ERIC Number: EJ933571
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2011
Pages: 19
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-1380-3611
EISSN: N/A
What's in a Grade? The Multidimensional Nature of What Teacher-Assigned Grades Assess in High School
Bowers, Alex J.
Educational Research and Evaluation, v17 n3 p141-159 2011
Historically, teacher-assigned grades have been seen as unreliable subjective measures of academic knowledge, since grades and standardized tests have traditionally correlated at about the 0.5 to 0.6 level, and thus explain about 25-35% of each other. However, emerging literature indicates that grades may be a multidimensional assessment of both student academic knowledge and a student's ability to negotiate the social processes of schooling, such as behavior, participation, and effort. This study analyzed the high school transcript component of the Education Longitudinal Study of 2002 (ELS:2002) using multidimensional scaling (MDS) to describe the relationships between core subject grades, non-core subject grades, and standardized test scores in mathematics and reading. The results indicate that when accounting for the academic knowledge component assessed through standardized tests, teacher-assigned grades may be a useful assessment of a student's ability at the non-cognitive aspects of school. Implications for practice, research, and policy are discussed. (Contains 1 table and 2 figures.)
Descriptors: Grades (Scholastic), Standardized Tests, Reading Achievement, Multidimensional Scaling, Grading, Student Evaluation, Knowledge Level, Student Behavior, Student Participation, High School Students, Scores, Mathematics Achievement, Correlation, Core Curriculum, Longitudinal Studies, Language Arts, Science Instruction, Social Studies, Second Language Learning, Physical Education, Health Education, Art Education
Routledge. Available from: Taylor & Francis, Ltd. 325 Chestnut Street Suite 800, Philadelphia, PA 19106. Tel: 800-354-1420; Fax: 215-625-2940; Web site: http://www.tandf.co.uk/journals
Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: Grade 10; Grade 11; Grade 12; Grade 9; High Schools
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A