Grade inflation has been shown in this and other academic journals to be an unethical academic practice. Where the moral responsibility lies is, however, not entirely clear. Various studies directly or impliedly point to the grader (university lecturer, tenured or casual), said to inflate grades mainly in return for positive student evaluations.…

Although the importance of teacher assessment in fostering student academic engagement is widely recognized, previous research has tended to overlook the impact of students' perspectives and their personal characteristics. This gap limits understanding of how student academic engagement is shaped by the interplay between external teacher factors…

The COVID-19 pandemic caused unprecedented disruption worldwide, forcing higher education institutions to adopt blended learning. This sudden shift posed numerous challenges for both students and faculty members, making it essential to accurately evaluate teaching performance and effectiveness. Caraga State University, for instance, assesses…

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…

ETS scientists developed a human-centered AI (HAI) framework that combines data on how students interact with assessments--such as task navigation and time spent--with their performance, providing deeper insights into student performance in large-scale assessments.

This book provides research-based approaches and classroom strategies for frontline teachers and practitioners, to aid them in formulating actionable approaches to develop student assessment literacy (SAL) in school and higher education sectors. This book helps readers to: (1) Understand the concept of SAL and its significant role in assisting…

Effective communication skills are essential for success in both academic and professional contexts. This concept paper presents a novel framework designed to operationally define and support the development of assessments of communication skills with a specific emphasis on K-12 settings. Through discussions on important considerations for the…

This study aimed to examine kindergarten children's performance and strategies when answering different types of numerosity estimation questions. To this end, interviews were conducted with 44 children (aged 61-80 months) in an online setting, during which they were asked nine estimation questions of three types. These questions (open-ended,…

In this latest installment of an ongoing series of "Kappan" articles revealing the power of student-involved classroom assessment FOR learning, Rick Stiggins examines how the emotional dynamics of student success or failure impact each learner's sense of academic confidence or self-doubt moving forward. Those dynamics, he contends, have…

The Utah Board of Higher Education's strategic plan prioritizes expanding access to higher education, improving college affordability, and reducing the time it takes students to complete their degrees. Credit for Prior Learning (CPL) supports these goals by awarding college credit for knowledge and skills gained outside the traditional classroom.…

Ungrading or alternative grading has gained popularity among undergraduate educators. The purpose of this study was to compare students' perceptions of learning and two methods of grading in an upper-level exercise physiology course with third- and fourth-year undergraduate students. Two ungraded (UG1 and UG2) and two traditionally graded (TG1 and…

Norway has a longstanding tradition of prohibiting formal grading in primary education. This paper traces a century of restrictive grading policies and their associated discourses. Using Bacchi's (2009) "What's the Problem Represented to be" framework, we present an analysis of the policy documents that have underpinned Norwegian…

Examinations are viewed as one of the least inclusive forms of assessment. Attainment gaps between different student groups (e.g. based on ethnicity) are more pronounced in examinations than in coursework, perhaps because feedback on performance is commonplace for coursework yet rare for examinations. We developed, and explored evidence for, a…

Given its prominence in maximising feedback processes, feedback literacy has received large scholarly attention over the past decade. This article aims to use a bibliometric approach to provide an overview of the evolution of feedback literacy from 2012 to May 1, 2024. Based on 240 documents retrieved from Scopus, a performance analysis and…

Studies have shown that peer evaluation is effective in improving learner feedback literacy and quality. However, evaluators have few opportunities to express their views in traditional peer evaluation. This study introduced backwards feedback based on traditional peer evaluation and constructed a dual-cycle peer evaluation model to enhance…