GRADING SYSTEMS and the GRADING SYSTEM

of the DEPARTMENT of EDUCATION

Grading in education is the process of applying standardized measurements of varying levels

of achievement in a course.
Grades can be assigned in letters (for example, A, B, B+, B-, C, C-, D), as a seven-point in the
American system. 1, 1.25, 1.50, 1.75, 2.0, 2.5, 3.0 and 4.0 or an eight-point system, as letters are
replaced with numerical values in the Philippine colleges and universities. In basic education,
grades are expressed as percentages (of accomplishment) such as 80% or 75%. As a number out
of a possible total (for example out of 20 or 100), or as descriptors (excellent, great, satisfactory,
needs improvement).

8.1. Norm-Referenced Grading System

Norm-Referenced Grading System refers to a grading system wherein a student’s performance is
evaluated relatively to the performance of the other student.
Using the norm-ref. grading system, a student performance is evaluated relatively to the
performance of other student within the group.
Advantages
 It is very easy to use.
 It works well for the courses with retention policies and it limits only few students to
advance to the next level of the course.
 It is useful if the focus is the individual achievement of the students.
 It is appropriate to a large group of students that is, more than 40.
 The teacher easily identifies learning criteria – the percentage of students who receive
highest grade or lowest grade.
Disadvantages
 The performance of a student is not only determined by his achievement, but also the
achievement of the other students.
 It promotes competition among the students rather than cooperation.
 It cannot be used when the class size is smaller than 40.
 Not all the student can pass the given subject or course.
Norm-Referenced Grading System Example:
𝑀𝑁
1. Percentile rank Formula: L100
L-percentile, M-score, N-no. of observation
2. Standard nine (stanine) are some example of norm-reference grading system.
3. Mean Formula: ∑ 𝑥/𝑁
Example: Consider the following two sets of scores in an English 1 class for two sections of ten
students each:
A = { 30, 40, 50, 55, 60, 65, 70, 75, 80, 85 }
B = { 60, 65, 70, 75,80, 85, 90, 90, 95, 100 }

 Student in “A” class. Raw score of 75 would get a grade of 80%.

𝑀𝑁 75(10)
L100 = 100 = 7.5 or 8 observation “A”

 Student in “B” class. Raw score of 90 would get a grade of 80%.

𝑀𝑁 90(10)
L100 = 100 = 8.5 observation “B”

This example above illustrates one difficulty with using a norm-referenced grading system.
This problem is called the problem of equivalency. It is therefore known in advance what percent
of the students would pass or fail a given course.

In norm-referenced grading, the students, while they may work individually, are actually in
competition to achieve a standard of performances that will classify them into the desired grade
range.
Example: A teacher may establish a grading policy whereby the top 15% of students will receive
a mark of excellent or outstanding.
1.0 (Excellent) Top 15% of class
1.50 (Good) Next 15% of class
2.0 (Average, Fair) Next 45% of class
3.0 (Poor, Pass) Next 15% f class
5.0 (Failure) Bottom 10% of class

The objective for this is to find out the best performers in the 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, 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 scale.
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%

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.

8.2. Criterion-Referenced Grading System

The students’ performance is evaluated against a certain criteria or standard.
The criteria or standard is absolute in this grading system and it is also possible that all the student
may receive the highest possible grade or all of them may pass the said test.
It is also possible that all students may receive a failing grade if they will not reach the standard
set by the teacher.
Advantages
 The performance of the students will not be affected by the performance of the whole
class.
 It promotes cooperation among the students.
 All students may pass the subject or course when they meet the standard set by the
teacher.
Disadvantages
 It is difficult to set a reasonable standard if it is not stated in the grading policies of the
instruction.
 All students may not pass the subject or course when they do not meet the standard set
by the teacher or the institution.

For example: In a class of 100 students using the table below, no one get a grade of excellent if
no one scores 98 above or 85 above depending on the criterion used. There is no fixed percentage
of students who are expected to get the various grades in the criterion-referenced grading
system.
1.0 (Excellent) 98-100 or 85-100
1.5 (Good) 88-97 or 80-84
2.0 (Fair) 75-87 or 70-79
3.0 (Poor/Pass) 65-74 or 60-69
5.0 (Failure) Below 65 or below 60

Criterion-referenced grading 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.
What prevents teachers who use criterion-referenced grading from setting the performance
criteria so low that everyone can pass with ease?
First, the criterion should not be based on only one teacher’s opinion or standard.
Second, once the criterion is established, it must be made public.

8.3. Four Questions in Grading System

Marinila D. Svinicki (2007) of the Center for Teaching Effectiveness of the University of Texas
at Austin poses four intriguing questions relative to grading.
1. Should grades reflect absolute achievements level or achievement relative to others in the
same class?
2. Should grades reflect achievements 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?

8.4. What Should Go Into a Student’s Grade

The grading system an instructor selects reflects his or her educational philosophy. There are
no right or wrong systems, only systems which accomplish different objectives. The following are
questions which an instructor may want to answer when choosing what will go into a student’s
grade.
1. Should grades reflect absolute achievements 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.
 2. Should grades reflect achievements only or nonacademic components such as attitude,
speed and diligence?
It is a very common practice to incorporate such things as turning in assignments on
time in to overall grade in the course, primarily because the need to motivate students to
get their work done is a real problem for instructors.

3. Should grades report status achieved or amount of growth?

In many beginning classes, the background of the students is so varied that some
students can achieved the end objectives with little or no trouble while others with weak
backgrounds will work twice a hard and still achieved only half as much.

4. How can several grades on diverse skills combine to give a single mark?
The basic answers is that they can’t really. The results of instruction are so varied that
the single mark is really a “Rube Goldberg”, as a far as indicating what a students has
achieved. It would complicated an already complicated task. The “halo” effect of good
performance in one area could spill over into others. And finally, most outsider are looking
for only one overall classification of each person so that they can choose the “best”.

8.5. Standardized Test Scoring

Test Standardization is a process by which teacher or researcher-made tests are validated and
item analyzed. After a thorough process of validation, the test characteristics are established.
These characteristics include: test validity, test reliability, test difficulty level and other
characteristics as previously discussed.

8.6. Cumulative and Averaging System of Grading

Averaging System is the grade of student on a particular grading period equals the average of
the grades obtained in the prior grading periods and the current grading period.
Cumulative Grading System is the grade of a student in a grading period equals his current
grading period grade which is assumed to have the cumulative effects of the previous grading
periods.

Discussant: Jenifer Q. Rulete