Research shows us that there is wide variation in how teachers assign grades. Some focus strictly on academic achievement while others include behavior. Try lobbing some of these thoughts out into the faculty lounge and see what transpires. What do you think?

• No student should receive a zero on a one hundred point scale.
  
• Students shouldn't receive lower marks for late assignments.
  
• Students should be allowed retakes.
  
• Extra credit points should be eliminated. 
  
• Homework shouldn't be included as part of the grade.
  

I can assure you that every one of these ideas will generate a good debate, and you will find teachers who come down on either side of each one. That fact alone should raise a warning signal. If some teachers adjust grades based on behavior and late assignments while others do not, what do report card grades mean? How well would a student perform in a class where  a missing assignment is awarded a zero compared to a class where a missing assignment resulted in an incomplete? 


To encourage some friendly faculty lounge debate, let me get the ball rolling! One of the most discriminatory practices in education is the awarding of zeros on one hundred point scales. Because of the mathematics of averaging, a zero has an unreasonable and unrealistic impact on grades. Consider a student who has the following scores: 100, 100, 100, 0. If we use the mean, then his student's average is 75. Of course, if we used the median or mode, then the student would have a 100. In the first case, their report card grade will likely be D (assuming a typical 10% to letter grade ratio), but with a median or mode, their grade would be an A+. 

An alternative approach would be to use a four or five point scale. Excellent work would receive a 4 and poor work a 1. Missing work would receive a 0. This same student would then have scores of 4, 4, 4, 0 for an average (mean) of 3, but now the score is equivalent to a B. Some schools try to stick with the 100 point system but simply award a 50 to missing work. While mathematically this is more balanced, it leads students to think that they can do nothing and still get credit for "half." A better approach is to award an incomplete and require that the work be done. When it is finished, then the completed work can be averaged with the rest of the student's work to determine the final grade. Of course, we will still have to address the issue of whether there should be a penalty for a late assignment.... 

I've been reading the latest edition of Educational Leadership, and the theme for this month is Grading. There are some excellent articles that will challenge your thinking about the purposes and nature of grading. One suggests that the most important decision to make about grading is to determine its purpose. The author suggests that there are only two: selecting talent or developing talent. 

According to the author, when we focus on student achievement and making comparisons among students or comparisons to a criteria, we are sorting and selecting talent. We do this so that we can identify excellent performance in contrast to poor performance. This type of grading typically results in a percent or letter that means anything from excellent to failing. 

However, if we focus on effort, behavior, and growth, then our interest is clearly in developing talent and assisting students to learn. We do this so that we can identify change in learning over time. This type of grading typically results in anecdotal records and portfolios of student work that demonstrate effort and improvement. 

Despite the obvious bias against grading achievement, I think the descriptions of the two approaches are useful. However, I do object to the basic premise that there are only two purposes to grading. I would like to propose another perspective. I believe that the primary purpose for "grading" (as opposed to "assessment") is the need to report. If no one outside the classroom had any interest in how much, how fast, or how well a student has learned, there would be no need for grades. Teachers could simply assess learning and make instructional decisions based on the results. However, parents in particular want (and have the right) to know the answer to one very important question, "How is my child doing?" By this they mean, "Is s/he making age-appropriate progress in learning concepts and developing skills?" It's a simple question, but it is absolutely crucial to every parent. 

There are others who also need this information. The school and district administrations want to know how well their programs are working. They want to know how well their teachers are delivering the curriculum. They want (and have the right) to know that their employees are doing a good job, and the only valid measure of that is student learning. They too will need some kind of report. 

State and federal governments and the public in general also want to know how their schools are performing. They have a right to know whether taxpayer dollars are being well spent. They need to know where to target new money and where to make cuts when times are tight. They too will need some kind of report. 

Once we understand that others outside of the classroom need a report about learning, then we are ready to grapple with the many issues related to grading. We also will immediately see that anecdotal records and portfolios of student work alone are inadequate for the kinds of reports that are needed. For additional thoughts on reporting see here.