When analyzed according to race and ethnicity, poverty level, parental education level, as well as other related factors in schools in America, academic achievement disparities negatively impact educational outcomes for poor children and children of color on a consistent basis. At all educational levels, academic achievement and attainments of…

An analysis of the pass-withdraw (P-W) option open to students in lieu of a letter grade (A,B,C,D,F) was made at Metropolitan Community College, using data drawn from the fall quarter, 1971, and winter quarter, 1975. Letter grades carried grade points while P-W did not, no academic credit was given for W, and students could take the P-W option in…

The purpose of the present study is to examine the effects of nontraditional satisfactory/unsatisfactory (or pass/fail) grading on graduate admissions and on financial award decisions by surveying each department offering graduate programs at the State University of New York at Albany. Some differential effects of the nontraditional versus…

Five short essays on grading systems by a professor, an associate dean, an undergraduate student, a writer-sociologist, and a graduate student. (JT)

Without a change in grading practices, elective English programs can become simply old programs with new names. (JH)

The purpose of this practicum was to change the grading policy in the San Juan Unified School District (California) through a two-state process. The first stage was to change the traditional ABCDF grading system to a three-scale grading system in one high school, one intermediate school, and six elementary schools serving the same attendance area.…

This report compares maximum linear prediction, maximum total correct classifications for a group, and maximum probability of correct classification for an individual as objective criteria for univariate grading scales. Since the goals of valid prediction and valid classification lead to conflicting criteria, it is possible that a compromise…

This consortium of liberal arts colleges was instrumental in developing and coordinating their research capability through data processing. Forty research and academic development projects were undertaken. Of special importance: The Pass-Fail System, Study Habits in the Three-three calendar, Changing Trends in Attrition, The Weighing of High…

This study investigates various methods of evaluating student performance in higher education. Chapter one discusses some of the possible reasons that grades given to students seem to be consistently higher than in the past. The author argues that this tendency may be due to increasing dissatisfaction with the conventional grading system. Chapter…

Presented in this document are 5 papers concerning nontraditional grading systems and their acceptance. Nontraditional grading practices such as the pass/fail or pass/no credit systems are being used in some fashion in many American colleges and universities today. However, most of these institutions limit considerably the amount of credit that…

A survey to review practices for reporting student performance with nontraditional grading systems, to investigate the methods used to recognize outstanding student performance, and to survey the attitudes of medical school administrators concerning the recognition of excellence is described. (MLW)

To study the ways that new ways of sharing responsibility for teacher quality affect grading discourses and practices, more than 900 surveys were collected from student/intern teachers and cooperating teachers and supervisors over a 9-year period. Opinions about pass/fail grading for student/intern teaching were tabulated and analyzed. Additional…

A questionnaire measuring attitudes toward grading systems was administered to undergraduate and graduate students and to faculty at a college using a 3-point system. The Honors-Pass-Fail system was more generally preferred. Differences among the groups were discussed and the results supported a dual system of grading. (Authors/JB)

One major challenge in using group projects to assess student learning is accounting for the differences of contribution among group members so that the mark assigned to each individual actually reflects their performance. This research addresses the validity of grading group projects by evaluating different methods that derive individualized…