people aged 16 to 24 in the civilian, non–institutionalized
population were not enrolled in and had not completed high school. While the exact magnitude of the problem may be elusive, the fact that it's
particularly severe in large urban schools has been understood for some time.
One study looked at high schools in the nation's 35 largest cities and identified 200 to 300 schools – about half of the regular and vocational high
schools in those cities – where more than 50 percent of the students drop out. A study of Philadelphia schools found that 57 percent of those who

Would you consider yourself as a grade junkie? Do you always strive for an A and take nothing less? In his essay "A Young Person's Guide to the
Grading System," Jerry Farber argues that the grading system is not a good way of evaluating students academically. He believes that with the grading
system the way it is, students' do not try to learn; they only push towards getting a good letter grade. Though some may disagree, Farber's view on the
grading system is true.
Farber writes about academic success not being measured in knowledge, but in grade points. He went on to say, "Academic success, as everyone
knows, is something that we measure not in knowledge but in grade points. What we get on the final is all–important; what we retain after the final is
irrelevant. Grades don't...show more content...
Most students' do assignments and prepare for tests only to get a good grade. They do not care about learning, as long as they are able to graduate.
Learning does not come from being graded, it takes discipline and passion to learn. When trying to learn something new most people practice and or
study rather than being graded.
Ferber's credit system is better than the grading system. The credit system will allow students to worry less and focus more on their work. Rather
than constantly worrying about what grade they are going to get students will be able to do their work with ease, allowing them to feel less stressed.
Students may learn more if they are not graded. Since grades are not being pounded down the student's throat, that student is not doing the work to get
a good grade. The credit system will also help those who are unable to pass a course, this is because the failed class will not affect the student's'
transcript..
Farber's view on the grading system is accurate. The grading does more bad than good, causing students to get stressed and not learn. Students' spend
most of their

Online Grading System
The Development of an Online Grading System
by
Mary Jane Santos
Thesis Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the
Degree of BS Information Technology
Integrated College of Business and Technology
December 2010
CHAPTER 1
The Problem and Its Background
Introduction
In essence, grading is an exercise in professional judgment on the part of instructors. It involves the collection and evaluation of evidence on students'
achievement or performance over a specified period of time, such as nine weeks, an academic semester, or entire school year. Through this process,
various types of descriptive information and measures of students' performance are converted into grades or marks that summarize students'...show more
content...
Conceptual Framework Linear System theory is the foundation of the basic analysis of this system. Linear system theory assumes a cause–and–effect
relationship for the components of a system. The input and output relationship represents processing the cause–and–effect of the process, which in turn
represents a processing of the input variables to provide an output variable. The paradigm of the study consists of the context as shown in Figure 1.
INPUTPROCESSOUTPUT
The context is composed of the existing system in the manner of computing grades which are either manually or computerized by using spreadsheets.

Moreover, it also includes the sources of data which are the reading materials like magazines, books, internet and by observing and asking qualified
respondents that could give clarity to the study. The process of developing an online grade management system consists of creating a system flow chart
that will serve as a guide in the creation of the program/system, the ERD (Entity–Relationship Diagram) that will be essential for the database or record
keeping of the system and encoding, debugging errors and execution of the program.
Statement of the Problem The general problem of the study is how to develop an online management system. There are some specific problem in this
study that needs to be solved to accomplish the project. They are the

Grading College Level Writing
The issue of how to grade the writing of college students is a large one which focuses on many different factors, and consists of a wide range of many
opinions. The solution to this issue is not clear cut. There are many methods of assessing writing which each have their pitfalls and merits. In my
research of this topic, one method stood out to me as having the most benefit and least downsides: the in–class portfolio method. This paper will focus
on the academic conversation surrounding the portfolio method, and how I believe it to be the best method of grading college level writing I have
come across. In my experience as a student, I have never had two teachers who have graded my writing in the same way. It seems that every teacher
has their...show more content...
"Because a portfolio, as a cumulative writing product, can include a variety of genres for a variety of audiences and purposes, and may also include
work that illustrates different stages of the drafting process, it is admittedly difficult to evaluate as a whole. Many theorists (Elbow; Hamp–Lyons;
Huot; White) have identified and discussed this problem, which is one of reliability (consistency and predictability) and validity (fairness and
accuracy)." (Neal 129–130). The criticisms of portfolio assessment, that it has not a particularly reliable or valid method for grading writing, as
suggested by the critics of the method Neal cites, mostly stem from examples in which the grading method has been applied poorly. That is, the
portfolio method must be applied in cases in which it will be the most effective, and has the ability to align with a writing department's goals for what
its students should learn from a particular course. The portfolio method is not a ridged grading process, but a guided approach with certain
characteristics. In order for it to be applied effectively, it must be shaped for each situation in which it is

Standard Grading Scale
Many people learn many different ways. I feel that it is better to grade people off of the standard grading scale. We have used it for many decades,
so why change it now? Three reasons why we should keep the grading scale the same are everyone is used to tests, quizzes, and worksheets, I feel
that people learn better if you do not make them do half of the work at home, and one should not be forced to present a project in the middle of a
room full of people. Firstly, everyone is already used to the grading scale. We memorize facts that are input into the tests. If we switch this up, people
will be confused and not know what to do. There are many types of learning, hands on, memorization, these are just the start. If, or when, we convert to

Standardized Testing And A Grading System

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