How do students perceive alternative approaches to grading? Do those perceptions change over time? This mixed methods study addressed these questions for three alternative grading approaches - democratic contract grading, specifications grading, and "ungrading" - in a community college context. While alternative grading models in higher…

Individual readiness assurance tests (iRATs) are frequently graded in team-based learning (TBL) classrooms, with the goal of incentivizing individual pre-class preparation. The purpose of this study was to determine whether shifting to an ungraded iRAT process affects student preparation and learning, as measured using assessment scores, and…

A teacher should be able to measure what she expects her students to learn. Not only this, but it is the duty of the teacher to help the students to learn. All this involves much more than just providing knowledge in the specific discipline. In higher education, it is believed that a teacher is the friend, philosopher and guide of a student. A…

A study of students who elected to take courses and receive a satisfactory or unsatisfactory (S-U) grade. (IR)

Evaluation and grading are individual and unique components of the formal learning/teaching process. Both acts embrace moral as well as ethical concerns which demand thorough, reflective attention. As teachers, we must admit to the subjectivity of both and use that subjectivity in a positive striving toward fairness. Our concern should be with the…

Investigates how teachers of young children typically evaluate their students' work, focusing on the standards applied. Includes issues and recommendations made after observing different standards. (AS)

The proposal in this document is based on the assumption that learning to learn is the most important outcome of professional and all formal education. It is suggested that a primary task of instruction is to assist the student to move from external motivation to internal motivation for learning and continuing to learn. It is proposed that these…

An alternative method of measuring the knowledge of students is to use mental models, and specifically concept maps. Concept maps provide a visual representation of conceptual and relationship knowledge within a particular domain. This study builds on previous studies and attempts to reduce their methodological weaknesses. Students in several…

Teacher discusses the advantages of nongraded evaluation of her English class and the improved responses of her students. (GB)

The National Association of School Psychologists' position on 3-year evaluations for handicapped students calls for a flexible, individualized approach to student evaluations, rather than a standardized testing system. Specific issues to be addressed by these evaluations are discussed, including effectiveness of the student's individual education…

Compares the responses of administrators, teachers, parents, and students to a questionnaire about purposes, communication qualities, effects, and philosophy of student evaluations. Suggests evaluations can serve as positive educational motivators that reward student efforts and enhance student learning, while avoiding critical, negative,…

This book recounts how a community of teachers, parents, and students took charge of a conventional school and created an unconventional one. It describes the challenges faced by the Bethlehem Lab School--from its inception in 1988 to the graduation of its first senior class. The school was conceived as a performance-based-assessment school, and…

Author holds that no educational research has ever shown that grades are helpful to children or to learning. He also lists eight major criticisms of the traditional grading system. (GB)

As a result of research showing that students are more motivated when English teachers avoid grades and marks, this book focuses on ways to involve students in the assessment process. The book covers the following topics: learning and reflection, students controlling language, the purpose of assessment, assessing students' relationship to the…