Chapter 5 – Assessment in the Affective • Instructional objectives are specific,

Domain measurable, short-term, observable

student behaviors.
In the Bloom’s taxonomy published in 1965,
three domains were identified: cognitive, • Objectives are the foundation upon
affective and psychomotor domains. which you can build lessons and
assessments that you can prove meet
The affective domain
your overall course or lesson goals.
expressed as interests, attitudes,
• Think of objectives as tools you use
appreciations, values, and emotional sets or
biases to make sure you reach your goals.
They are the arrows you shoot
- least studied and mostly overlooked domain towards your target (goal).
in educational literature despite the fact that
almost ever researcher or author begins with • The purpose of objectives is not to
a premise on the importance of the affective restrict spontaneity or constrain the
domain in the teaching-learning process vision of education in the discipline,
but to ensure that learning is focused
the most nebulous and the hardest to clearly enough that both students and
evaluate of Bloom’s three domains teacher know what is going on, and so
- by tapping the potentials of the affective learning can be objectively measured.
domain in enhancing learning, we increase
the likelihood of real and authentic learning
among our students
David Krathwohl‟s Taxonomy of Affective
Domain (1964) are given as follows:
Mnemonic: ReResVOC

1. Receiving is being aware of or

sensitive to the existence of certain
ideas, material, or phenomena and
being willing to tolerate them.
2. Responding is committed in some
small measure to the ideas,
materials, or phenomena involved
by actively responding to them.
3. Valuing is willing to be perceived
by others as valuing certain ideas,
materials, or phenomena. Level Definition Example
4. Organization is to relate the value
Receiving Being aware of Read a book
to those already held and bring it or attending to passage
into a harmonious and internally something in about civil
consistent philosophy. the rights.
environment
5. Characterization by value or value Responding Showing some Answer
set is to act consistently in new behaviors questions
as a result of
accordance with the values one about the
experience book;
has internalized.
5.2 Affective Learning Competencies Read
another
book by the
same
 author, beliefs, and perceptions relative to the focal
another object.
book about
civil rights, b. Affect – refers to our feeling with respect to
etc.
Valuing Showing some Demonstrate the focal object such as fear, liking, or anger.
definite involvement
involvement or c. Behavioral intentions – our goals,
and
commitment commitment
aspirations, and our expected responses to
by the attitude object.
voluntarily
attending a
d. Evaluation – often considered the central
lecture on component of attitudes. Evaluations consist
civil rights. of the imputation of some degree of
goodness or badness to an attitude object.
Evaluations are function of cognition, affect
and behavioral intentions of the object. It is
most often the evaluation that is stored in
Organization Integrating a Arrange a memory, often without the corresponding
new value into civil rights cognitions and affect that were responsible
rally.
one‟s general for its formation (Robert Scholl, University of
set of values, Rhode Island, 2002).
giving it some
ranking among Why study attitudes?
one‟s general
priorities  Attitudes can influence the way we act and
Characterizatio Acting Be a civil
n by consistently with rights leader.
think in the social communities we belong.
Value the new value
 Function as frameworks and references for
forming conclusions and interpreting or acting
for or against an individual, concept or idea
 Attitudes may influence behavior; hence,
people will behave in ways consistent with
their attitudes.
2. MOTIVATION – is a reason or set of
reasons for engaging in a particular behavior,
especially human behavior as studied in
psychology and neuropsychology. The
reason may include basic needs (e.g., food,
1. ATTITUDES: mental predisposition to act water, shelter) or an object, goal, state of
that is expressed by evaluating a particular being, or ideal that is desirable, which may or
entity with some degree of favor or disfavor. may not be viewed as “positive”, such as
Individuals generally, have attitudes that seeking a state of being in which pain is
focus on objects, people or institutions. absent.
Attitudes are also attached to mental
categories. According to Geen (1995), motivation refers
to the initiation, direction, intensity and
Mental orientations towards concepts are persistence of human behavior. There are
generally referred to as values. Attitudes are many theories that explain human motivation.
comprised of four components: The need theory is one of these theories.
a. Cognitions – statements of our beliefs,
theories, expectancies, cause-and-effect
Abraham Maslow’s hierarchy of human The name hygiene factor is used because
needs theory is the most widely discussed like hygiene the presence will make you
theory of motivation. The theory can be healthier, but absence can cause health
summarized as thus: deterioration. The theory is sometimes called
the Motivator-Hygiene Theory. From a
✓ Human beings have wants and desires practical point of view (vs. academic)
which influence their behavior; only Herzberg‟s two factor theory has proven
unsatisfied needs can influence behavior; more powerful than Maslow since its
satisfied needs cannot. concepts are simpler to understand.
✓ Since needs are many, they are arranged Finally, created by Clayton Alderfer,
in order of importance, from the basic to the Maslow‟s hierarchy of needs was expanded,
complex. leading to his ERG theory (existence,
relatedness and growth). Physiological and
✓ The person advanced to the next level of
safety, the lower order needs, are placed in
needs only after the lower level need is at
the existence category. Love and self-esteem
least minimally satisfied.
needs in the relatedness category while the
✓ The further the progress up the hierarchy, growth category contained the self-
the more individuality, humanness and actualization and self-esteem needs.
psychological health a person will show.

Herzberg’s two factor theory is another need

theory of motivation. Frederick Herzberg’s
two factor theory concludes that certain
factors in the workplace result in job
satisfaction, while others do not, but if absent
lead to dissatisfaction. He distinguished Motivation is of particular interest to
between: educational psychologists because of the
• Motivators; (e.g. challenging work, crucial role it plays in student learning.
recognition, responsibility) which give positive However, the specific kind of motivation that
satisfaction, and is studied in the specialized setting of
education differs qualitatively from the more
• Hygiene factors; (e.g. status, job general forms of motivation studied by
security, salary and fringe benefits) which do psychologists in other fields. Motivation in
not motivate if present, but if absent will result education can have
in demotivation.
several effects on how students learn and
their behavior towards subject matter
(Omrod, 2003). It can:
• Direct behavior toward particular goals
• Lead to increased effort and energy
• Increase initiation of, and persistence in, of his attitude or feelings toward a concept or
activities idea or people. Self-reports are also
sometimes called written reflections. In using
• Enhance cognitive processing
this measurement tool, the teacher requires
• Determine what consequences are the students to write their thoughts on a
reinforcing subject matter, like. “Why I Like or Dislike
Mathematics”. The teacher ensures that the
• Lead to improved performance students write something which would
There are two kinds of motivation: demonstrate the various levels of the
taxonomy e.g., lowest level of receiving up to
a) Intrinsic motivation occurs when people characterization.
are internally motivated to do something
because it either brings them pleasure, they 2. CHECKLIST
think it is important, or they feel that what The easiest instrument in the affective
they are learning is morally significant. domain to construct is the checklist. A
b) Extrinsic motivation comes into play checklist consists of simple items that the
when a student is compelled to do something student or teacher marks as “absent” or
or act a certain way because of factors “present”. Here are the steps in the
external to him/her (like money or good construction of a checklist:
grades). • Enumerate all the attributed and
3. SELF-EFFICACY – is an impression that characteristics you wish to observe relative to
one is capable of performing in a certain the concept being measured. For instance, if
manner or attaining certain goals. It is a belief the concept is “interpersonal relation”, then
that one has the capabilities to execute the you might want to identify those indicators or
courses of actions required to manage attributes which constitute an evidence of
prospective situations. Unlike efficacy, which good interpersonal relation.
is the power to produce an effect (in essence, • Arrange these attributed as “shopping”
competence), self-efficacy is the belief list of characteristics.
(whether or not accurate) that one has the
power to produce that effect. • Ask the students to mark those
attributes or characteristics which are present
It is important here to understand the and to leave blank those which are not.
distinction between self-esteem and self-
efficacy. Self-esteem relates to a person’s 3. RATING SCALE
sense of self-worth, whereas self-efficacy
A rating scale is a set of categories designed
related to a person’s perception of his ability
to elicit information about a quantitative
to reach a goal. For example, say a person is
attribute in social science. It is a tool used for
a terrible rock climber. He would likely have a
assessing the performance of tasks, skill
poor self-efficacy in regard to rock climbing,
levels, procedures, processes, qualities,
but this would need to affect his elf-esteem.
quantities, or end products. It incorporates
5.3 Development of Assessment Tools quality to the „elements‟ in the process or
product which can be numeric or descriptive.
Assessment tools in the affective domain, in
particular, those which are used to assess Unlike checklists, rating scales allow for
attitudes, interests, motivations, and self- attaching quality to „elements‟ in the
efficacy, have been developed. process or product. The following are
common examples of rating scales:
SELF-REPORT
a. Semantic Differential Scale
Self-report is the most common measurement
tool in the affective domain. It essentially The semantic differential scale (SD) tries to
requires an individual to provide an account assess an individual‟s reaction to specific
words, ideas or concepts in terms of ratings ____5. I believe that blacks deserve the
on bipolar scales defined with contrasting same social privileges as whites. (scale value
adjectives at each end. = 10.3)
Good ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ Bad
3 2 1 0 1 2 c. Likert Scale
3
In 1932, Rensis Likert developed the
Usually, the position marked 0 is labeled method of summated ratings (or Likert‟s
“neutral,” the 1 positions are labeled scale), which is still widely used. The Likert
“slightly,”, the 2 positions “quite,” and the 3 Scale requires that individuals tick on a box to
positions “extremely.” In the illustration report whether they “strongly agree”, “agree”,
above, for instance a “3” close to bas would are “undecided”, “disagree”, or “strongly
be an “extremely bad” reaction. The scale disagree”, in response to a large number of
actually measures two things: directionality items concerning an attitude object or items
of a reaction (e.g., good versus bad) and to include. Likert scales are derived as
also intensity (slight through extreme). follows:
Usually, a person is presented with some
i) You pick individual items to include. You
concept of interest without any other
choose individual items that you know
explanatory remarks, e.g., Math teacher, and
correlate highly with the total score across
asked to rate it on a number of such scales.
items. ii) You choose how to scale each item.
Ratings are combined in various ways to
For example, you construct labels for each
describe and analyze the person‟s feelings.
scale value (e.g., 1 to 7) to represent the
b. Thurstone Scale interpretation to be assigned to the number.
iii) You ask you target audience to mark each
Louis Leon Thurstone is considered the
item.
father of attitude measurement. He
addressed the issue of how favourable an iv) You derive a target‟s score by adding the
individual is with regard to a given issue. He values that target identified on each item.
developed an attitude continuum to determine
the position of favorability on the issue.
Below is an example of a Thurstone scale of
measurement.
Example (from Thurstone, 1931):
Directions: Put a check mark on the blank if
you agree with the item.
____1. Blacks should be considered the
lowest class of human beings. (scale value =
0.9)
____2. Blacks and whites must be kept apart d. Guttman Scale
in all social affairs where they might be taken
In 1944, Louis Guttman suggested that
as equals. (scale value = 3.2)
attitude should be measured by
____3. I am not interested in how blacks rate multidimensional scales, as opposed to
socially. (scale value = 5.4) unidimensional scales such as those
developed by Thurstone and Likert. Guttman
____4. A refusal to accept blacks is not
pointed out that there should be a
based on any fact of nature, but on a
multidimensional view of the attitude
prejudice which should be overcome. (scale
construct. He developed the Scalogram
value = 7.9)
Analysis, Cumulative Scaling, or as usually Features and Principles of Portfolio
called, Guttman scaling. The major Assessment
characteristic of this scale is that the
Portfolio assessment possesses several
response to one item helps predict the
features and essential characteristics which
responses to the other items. For instance, if
are enumerated below:
the individual responds negatively to the item
“I like oranges”, he is not likely to respond 1. A portfolio is a form of assessment that
positively to the item “Oranges are great for students do together with their teachers. The
breakfast”. teacher’s guide the students in the planning,
execution and evaluation of the contents of
the portfolio. Together, they formulate the
Here‟s another example of Guttman scaling: overall objectives for constructing the
portfolio. As such, students and teachers
interact in every step of the process in
developing a portfolio.
2. A portfolio represents a selection of
what the students believe are best included
from among the possible collection of things
related to the concept being studied. It is the
teachers‟ things related to the concept being
Chapter 6 – Portfolio Assessment
studied. It is the teachers‟ responsibility to
Methods
assist the students in actually choosing from
• A portfolio is a purposeful collection of among a possible set of choices to be
student work that exhibits the student‟s included in the portfolio. However, the final
efforts, progress and achievements in one or selection should be done by the students
more areas. The collection must include themselves since the portfolio represents
student participation in selecting contents, the what the students believe are important
criteria for selection, the criteria for judging considerations.
merit and evidence of student self-reflection.
3. A portfolio provides samples of the
Within the context of this definition, a portfolio
student’s work which show growth over time.
continually grows and accumulates as the
By reflecting on their own learning (self-
student progresses in the particular learning
assessment), students begin to identify the
task.
strengths and weakness in their work. These
• The greatest value of portfolios is that, weaknesses then become improvement
in building them, students become active goals.
participants in the learning process and its
4. The criteria for selecting and
assessment. In contrast, students do not
assessing the portfolio contents must be clear
have any control or influence in traditional
to the teacher and the students at the outset
testing i.e. the teacher decides on the items
of the process. If the criteria are not clear at
to be included in the test.
the beginning, then there is a tendency to
• Portfolio assessment is one of the include among unessential components in the
several authentic and non-traditional portfolio and to include those which happen
assessment techniques in education. The use to be available at the time the portfolio is
of portfolio assessment became popular in prepared. At each step of the process, the
the early to late 1980‟s in response to the students need to refer to the agreed set of
growing clamor for more “reasonable” and criteria for the construction and development
authentic means of assessing students‟ of the portfolio.
growth and development in school.
Purposes of Portfolio Assessment
 1. Portfolio assessment matches relation to known goals. This is achieved at
assessment to teaching. each stage of the process since the students
continually refer to the set of goals and
✓ The final outputs to be assessed are objectives set at the beginning.
products of classroom discussions and
classroom work and are not simple diversions 5. Portfolio assessment develops
from the tedium of classroom activities. awareness of own learning by the students.
Unlike test items which mainly measure
✓ Students have to reflect on their own
cognitive skills, portfolio assessment can
progress and the quality of their work in
assess other components of the students‟
relation to known goals. This is achieved at
formed abilities based on classroom
each stage of the process since the students
discussions.
continually refer to the set of goals and
2. Portfolio assessment has clear goals. objectives set at the beginning.

✓ In fact, they are decided on at the 6. Portfolio assessment caters to

beginning of instruction and are clear to individuals in a heterogeneous class.
teacher and students alike. In cognitive
✓ Such flexibility is attributed to the fact
testing, the objectives are set at the
that portfolio assessment is open-ended so
beginning but the actual items may or may
that students can demonstrate their abilities
not reflect achievement of such objectives. In
on their own level and caters to differential
portfolio assessment, however, the students
learning styles and expression of varying
control the items to be included and therefore
strengths.
are assured that the goals are achieved.
7. Portfolio assessment develops social
3. Portfolio assessment gives a profile of
skills.
learning abilities in terms of depth, breadth
and growth. ✓ Students interact with other students in
the development of their own portfolios.
✓ In terms of depth, portfolio assessment
Sometimes, they are assessed on work done
enables the students to demonstrate quality
in groups or in pairs so that they necessarily
work done without pressure and constraints
have to interact and collaborate to complete
of time present in traditional testing through
the tasks.
the help of resources such as reference
materials and the help of other students. In
terms of breadth, portfolio assessment can
8. Portfolio assessment develops
show a wide range of skills to be
independent and active learners.
demonstrated in the final output. Finally, in
terms of growth, portfolio assessment shows ✓ Students must select and justify
efforts to improve and develop and clearly portfolio choices; monitor progress and set
demonstrates students‟ progress over time. learning goals. Traditional testing cannot
4. Portfolio assessment is a tool for achieve this educational objective no matter
assessing a variety of skills not normally how skillfully the tests are constructed.
testable in a single setting for traditional 9. Portfolio assessment can improve
testing. motivation for learning thus achievement.
✓ The portfolio can show written, oral ✓ When students are empowered to
and graphic outputs of students in a variety of prove their own achievement and worth, they
ways which demonstrate skills developed by become highly motivated to pursue the
the students. 5. Portfolio assessment learning tasks. It is when they lose this feeling
develops awareness of own learning by the of empowerment that they feel inadequate
students. Students have to reflect on their and become less motivated as in traditional
own progress and the quality of their work in classroom testing.
10. Portfolio assessment provides The cover letter summarizes the evidence of
opportunity for student-teacher dialogue. a student‟s learning and progress.

✓ It enables the teacher to get to know 2. Table of Contents with numbered

every student. Moreover, portfolio pages
assessment promotes joint goal-setting and 3. Entries
negotiation of grades which can never
happen in traditional testing. Both core (items students have to include)
and optional (items of student‟s choice). The
Types of Portfolios core elements will be required for each
1. Working Portfolio student and will provide a common base from
which to make decisions on assessment. The
❖ Also called as growth or development optional items will allow the folder to
or documentation portfolio represent the uniqueness of each student.
Students can choose to include “best” pieces
❖ A project “in the works”
of work, but also a piece of work which gave
❖ Demonstrates an individual’s trouble or one that was less successful, and
development and growth over time give reasons why.

2. Showcase Portfolio 4. Dates on all entries, to facilitate proof

of growth over time
❖ Also called as display or best works
portfolio 5. Drafts of aural/oral and written
products and revised versions
❖ Display of the students‟ best work
i.e., first drafts and corrected/revised versions
❖ Demonstrates the highest level of 6. Reflections
achievement attained by the student
Can appear at different stages in the learning
3. Assessment/Evaluation Portfolio process (for formative and/or summative
❖ Document what a student learned purposes.) and at the lower levels can be
based on standards and competencies written in the mother tongue or by students
expected of students at each grade level who find it difficult to express themselves in
English.
❖ Demonstrate the mastery of the
standards and competencies
For each item, a brief rationale for choosing
4. Process Portfolio
the item should be included. This can relate
❖ Demonstrates all facets or phases of the to students‟ performance, to their feelings
learning process regarding their progress and/or themselves
as learners.
❖ Useful in documenting students‟ overall
learning process Students can choose to reflect upon some or
all of the following: • What did I learn from it?
Essential Elements of the Portfolio
• What did I do well?
Every portfolio must contain the following
essential elements: • Why (based on the agreed teacher-
student assessment criteria) did I choose this
1. Cover Letter item?
“About the author” and “What my portfolio • What do I want to improve in the item?
shows about my progress as a learner”
(written at the end, but put at the beginning) • How do I feel about my performance?
• What were the problem areas?
 Stages in Implementing Portfolio ✓ Both students and teacher need
Assessment support and encouragement at this stage in
The following constitute the stages in the the process of portfolio development. The
implementation of portfolio assessment in students particularly should get this from an
classrooms: understanding and patient teacher. Teachers
will get it by doing portfolio assessment as
1. Identifying teaching goals to assess teamwork in their staff or joining or initiating a
through portfolio support group to discuss questions with
colleagues as they arise. Some portion of the
✓ The usual first step of organizing
class-time can be devoted to student teacher
portfolio assessment is to establish the dialogues and conferences with other
teaching goals. It is very important at this teachers in relation to the task of preparing
stage to be very clear about what the teacher the portfolio. It is necessary to stress the
hopes to achieve in teaching. These goals importance of reflection and self-assessment
will guide the selection and assessment of while preparing the portfolio itself since these
students‟ work for the portfolio. are essentially new skills for the students.
2. Introducing the idea of portfolio Reflection and self- assessment require
assessment to your class practice.

✓ Portfolio assessment is a new thing for There are certain essential questions that the
many students who are used to traditional teachers can use to guide students in
testing. For this reason, it is important for the reflections and self-assessment such as:
teacher to introduce the concept to the class. • What did I learn from this activity?
Perhaps, he can start by explaining the
meaning of the word “portfolio: from portare • Which is my best piece?
(carry) and foglio (sheet of paper). • How can I improve this? This can be
3. Specification of Portfolio content done by class brainstorming (what are some
possible reasons for including an item in your
✓ Specify what and how much have to portfolio?) or in pairs – “portfolio partners” –
be included in the portfolio both core and who help each other select samples of their
options. Specify for each entry how it will be work (written comments on their work from a
assessed. peer can also be included in the portfolio).
4. Giving clear and detailed guidelines for
portfolio presentation
Chapter 7 – Educational Evaluation
✓ The teacher must set clear guidelines
and detailed information on how the portfolios In the United States, there is a Joint
will be presented. Committee on Standards for Educational
Evaluation which has developed standards
5. Informing key school officials, parents for educational programs, personnel, and
and other stakeholders student evaluation. The Joint Committee
standards are broken into four sections:
✓ Do not attempt to use the portfolio
Utility,
assessment method without notifying your
department head, dean or principal. This will Feasibility, Propriety, and Accuracy. In the
serve as a precaution in case students will Philippines, there is also a society which
later complain about your new assessment looks into educational evaluation, the
procedure. Philippine Society for Educational Research
and Evaluation (PSERE) but mainly,
6. Development of the portfolio
educational evaluation standards are set by
the Department of Education. Various
European institutions have also prepared
their own standards, more or less related to level of evaluation these principles are used,
those produced by the Joint Committee in the it is well to bear in mind that these guiding
United States. They provide guidelines about principles serve as benchmarks for good
basing value judgments on systematic practices in educational evaluation.
inquiry, evaluator competence and integrity,
7.1 Evaluation Approaches
respect for people, and regard for the general
public welfare. Evaluation approaches are the various
conceptual arrangements made for designing
These guiding principles are hereunder
and actually conducting the evaluation
stated:
process.
• Systematic Inquiry: Evaluators
Stufflebeam and Webster (1980) place
conduct systematic, data-based inquiries
approaches into three groups according to
about whatever is being evaluated. Inquiry
their orientation toward the role of values, an
cannot be based on pure hearsay or
ethical consideration. The political orientation
perceptions but must be based on
promotes a positive or negative view of an
concrete evidence and data to support the
object regardless of what its value actually
inquiry process.
might be. They call this pseudo-evaluation.
• Competence: Evaluators provide The question orientation includes approaches
competent performance to stakeholders. that might or might not provide answers
The evaluators must be people or persons specifically related to the value of an object.
of known competence and generally They call this quasi-evaluation. The values
acknowledged in the educational field. orientation includes approaches primarily
intended to determine the value of some
• Integrity / Honesty: Evaluators
object. They call this true evaluation.
ensure the honesty and integrity of the
entire evaluation process. As such, the Those approaches will be explained
integrity of authorities who conduct the thoroughly below:
evaluation process must be beyond
1. PSEUDO-EVALUATION
reproach.
These approaches are not acceptable
• Respect for People: Evaluators
evaluation practice, although the seasoned
respect the security, dignity and self-worth
reader can surely think of a few examples
of the respondents, program participants,
where they have been used.
clients and other stakeholders with whom
they interact. They cannot act as if they a. Politically controlled – Information
know everything but must listen patiently to obtained through politically controlled
the accounts of those whom they are studies is released or withheld to meet the
evaluating. special interests of the holder.
• Responsibilities for General and b. Public relations – Information is used to
Public Welfare: Evaluators articulate and paint a positive image of an object
take into account the diversity of interests regardless of the actual situation.
and values that may be related to the
general and public welfare. 2. OBJECTIVIST, ELITE, QUASI-
EVALUATION
These evaluation guiding principles can be
used at various levels: at the institutional As a group, these five approaches
level when we evaluate learning, at policy represent a highly respected collection of
level when we evaluate institutions, and at disciplined inquiry approaches. They are
the international level when we rank and considered quasi-evaluation approaches
evaluate the performance of various because particular studies legitimately can
institutions of higher learning. In whatever focus only on questions of knowledge
without addressing any questions of value.
 Such studies are, by definition, not content analysis judgments are based on
evaluations. These approaches can values, such studies are evaluation.
produce characterizations without
3. OBJECTIVIST, MASS, QUASI-
producing appraisals, although specific
EVALUATION
studies can produce both. Each of these
approaches serves its intended purpose Accountability is popular with constituents
well. They are discussed roughly in order of because it is intended to provide an accurate
the extent to which they approach the accounting of results that can improve the
objectivist ideal. quality of products and services. However,
this approach can quickly turn practitioners
a. Experimental research – is the best
and consumers into adversaries when
approach for determining causal
implemented in a heavy-handed fashion.
relationships between variables. The
potential problem with using this as an 4. OBJECTIVIST, ELITE, TRUE
evaluation approach is that its highly EVALUATION
controlled and stylized methodology may
not be sufficiently responsive to the a. Decision-oriented studies – are
dynamically changing needs of most human designed to provide a knowledge base for
service programs. making and defending decisions. This
approach usually requires the close
b. Management information systems (MISs) collaboration between an evaluator and
– can give detailed information about the decision-maker, allowing it to be
dynamic operations of complex programs. susceptible to corruption and bias.
However, this information is restricted to
readily quantifiable data usually available at b. Policy studies – provide general
regular intervals. guidance and direction on broad issues by
identifying and assessing potential costs
c. Testing programs – are familiar to anyone and benefits of competing policies. The
who has attended school, served in the drawback is these students can be
military, or worked for a large company. corrupted or subverted by the politically
These programs are good at comparing motivated actions of the participants.
individuals or groups to selected norms in a
number of subject areas or to a set of 5. OBJECTIVIST, MASS, TRUE
standards of performance. However, they EVALUATION
only focus on testee performance and they Consumer-oriented studies are used to
might not adequately sample what is taught judge the relative merits of good and
or expected. services based on generalized needs and
d. Objectives-based approaches – relate values, along with a comprehensive range
outcomes to pre-specified objectives, of effects. However, this approach does
allowing judgments to be made about their not necessarily help practitioners improve
level of attainment. Unfortunately, the their work, and it requires a very good and
objectives are often not proven to be credible evaluator to do it well.
important or they focus on outcomes too
narrow to provide the basis for determining
the value of an object. 6. SUBJECTIVIST, ELITE, TRUE
EVALUATION
e. Content analysis – is a quasi-evaluation
approach because content analysis a. Accreditation / certification
judgments need not to be based on value programs – are based on self-study and
statements. Instead, they can be based on peer review of organizations, programs,
knowledge. Such content analyses are not and personnel. They draw on the insights,
evaluations. On the other hand, when experience, and expertise of qualified
individuals who use established guidelines
 to determine if the applicant should be the CIPP or Context, Input, Process,
approved to perform specified functions. Product approach (although this model has
However, unless performance-based since then been expanded to CIPPOI (where
standards are used, attributes of the last two stand for Outcome and Impact
applicants and the processes they respectively). The approach essentially
perform often are overemphasized in systematizes the way we evaluate the
relation to measures of outcomes or different dimensions and aspects of
effects. curriculum development and the sum/total of
student experiences in the educative process.
b. Connoisseur studies – use the highly
The model requires that stakeholders must
refines skills of individuals intimately
be involved in the evaluation process.
familiar with the subject of the evaluation
to critically characterize and appraise it. The approach is illustrated in the diagrams
This approach can help others see below:
programs in a new light, but it is difficult to
find a qualified and unbiased connoisseur.

7. SUBJECTIVIST, MASS, TRUE

EVALUATION
a. Adversary approach – focuses on
drawing out the pros and cons of
controversial issues through quasi-legal
proceedings. This helps ensure a balanced
presentation of different perspectives on the
issues, but it is also likely to discourage
later cooperation and heighten animosities
between contesting parties if “winners” and
“losers” emerge.
b. Client-centered studies – address
specific concerns and issues of
practitioners and other clients of the study
in a particular setting. These studies help
In this approach, the user is asked to go
people understand the activities and values
through a series of questions in the
involved from a variety of perspectives.
context, inputs, process, and product
However, this responsive approach can
stages. These questions are as follows:
lead to low external credibility and a
favourable bias toward those who Context
participated in the study.
• What is the relation of the
7.2 Evaluation Methods and Techniques course to other courses?
Evaluation is methodologically diverse using • Is the time adequate?
both qualitative methods and quantitative • What are critical or important
methods, including case studies, survey external factors (network,
research, statistical analysis, and model ministries)?
building among others.
• Should courses be integrated
7.3 The CIPP Evaluation Model or separate?
Stufflebeam (1983) developed a very useful • What are the links between
approach in educational evaluation known as the course and research/extension
activities?
 • Is there a need for the • How many students are
course? there?
• Is the course relevant to job • How many teachers are
needs? there?
• How is the course
Inputs organized?
• What is the entering ability of • What regulations relate to the
students? training?
• What are the learning skills
of students? Process
• What is the motivation of • What is the workload of
students? students?
• What are the living conditions • How well/actively do students
of students? participate?
• What is the students existing • Are there any problems
knowledge? related to teaching?
• Are the aims suitable? • Are there any problems
• Do the objectives derive from related to learning?
aims? • Is there effective 2-way
• Are the objectives SMART? communication?
• Is the course content clearly • Is knowledge only transferred
defined? to students, or do they use and
apply it?
• Does the content (KSA)
match student abilities? • Are there any problems
which students face in
• Is the content relevant to
using/applying/analyzing the
practical problems?
knowledge and skills?
• What is the theory/practice
• Is the teaching and learning
balance?
process continuously evaluated?
• What resources/equipment
• Is teaching and learning
are available?
affected by practical/institutional
• What books do the teachers problems?
have?
• What is the level of
• What books do the students cooperation/interpersonal relations
have? between teachers/students?
• How strong are the teaching
• How is discipline
skills of teachers?
maintained?
• What time is available
compared with the workload, for Product
preparation?
• Is there one final exam at the
• What knowledge, skills and
end or several during the course?
attitudes, related to the subject, do
the teachers have? • Is there any informal
assessment?
• How supportive is the
classroom environment? • What is the quality of
assessment (i.e. what levels of
 KSA are assessed?)  What are performance-based testing procedure)
the students‟ KSA levels after the followed by a decision to grade the
performance of the student. Grading,
course? therefore, is the next step after testing. Over
• Is the evaluation carried out the course of several years, grading systems
for the whole process? had been evolved in different school systems
• How do students use what all over the world. In the American system, for
they have learned? instance, grades are expressed in terms of
letters, A, B, B+, B-, C, C-, D or what is
• How was the overall
referred to as a seven-point system. In
experience for the teachers and for
Philippine colleges and universities, the
the students?
letters are replaced with numerical values: 1,
• What are the main lessons 1.25, 1.50, 1.75, 2.0, 2.50, 3.0 and 4.0 or an
learned? eight-point system. In basic education,
• Is there an official report? grades are expressed as percentages (of
• Has the teacher‟s reputation accomplishment) such as 80% or 75%. With
improved as a result? the implementation of the K to 12 Basic
Education curriculum, however, student’s
performance is expressed in terms of level of
These guide questions are not answered
proficiency.
by the teacher only or by a single
individual. Instead, there are many ways 8.1 Functions of Grading and
in which they can be answered. Some of Reporting Systems
the more common methods are listed
below: Grading and Reporting systems have
some very important functions in the
• discussion with class educative process. Some important
• informal conversation or functions are enumerated below:
observation
1. Enhancing students’ learning
• individual student interviews
through: clarifying instructional objectives
• evaluation forms
for them, showing students‟ strengths and
• observation in class/session
weaknesses, providing information on
of teacher/trainer by colleagues
personal - social development, enhancing
• video-tape of own teaching
students‟ motivation and indicating where
(micro-teaching)
teaching might be modified. These can be
• organizational documents
achieved through day – to – day tests and
• participant contract
feedback and integrated periodic tests.
• performance test
• questionnaire 2. Reports to parent / guardians.
• self-assessment Grading and reporting systems also
• written test inform parent and guardians of students
on the progress of their wards. Likewise,
grades and reports communicate
Chapter 8 – Grading and Reporting objectives to parents, so they can help
promote learning and likewise,
Assessment of student performance is
communicate how well objectives were
essentially knowing how the student is
progressing in a course (and, incidentally, met, so parent can better plan.
how a teacher is also performing with respect 3. Administrative and guidance
to the teaching process). The first step in uses. The administrative and guidance
assessment is, of course, testing (either by purpose of grading and reporting consist
some pencil-paper objective test or by some
in helping to decide promotion, 2. Pass – fail. The pass or fail system
graduation, honors, athletic eligibility, utilizes a dichotomous grade system.
reporting achievement to other schools or Either a student has complied and
to employers, providing input for realistic reached certain standards, in which case
educational, vocational and personal he passes or he failed to do so and gets a
counselling. failing mark. This is popular in some
courses in college but not very much
These three main purposes of grading
practice in basic education. In fact, the
and reporting by no means exhaust all
pass-fail system should be kept to a
possible uses of the activity. The main
minimum because it does not provide
point, however, is that grades and report
much information, students tend to work
cards should promote and enhance
to the minimum (just to pass), and in
learning rather than frustrate and
mastery learning courses, no grades are
discourage students. In many schools,
reflected until “mastery” threshold is
report cards are given to students and
reached.
then parents are asked to sign these
report cards. Such a practice is not 3. Checklists of objectives. In this
encouraged in the Philippine educational system, the objectives of the courses are
system. Instead, it may be a good enumerated. After each objective, the
practice to call for parent – teacher students‟ level of achievement is
conferences at this time in order that the indicated: Outstanding, Very Good, Good,
report cards will effectively function as Fair or Poor. This is a very detailed
motivation for further learning. reporting system and tends to be more
informative for the parents and pupils at
8.2 Types of Grading and Reporting
the same time. It is, however, also very
Systems
time consuming to prepare. There is also
In practice, we find a number of ways in the potential problem of keeping the list
which grades are made and reported. manageable and understandable.
Normally, the type of grading used
4. Letter to parents / guardians.
depends on the extent to which more
Letter to parents and guardians are useful
descriptive and informative summaries
supplement to grades. However, they
are required by school authorities or by
have limited value as sole report because
the stakeholders in general. Thus, the
they are very time consuming to prepare,
major types of grading and marking found
the accounts of weaknesses are often
in practice include:
misinterpreted by parent and guardians,
1. Traditional letter – grade system. and they are not characterized as
In the traditional letter grade system, systematic nor cumulative.
students‟ performances are summarized
5. Portfolios. A portfolio is a set of
by means of letters. Thus, A stands for
purposefully selected work, with
excellent, C stands for average, D stands
commentary by student and teacher.
for needing improvement and an F as a
Portfolios are useful for showing students‟
failure. The traditional letter grade system
strengths and weaknesses, illustrating
is easy to understand but it is of limited
range of students‟ work, showing
value when used as the sole report
progress over time or stages of a project,
because they end up being a combination
teaching students about objectives /
of achievement, effort, work habits,
standards they are to meet.
behaviour. As such, they become difficult
to interpret and they do not indicate 6. Parent – teacher conferences.
patterns of strengths and weaknesses. Parent – teacher conferences are mainly
used in elementary schools. This requires
that parents of pupils come for a practical: not too time consuming to
conference with the teacher to discuss the prepare and use, understandable to
pupils‟ progress. Portfolios, when users and easily summarized for school
available, are useful basis for discussion. records purposes.
Such conferences are useful for a two-
 Providing for parent – teacher
way flow of information and getting more
conferences as needed
information and cooperation from the
parents. They are, however, of limited 8.4 Assigning Letter Grades and
value as a report because most parents Computing Grades
do not come for such conferences.
Grades assigned to students must
8.3 Development of a Grading and include only achievement. It is very
Reporting System important to avoid the temptation to
include effort for less able students
Grading and reporting systems are guided
because it is difficult to assess effort or
by the functions to be served by such in
potential and it is difficult to distinguish
the educative process. The system will
ability from achievement. Furthermore, if
most probably be a compromise because
achievement and effort are combined in
of the hosts of factors to be considered in
some way, grades would mean different
the preparation of such. The important
things for different individuals.
thing to note, however, is that we should
always keep achievement reports Grades reflected on report cards
separate from effort expended. are numbers or numerical quantities
arrived at after several data on the
Ideally, grading and reporting systems
students‟ performance are combined. The
should be developed cooperatively
following guidelines may be considered in
(parents, students, school personnel) in
combining such data:
order to ensure development of a more
adequate system, and a system that is  Properly weight each component to
understandable to all. They should thus create a composite. The weighs used are
be: normally agreed upon by the school
officials (how many percent goes for
 Based on clear statement of
quizzes, unit tests, periodic tests etc).
learning objectives. The grading and
The more scientific approach is to use a
reporting system needs to be based on
principal components analysis which is
the same set of learning objectives that
hardly practiced in schools because of
the parents, teachers and students
the difficulty involved.
agreed at the beginning.
 Put all components on same scale
 Consistent with school
to weight properly;
standards. The system must support the
school standards rather than oppose the a. Equate ranges of scores
school standards already set
b. Or, convert all to T – scores or other
 Based on adequate assessment. standard scores
The grading and reporting system should
be easily verifiable through adequate 8.5 Norm – Referenced Grading
system of testing, measurement and
assessment methods. The most commonly used grading
 Based on the right level of detail. system falls under the category of norm
The system must be detailed enough to referenced grading. Norm–referenced
be diagnostic but compact enough to be grading refers to a grading system where
a student’s grade is placed in relation to
the performance of a group. Thus, in this percentage or ratio of students within a
system, a grade of 80 means that the whole class who will be assigned each
student performed better than or same as grade or mark. It is therefore known in
80% of the class (or group). At first advance what percent of the students
glance, there appears to be no problem would pass or fail a given course. For this
with this type of grading system as it reason, many opponents to
simply describes the performance of a normreferenced grading state that such a
student with reference to a particular grading system does not advance the
group of learners. cause of education and contradicts the
principle of individual differences.
The following example shoes some of the
difficulties associated with norm- In norm-referenced grading, the
referenced grading: students, while they may work
individually, are actually in competition to
Example: Consider the following
achieve a standard of performance that
two sets of scores in an English 1
will classify them into the desired grade
class for two sections of ten
range. It essentially promotes competition
students each:
among students or pupils in the same
A = {30, 40, 50, 55, 60, 65, 70, class. A student or pupil who happens to
75, 80, 85} enrol in a class of gifted students in
Mathematics will find that the norm-
B = {60, 65, 70, 75, 80, 85, 90,
referenced grading system is rather
90, 95, 100}
worrisome. For example, a teacher may
In the first class, the student who establish a grading policy whereby the top
got a raw score of 75 would get a grade of 15 percent of students will receive a mark
80% while in the second class, the same of excellent or outstanding, which in a
grade of 80% would correspond to a raw class of 100 enrolled students will be 15
score of 90. Indeed, if the test used for persons. Such a grading policy is
the two classes are the same, it would be illustrated below:
a rather “unfair” system of grading. A wise 1.0 Excellent Top 15% of
student would opt to enrol in class A since Class
it is easier to get higher grades in that 1.50 Good Next 15% of
class than in the other class (Class B). Class
2.0 Average, Next 45% of
The previous example illustrates Fair Class
one difficulty with using a norm- 3.0 Poor, Next 15% of
referenced grading system. This problem Pass Class
is called the problem of equivalency. 5.0 Failure Bottom 10% of
Does a grade of 80 in one class represent Class
the same achievement level as a grade of
80 in another class of the same subject? The underlying assumption in
This problem is similar to the problem of norm-referenced grading is that the
trying to compare a Valedictorian from students have abilities (as reflected in
some remote rural high school with a their raw scores) that obey the normal
Valedictorian from some very popular distribution. The objective is to find out the
University in the urban area. Does one best performers in this group. Norm-
expect the same level of competence for referenced systems are most often used
these two valedictorians? from screening selected student
As we have seen, norm-referenced populations in conditions where it is
grading systems are based on a known that not all students can advance
preestablished formula regarding the
due to limitation such as available places, A serious problem with norm-
jobs, or other controlling factors. referenced grading is that, no matter what
the class level of knowledge and ability, and
For example, in the Philippine
no matter how much they learn, a predictable
setting, since not all high school students
proportion of students will receive each
can actually advance to college or
grade. Since its essential purpose is to sort
university level because of financial
students into categories based on relative
constraints, the norm referenced grading
performance, norm-referenced grading and
system can be applied.
evaluation is often used to weed our students
for limited places in selective educational
Example: In a class of 100 students, the programs.
mean score in a test is 70 with a standard Norm-referenced grading indeed
deviation of 5. Construct a norm-referenced promotes competition to the extent that
grading table that would have seven-grade students would rather not help fellow
scales and such that students scoring students because by doing so, the mean
between plus or minus one standard of the class would be raised and
deviation from the mean receives an consequently it would be more difficult to
average grade. get higher grades. Similarly, students
Solution: The following interval of raw would do everything (legal) to pull down
scores to grade equivalents are computed: the scores of everyone else in order to
Raw Score Grade Percentage lower the mean and thus assure him/her
Equivalent of higher grades on the curve.
Below 55 Fail 1% A more subtle problem with norm-
referenced grading is that a strict
55 – 60 Marginal 4%
correspondence between the evaluation
Pass
61 – 65 Pass 11% methods used and the course
instructional goals is not necessary to
66 – 75 Average 68% yield the required grade distribution. The
76 – 80 Above 11% specific learning objectives of norm-
Average referenced classed are often kept hidden,
81 – 85 Very Good 4% in part out of concern that instruction not
“give away” the test or the teacher‟s
Above 85 Excellent 1% priorities, since this might tend to skew
the curve. Since norm-referenced grading
is replete with problems, what alternatives
Only a few of the teachers who use
have been devised for grading the
norm-referenced grading apply it with
students?
complete consistency. When a teacher is
faced with a particularly bright class, most of 8.6 Criterion – Referenced Grading
the time, he does not penalize good students
for having the bad luck to enrol in a class Criterion-referenced grading
with a cohort of other very capable students systems are based on a fixed criterion
even if the grading system says he should measure. There is a fixed target and the
fail a certain percentage of the class. On the students must achieve that target in order
other hand, it is also unlikely that a teacher to obtain a passing grade in a course
would reduce the mean grade for a class regardless of how the other students in
when he observes a large proportion of poor the class perform. The scale does not
performing students just to save them from change regardless of the quality, or lack
failure. thereof, of the students.
 For example, in a class of 100 logical to ask: What prevents teachers
students using the table below, no one who use criterion-referenced grading from
might get a grade of excellent if no one setting the performance criteria so low
scores 98 or 85 above depending on the that everyone can pass with ease?
criterion used. There is no fixed
There is a variety of measure used
percentage of students who are expected
to prevent this situation from ever
to get the various grades in the criterion-
happening in the grading system. First,
referenced grading system.
the criterion should not be based on only
1.0 Excellent 98 – 100 Or 85 – 100 one teacher‟s opinion or standard. It
1.5 Good 88 – 97 Or 80 – 84 should be collaboratively arrived at. A
group of teachers teaching the same
2.0 Fair 75 – 87 Or 70 – 79
subject must set the criterion together.
3.0 Poor / 65 – 74 Or 60 – 69 Second, once the criterion is established,
Pass it must be made public and open to public
5.0 Failure Below Or Below 60 scrutiny so that it does not become
65 arbitrary and subject to the whim and
caprices of the teacher.
Criterion-referenced systems are To summarize norm or criterion –
often used in situations where the referenced grading
teachers are agreed on the meaning of a
“standard of performance” in a subject but Grades may reflect relative
the quality of the students is unknown or performance (score compared to other
uneven; where the work involves student students where you rank). This is more
collaboration or teamwork, and where commonly called a norm-referenced
there is no external driving factor such as grading system and in such a system:
needing to systematically reduce a pool of
eligible student. a. Grade (like a class rank)
Note that in criterion-referenced depends on what group you are in, not
grading system, students can help a just your own performance
fellow student in a group work without
necessarily worrying about lowering his b. Typical grade may be shifted
grade in that course. This is because the up or down, depending on groups‟ ability
criterion-referenced grading system does
c. Widely used because much
not require the mean (of the class) as
classroom testing is norm – referenced
basis for distributing grades among the
students. It is therefore an ideal system to Grades may also reflect absolute
use in collaborative group work. When performance (score compared to
students are evaluated based on specified performance standards such as
predefined criteria, they are freed to what you can do). This is more commonly
collaborate with one another and with the called a criterion – referenced grading
instructor. With criterion-referenced and in such a system:
grading, a rich learning environment is to
everyone’s advantage, so students are a. Grade does not depend on
rewarded for finding ways to help each what group you are in, but only on your
other, and for contributing to class and own performance compared to a set of
small group discussions. performance standards
Since the criterion measure used in
b. Grading is a complex task,
criterion-referenced grading is a measure
because grades must:
that ultimately rests with the teacher, it is
 i. Clearly define the domain ii. 8.8 What Should Go into a Student’s
Clearly define and justify the performance Grade?
standards
The grading system an instructor
iii. Be based on criterion – selects reflect his or her educational
referenced assessment philosophy. There are no right or wrong
systems, only systems which accomplish
c. Condition are hard to meet different objectives. The following are
except in complete mastery learning questions which an instructor may want to
settings. answer when choosing what will go into a
student‟s grade.
Finally, grades may also reflect
1. Should grades reflect absolute
learning ability or improve performance
achievement level or achievement
(score compared to learning “potential” or
relative to others in the same class?
past performance). In such a system:
This is often referred to as the
a. Grades are inconsistent with controversy between norm-referenced
a standards – based system because versus criterion-referenced grading. In
now, each child is his / her own standards norm-referenced grading systems the
letter grade a student receives is based
b. Reliably estimating learning on his or her standing in a class. A certain
ability (separate from achievement) is percentage of those at the top receive
very difficult A's, a specified percent of the next
highest grades receive B‟s and so on.
c. One cannot reliably measure
Thus an outside person, looking at the
change with classroom measures
grades, can decide which student in that
d. Therefore, should only be group performed best under those
used as a supplement circumstances. Such a system also takes
into account circumstances beyond the
8.7 Four-Question in Grading students‟ control which might adversely
affect grades, such as poor teaching, bad
Marinila D. Svinicki (2007) of the Center tests or unexpected problems arising for
for Teaching Effectiveness of the the entire class. Presumably, these would
University of Texas in Austin poses four affect all the students equally, so all
intriguing questions relative to grading. performance would drop but the relative
We share these questions here in this standing would stay the same.
section and the corresponding opinion of
On the other hand, under such a
Ms. Svinicki for your own reflection:
system, an outside evaluator has little
1. Should grades reflect absolute additional information about what a
achievement level or achievement relative student actually knows since that will vary
to others in the same class? with the class. A student who has learned
an average amount in a class of geniuses
2. Should grades reflect achievement will probably know more than a student
only or non-academic components such who is average in a class of low ability.
as attitude, speed and diligence? Unless the instructor provides more
information than just the grade, the
3. Should grades report status achieved external user of the grade is poorly
or amount of growth? informed.
4. How can several grades on diverse The system also assumes
skills combine to give a single mark? sufficient variability among student
performances that the difference in work for a high grade. The instructor is
learning between them justifies giving then faced with the dilemma of a lot of
different grades. This may be true in large students receiving high grades. Some
beginning classes, but is a shaky people view this as a problem.
assumption where the student population
A positive aspect of this
is homogeneous such as in upper division
foreknowledge is that much of the
classes.
uncertainty which often accompanies
The other most common grading grading for students is eliminated. Since
system is the criterion-referenced system. they can plot their own progress toward
In this case the instructor sets a standard the desired grade, the students have little
of performance against which the uncertainty about where they stand. With
students‟ actual performance is competency-based teaching-learning or
measured. All students achieving a given outcome-based teaching-learning
level receive the grade assigned to that observed in Philippine schools, the
level regardless of how many in the class criterion0referenced system is what is
receive the same grade. An outside used in the country.
evaluator, looking at the grade, knows
only that the student has reached a 2. Should grades reflect achievement
certain level or set of objectives. The only or non-academic components
usefulness of that information to the such as attitude, speed and diligence?
outsider will depend on how much
information he or she is given on what It is a very common practice to
behaviour is represented by that grade. incorporate such things as turning in
The grade, however, will always mean the assignments on time into the overall
same thing and will not vary from class to grade in a course, primarily because the
class. A possible problem with this is that need to motivate students to get their
outside factors such as those discussed work done is a real problem for
under normreferenced grading might instructors. Also it may be appropriate to
influence the entire class and the selection function of grading that such
performance may drop. In such a case all values as timeliness and diligence be
the students would receive lower grades reflected in the grades. External users of
unless the instructor made special the grades may be interpreting the mark
allowances for the circumstances. to include such factors as attitude and
compliance in addition to competence in
A second problem is that criterion- the material.
referenced grading does not provide
“selection” information. There is no way to The primary problem with such
tell from the grading who the “best” inclusion is that it makes grades even
students are, only that certain students more ambiguous than they already are. It
have achieved certain levels. Whether is very difficult to assess these nebulous
one views this as positive or negative will traits accurately or consistently.
depend on one‟s individual philosophy. Instructors must use real caution when a
such value judgments into final grade
An advantage of this system is that assignment. Two steps instructors should
the criteria for various grades are known take are 1) to make students aware of this
from the beginning. This allows the possibility well in advance of graded
student to take some responsibility for the assignment and 2) to make clear what
level at which he or she is going to behaviour is included in such qualities as
perform. Although this might result in prompt completion or work and neatness
some students working below their or completeness. In short, non-academic
potential, it usually inspires students to
component such as attitude, speed and 4. How can several grades on diverse
diligence may be reflected in the skills combine to give a single mark?
student‟s grades provided they are
The basic answer is they cannot
informed in advance and that these
really. The results of instruction are so
qualities should be well understood.
varied that the single mark is really a
3. Should grades report status “Rube Goldberg” (doing something by an
achieved or amount of growth? unnecessarily complicated way what
could be done simply) as far as indicating
This is a particularly difficult
what a student has achieved. It would be
question to answer. In many beginning
most desirable to be able to give multiple
classes, the background of the students is
marks, one for each of the variety of skills
so varied that some students can achieve
which are learned. There are, of course,
the end objectives with little or no trouble
many problems with such a proposal. It
while others with weak background will
would complicate an already complicated
work twice as hard and still achieve only
task. There might not be enough evidence
half as much. This dilemma results from
to reliably grade any one skill. The “halo”
the same problem as the previous
effect of good performance in one area
question, that is, the feeling that we
could spill over into others. And finally,
should be rewarding or punishing effort or
most outsiders are looking for only one
attitude as well as knowledge gained.
overall classification of each person so
A positive aspect of this that they can choose the “best”. Our
foreknowledge is that much of the system requires that we produce one
uncertainty which often accompanies mark. Therefore, it is worth our while to
grading for students is eliminated. Since see how that can be done even though
they can plot their own progress toward currently the system does not lend itself to
the desired grade, the students have little any satisfactory answers.
uncertainty about where they stand.
There are many problems with 8.9 Standardized Test Scoring
“growth” measures as a basis for change, Test standardization is a process
most of them being related to statistical by which teacher or researcher-made
artifacts. In some cases the ability to tests are validated and item analysed.
accurately measure entering and exiting After a thorough process of validation, the
levels is shaky enough to argue against test characteristics are established. These
change as a basis for grading. characteristics include: test validity, test
Also, many courses are prerequisites to reliability, test difficulty level and other
later courses and, therefore, are intended characteristics as previously discussed.
to provide the foundation for those Each standardized test uses its own
courses. “Growth” scores in this case mathematical scoring system derived by
would be disastrous. the publisher and administrators, and
Nevertheless, there is much to be these do not bear any relationship to
said in favour of “growth” as a component academic grading systems. Standardized
in grading. We would like to encourage tests are psychometric instruments whose
hard work and effort and to acknowledge scoring systems are developed by
the existence of different abilities. norming the test using national samples
Unfortunately, there is no easy answer to of test-takers, centering the scoring
this question. Each instructor must review formula to assure that the likely score
his or her own philosophy and content to distribution describes a normal curve
determine if such factors are valid when graphed, and then using the
components of the grade. resulting scoring system uniformly in a
manner resembling a criterion-referenced 8.11 Distribution of Grades and
approach. If you are interested in Guidelines for Effective Grading
understanding and interpreting the
How should grades be distributed?
scoring system of a specific standardized
The norm – referenced and criterion –
test, refer to the policies of the test‟s
referenced distribution of grades have
producers.
been in practice for several years now.
The norm – referenced or relative (have
8.10 Cumulative and Averaging
ranked the students) distribution is a big
Systems of Grading
issue because of the following
In the Philippines, there are two types of considerations:
grading systems used: the averaging and
the cumulative grading systems. In the a. Normal curve is defensible
averaging system, the grade of a student only when we have large,
on a particular grading period equals the unselected group
average of the grades obtained in the b. When grading “on the curve”,
prior grading periods and the current school staff should set fair ranges
grading period. of grades for different groups and
Example: Student‟s grades are: courses

80 – Prelim 90 – c. When “grading on the curve”,

Midterm 85 – Final any pass-fail decision should be
based on an absolute standard
(failed the minimum standards)
85 is the final grade for the semester d. Standards and ranges should
The Department of Education makes use be understood and followed by all
of the averaging grading system. teachers

In the cumulative grading system, the On the other hand, the criterion –
grade of a student in a grading period referenced or absolute (have assessed
equals his current grading period grade absolute levels of knowledge) grading
which is assumed to have the cumulative system is not an issue because
effects of the previous grading periods. a. It seldom uses letter grades alone
Example: 80 – Prelim 90 –
b. It often includes checklists of what
Midterm 80 – Tentative
has been mastered
Final Grade
c. The distribution of grades is not
Final Grade = 1/3 of Midterm Grade + 2/3 of
predetermined
Tentative Final Grade
Guidelines for Effective Grading
= 1/3 of 90 + 2/3 of 80
The following guidelines for effective
= 30 + 53.33 = 83.33 grading and reporting are recommended
In which grading system would there be for use in Philippine schools:
more fluctuations observed in the 1. Describe grading procedures to
students‟ grades? How do these systems students at beginning of instruction
relate with either norm or criterion-
referenced grading? 2. Clarify that course grade will be
based on achievement only
3. Explain how other factors (effort,
work habits, etc.) will be reported
4. Relate grading procedures to  Be willing to listen
intended learning outcomes
 Be willing to answer questions
5. Obtain valid evidence (tests, etc.)
4. Plan actions cooperatively
for assigning grades
 What steps you can each take?
6. Try to prevent cheating
 Summarize at the end
7. Return and review all test results as
soon as possible 5. End with a positive comment
8. Properly weight the various types of  Should not be a vague generality
achievements included in the grade
 Should be true
9. Do not lower an achievement grade 6. Use good human relations skills
for tardiness, weak effort, or misbehaviour
10. Be fair. Avoid bias. When in doubt, 8.13 Policy Guidelines on Classroom
review the evidence. If still in doubt, give Assessment for the K to 12 Basic
the higher grade. Education, DepEd Order No. 8, s. 2015
8.12 Conducting Parent–Teacher Below are some of the highlights of the
Conferences new K to 12 Grading System which was
implemented starting SY 2015 – 2016.
Parent – teacher conferences become
These are all lifted from DepEd Order No.
productive when they are carefully
8, s. 2015
planned and the teacher is skilled in
Weights of the Components for
handling such conferences. Skills in
conducting parent – teacher conferences the Different Grade Levels and
can be developed. Here are some hints
Subjects The student‟s grade is a
on conducting god conferences:
function of three components:
Guidelines for a good conference
1) written work
1. Make plans
2) performance task and
 Review your goals
3) quarterly assessment
 Organize the information to present
The percentages vary across clusters of
 Make list of points to cover and subjects. Languages, Araling Panlipunan
questions to ask (AP) and Edukasyon sa Pagpapahalaga
(EsP) belong to one cluster and have the
 If bringing portfolios, select and
same grade percentages for written work,
review carefully
performance tasks and quarterly
2. Start positive and maintain a assessment. Science and Math are
positive focus another cluster with the same component
percentages. Music, Arts, Physical
 Present students strong points first
Education and Health (MAPEH) make up
 Be helpful to have example of work the third cluster with same component
to show strengths and needs percentages. Among the three
components, performance tasks are given
 Compare early vs. later work to the largest percentages. This means that
show improvement the emphasis on assessment is on
3. Encourage parents to participate application of concepts learned.
Components Language AP Scienc Mat MAPE EPP/TL
Es
and share information s e h
H E
P
1
to
Written Work 30 40% 20% followed for learner promotion and
%
1
Performanc 50 40% 60% retention.
0
e Tasks %
Quarterly 20 20% 20%
Assessment % Requirements Decision
Weight of the Components for Grades 1 For Grades 1. Final Grade of at least Promoted to the next
-10 1 to 3 75 in all learning areas grade level
Learner
The table above presents the weights of s 2. Did Not Meet Muss pass remedial
Expectations in not classes for learning areas
the components for the Senior High more than two learning with failing mark to be
School subjects which are grouped into 1) areas promoted to the next
core subjects, 2) all other subjects grade level.
Otherwise the learner is
(applied and specialization) and work retained in the same
immersion of the academic track, and 3) grade level
all other subjects 3. Did Not Meet Retained in the same
Expectations in three or grade level
(applied and specialization) and work more learning
immersion/research/exhibit/performance. areas
An analysis of the figures reveal that For Grades 1. Final Grade of at least Promoted to the next
4 to 10 75 in all learning areas grade level
among the components, performance Learners
tasks have the highest percentage 2. Did Not Meet Muss pass remedial
contribution to the grade. This means that Expectations in not classes for learning areas
more than two learning with failing mark to be
DepEd‟s grading system consistently puts areas promoted to the next
most emphasis on application of learned grade level.
concepts and skills. Otherwise the learner is
Core Academ Technic retained in the same
Subjec ic Track al- grade level
ts Vocation
al and 3. Did Not Meet Retained in the same
Liveliho Expectations in three or grade level
od (TVL)
more learning
All Work All Work
other immersion other immersion areas
subjec / subjec /
ts Researc ts Research /
h/ Exhibit /
Busines Performan
ce
For Grades 11 to 12:
s
Enterprise Requirements Decision
Simulation
/ Exhibit /
Final Grade at Promoted to the
Performan least 75 in all next semester
ce
1 Written 25% 25% 35% 20% learning areas in a
1
t
Work
Performan 50% 45% 40% 60%
semester
o ce Tasks Did Not Meet Must pass remedial
1
2 Quarterly 25% 30% 25% 20% Expectations in a classes for failed
Assessme
nt prerequisite competencies in the
Weight of the Components for SHS subject in a subject
learning area
For Grade Computation please refer to Did Not Meet Must pass remedial
DepEd Order No. 8, S. 2015 Expectations in classes for failed
any subject or competencies in the
8.14 Promotion and Retention at the learning area at subjects or learning
End of the School Year the end of areas. Otherwise, the
the semester learner must retake
These are what DepEd Order 8, 2. 2015 the failed subjects
say.
A Final Grade of 75 or higher in all
learning areas allows the students to be
promoted to the next grade level. The
table below specifies the guidelines to be