Grading Systems

GRADING SYSTEMS
Assessment of student performance is essentially knowing

how the student is progressing in a course (and, incidentally,
how a teacher is also performing with respect to the teaching
process). The first step in assessment is, of course, testing
(either by some pencil-paper objective test or by some
performance based testing procedure) followed by a decision
to grade the performance of the student. Grading, therefore,
is the next step after testing.
Over the course of several years, grading systems had been
evolved in different schools systems all over the world. In the
American system, for instance, grades are expressed in terms
of letters, A, B, B+, B-, C, C, D or what is referred to as a seven-
point system. In Philippine colleges and universities, the letters
are replaced with numerical values: 1, 1,25,.1.50, 1.75, 2.0,
2.5, 3.0 and 4.0 or an eight-point system. In basic education,
grades are expressed as percentages (of accomplishment)
such as 80% or 75%. With the implementation of the K to 12
Basic Education curriculum, however, performance is
expressed in terms of level of proficiency. Whatever be the
system of grading adopted, it is clear that there appears to be
a need to convert raw score values into the corresponding
standard grading system.
8.1. Norm-Referenced Grading
Norm-referenced grading refers to a grading system wherein a
student's grade is placed in relation to the performance of a
group. Thus, in this system, a grade of 80 means that the
student performed better than or same as 80% of the class (or
group). At first glance, there appears to be no problem with
this type of grading system as it simply describes the
performance of a student with reference to a particular group
of learners.
In norm-referenced grading, the students, work individually,
are actually in competition to achieve a standard of
performance that will classify them into the desired grade
range. It essentially promotes competition among students or
pupils in the same class. A student or pupil who happens to
enroll in a class of gifted students in Mathematics will find that
the norm-referenced grading system is rather worrisome. For
example, a teacher may establish a grading policy whereby the
top 15 percent of students will receive a mark of excellent or
outstanding, which in a class of 100 enrolled students will be
15 persons. Such a grading policy is illustrated below:
1.0 (excellent) = Top 15% of class
1.50 (good) = Next 15 % of class
2.0 (averag,fair) =Next 45% of class
3.0 (poor,pass) = Next 15% of class
5.0 (failure) = Bottom 10% of class
The underlying assumption in norm-referenced grading is
that the students have abilities (as reflected in their raw
scores) that obey the normal distribution. The objective is to
find out the best performers in this group. Norm-referenced
systems are most often used for screening selected student
populations in conditions where it is known that not all
students can advance due to limitations such as available
places, jobs, or other controlling factors. For example, in the
Philippine setting, since not all high school students can
actually advance to college or university level because of
financial constraints, the norm- referenced grading system can
be applied.
Example: In a class of 100 students, the mean score in a test is

70 with a standard deviation of 5. Construct a norm- referenced
grading table that would have seven-grade scales and such that
students scoring between plus or minus one standard deviation
from the mean receives an average grade.
Solution: The following intervals of raw scores to grade equivalents are computed:
RAW SCORE GRADE EQUIVALENT PERCENTAGE
Below 55 Fail 1%
55-60 Marginal pass 4%
61-65 pass 11%
66-75 Average 68%
76-80 Above average 11%
81-85 Very good 4%
Above 85 Excellent 1%
Only a few of the teachers who use norm-referenced grading apply it with complete
consistency. When a teacher is faced with a particularly bright class, most of the time, he does
not penalize good students for having the bad luck to enroll in a class with a cohort of other
very capable students even if the grading system says he should fail a certain percentage of the
class. On the other hand, it is also unlikely that a teacher would reduce the mean grade for a
class when he observes a large proportion of poor performing students just to save them from
failure.
A serious problem with norm-referenced grading is that, no
matter what the class level of knowledge and ability, and no
matter how much they learn, a predictable proportion of
students will receive each grade. Since its essential purpose is
to sort students into categories based on relative
performance, norm- referenced grading and evaluation is
often used to weed out students for limited places in selective
educational programs.
Norm-referenced grading indeed promotes competition to the
extent that students would rather not help fellow students
because by doing so, the mean of the class would be raised
and consequently it would be more difficult to get higher
grades. Similarly, students would do everything (legal) to pull
down the scores of everyone else in order to lower the mean
and thus assure him/her of higher grades on the curve.
8.2. Criterion-Referenced Grading
Criterion-referenced grading systems are based on a fixed
criterion measure. There is a fixed target and the students must
achieve that target in order to obtain a passing grade in a course
regardless of how the other students in the class perform. The
scale does not change regardless of the quality, or lack thereof, of
the students.
Criterion-referenced systems are often used in situations

where the teachers are agreed on the meaning of a "standard of
performance" in a subject but the quality of the students is
unknown or uneven; where the work involves student
collaboration or teamwork; and where there is no external driving
factor such as needing to systematically reduce a pool of eligible
students.
Criterion-referenced systems is an ideal system to use in
collaborative group work. When students are evaluated based on
predefined criteria, they are freed to collaborate with one another
and with the instructor. With criterion-referenced grading, a rich
learning environment is to everyone's advantage, so students are
rewarded for finding ways to help each other, and for contributing
to class and small group discussions.
8.3. Four Questions in Grading
Marinila D. Svinicki (2007) of the Center for Teaching Effectiveness of the
University of Texas at Austin poses four intriguing questions relative to grading.
We reflect these questions here in this section and the corresponding opinion of
Ms. Svinicki for your own reflection:
1. Should grades reflect absolute achievement level or achievement relative to
others in the same class?
2. Should grades reflect achievement only or nonacademic components such as

attitude, speed and diligence?
3. Should grades report status achieved or amount of growth?
4. How can several grades on diverse skills combine to give a

single mark?
This is often referred to as the controversy between norm-

referenced versus criterion-referenced grading.
The system also assumes sufficient variability among student performances

that the difference in learning between them justifies giving different grades.
This may be true in large beginning classes, but is a shaky assumption where
the student population is homogeneous such as in upper division classes.
1. Should grades reflect absolute achievement level or achievement relative to
others in the same class?
This is often referred to as the controversy between norm- referenced versus

criterion-referenced grading. In norm-referenced grading systems the letter
grade a student receives is based on his or her standing in a class. A certain
percentage of those at the top receive A's, a specified percent of the next
highest grades receive B's and so on. Thus an outside person, looking at the
grades, can decide which student in that group performed best under those
circumstances. Such a system also takes into account circumstances beyond the
students' control which might adversely affect grades, such as poor teaching,
bad tests or unexpected problems arising for the entire class. Presumably, these
would affect all the students equally, so all performance would drop but the
relative standing would stay the same.

Grading Systems

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GRADING SYSTEMS

Assessment of student performance is essentially knowing

Example: In a class of 100 students, the mean score in a test is

Criterion-referenced systems are often used in situations

2. Should grades reflect achievement only or nonacademic components such as

4. How can several grades on diverse skills combine to give a

This is often referred to as the controversy between norm-

The system also assumes sufficient variability among student performances

This is often referred to as the controversy between norm- referenced versus

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