A study examined the effect of grading attendance on reducing absenteeism. A five-week block of the 1979-1980 and 1980-1981 attendance records of a group of 242 students in grades 9 through 12 were compared in order to determine the effect of a policy, implemented in the 1980-1981 academic year, of substracting eight points from student grades for…

This study describes practices and techniques employed by 25 college teachers who are acknowledged as outstanding. The efficacy of the practices and techniques was validated narratively by 200 students. This study identifies variables that characterize effective college teaching and suggests opportunities for further study and analysis. Major…

This book guides the novitiate (and those who aspire to be professors) through the intricacies of survival and gives much tongue-in-cheek advice on how to be good at professoring. The author explains the mechanics of the hiring process, unique to academia, in which supply greatly exceeds demand, and nobody seems to pay much attention to the matter…

The following topics concerning the American College Test (ACT) are treated, with an emphasis on the use of the ACT at Ohlone College: (1) an explanation of what ACT scores are, how they are interpreted, and where the ACT 'fits' in the spectrum of educational tests; (2) factors that can influence ACT scores; (3) the use of the ACT in the…

Students from an undergraduate course in the experimental analysis of behavior and from an honors section and a night class section of introductory psychology were exposed to a contingency program designed to produce the same specified terminal performance in every student. The principles underlying the course administration, scheduled activities,…

In the fall of 1970, Hofstra University instituted a policy of exempting those students from English 1 and 2 who had demonstrated superior writing ability on achievement tests and in high school English courses. The question investigated was whether eliminating the "better" students from English 1 would have an effect on the grades…

This study investigated whether pass-fail elective options at the undergraduate level will encourage education majors to break away from previous patterns of elective choice and choose more courses in various scientific and mathematical disciplines. Two hundred sixty-three education students at Queens College of the City University of New York…

A psychiatrist discusses ways to help children who are failing in school, the reasons behind their failure and the self perpetuating nature of failure. Teacher attitudes, the grading system, and the educational process itself are listed as three areas requiring change if failing students are to be helped. (CK)

The effect of self-grading on biology students exposed to the same instruction (except grading) in an upper-middle class public school was investigated by comparing self-graded and teacher-graded populations in (1) achievement in high school biology, (2) level of aspiration behavior, (3) critical thinking skills, and (4) productivity. The…

New Zealand universities have been examining the possibilities of abolishing end-of-year examinations and placing more importance on coursework. This monograph offers the alternative of assessing students by formal assignments. The formal assignment system has 4 essential characteristics which distinguish it from other methods of assessment. (1) A…

This supplementary text to a lecture course "Methods of Grading" is a self-help text. Some relative grading methods covered are: Centile Rank; Rank Order; Mean, Median and Mode; Range; Deviation; Standard Deviation; Standard Score; and T-Score. Section I of the book written as a "scrambled text," and Section II is a workbook. (DB)

The author claims that schools are overcrowded with students who don't want to learn. He suggests a youth corps, where young people's boredom and frustration could give way to pride and purpose in service to the community. (Editor)

Grade inflation and its causes are studied. (DE)

Common grading practices are parodied. (JH)

Eight recent General Certificate of Education (GCE) examinations, containing mainly free-response questions, were investigated in terms of their marking reliability. The tests of 200 randomly selected candidates from each subject were re-marked by a senior GCE examiner, and these marks were compared with the marks awarded previously as a result of…