Fair and Appropriate Grading

Carol Van Zile-Tamsen, Ph.D.Associate Director, Center for Educational Innovation

Adjunct Associate Professor, Counseling, School, and Educational Psychology

cmv3@buffalo.edu

Session Agenda:

• Establishing and Communicating Grading Policy

• Grading Guidelines for Assignments and Exams

• Grading Documentation• Questions

Grading is one of the most important things you'll do as an instructor!

• Has a permanent impact for the student: Will be on the on the

student's transcript forever.

Grading policies and procedures influence motivation.

Impacts the amount students will learn in the class.

ESTABLISHING AND COMMUNICATING GRADING POLICY

Part 1:

Grades:A Definition

• A concise, universally understood, summative evaluation of performance.

• An overall indicator of someone’s performance on an assignment, a test, or in the class as a whole.

Types of Grading:

Normative Grading

• Grades are assigned to individual students based on how they compare to other students in the class.

Criterion-Referenced Grading

• Grades are assigned to students based on how their performance compares to an absolute standard.

Types of Grading:A Visual Representation

• In norm-referenced grading, the score is determined by the distance the student is from the class average.

http://www.mathsisfun.com/data/standard-normal-distribution.html

AF

D

C

B

Types of Grading:A Visual Representation

• In criterion-referenced grading, the student’s grade is determined by the percentage of content they have mastered.

http://www.mathsisfun.com/data/standard-normal-distribution.html

Grading Policy:

• Rules for determining a summative grade based on an individual’s performance.

• Indicates the level of work necessary to earn each grade.

• The grading policy should be clearly communicated on the syllabus.

Example:Norm Referenced Grading Policy Distribution in

Class Grade

Top 5% A

Top 12% A-

Top 23% B+

Top 30% B

Top 38% B-

Top 46% C+

Top 68% C

Bottom 25% D

Bottom 7% F

Example:Criterion Referenced Grading Policy Points Earned Percentage Grade

185-200 93-100 A

179-184 90-92 A-

173-178 87-89 B+

165-172 83-86 B

159-164 80-82 B-

151-158 76-79 C+

139-150 70-75 C

120-138 60-69 D

< 120 < 60 F

Recommended Grading System:

Motivation

Criterion

Referenced

Grading

Perceptions of

Fairness

Weighting:

• Refers to how grades from distinct requirements will be combined to inform the final grade.

• Assignments that take more effort should be given more weight in the final grade than assignments that require less effort.

• Participation and the potential for extra credit should also be explicitly addressed.

A Weighting Comparison:

Method 1 Method 2

Assignment Points

Class Participation 30

Reading Summaries (2)

20

Quizzes (3) 30

Research Paper 20

Exams (2) 60

Final Exam 40

Total 200

Assignment Points

Class Participation 10

Reading Summaries (2)

20

Quizzes (3) 30

Research Paper 40

Exams (2) 50

Final Exam 50

Total 200

Incomplete Policy:

• The syllabus is required to contain the policy for taking an incomplete.

• This is available in the undergraduate catalog: The student must request an incomplete. The student must have completed enough

course work at sufficient quality that it will be possible to earn a higher grade by completing the remaining coursework.

Final Thought:

Teach what you plan to grade, and grade what you teach!

GUIDELINES FOR GRADING ASSIGNMENTS AND EXAMS

Part 2:

Written Work and Open-Ended Assignments:• Clear guidelines should be presented when

work is assigned:• Required components;• Weighting of components; and• Criteria for evaluating work.

• A grading rubric has many benefits.

Types of Rubrics:

• Checklist• Rating Scale• Holistic Scoring Guide• Structured Observation Guide

Simple Sample Rubric

Novice Beginner Developing Competent Proficient

(0) (1) (2) (3) (4)

Homework not turned in or turned in after due date.

Homework turned in, most items incomplete or all incorrect.

Homework turned in, some items complete & correct.

Homework turned in, most items complete & correct.

Homework turned in, all correct.

Benefits of grading rubrics:

• Increase consistency in grading across different students.

• Clearly communicates to students what is expected.

• Provides more informative feedback to the student.

• Makes the grading process more efficient.

Rubrics can also be used for:

• Homework problems and/or homework as a whole

• Constructed response items on exams• Oral presentations• Performance in group projects• Class participation

Grading Objective Tests and Exams:

• Include the content that is most important for students to know.

• Make sure that the test is well-designed and that each item has a clearly defensible correct answer.

• Include in the instructions the number of points each item is worth.

• Make sure the items correspond to material covered in class.

After the test/exam completed:

• Complete an item analysis to identify items that may have caused problems for the class as a whole.

• Review the results in class, in particular items that caused problems.

• It is ok to adjust scores for items that were confusing or not well-written.

• Review and/or reteach problematic content.

GRADING DOCUMENTATIONPart 3:

Grading Challenges:

• Sometimes grading decisions are challenged by students.

• To help prevent challenges, it is important to:• Establish and communicate a defensible

grading policy;• Establish clear criteria for assigning final

grades;• Develop guidelines and grading criteria for

all requirements; and • Make sure there are clear criteria for

participation grades and extra credit.

Grading Documentation:

• To prepare for a grading challenge, keep good records:• a copy of the syllabus;• Assignment guidelines and rubrics;• Copies of the quizzes/tests/exams; and• Your completed "grade book" including

columns for participation and extra credit if used in grading.

Questions?What other details do you need to know?

Additional Resources

Books:Gentile, J. R., & Lalley, J. P. (2006). Educational psychology (3rd

edition). Kendall Hunt Publishing.Suskie, L. (2009). Assessing student learning: A common

sense guide (2nd edition). Jossey-Bass.Walvoord, B., & Anderson, V. J. (2009). Effective grading (2nd

edition). Jossey-Bass.

Web Sites:Academic Policieshttp://

undergrad-catalog.buffalo.edu/policies/course/index.shtmlhttp://

undergrad-catalog.buffalo.edu/policies/grading/index.shtml

Test Constructionhttp://prezi.com/rxmzqg6i203x/?

utm_campaign=share&utm_medium=copy&rc=ex0share

Using Rubricshttp://prezi.com/rxmzqg6i203x/?

utm_campaign=share&utm_medium=copy&rc=ex0share

These books and web sites provide additional detail about various aspects of grading and syllabus requirements.