In-Service Teachers' Grading Beliefs

• In Event: Roundtable Session 31
  In Roundtable Session: Teachers' Beliefs About and Uses of Assessment

Abstract

The purposes of this study were to (1) update and validate an existing measure of teachers’ grading beliefs—the Survey of Grading Beliefs (SGB), which we previously used to study preservice teachers—to study 203 inservice teachers; (2) to further examine one grading belief factor, “academic enabling, pulling for students or success bias,” which has been well documented in grading literature. To understand the reasoning and strategic thinking behind this belief, which is held by many teachers, we used a mixed-method design and found the SGB to contain 3 factors aligned with the literature (authors, 2009). The qualitative analysis showed teachers’ interpretations of “academic enabling” grading practices to involve more of strategic decision making than its label might suggest.

Authors

• Peggy P. Chen, Hunter College - CUNY

• Sarah M. Bonner, Hunter College - CUNY