The teacher's task of assigning letter grades to students and the public's interpretation of them can be perplexing. Does the student's grade represent the level of achievement, the gain in achievement, or some combination of the two? Is the student's effort included in the grade, or are high achievers given good marks regardless of effort? Are…

Contends that there is a lack of understanding of the meaning of grade norms by the public, the critics in the press, and even many public school personnel. Points out that grade norms are not standards, but measures of the performance of the average student. (LLL)

Individual schools can assess the progress of their students using equivalent achievement test scores in subject areas at grade levels, between grade levels, and across subgroups of students. A demonstration of this procedure is presented. (Editor)

Limitations of grade and age equivalent scores in the educational assessment of handicapped students include unequal variance across content areas, grade and age groups, and encouragement of comparison with inappropriate groups. The author recommends the use of expanded scale scores. (Author/CL)

This report investigates the equivalence of grades in multisection courses. Ten courses at Indiana University were identified for this study from many undergraduate, multisection courses offered in the fall semester, 1971. An attempt was made to select courses from every school with several from a variety of departments in Arts and Sciences. For…

The Academic Advisory Staff (AAS) of the Office of International Training (OIT), Agency for International Development (AID) analyzes and interprets the academic credentials of AID participants from cooperating countries in terms of the educational system of the U. S. To carry out this service the AAS has developed a library of reference materials…

Calling evaluation of student achievement one of the most difficult areas of teaching, the author suggests developing grading procedures to facilitate the accumulation of scores and the conversion to final grades. He presents procedures and examples for combining numerical values and letter grades according to course modules. (MF)

Credit by examination is essentially the awarding of credit for theoretical knowledge gained outside traditional classroom situations. The examination provides the basis for the kinds and numbers of credits awarded. Programs in credit by examination are innovative because they recognize that people do indeed learn, either purposefully or…

Discusses how standard scores which are called T-scores are used in grading large courses. The article includes: (1) procedures for calculating the class mean, standard deviation, and the standard score; (2) grade distribution; and (3) validity of an examination. (HM)

One of the most subtle but viciously effective cultural mechanisms for harming children in the United States is the persistent confusion between norms and standards. Investigates what can be done to prevent unrealistic and invidious labeling of children during their most vulberable years if their growth curve in achievement or some other factor…

Examines the effort to accurately measure the changes in student achievement under school reform. The article discusses the need for value-added indicators of school improvement, the need to equate and check test scores, the problems with use of grade equivalents for assessing school improvement, and citywide trends in achievement. (GLR)

The performance of pupils, individual schools, and the Wichita Public School System is depicted in a quantitative report of the results of the Iowa Tests of Basic Skills (ITBS) administered as part of the system's basic testing program. The ITBS battery measured vocabulary, reading, language, work-study and mathematics skills and results are given…

For the benefit of policy makers who envision a change in the controls placed on student examining, a case study is presented of an institution that has not attempted an honor system and that has not seen a noticeable decline in courses with formal examinations. Procedures at Harvard's Faculty of Arts and Sciences are described. (LBH)

Possible misinterpretation of grade equivalents to measure the growth and the placing students is the subject of this research. The findings suggest the use of standard scores as the most appropriate method to measure change. (MFD)

Grade-equivalent scores are widely used in the school system in reporting students' performance on standardized achievement tests. This paper explores how grade equivalent scores are calculated and interpreted. In addition, the paper examines the limitations of grade-equivalent scores through the use of small heuristic data sets. A…