November 2011 | Volume 69 | Number 3
Effective Grading Practices
Pages 40-44
Reporting Student Learning
Ken O'Connor and Rick Wormeli
Despite advances in grading and reporting, imprecision and lack of meaning persist.
Back in 2000, Robert Marzano pointed out the rationale for changing grading practices. "Grades," he wrote, "are so imprecise that they are almost meaningless" (p. 1). Eleven years later, despite advances in grading and reporting in many schools and districts, this imprecision and lack of meaning persist.
It's time to evolve our grading practices. We believe there are four primary characteristics of effective grading. Grades should be accurate, consistent, meaningful, and supportive of learning. Let's examine why these characteristics are so important and how we can achieve them.
Accurate
The Problem with Including Nonacademic Factors
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Copyright © 2011 by ASCD