This document discusses effective grading practices for K-12 schools. It begins by noting that well-designed classroom assessments can provide specific and timely information to guide learning, unlike external standardized tests. The document then examines common problems with current grading practices, such as inconsistencies, using grades as punishment, and not clearly reflecting students' mastery of course standards. It proposes guidelines for standards-based grading, including basing grades solely on achievement and not including behaviors, avoiding zero scores, providing clear performance standards, and emphasizing more recent assessments. The overall message is that schools should implement grading practices that more accurately communicate what students have learned.

1. High Schools That Work
Making Middle Grades Work
Effective Grading Practices
12 Fixes for Broken Grades
Barbara Moore
Southern Regional Education Board

2. “Unlike the external standardized tests
that feature so prominently on the school
landscape these days, well-designed
classroom assessment and grading
practices can provide the kind of specific,
personalized and timely information
needed to guide both learning and
teaching.”
Seven Practices for Effective Learning,
McTigue and O’Connor, ASCD, 2005
Effective Grading Practices 2

3. Essential Question
Do our grades for
students reflect the
degree to which
they have met the
standards for a
course?
Effective Grading Practices 3

4. To What Degree Do The Teachers
At Your School . . .
1. Base grading on the
degree to which
students are proficient
in the standards?
2. Collaborate on
consistent methods to
arrive at grades?
3. Refrain from using
grades as punishment?
4. Involve students in
assessing their own
progress?
Effective Grading Practices 4

5. Current Grading Practices
“ . . . (grading) practices are not the
result of careful thought or sound
evidence, . . .
rather, they are used because
teachers experienced these
practices as students and, having
little training or experience with
other options, continue their use.”
Guskey, T. (Editor), Communicating
Student Learning: 1996 ASCD Yearbook
Effective Grading Practices 5

6. Grading Practices
“Why . . . Would anyone want to
change current grading
practices?
The answer is quite simple:
grades are so imprecise that
they are almost meaningless.”
Marzano, R. J., Transforming Classroom
Grading, ASCD, Alexandria, VA, 2000, 1
Effective Grading Practices 6

7. The Issue
“The principal limitation of any grading
system that requires the teacher to assign
one number or letter to represent . . .
learning is that one symbol can convey
only one meaning.
One symbol cannot do justice to the
different degrees of learning a student
acquires across all learning outcomes.”
Tombari and Borich, Authentic Assessment in the Classroom,
Prentice Hall, 1999,
Effective Grading Practices 7

8. Primary Purpose
“the primary purpose of . . grades . . .
(is) to communicate student
achievement to students, parents,
school administrators, post-secondary
institutions and employers.
Bailey, J. and McTighe, J., “Reporting Achievement at the
Secondary School Level: What and How?”, in Thomas R.
Guskey, (Ed.) Communicating Student Learning: ASCD
Yearbook 1996, ASCD, Alexandria, VA, 1996, 120
Effective Grading Practices 8

9. Secondary Purposes for
Grading
1. Provide information that students can
use for self-evaluation.
2. Select, identify, or group students for
certain educational paths or programs.
3. Provide incentives to learn.
4. Evaluate the effectiveness of
instructional programs
Effective Grading Practices 9

10. The Need to Challenge Current
Grading Systems
Weaknesses in current grading systems include:
 Students can earn an A in a course and never complete
anything but basic level work
 Teachers lack effective ways to get students to complete
work at high levels; teachers grade and record whatever
work is turned in.
 Current grading systems provide students with the option
of not doing their assignments at all; the only
consequence to not doing work is that they don‟t have to
do the work.
 Most grading policies purposefully (or not) assess
behaviors instead of level of achievement or proficiency
on standards
Standards-based Grading 10

11. Grading Systems
Current grading systems:
Letters or numbers that represent
Current Grading System Standards-based Grading
System
A level or 90-100 level
B level or 80-89 level
C level or 70-79 level
D level or 60-69 level
F level or 59 or below
A level or advanced level of the
standard
B level or proficient level of the
standard
C level or basic level of the
standard
I: Incomplete or Not Yet level of
the standard
Effective Grading Practices 11

12. Grading Practices Continuum
Traditional
Assessment Methods
Achievement/non-
achievement factors mixed
Everything „counts‟
All data cumulative
One opportunity only
Calculating averages only
Teachers‟ subjective
standards
Poor quality assessment
Teacher-centered with
unclear targets
Standards-based
Standards
Achievement separate from
work habits/attitude
Summative only
More recent emphasized
More than one opportunity
Professional judgment
Published performance
standards
High quality assessment
Student understanding &
involvement
Effective Grading Practices 12

13. Grading Givens
Grading is not essential for learning
Grading is complicated
Grading is subjective and often emotional
Grading is inescapable
There is not much “pure” research on grading
practices
No single best grading practice
Faulty grading damages students - and
teachers
Effective Grading Practices 13

14. Grades are broken when they. .
• include ingredients that distort
achievement
• arise from low quality or poorly
organized evidence
• are derived from inappropriate number
crunching, and when they
• do not support the learning process.
Effective Grading Practices 14

15. What can educators do?
Link content standards with
teaching standards at the
proficient level and getting
students to that level.
Decide on evidence to be
collected. “Does each assessment
measure what was taught?”
Distinguish between formative
and summative.
Develop an overall grading rubric
that defines level of quality in
relation to each grade.
Create a grade book that records
evidence in relation to the
standards.
Standards-based Grading 16

16. “When schools improve grading
practices --- for example, by
disconnecting grades from behavior ---
student achievement increases and
behavior improves dramatically.”
Doug Reeves, 2008
Effective Grading Practices 17

17. Standards-based Grades
In a standards-referenced system, a
grade or a score represents the level of
understanding the student has of the
knowledge, skills and concepts in a
subject area and the student‟s ability to
apply that understanding in a variety of
tasks.
Effective Grading Practices 18

18. Standards-based grades
should reflect the level
of students‟
performance on course
standards
Effective Grading Practices 19

19. Grading Practices
that Inhibit Learning
Inconsistent grading
scales
Worshipping averages
Using zeroes
indiscriminately
Following the pattern of
assign/test/grade & teach
Failing to match testing
to teaching
Ambushing students
Suggesting that success
is unlikely
Grading first efforts
Practicing “gotcha”
teaching
Penalizing students for
taking risks
Failing to recognize
measurement error
Establishing inconsistent
grading criteria
Effective Grading Practices 23

20. Grading Guideline #1
Include only achievement data in
determining grades (Don‟t include
student behaviors such as effort,
participation, adherence to class rules,
etc.).
The tendency to collapse several
independent elements into a single
grade blurs its meaning.
Effective Grading Practices 24

21. What Should “Count?”
Assessments That
Relate to Standards
Tests
Projects
Performances
 Essays
 Research papers
 Presentations
 Lab experiments
Assessment of Other
Learning Factors
Homework completion
and practice
Attendance
Tardiness
Student behavior
Effort
Timeliness
Following class rules
Extra credit (for
completion only)
Effective Grading Practices 25

22. Grading Guideline #2
Don‟t reduce
marks on “work”
submitted late;
provide support
for the learner.
Effective Grading Practices 26

23. Avoid assigning zeroes
“Assigning a score of zero to work that
is late, missed, or neglected does not
accurately depict students‟ learning. Is
the teacher certain the student has
learned absolutely nothing, or is the
zero assigned to punish students for
not displaying appropriate
responsibility?”
--Guskey, 1996
Effective Grading Practices 27

24. Avoid assigning zeroes
Don‟t include zeros in grade
determination when evidence is missing
or as punishment; use alternatives,
such as reassessing to determine real
achievement or use “I” for Incomplete
or Insufficient Evidence.
Effective Grading Practices 28

25. “The use of an I or “Incomplete”
grade is an alternative to assigning
zeros that is both educationally
sound and potentially quite
effective.”
Guskey and Bailey, Developing Grading and Reporting
Systems for Student Learning, Corwin Press, 2001
Effective Grading Practices 29

26. Grading Guideline #3
Don‟t give points for
extra credit or use
bonus points; seek
only evidence that
more work has
resulted in a higher
level of achievement.
Effective Grading Practices 32

27. Grading Guideline #4
Don‟t punish
academic dishonesty
with reduced grades;
apply other
consequences and
reassess to
determine actual
level of achievement.
Effective Grading Practices 33

28. Grading Guideline #5
Don‟t consider
attendance in grade
determination;
report absences
separately.
Effective Grading Practices 34

29. Grading Guideline #6
Don‟t assign grades using
inappropriate or unclear
performance standards;
provide clear descriptions
of achievement
expectations.
Effective Grading Practices 35

30. Communicate Clear Standards
“Performance standards specify „how
good is good enough.‟ They relate to
issues of assessment that gauge the degree
to which content standards have been
attained They are indices of quality
that specify how adept or competent a
student demonstration should be.”
Kendall, J., and R. Marzano, Content Knowledge:
A Compendium of Standards and Benchmarks
for K-12 Education, McREL, 1997
Effective Grading Practices 36

31. Grades Must Reflect
• Development of assignments and assessments that
include questions and activities that actually get
students to the proficient and advanced levels of the
standards.
•Alignment of grades to the attainment of the proficiency
level of the content standard/benchmark
A= advanced, B= proficient, C= basic
• Elimination of zeros for work
not completed
• Eliminating the option of students not
completing their assignments;
Effective Grading Practices 37

32. Grading Guideline #7
Don‟t include group
scores in grades; use
only individual
achievement
evidence.
Effective Grading Practices 38

33. “Group grades are so blatantly
unfair that on this basis alone they
should never be used.”
Kagan, S. “Group Grades Miss the Mark,”
Educational Leadership, May, 1995
Effective Grading Practices 39

34. Guideline #3b Kagan‟s 7 reasons for opposing
group grades
1. no(t) fair
2. debase report cards
3. undermine motivation
4. convey the wrong message
5. violate individual accountability
6. are responsible for resistance to
cooperative learning
7. may be challenged in court.
Kagan, S. “Group Grades Miss the Mark,” Educational
Leadership, May, 1995, 68-71
Effective Grading Practices 40

35. Grading Guideline #8
Don‟t assign grades
based on student‟s
achievement compared
to other students;
compare each student‟s
performance to preset
standards.
Effective Grading Practices 41

36. “No student‟s grade should depend
on the achievement (or behavior) of
other students.”
William Glasser
Effective Grading Practices 42

37. Eliminate the Curve
Students are at different places and Learn at different
paces, YET
 Systems assess at the same time
 Bell curve based upon when learned, not
Learned or Quality of Learning
 The old bell curve has morphed into a
“Compliance Curve” in most classrooms
 A Learning Curve is necessary for NCLB
Effective Grading Practices 43

38. Grading Guideline #9
Don‟t rely only on the
mean; consider
other measures of
central tendency and
use professional
judgment.
Effective Grading Practices 44

39. “Crunch” numbers carefully -
if at all
Determine vs. calculate
Consider methods:
 Mean - average
 Median - middle score
 Mode - most frequently occurring score
Priority goes to evidence that is most recent,
most comprehensive, and most important
learning
Effective Grading Practices 45

40. Considerations
We need a sufficient body of evidence to
determine what a student knows and can do.
Alternatives
 60% rather than 0%
 Incomplete (especially for critical
assessments)
 Calculate using median or mode
 Drop lowest scores
 Report and communicate behavioral
aspects separately
Effective Grading Practices 46

41. Mean vs. Median
"Grading by the median provides
more opportunities for success by
diminishing the impact of a few
stumbles and by rewarding hard
work."
Wright, Russell. G., "Success for All: The
Median is the Key", Kappan, May 1994, 723-725
Effective Grading Practices 47

42. The Effect of 0
Student A
86
86
86
0
86
Mean = 68.8%
Does this accurately reflect what
the student knows and can do?
Median = 86%
Mode = 86%
Mean (with 60% instead of 0) =
80.8%
Effective Grading Practices 48

43. Disproportionate Impact
of ZEROs
F
Think in terms of pounds:
A = 11 pounds (90-100)
B = 10 pounds (80-89)
C = 10 pounds (70-79)
DC BA
D = 10 pounds (60-69)
F = 59 pounds (0-59)
Effective Grading Practices 49

44. Mean vs. Median
Student Y
Student Y
96
99
94
61
97
Student Z
92
74
68
64
58
 Mean = 89.4%
 Median = 96%
 Is this a “B”
student?
Student Z
 Mean = 71.2%
 Median = 68%
 Does this student
have mastery?
Effective Grading Practices 51

45. “Averaging falls far short of providing
an accurate description of what students
have learned If the purpose of grading
and reporting is to provide an accurate
description of what students have learned,
then averaging must be considered
inadequate and inappropriate”.
Guskey, Thomas R. (Editor), Communicating Student Learning:
The 1996 ASCD Yearbook, ASCD, Alexandria, VA, 1996, 21
Effective Grading Practices 52

46. Grading Guideline #10
Don‟t rely on
evidence from
assessments that fail
to meet standards of
quality; rely only on
quality assessments.
Effective Grading Practices 53

47. Grades should come from a body of
evidence plus performance standards
plus guidelines, i.e., professional
judgment.
Seven Practices for Effective Learning,
McTigue and O’Connor, ASCD, 2005
Effective Grading Practices 54

48. Types of Assessment
Diagnostic - assessment which takes place prior to
instruction; designed to determine a student's attitude,
skills or knowledge in order to identify student needs.
Formative - Assessment designed to provide
direction for improvement and/or adjustment during
instruction for individual students or for a whole class,
e.g. observation, quizzes, homework, instructional
questions, initial drafts/attempts.
Summative - Assessment/evaluation designed to
provide information to be used in making judgment
about a student’s achievement at the end of a
sequence of instruction, e.g. final drafts/attempts,
tests, exams, assignments, projects, performances.
Effective Grading Practices 55

49. 56

50. Guidelines for Assessment
Practices
1. Use summative assessments to frame meaningful
performance goals - in terms of desirable outcomes
2. Show criteria and models in advance to help students
understand criteria
3. Assess before teaching
4. Offer appropriate choices
5. Provide feedback early and often - F³ (timely, specific
and understandable)
6. Encourage self-assessment and goal-setting
7. Allow new evidence to replace old evidence
Effective Grading Practices 57

51. Grading Guideline #11
Don‟t summarize evidence
accumulated over time when learning is
developmental and will grow with time
and repeated opportunities―emphasize
more recent achievement.
Classroom assessments and grading
should focus on how well―not when―
student s master the content.
Effective Grading Practices 58

52. The key question is, “What information provides
the most accurate depiction of students‟
learning at this time?” In nearly all cases, the
answer is “the most current information.” If
students demonstrate that past assessment
information no longer accurately reflects their
learning, that information must be dropped and
replaced by the new information. Continuing to
rely on past assessment data miss-
communicates students‟ learning.
Guskey, Thomas R. (Editor), Communicating
Student Learning: 1996 ASCD Yearbook, ASCD,
Effective Grading Practices 59

53. Standards-based Guidelines
Students should be assessed or checked on
everything (or almost everything) they do
BUT
everything that is assessed and/or checked
does not need a score
AND
every score should not be included in the
grade. Seven Practices for Effective Learning,
McTigue and O’Connor, ASCD, 2005
Effective Grading Practices 60

54. Grading Guideline #12
Involve Students
Students often have little
understanding of how
their grade is
determined.
Students experience
grades as something
that is “done to them”
rather than a reflection of
their learning.
Effective Grading Practices 61

55. Involve Students
Show students how to assess their own
and others' work against the
performance standards, expectations or
levels.
Help students learn „Habits of Success,‟
how to set goals and both reflect on and
monitor their own work
Effective Grading Practices 62

56. Critical Questions to Ask
Yourself
• What do ALL of my students need to KNOW?
• What should ALL of my students be able to DO
to demonstrate they know?
• What standards do I want
to measure?
• Which outcomes are not being
assessed adequately?
Effective Grading Practices 63

57. Guidelines for Grading
1. Relate grading procedures to the intended
learning goals, i.e., standards, expectations,
outcomes, etc.
2. Use criterion-referenced standards as
reference points to distribute grades.
3. Limit the valued attributes included in
grades to individual achievement.
4. Sample student performance - don't include
all scores in grades.
Effective Grading Practices 64

58. Guidelines for Grading
5. “Grade in pencil” - keep records so they can
be updated easily.
6. “Crunch" numbers carefully - if at all.
7. Use quality assessment(s) and properly
recorded evidence of achievement.
8. Discuss and involve students in
assessment, including grading throughout
the teaching/learning process.
Effective Grading Practices 65

59. Recommended Resources
Marzano, R., (2000) Transforming Classroom Grading
Marzano, R., (2006) Classroom Assessment and Grading That Work
Reeves, D. (2004). 101 more questions & answers about standards,
assessment and accountability
Guskey, T., Developing Grading and Reporting Systems for Student
Learning
Ainsworth, L., (2007) Ahead of the Curve: The Power of Assessment
to Transform Teaching and Learning
Reeves, D. (2003). Making Standards Work
Reeves, D. (2002). The Leaders‟ Guide to Standards
Stiggins, R., (2001) Student-Involved Classroom Assessment
Brookhart, S., (2004) Grading
O‟Connor, K. (2009) How to Grade For Learning, K-12
Wormeli, R., Fair Isn‟t Always Equal
Effective Grading Practices 66

60. Curriculum: Yesterday and Today
Traditional
What is taught
Chapters covered &
worksheets completed
Academic context
Textbook as main source
Individual subjects
Basics emphasized for all;
thinking skills emphasized
for gifted
Standards-based
What is learned
Identification of what
students should know & do
Life context
Multiple resources
Integrated subjects
Basics and thinking skills
emphasized for all
Effective Grading Practices 67

61. Instruction: Yesterday and Today
Traditional
Teacher centered
Organized around time
Single teaching strategy
Teach once
Fixed groups
Whole-group instruction
Passive learning
Standards-based
Student centered
Organized for results
Multiple teaching strategies
Reteaching and enrichment
Flexible groups
Differentiated instruction
Active learning
Effective Grading Practices 68

62. Assessment: Yesterday and Today
Traditional
Bell curve
One opportunity
After instruction
Paper-and-pencil-based
Grades averaged
Proving and accountability
Focus on product
Standards-based
Rubrics
Multiple opportunities
Integrated with instruction
Performance-based
Grades on final performance
Diagnose and prescribe
Focus on product and
process
Effective Grading Practices 69