Rural High School Principals and the Challenge of Standards-Based Grading

The purpose of this study was to better understand how principals in rural schools are thinking about assessment and grading practices and if they anticipate implementing policy changes in the near future that may require increased support. Principals of schools in rural areas often face challenges that are significantly different from those of their urban and suburban counterparts. The researchers used a mixed-method survey to better understand if progressive grading policies were a part of the vision for principals of rural high schools, if they possessed conceptual underpinnings of such practices, and if they believed they had the capacity within their districts to lead teachers toward more effective grading policies. A high frequency of high school principals in rural schools said standards-based grading (SBG) was a part of their 5-year vision. These principals also showed relatively high mean scores of standards-based assessment literacy, and moderately high percentages believed they have the resources and capacity to support SBG. The researchers thus conclude that there is a high likelihood that many rural high schools will be implementing some form of SBG within the next 5 years.

Grading Basics

This chapter will provide music educators with a deeper understanding of the grading process. Some elements of grades and grading are immediately apparent, while others lurk powerfully below the surface. Grades are to function as communication about student achievement. However, the often-arbitrary nature of grading policies and calculations means that their communicative function is less effective. Grades can facilitate learning in addition to their reporting function. Standards-Based Grading is an approach that emphasizes student achievement in grades, and the exclusion of nonacademic information such as timely assignment completion, attendance, and effort. Various grading procedures are discussed.

Grading Policies in Canada and China: A Comparative Study

The current trend towards globalization, immigration, and internationalization of schools and universities around the world has led to the increased use of grades across educational systems. Given the use of grades for student promotion, mobilization, and admission into educational programs internationally, there is an urgent need to understand how grades are constructed differently in diverse systems of education. This study specifically examines grading policies across two educational contexts – Canada and China – to gain a nuanced understanding of how grades are constructed in these two systems where we see a large fast increase of Chinese students studying at Canadian tertiary institutions. This comparative analysis of Ministry of Education documents within and across these two learning contexts indicates significant differences in policies that guide teacher constructed grades in Canada and China. In Canada, achievement is the primary consideration in the construction of classroom grades, whereas grades in China include considerations of both the learning (i.e., achievement) and the learner (i.e., learning skills and personal dispositions). The findings of the study have significant implications for understanding the validity of grade interpretations across educational systems.

New modes of policy legitimation in education: (Mis)using comparative data to effectuate assessment reform

Identifying three modes of policy legitimation in education, illustrated by shifts in Swedish educational assessment and grading policies over the past decades, the paper demonstrates significant trends with regard to national governments’ policymaking and borrowing. We observe a shift away from collaboracy – defined as policy legitimation located in partnerships and networks of stakeholders, researchers and other experts – towards more use of supranational agencies (called agency), such as the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, the European Union and associated networks, as well as the use of individual consultants and private enterprises (called consultancy) to legitimate policy change. Given their political and high-stakes character for stakeholders, assessment and grading policies are suitable areas for investigating strategies and trends for policy legitimation in education. The European Union-affiliated Eurydice network synthesises policy descriptions for the European countries in an online database that is widely used by policymakers. Analysing Eurydice data for assessment and grading policies, the paper discusses functional equivalence of grading policies and validity problems related to the comparison of such policy information. Illuminating the roles of the Swedish Government and a consultant in reviewing and recommending grading policies, the paper discusses new ‘fast policy’ modes of policy legitimation in which comparative data is used to effectuate assessment reform.