Addressing inconsistencies in grading practices

Abstract

School leaders struggle in their efforts to implement standards-based grading reforms in large part because they fail to address the inconsistency in grading practices among individual teachers. This article describes three crucial steps necessary to gain greater consistency in teachers’ grading practices: (1) Reaching consensus on a purpose statement for grading; (2) using grading scales with four to seven categories of student performance; and (3) reporting multiple grades to describe academic achievement and non-academic aspects of students’ performance separately. These steps provide the necessary foundation for successful implementation of standards-based and competency-based grading reforms.