Teachers have aligned their instruction to the Common Core Standards and have developed several essential questions to help drive their instruction. However, grading and reporting practices remain the same. Teachers are still communicating student achievement the traditional way. Traditional grading practices do not communicate what a student is…

Bribery is a complex and critical issue in higher education (HE), causing severe economic and societal harm. Traditionally, most scholarship on HE corruption has focused on institutional factors in developing countries and insights into the psychological and motivational factors that drive HE bribery on the micro-level mechanisms are virtually…

In this article, I report on examiners' views and experiences of using Pairwise Comparative Judgement (PCJ) and Rank Ordering (RO) as alternatives to traditional analytical marking for GCSE English Language essays. Fifteen GCSE English Language examiners took part in the study. After each had judged 100 pairs of essays using PCJ and eight packs of…

This sequential mixed-methods study investigates washback on learning in a high-stakes school exit examination by examining learner perceptions and reported behaviours in relation to learners' beliefs and language learning experience, the role of other stakeholders in the washback mechanism, and socio-educational forces. The focus is the graded…

Assessment has been identified as an ongoing problem in physical education (PE). Since the student perspective on assessment is often neglected in research, in this paper, we will report on a study that explored students' experiences of assessment in the Swedish school subject physical education and health (PEH). In particular, the aim of this…

The COVID-19 pandemic disrupted many school accountability systems that rely on student-level achievement data. Many states encountered uncertainty about how to meet federal accountability requirements without typical school data. Prior research provides evidence that student achievement is correlated to students' social background, which raises…

This article reports on a study with over 100 Graduate Teaching Assistants (GTAs), 69 of whom were international GTAs. We explore their experiences of 'cultural bumps' in their transition into one UK University. Following the principles of practice-based enquiry, data collection combined interviews with data generated in workshops, including…

Vocational and professional training tracks can be a good option for many adolescents, many of whom enter these programs with a sometimes hidden burden of negative experiences and attitudes to school. This paper explores the sense of academic futility in future VET students at the end of lower secondary education. Drawing on qualitative interviews…

A partially-automated method of assessment is proposed, in which automated question setting is used to generate individualized versions of a coursework assignment, which is completed by students and marked by hand. This is designed to be (a) comparable to a traditional written coursework assignment in validity, in that complex and open-ended tasks…

Critics of the neoliberal university argue that grading undermines student learning. In this article, I survey the literature in order to ascertain whether such critiques are supported by pedagogical research. Investigating the relationship between grading and motivation, feedback, and autonomy, respectively, I conclude that grades most often do…

This descriptive study, modeled after Starch and Elliott's (1913b) study in which the researchers asked math teachers to grade a geometry test in an effort to explore grading disparities, similarly tasked high school math teachers with grading a geometry test. In this study, 95 participants scored a test based on their school and personal…

Writing proficiency has become a common student learning outcome at all types of higher education institutions across the United States. However, despite the consistent popularity of Writing Across the Curriculum (WAC) over the last few decades, most two-year institutions still have no formalized WAC program or training, and programs that are…

Teachers are among the most important inputs in the education production function. One mechanism by which teachers might affect student learning is through the grading standards they set for their classrooms. However, the effects of grading standards on student outcomes are relatively understudied. Using administrative data that links individual…

The University of Palermo is proud to host the 18th International Conference on Educational Data Mining (EDM) in Palermo, Italy, from July 20 to July 23, 2025. EDM is the annual flagship conference of the International Educational Data Mining Society. This year's theme is "New Goals, New Measurements, New Incentives to Learn." The theme…

In the study presented in this article, the aim is to further the understanding regarding the differences between pupils (aged 15-16) from schools with low or high socio-economic status (SES), regarding the amount and diversity of content knowledge in history that they have acquired by the end of compulsory schooling. Following a definition of…