Making the grade: a history of the A–F marking scheme

Schneider, Jack; Hutt, Ethan

doi:10.1080/00220272.2013.790480

Cited by 70 publications

(85 citation statements)

References 31 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Unclassified

Order By: Relevance

“…Grading practices created a way to rank individual student performance, but they also provided opportunities to rank the prestige of academic institutions [18]. Critics have questioned whether grades have evolved more for the benefit of administering and promoting organizations rather than for their intended purpose of providing feedback, guidance and motivation to students [18].…”

Section: Historical Backdropmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Pass/Fail and Discretionary Grading: A Snapshot of Their Influences on Learning

Melrose¹

2017

OJN

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

This article provides a snapshot of pass/fail and discretionary grading approaches, highlighting the advantages and disadvantages of each. Normreferenced and criterion-referenced grading practices and their associations with learning are identified. A brief historical backdrop illustrates how grading practices have evolved. The inherent subjectivity of grading is emphasized. Pass/fail grading supports intrinsic motivation and self-direction, but limits opportunities for recognizing excelling students. Discretionary grading, which includes letter (F− to A+) and numeric (0% to 100%) representations, supports extrinsic motivation and self-improvement, but promotes unhealthy competition. Both approaches have merit and can effectively measure student achievement in nursing education programs.

show abstract

Section: Historical Backdropmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Critics have questioned whether grades have evolved more for the benefit of administering and promoting organizations rather than for their intended purpose of providing feedback, guidance and motivation to students [18].…”

Section: Historical Backdropmentioning

confidence: 99%

Pass/Fail and Discretionary Grading: A Snapshot of Their Influences on Learning

Melrose¹

2017

OJN

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Evaluating learning is not a new phenomenon; early pedagogical theories dating back to the seventeenth century promote the need for students to demonstrate their knowledge (Katz, 1968;Pellegrino, 2004;Schneider & Hutt, 2014). Although traditional assessment of learning practices (i.e., grading) have been conducted at the student-level, the call to justify learning can occur at any level of education.…”

Section: Assessment Of Learningmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Individual grading scales originated as a means to heighten student motivation for learning in the late 1700s (Grant, 2003;Schneider & Hutt, 2014). As K-12 enrollment increased through the early twentieth century, educational scholars sought a more standard method for comparing achievement across students (Parker, 1902;Smallwood, 1935).…”

Section: Assessment Of Learning In Practicementioning

confidence: 99%

“…By nature, assessments of learning must occur after instruction, because the central goal of these assessments is to evaluate what a student has learned (Elwood & Klenowski, 2002;Firestone et al, 1998), typically through assigning a rating or grade based on norms (Figlio & Loeb, 2011;Schneider & Hutt, 2014). Individual grading scales originated as a means to heighten student motivation for learning in the late 1700s (Grant, 2003;Schneider & Hutt, 2014).…”

Section: Assessment Of Learning In Practicementioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Using Kindergarten Entry Data to Guide Teachers' Skills, Beliefs, Self-Efficacy, and Practices through Instructionally Focused, Data-Driven Consultation

Hasbrouck

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Instructional practices in secondary science: How teachers achieve local and standards‐based success

et al. 2023

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

This article reports on analyses of the instructional practices of six middle‐ and high‐school science teachers in the United States who participated in a research‐practice partnership that aims to support reform science education goals at scale. All six teachers were well qualified, experienced, and locally successful—respected by students, parents, colleagues, and administrators—but they differed in their success in supporting students' three‐dimensional learning. Our goal is to understand how the teachers' instructional practices contributed to their similarities in achieving local success and to differences in enabling students' learning, and to consider the implications of these findings for research‐practice partnerships. Data sources included classroom videos supplemented by interviews with teachers and focus students and examples of student work. We also compared students' learning gains by teacher using pre–post assessments that elicited three‐dimensional performances. Analyses of classroom videos showed how all six teachers achieved local success—they led effectively managed classrooms, covered the curriculum by teaching almost all unit activities, and assessed students' work in fair and efficient ways. There were important differences, however, in how teachers engaged students in science practices. Teachers in classrooms where students achieved lower learning gains followed a pattern of practice we describe as activity‐based teaching, in which students completed investigations and hands‐on activities with few opportunities for sensemaking discussions or three‐dimensional science performances. Teachers whose students achieved higher learning gains combined the social stability characteristic of local classroom success with more demanding instructional practices associated with scientific sensemaking and cognitive apprenticeship. We conclude with a discussion of implications for research‐practice partnerships, highlighting how partnerships need to support all teachers in achieving both local and standards‐based success.

show abstract

Making the grade: a history of the A–F marking scheme

Cited by 70 publications

References 31 publications

Pass/Fail and Discretionary Grading: A Snapshot of Their Influences on Learning

Pass/Fail and Discretionary Grading: A Snapshot of Their Influences on Learning

Using Kindergarten Entry Data to Guide Teachers' Skills, Beliefs, Self-Efficacy, and Practices through Instructionally Focused, Data-Driven Consultation

Instructional practices in secondary science: How teachers achieve local and standards‐based success

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About