Marks and Marking Systems

EDUC 243- Educational Evaluation

Subject Professor: James L. Paglinawan, Ph.D.STUDENT: BENEDICT E. MALAGUIT

What is the purpose of amark?

Why be concerned about marking?

What should a Mark Reflect?

What is the purpose of a mark?

Marks are assigned to provide feedback about student achievement.

Why be concerned about marking?Marks have become an accepted and expected

aspect of our culture.Parents know that children are compared with

each other through their marks. Thus marks have considerable meaning for both child and parent.

What should a Mark Reflect?•What a mark should reflect depends on the subject or topic being marked.•Marks are assigned to provide feedback about academic achievement in order for students to be compared according to their achievement.

Various types of marking systems have been used in the schools. They may be considered along two dimensions:

Marking Systems

2. Type of symbols.

1. Type of comparison involved.

Types of ComparisonOften the type of symbol a teacher uses is determined at the school or district level – the teacher has little to say about whether an A-F; E, G, S, U; or a numerical marking system is employed.

Marks are based on comparisons usually from among comparisons of students with:

5. Actual versus

potential improvement.

4. Actual versus

potential effort..

3. Aptitude.2.

Established standards.

1. Other students

.

Comparisons with Other Students – Certainly you have had instructors who have graded “on the curve”. It almost sounds illegal, shady, or underhanded.

Basically, all that the expression “grading on the curve” means is that your grade or marks depends on how your achievement compares with the achievement of other students in you class.

Sometimes district or schools encourage grading on the curve by specifying the percentages of students who will be assigned various grades. The following distributions as an example:Grade Percentage of Students

A 10B 25 C 40D 20E 5

The main advantage of such a system is that it simplifies marking decisions. The student is either in the top 10% or he or she doesn’t get an A.

Comparison with Established Standards In a marking system using comparison with established standards. It is possible for all students to get As or Fs or any other grade in between. How much the rest of the students in the class achieve is irrelevant to a student’s grade. All that is relevant is whether a student attains a defined standard of achievement or performance.  

In such a system, letter grades may be assigned based on the percentage of test items answered correctly, as the following distribution illustrates: Grade Percentage of Items Answered Correctly A 85 B 75 C 65 D 55 F Less than 55

Thus a student who answers 79% of the test items correctly earns a B, regardless of whether the rest of the class did better, worse, or about the same. Obviously, such a system requires some prior knowledge of the difficulty of the test and what level of achievement or performance is reasonable to expect.

Several advantages:First, it is possible, in theory, for all students to

obtain high grades if they put forth sufficient effort (assuming the percentage cutoffs are not unreasonably high).Second, assignment of grades is simplified. Finally, assuming that the ability levels of incoming students remain fairly constant and that tests remain comparable in validity and difficulty, teachers who work to improve teaching effectiveness should see improvement in grades with the passage of time. 

Comparisons with Aptitude Aptitude is another name for potential or ability. In aptitude-based marking systems students are compared neither to other students nor to established standards. Instead, they are compared to themselves.

Comparison of Achievements with EffortSystems that compare achievement with effort are similar to those that compare achievement with aptitude. Students who get average test scores but have to work hard to get them are given high marks. Students who get average scores but do not have to work hard to get them are given lower grades.

Several problems plague marking systems that are based on effort. First, we have no known measure of effort. Unlike aptitude, for which reliable and valid measures exist, effort is at best estimated by informal procedures. Second, within a system children are punished for being bright and catching on quickly, while other children are rewarded for taking a long time to master concepts. Third, there is the old problem of the marks not representing academic achievement. Effort may cover up academic attainment, making marks all the more difficult to interpret. Finally, record keeping is once again complex.

The advantage cited for grading based on effort is that it serves to motivate the slower or turned off students, but it may also serve to turn off the brighter students who would quickly see such a system as unfair.

Comparison of Achievement with Improvement Marking systems may compare the amount of improvement between the beginning (pretest) and end (posttest) of instruction.

TYPES OF SYMBOLS

1. Letter Grade

2. Numerical Grade

3. Other Symbols

4. Checklist

Types of SymbolsLetter Grades are the most common symbol system. Many American schools use the letters A-F to report marks. Often, plus and minus symbols are used to indicate finer distinctions between the letter grades. This system, along with its variations (E, G, S, U for excellent, good, satisfactory, or unsatisfactory), has several advantages that have led to its widespread adaptation and continuing popularity.

First, the letter system is widely understood. Students, teachers, parents, administrators, and employers understand.Second, such a system is compact, requiring only one or two spaces to report a summary mark of an entire semesters work.Third, such a system has just about the optimal number of levels of judgement humans can effectively exercise (Miller, 1956).

Limitations of the system are worth considering.First, the specific meaning of letter grades varies from class to class and from school to school.Second, letter grades fail to clearly indicate the student’s actual level of mastery.

Numerical Grades The numerical symbol system is another type of mark commonly used in the schools. Such systems usually employ 100 as the highest mark, and report cards often carry letter grade equivalents for the range of numerical grades. For example, 

Numerical Grade Letter Grade 90-100 A

80-89 B70-79 C60-69 DBelow 60 F

Three main advantages:First, like letter grades, they provide a convenient summary mark for a semester’s or year’s work.Second, unlike letter grades, numerical grades are easily averaged to obtain the “correct” final marks.Third, They are widely understood – most pupils and parents realize there are substantial differences between a mark of 95 and one of 75. 

Disadvantages:First, the discrimination are finer than humans can really make (Miller, 1956)Second, as with letter grades, we are never sure just what a grade means, since standards may vary considerably from school to school.

Other Symbols Pass – Fail (P-F) grading reached its popularity peak in the 1970’s. Fewer schools exclusively employ this approach today because of its shortcomings. One shortcoming is that such symbols do not provide enough information: P could mean the student exhibited anywhere from exceptional to marginal performance in the class.

Checklist A common adjunct to a letter, numerical or pass-fail symbol system is a checklist. Since those symbol systems may fail to define just what a student can or cannot do, many report cards now include skill checklists to go along with their grade symbols for each subject. Checklists are also used to provide information about nonacademic aspects of the child.

Summary:1. Marks are used to provide information about student achievement.2. Marks should reflect academic achievement and nothing more. Grades for attitude, effort, improvement, conduct, and so on should be recorded separately from marks.

3. Marks often reflect factors other than achievement and are often assigned according to a variety of marking systems. This makes valid comparisons of marks across schools, and even across teachers, difficult at best.4. Several types of marking systems are employed in the schools today. These involve comparison of a student with:

a. Other students (grades depend on how well the student did compared with other students).B. Established standards (grades depend on how well a student’s performance compares with pre-established standards).

c. Aptitude (grades depend on how consistent a student’s actual achievement is with his or her achievement potential).D.Effort (grades depend on how hard the student works).E. Improvement (Grades depend on how much progress a student makes over the course of instruction).

5. Each system has its advantages, but marking based on comparisons with established standards seems to best fit the main function of marks – to provide feedback about academic achievement.

6. The symbols most commonly used in marking systems are letter grades (A-F, E-U) and numerical grades (0-100). Such symbol systems are often combined with checklists to provide specific information about such factors as skill level, conduct, and attitude.

7. When combining grades from quizzes, test papers , homework, etc., that have different ranges or variation, and which are not on 100-point scales, equate the variability of each component before weighting and computing the final mark.

Thank You and May the Lord God Bless

Us All!