A plan is proposed whereby students may contract to do a certain amount of work in order to achieve a specified grade. (HS)

The author summarizes the characteristics of contingency management systems in university classes, briefly describes one such system and discusses decisions that must be made by instructors who would teach such a course. (AA)

Investigates the effects of four typewriter faces and handwriting on the level and reliability of grades awarded to English themes. (DG)

Concludes that the quality of grades assigned a theme is little . . . affected by typeface or by devoting one or two minutes to the reading, but . . . a theme graded later tends to be rated more leniently than a theme graded earlier." (Editor)

Describes a motivational grading scheme involving an elaborate performance index structured around a simple and convenient marking system. (GR)

Proposed here is a system which would automatically assign a proper numericl value to each grade assigned regardless of the grading practices. The inequities of both overgrading and undergrading would be virtually eliminated. (Author)

A scheme using the usual testing methods of most professors, but allowing students to discover their weak areas during the course without fear of low grades. (IR)

Danner ("Engineering Education", Vol. 68 (8), 1978) proposed that use of standard transformed scores is limited by several underlying statistical assumptions, making their use in most classroom situations questionable. Reexamines Danner's limitations (indicating they are misinterpretations of the standard transformed score method) and…

An exploratory study of the effects of essay length on scoring reliability is presented. While results fail to confirm statistically a length effect that is either overall or in individual scorers, it is suggested that such an effect may emerge in a larger sample. Further research is suggested on the effects of length and grade level on marking.…

A flexible, point contract system is described which maximizes the advantages of a criterion-referenced contract system while eliminating some of the disadvantages of standard grade contracts. This model has been used by the author in a variety of high school and college courses. (Author/SJL)

Three types of validity are discussed: content, criterion, and construct. It is suggested that those who teach and evaluate student writing should be aware of the need for valid and reliable measures of evaluating and grading student compositions. (KC)

Drawing on his own experiences as a student and as an English teacher, the author considers the learning value of the marks and comments teachers make on students' compositions. (SJL)