Best Practices in Grading. Research into Practice

Grading is one of the most enduring features of schooling. No matter what other reforms occur in a school, grading remains as one of the cornerstones of educational practice. But recently this long-standing tradition has come under scrutiny with some alarming results. Many traditional grading practices actually "depress" achievement, and may, in fact, even lead to school failure and dropping out! Indeed, in his engaging video presentation on toxic grading practices Doug Reeves says that two of the most common practices--averaging and giving zeros for missing work--are "an academic death sentence." Fortunately, there is a lot of guidance for school leaders and faculty on how to structure meaningful, helpful grading systems that actually promote student achievement. From the resources provided at the end of this brief, schools can construct a list of best practices for their own setting. These include: (1) Start the Conversation; (2) Determine the Audience; (3) Establish Standards-Based Rubrics; (4) Eliminate Toxic Grading Practices; (5) Allow Re-dos and Updating of Assessments; and (6) Don't Penalize Practice. (Contains 7 online resources.)