Have teachers become too dependent on points? This article explores educators' dependency on their points systems, and the ways that points can distract teachers from really analyzing students' capabilities and achievements. Feldman argues that using a more subjective grading system can help illuminate crucial information about students and what…

As professors, we each have our own approach to grading which allows us to assess learning and provide useful feedback to our students, yet is not too onerous. This article explains one approach we have used that differs from standard grading scales we often hear about from our colleagues. Rather than being based on 100 points or 100% over the…

Optimal assessment tools should measure in a limited time the knowledge of students in a correct and unbiased way. A method for automating the scoring is multiple choice scoring. This article compares scoring methods from a probabilistic point of view by modelling the probability to pass: the number right scoring, the initial correction (IC) and…

How does one grade an electronic portfolio? This question is one I have thought about, have enacted, and have written about, primarily in reference to ePortfolios used in writing classrooms (Yancey, McElroy, & Powers, 2013). But what happens when the content and developmental levels are changed, in this case from an undergraduate first-year…

Recently, Attali and Powers investigated the usefulness of providing immediate feedback on the correctness of answers to constructed response questions and the opportunity to revise incorrect answers. This article introduces an item response theory (IRT) model for scoring revised responses to questions when several attempts are allowed. The model…

Some of the different approaches to standard setting are discussed. Brief comments and references are offered concerning strategies that rely primarily on the use of expert judgment. Controversy surrounds methods that use expert judges, as well as those using test groups to set scores empirically. A minimax procedure developed by H. Huynh, an…

Based on the responses of 50 ESL instructors to a composition-scoring exercise, a detailed method of scoring compositions was developed that divides the writing into basic components (structure, content, vocabulary, organization, and mechanics) and provides a scoring mechanism for each component for each of three competency levels. (MSE)

The advantages and disadvantages of grade equivalent (GE) scores are explored, including appropriate uses for GE type scores and how to bring current GE scales closer to the type of information educators appear to desire. Although GE scores are not an equal interval scale, not comparable across school subjects, and do not indicate the grade level…

Professional assessment of mental retardation (MR) and learning disabilities (LD) is crucial to the implementation of P.L. 94-142 because it necessarily precedes the employment of trained teachers and because a plan for remediation depends on accurate assessment. Intelligence is a key element in the identification of MR-LD, but competent, fair…