Most university teacher-education programs focus on curriculum and instruction, with less attention to assessment. My research has found that these programs do not talk about how actually to grade student work. In keeping with a long-held tradition in education, teachers also have, and like, the...
Stress happens. However, students in schools where a culture of achievement is the defining element are experiencing chronic stress that is threatening their well-being and ability to achieve academic success. Competing for Scholarships and class rank are common attributes of achievement-oriented cultures, where students prioritize...
I’m excited to share our latest article, Is Standards-Based Grading Effective? attached. The article’s content specifically answers the question posed in the title, and you may be surprised by the answer. Since many of you are making the shift to standards-based grading (SBG) or working...
New research points to five characteristics for effective feedback on instruction. Teachers today are bombarded with many different forms of feedback, but among all these forms of feedback, what do teachers find most valuable to their efforts to improve their interactions with students and their...
Survey data from K-12 teachers involved in a pilot mastery learning program revealed that analyses of students’ errors on formative assessments were consistently rated the most useful in planning corrective instruction and in making instructional improvements. Mastery charts and summative assessment results were also considered...
Virtual learning has given parents a much closer look into the classroom. Parents in many school communities over the past year have had direct, online access into their child’s day-to-day learning with the chance to monitor teachers’ lessons and to provide home support with assignments....
Grades have long been identified by those in the measurement community as prime examples of unreliable measurement (Brookhart, 1994; Stiggins, Frisbie, & Griswold, 1989). What one teacher considers in calculating students’ grades may differ greatly from another teacher (Guskey & Link, 2019; McMillan, 2001; McMillan, Myran,...
Getting the school team coordinated on grading and reporting policies - and the purpose of grading - is too often overlooked in instructional leadership....
Class rank weighs down true learning. Teaching and grading schemes that work to select the most talented students often fail to benefit all students and to notice promising students....
Kentucky Develops Standards-Based Report Cards. A group of teachers, school leaders, and education researchers create report cards that link course grades to student progress on mastering state standards...