Classroom Assessment and Grading Practices : A Decision Making Model

Grading practices require a lot of assessments and decision-making. Whenever teachers evaluate a task or a piece of work, they have to render a lot on that task from every possible angle. Besides the electronic grading mechanisms, teachers do use their methods which at times are innovative in their very nature.

Two factors affect the decision about the type of assessment practice to be adopted and grading practices. One is teacher beliefs and values that comes under internal source and the other one is the external source. These two sources are affecting each other constantly. There exists a tension between these factors. The point at which the balance is achieved and tensions are reduced is the level where the guidance for instructor to apply the decision about the type of assessment and the grading policies to be adopted.

An internal source that lies with the teacher includes the philosophy that the teacher will adopt for teaching and learning. All the instructors have a certain philosophy that they adopt in their teaching. Teachers assess the need and apply the philosophy values and beliefs. Students often need a pull from their instructor even if they are self-sufficient and can help themselves towards success. Teacher’s values do that for the students. There are different students with different capabilities and individual differences which the instructor caters for during assessment and grading practices. Not every student can perform their best under the same assessment method. Due to the individual differences different methods and tools help maximise the potential of other students as well. A thoughtful decision will increase class participation and class engagement. Motivated students participate more during the activities. All these strategies increase the student's understanding. Motivated students will try to perform better in the next assessment.

External sources include the parents’ and teacher's evaluation of the student’s performance. It is a continuous process that is carried out simultaneously with the assessments. There is constant parental pressure which affects the decision for the grading practices. Instructors need proper grading and assessment practice by which the true potential of the student is highlighted and the weak areas as well if there are any. External factors also include the school and district grading policies and the large-scale high-stakes test. The grading policies are the benchmarks that the students need to achieve to pass or graduate. These standards affect the assessment method greatly. The goal of the assessments is to prepare students for the end high-stakes test or the standard that is to be met. Due to these external tensions, the instructors increase pressure to make the students line up with the standards. To perform well at the high stakes tests the students need adequate practice on the same pattern that will be adopted in those tests.

The internal and external factors affect the decision-making of the instructor. The instructor needs to match the assessments with the desired learning objectives. The assessments should be in line with the desired results. To match the assessments with the objectives the instructor cannot ignore the needs of different individuals that will be affected by the decision. Different types of assessment methods are adopted over time to produce accurate results. Adopting different methods increases the intrinsic motivation in students. Students feel they are a part of the class and they can perform better at the other assessment even when they cannot perform their best in the previous one. Constructive remarks have a profound effect on the student’s motivation and their ability to perform better in the next assessment. Adequate responses to be provided on both the assessments and the homework to increase the efficiency of the assessment method adopted.