Editorial by Bob MacRae

If you want to initiate a discussion with teachers about educational issues close to their hearts, I have discovered over the years that two topics will instantly start lively discussions where peoples’ personal values are interspersed with strongly held professional beliefs and values.

One is effective grading practices in the classroom. This is especially true for intermediate and senior high teachers who agonize over classroom and school grading policies. However, the discussion gets really lively when primary and elementary teachers speak with teachers from higher grades and differing beliefs, I would say, core values emerge about the purpose of grades and how they explain and clarify students’ learning.

A second issue is homework. What purpose does it serve? What are the positive and negative effects? Should it be outlawed? Is there a place for homework in the midst of busy lives for children and parents? But, more about that at a later time!

A few years ago I facilitated a day long workshop on Assessment for Learning - Classroom Assessment with former Federation President, Maurice Poirier. We wanted to dig into teachers’ values and beliefs and about effective grading policies so we asked a few questions about whether grades should be based solely on the students’ achievement levels or if factors such as participation or effort should be included or excluded. Whew! Quite a discussion ensued. This school was an intermediate level school and opinions and practices were varied. Some teachers really believed that factors such as effort and participation really do matter; others felt that grades should, as educational research indicates, be based solely upon the students’ achievement levels. No consensus emerged.

Researchers such as Robert Marzano (2000, 2007) will tell you that the most effective grading practices provide accurate, specific, timely feedback designed to improve student performance. But grades are only one type of feedback provided to students. Teachers of music and physical education will often provide feedback without grades attached as they prepare for performances or games. The issue of course is whether or not "failures" along the way should or should not be averaged into the final grade.

At the high school level, the issue of what constitutes effective grading practices/policies intensifies because senior high teachers are acutely aware of how grades can impact on the lives of their students.

One big issue is the use of zeroes for missing work. Supporters of this practice see it as a natural consequence for failing to turn in work on time or simply for not being engaged enough to attempt or do the work. They’re right, but, as Douglas Reeves argues, the appropriate consequence is not a zero but actually doing the work - before, during or after school or in other settings. I know. You are asking yourself who is being punished, but what to do about late or missing work weighs heavily on the minds of many teachers.

Another grading issue is using the average of all scores throughout the semester or evaluating students based on their understanding at the end of a semester. A similar practice that elicits much debate and soul-searching is the single project, test, or assignment that will make or break students’ achievement results.

Researchers like Douglas Reeves would go as far as saying that the one most important change that could be made to reduce failure rates would be to challenge prevailing grading practices. He calls it a ‘challenging’ leadership task. He goes as far as suggesting that, in experiments he has conducted about the way teachers calculate grades, they can range from F to A and include everything in between.

In his recent article, Effective Grading in the February issue (2008) of Educational Leadership, he points to decades of research that he claims, has had little weight in influencing grading policies in many schools. Reading his article took me back to the many discussions I have had with teachers who have agonized over their grading policies and attempts to determine what is in the best interests of students.

It also challenges us to more closely examine the research and whether or not our practices are supported by the weight of this research evidence.

Enjoy the spring!