ALTERNATIVE

GRADING
&
REPORTING OF
GRADES
Previous lesson...
OBJECTIVES:
At the end of the lesson you will be able...

explain the purpose of grading and reporting

practice the use of guidelines in grading tests, performance tasks
and essays

distinguish alternative grading

illustrate the ways of reporting / communicating test results or

grades to different stakeholders
GRADING
&
REPORTING
-ARE FUNDAMENTAL ELEMENTS OF
TEACHING AND LEARNING PROCESS
Purposes of Grading and Reporting
Learners' Test Performance
One of the ways to communicate the level of learning of the learners in specific course content.
Give feedback on what specific topic/s learners have mastered and what they need to focus
Grades serve as a motivator for learners

Give the parents information about their children's achievements

Provide teachers some bases for improving their teaching and learning practices

Useful to school administrators who want to evaluate the

effectiveness of the instructional programs
GENERAL GUIDELINES IN GRADING
TESTS OR PERFORMANCE TASKS

Stick to the purpose of the assessment.

Be guided by the desired learning outcomes.

Develop grading criteria.

Inform learners what scoring methods to be used.

Decide on what type of test scores to use.

GENERAL GUIDELINES IN GRADING ESSAY TESTS
Identify the criteria for rating the essay.
Determine the type of rubric to use.
Prepare the rubric.
Evaluate essay anonymously
Score one essay question at a time
Be conscious of own biases when evaluating a paper
Review initial scores and comments before giving the final rating
Get two or more raters
Write comments
The current dispute in educational assessment stems from the
debate between behaviorist and constructivist educators.

BEHAVIORIST
Behaviorist theory originated from the work of Ivan Pavlov,
John B. Watson and B.F. Skinner and focuses on “changes in
behavior that result from stimulus-response associations made
by the learner” (Standridge, 2002).

Standardized testing is one of the most obvious ways to observe

and measure changes in behavior. Although they are easy to
score and interpret, these tests imply that there is a separation
between knowledge and the student (Worley, 2001).
 CONSTRUCTIVIST
Constructivist theory is based mainly on the work of Dewey,
Piaget, and Vygotsky and stresses that “learning involves an
active process in which learners construct meaning by linking
new ideas with their existing knowledge” (Jones & Brader-Araje,
2002).

alternative assessment methods such as recordings, checklists,

diaries, portfolios, student debriefings, peer conferences and
reflective journal writing are necessary within a constructivist
classroom (Worley, 2001).
WHAT IS IT?
alternative grading forgoes a conventional points-based
approach to grading and favors holistic and continuous forms of
assessment and feedback. (Schinske & Tanner, 2017)

alternative grading systems such as specifications grading,

contract grading, and ungrading encourage students to think
critically about their own learning and educational goals.
(Palmer & Streifer, 2020).

HOW DOES IT WORK?

Alternative grading emphasizes providing detailed and frequent
feedback to students, giving students further agency in how they
will be assessed.
ALTERNATIVE GRADING
(EXAMPLES)

Journals
Creating a collage
Portfolio
Dramatizing
Projects
Take a virtual shopping trip
Recordings Create your daily routine
Checklists vlog
Design a travel brochure and many more...
ALTERNATIVE GRADING

Journals
Journal writing is
the “recording of
daily events,
personal
reflections,
questions about
the environment,
and reactions to
experiences”
(Dyment &
O’Connell, 2003).
How should test results be communicated to
different stakeholders?

Rationale or purpose of testing and the nature of the tests

administered to the learners should be clearly explained.

Meaning of test scores should be explained.

Learners and parents should be made to understand

the meaning or interpretation of their test scores.
 GRADING AND REPORTING

Methods in Guidelines in Guidelines in

Purposes of Methods of Strategies in
grading: grading tests grading
grading and marking or Alternative reporting of
Types of or essay tests
reporting of scoring test Grading grades or
performance
grades performance test scores test results
tasks

Cummulative Norm-
and referenced Journals,
Averaging and Portfolio,
Holistic/Anal Criterion Projects etc.
ytic Scoring referenced
 REFERENCES:

Worley, T. M. (2001). Alternative assessment: methods to make learning more meaningful. Presented at
Pathways to Change: International Conference on Transforming Math and Science Education. Retrieved on
January 16, 2006 from http://k12s.phast.umass.edu/stemtec/pathways/Proceedings/Papers/Worley-p.doc
Garfield, G.B. (1994). Beyond testing and grading: using assessment to improve student learning.
Journal of Statistics Education, 2(1). Retrieved on February 20, 2006 from
http://www.amstat.org/publications/jse/v2n1/garfield.html
Standridge, M. (2002). Behaviorism. In M. Orey (Ed.), Emerging perspectives on learning, teaching and
technology. Retrieved on February 18, 2006 from http://www.coe.uga.edu/epltt/Behaviorism.htm
https://academictechnologies.it.miami.edu/explore-technologies/technology-summaries/alternative-
grading/index.html
Thank You
ALTERNATIVE GRADING AND REPORTING OF GRADES

Fredo Jalayajay