This study examined the impact grading policies have on students' mindsets in urban Midwestern middle schools. The components of this quasi-experimental, causal comparative survey research relied on the grading policies in place at the school level and the students' reporting of their mindset. The findings demonstrated no statistically significant…

Compared to other subjects, the typical introductory programming (CS1) course has higher than usual rates of both failing and high grades, creating a characteristic bimodal grade distribution. In this article, I explore two possible explanations. The conventional explanation has been that learners naturally fall into populations of programmers and…

College grades play important educational and social roles (Milton, Pollio, and Eison, 1986; Walvoord and Anderson, 1998). What is not well understood are the types of problems that exist in college grading practices. Conversations about grade inflation in higher education are often based on sparse anecdotal evidence and charged with value…

A study investigated the possible relationship between college French teachers' cognitive style and their predictions of student performance. Four American-born French instructors and their 84 students at two state-supported universities formed the sample. The results suggest that the field-independent teachers may display more competence in…