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)

Presents a sequence of activities to teach reading strategies and describes the steps that classroom teachers should carry out for its implementation. Offers suggestions derived from the authors' experiences with the activities described and discusses methods for the assessment of students' discrete and global skills. (Author/MES)

Discusses general principles of language testing, stressing objectivity and reliability as the key terms. However, maintains that it is impossible to obtain a direct measure of linguistic competence and consequently questions the value of standard grading procedures. Instead, proposes an evaluation system based on the achievement of specific…

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…

Competition, in classrooms as on the athletic fields, could destroy childhood and distort an entire lifetime. In an educational institution there is no need for grading, promotion, ranking, tracking, or labeling. A tremendous burden would be removed if teachers could teach without "evaluation," if people would come to school to learn rather than…

Motivating students to perform well on assessment tests is difficult when students know the results have no academic consequence. The present study evaluates the influence of assessment context (graded vs. non-graded) on the reliability of an assessment measure. Results indicate the graded condition produces higher reliability (r = 0.71) than the…

A study was conducted at Passaic County Community College (PCCC) to investigate the operation of a grading system which utilized an asterisk (*) grade to indicate progress in a course until a letter grade was assigned. The study sought to determine the persistence of students receiving the "*" grade, the incidence of cases of students receiving…

We may need to make students more rather than less anxious about writing.

This chapter consists of a conversation between a third-grade teacher and a teacher educator about the advantages of the portfolio method of assessment. The advantages of portfolios are that they are a powerful learning tool as well as an assessment tool, they can make the separate subjects in a curriculum come together in an integrated way, and…

Presents suggestions for using math performance assessments in elementary classrooms to help students develop mathematical thinking skills. The article lists National Council of Teachers of Mathematics evaluation standards for mathematics assessment and describes a number of problem-solving activities for students. (SM)

The Electronic Homework assistant system is composed of two components: the Computer Tutor and the Homework Administrator. The Computer Tutor is an intelligent tutoring system that can provide personal assistance like supplying hints, checking errors, providing remediation and prioritizing problems. The Homework Administrator is a teacher's…

A proposal to establish an experimental non-graded course in English is described, along with the results from the students' course evaluation. The following hypotheses and responses are disclosed. It was believed that a non-graded class situation would (1) have a positive effect on the student, (2) improve student-instructor relationships, (3)…

In order to dimensionalize further the construct of self concept through within-network nomological research, nine different self-scales descriptive of academic settings were administered to students in grades 1-12, their peers, and their teachers. The subjects were administered the Affective Perception Inventory (API), which measures nine…

Questions grading elementary pupils' art work as experiments and teacher experience indicate non-graded pupils fare better. (DS)

Describes a teaching method that provides instant assessment of student learning and allows instructors to take corrective measures in the same class period. The method is based on asking a multiple-choice question after every 10-20 minutes of lecture and getting responses from students. This methods allows all students to actively participate and…