Report Card Time - Again?

Bill de Jager | October 2008

"Doing" report cards has usually been an emotional time for me as a teacher. Looking back, I wonder if I was too concerned about accurately calculating grades, rather than determining them. Too hesitant to have my professional judgment override numerical data that too easily could be defended. Too absorbed in the burden of the task; not enough in the blessing, as suggested by Elaine Brouwer1.

Brouwer writes that reflective educators will practice "assessment lovingly and skillfully."2 Such reflection fosters a willingness to examine our current assessment practices and to consider whether a change may enhance our students' learning.

Perhaps the following quiz can be a catalyst for staff room conversation:

  1. Using an X, select only the practices that would be included in the consideration of a student's final grade for math:

    effort ___ participation ___ adherence to class rules ___ late work ___
    extra credit ___ plagiarism ___ cheating ___ attendance ___ group scores ___


  2. Determine the student's final grade as a %, considering the following summative marks during the course:

    87%, 87%, 87%, 87%, 87%, 87%, 58%, 87%, 87%, 87%
    Final Grade: ___


  3. Consider the following marks provided by a teacher of a student's work during a term of learning:

    68%, 66%, 0% (student did not hand in the assigned project), 70%, 72%, 0% (student admitted to cheating on a unit test), 68%, 0% (student confessed to submitting an essay off from the Internet), 68%. Determine the term grade.
    Term Grade: ___


  4. Consider the following marks provided by a teacher of a student's work covering a unit on paragraph writing. Each entry was based on a rubric of 6 levels. Marks recorded are in the order of student completion:

    1, 2, 2, 2, 4, 4, 6, 6, 5, 6, 6
    Determine the level to be publically reported at the end of the unit.
    Paragraph Writing Level: ___


  5. Using an X, select only the practices that would support an accurate measurement of student achievement:

    Grading records organized by learning goals ___
    Grades based on clear descriptions of achievement expectations ___
    Grades adjusted on a curve to account for a demanding assessment ___
    A range of well-designed assessments ___

Here's how Ken O'Connor, author of A Repair Kit for Grading: 15 Fixes for Broken Grades would complete the quiz:

  • Question 1 - none of the practices would be selected. He believes that the primary purpose of grades is to communicate student achievement. He would argue that all the practices in Question 1 become distortions to providing an accurate measure of the student's achievement in math. Check out his book for his comments and suggestions about each of those practices. (His book and an accompanying DVD will soon be available from the SCSBC Resource Library.)
  • Question 2 - 87%. Since the student performed at a level of 87% nine times out of ten, he would view the 58% as an anomaly. Relying only on the mean (averaging all the marks) when dealing with extreme scores would be an inappropriate grade calculation. He believes that grading is "not simply a numerical, mechanical exercise, but as primarily an exercise in professional judgment."3
  • Question 3 - I (for Incomplete or Insufficient Evidence). O'Connor suggests that submitting a term grade % is also an inappropriate grade calculation. Including zeros (given for missing work, cheating, and plagiarism) will distort an accurate measure of achievement. Schools should provide clear alternatives so that "students understand the impact of not submitting required assessment evidence."4 Unethical academic behaviors should be treated as discipline issues, separate from the eventual "reassessing to determine real achievement."5
  • Question 4 - 6. "When learning is developmental and will grow with time and repeated opportunities," O'Connor would "emphasize more recent achievement."6 Such a practice would support learning, build student confidence, and increase the intrinsic motivation towards life-long learning.
  • Question 5. All except the one about grading on a curve. He would suggest that that practice provides poorly-organized evidence. It would be better to measure student performance against the learning outcomes.

It's worth considering O'Connor's easy-to-read book. His suggestions, with supporting rationale, have challenged some of my report card practices. I'll let Brouwer conclude: "It is our task and our privilege to use the powerful educational tools at our disposal to help nurture and equip [our] budding disciples of Christ."7

Bill DeJager is Director of Curriculum & Instruction (Grades 6 - 12) for Society of Christian Schools in British Columbia, Langley, BC.

1Elaine Brouwer, "Assessment For Learning: A Blessing for our Students", Christian Educators Journal, December, 2007, p 6.
2Ibid.
3Ken O'Connor, A Repair Kit for Grading: 15 Fixes for Broken Grades. (Portland: Educational Testing Service, 2007) p.83.
4Ibid, p.91.
5Ibid, p.15.
6Ibid.
7Brouwer, p.8.