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https://cft.vanderbilt.edu/guides-sub-pages/grading-student-work/

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What Purposes Do Grades Serve?

Barbara Walvoord and Virginia Anderson identify the multiple roles that grades serve:

as an evaluation of student work;

as a means of communicating to students, parents, graduate schools, professional schools, and future employers about a student's performance in college and potential for further success;

as a source of motivation to students for continued learning and improvement;

as a means of organizing a lesson, a unit, or a semester in that grades mark transitions in a course and bring closure to it.

Additionally, grading provides students with feedback on their own learning, clarifying for them what they understand, what they don't understand, and where they can improve. Grading also provides feedback to instructors on their students' learning, information that can inform future teaching decisions.

Why is grading often a challenge? Because grades are used as evaluations of student work, it's important that grades accurately reflect the quality of student work and that student work is graded fairly. Grading with accuracy and fairness can take a lot of time, which is often in short supply for college instructors. Students who aren't satisfied with their grades can sometimes protest their grades in ways that cause headaches for instructors. Also, some instructors find that their students' focus or even their own focus on assigning numbers to student work gets in the way of promoting actual learning.

Given all that grades do and represent, it's no surprise that they are a source of anxiety for students and that grading is often a stressful process for instructors.

Incorporating the strategies below will not eliminate the stress of grading for instructors, but it will decrease that stress and make the process of grading seem less arbitrary - to instructors and students alike.

Source: Walvoord, B. & V. Anderson (1998). Effective Grading: A Tool for Learning and Assessment . San Francisco : Jossey-Bass.

Developing Grading Criteria

Consider the different kinds of work you'll ask students to do for your course. This work might include: quizzes, examinations, lab reports, essays, class participation, and oral presentations.

For the work that's most significant to you and/or will carry the most weight, identify what's most important to you. Is it clarity? Creativity? Rigor? Thoroughness? Precision? Demonstration of knowledge? Critical inquiry?

Transform the characteristics you've identified into grading criteria for the work most significant to you, distinguishing excellent work (A-level) from very good (B-level), fair to good (C-level), poor (D-level), and unacceptable work.

Developing criteria may seem like a lot of work, but having clear criteria can

save time in the grading process

make that process more consistent and fair

communicate your expectations to students

help you to decide what and how to teach

help students understand how their work is graded

Sample criteria are available via the following link.

Making Grading More Efficient

Create assignments that have clear goals and criteria for assessment. The better students understand what you're asking them to do the more likely they'll do it!

Use different grading scales for different assignments. Grading scales include:

letter grades with pluses and minuses (for papers, essays, essay exams, etc.)

100-point numerical scale (for exams, certain types of projects, etc.)

check +, check, check- (for quizzes, homework, response papers, quick reports or presentations, etc.)

pass-fail or credit-no-credit (for preparatory work)

Limit your comments or notations to those your students can use for further learning or improvement.

Spend more time on guiding students in the process of doing work than on grading it.

For each significant assignment, establish a grading schedule and stick to it.

Light Grading - Bear in mind that not every piece of student work may need your full attention. Sometimes it's sufficient to grade student work on a simplified scale (minus / check / check-plus or even zero points / one point) to motivate them to engage in the work you want them to do. In particular, if you have students do some small assignment before class, you might not need to give them much feedback on that assignment if you're going to discuss it in class.

Multiple-Choice Questions - These are easy to grade but can be challenging to write. Look for common student misconceptions and misunderstandings you can use to construct answer choices for your multiple-choice questions, perhaps by looking for patterns in student responses to past open-ended questions. And while multiple-choice questions are great for assessing recall of factual information, they can also work well to assess conceptual understanding and applications.

Test Corrections - Giving students points back for test corrections motivates them to learn from their mistakes, which can be critical in a course in which the material on one test is important for understanding material later in the term. Moreover, test corrections can actually save time grading, since grading the test the first time requires less feedback to students and grading the corrections often goes quickly because the student responses are mostly correct.

Spreadsheets - Many instructors use spreadsheets (e.g. Excel) to keep track of student grades. A spreadsheet program can automate most or all of the calculations you might need to perform to compute student grades. A grading spreadsheet can also reveal informative patterns in student grades. To learn a few tips and tricks for using Excel as a gradebook take a look at this sample Excel gradebook.

Providing Meaningful Feedback to Students

Use your comments to teach rather than to justify your grade, focusing on what you'd most like students to address in future work.

Link your comments and feedback to the goals for an assignment.

Comment primarily on patterns - representative strengths and weaknesses.

Avoid over-commenting or "picking apart" students' work.

In your final comments, ask questions that will guide further inquiry by students rather than provide answers for them.

Maintaining Grading Consistency in Multi-sectioned Courses (for course heads)

Communicate your grading policies, standards, and criteria to teaching assistants, graders, and students in your course.

Discuss your expectations about all facets of grading (criteria, timeliness, consistency, grade disputes, etc) with your teaching assistants and graders.

Encourage teaching assistants and graders to share grading concerns and questions with you.

Use an appropriate group grading strategy:

have teaching assistants grade assignments for students not in their section or lab to curb favoritism (N.B. this strategy puts the emphasis on the evaluative, rather than the teaching, function of grading);

have each section of an exam graded by only one teaching assistant or grader to ensure consistency across the board;

have teaching assistants and graders grade student work at the same time in the same place so they can compare their grades on certain sections and arrive at consensus.

Minimizing Student Complaints about Grading

Include your grading policies, procedures, and standards in your syllabus.

Avoid modifying your policies, including those on late work, once you've communicated them to students.

Distribute your grading criteria to students at the beginning of the term and remind them of the relevant criteria when assigning and returning work.

Keep in-class discussion of grades to a minimum, focusing rather on course learning goals.

For a comprehensive look at grading, see the chapter "Grading Practices" from Barbara Gross Davis's Tools for Teaching.

This teaching guide is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.

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Print Version What Purposes Do Grades Serve? Developing Grading Criteria Making Grading More Efficient Providing Meaningful Feedback to Students Maintaining Grading Consistency in Multi-Sectioned Courses Minimizing Student Complaints about Grading What Purposes Do Grades Serve? Barbara Walvoord and Virginia Anderson identify the multiple roles that grades serve: as an evaluation of student work; as a means of...

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https://www.edutopia.org/assessment-guide-description

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Edutopia is a free source of information, inspiration, and practical strategies for learning and teaching in preK-12 education. We are published by the George Lucas Educational Foundation, a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization.

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Article: 7 ways to asses without testing

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Article: 7 ways to asses without testing

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https://www.teachthought.com/pedagogy/7-easy-ways-to-assess-without-testing/

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contributed by Steve Wheeler, Learning Innovations Consultant

Children don't learn any more or any better because of standardized testing unless there is feedback on how they can improve.

But SATs seem to be the weapon of choice for many governments across the globe. It seems that little else matters but the metrics by which our political masters judge our schools. At a recent head teachers conference, one of the most astute comments was 'you can assess without testing.' There are many ways to assess, and here are seven:
7 Easy Ways To Assess Without Testing 1. Teacher Assessment
Questioning is an old, tried and tested method where teachers check children's understanding. The questioning must be appropriate, and timely, however. A well-timed question can reveal how developed children's understanding is, and what needs to be done to help them to reach a particular standard.

Another method is teacher assessment is through observation. This has been used for centuries and is great for ascertaining how well a child has mastered a particular skill, whether they are disengaged or are on task, and how well they are integrating into the social context of learning.
2. Show & Tell
When children get the chance to present something to the rest of their class, they often grab it with both hands.

If they are passionate about a topic, they will show how much they have learned from what they present and how they present it. Show and tell also encourages children to think about their learning, and makes them more aware of how they have learned it. Most importantly, show and tell helps children to develop their articulation and explanation skills (speaking and listening).
3. Personal Development Plans
Teachers can work with individual students to agree on what they wish to achieve. This is often connected to their passions and keen interests and can be instrumental in shaping their future careers. This is a very personalized form of self-assessment, which can be facilitated by the teacher as an informal method of assessment. It indicates how well students are progressing in a range of subjects, but ultimately is about their readiness to take up responsible positions in society.
4. ePortfolios/Digital Portfolios
This is clearly a digital age assessment tool, allowing students to build their own personal profiles, develop a CV, showcase their achievements and generally develop their presentation skills using a set of digital tools. This goes hand in hand with number 3, enabling students to apply their learning with a view on their future employment. Most e-portfolios have a setting that allows students to share their learning and qualifications with others such as potential employers when required.
5. Games
There is an increasing number of games that can showcase children's learning, especially in some of the core subjects such as numeracy, science, and literacy. Although games are generally fun and can be competitive, the key aspect of playing the game is that children can develop reasoning and problem-solving skills which are demonstrated in the levels they reach and the points they score.
6. Authentic Challenges and Real-World Tasks
My own students showcase their learning through making videos or writing blogs. The feedback is informal, and the learning is variable, but such activities can clearly lock into the demands of future work. Some of my students are given the chance to speak publicly, either at Teachmeets run by their own Education Society, or at other events nationally, and even internationally such as conferences.
7. Project-Based Learning
This can take many different forms, depending on what most interests the student. Some projects can run for a term, or even an entire academic year. Students develop a number of organizational skills such as resource and time management, and if the project is collaborative, can also lead to building negotiation, decision making, and leadership skills.

There are many other ways to assess without testing. Your comments are very welcome!
7 ways to assess without testing was written in Plymouth, England and is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License

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7 Easy Ways To Assess Without Testing contributed by Steve Wheeler, Learning Innovations Consultant Children don't learn any more or any better because of standardized testing unless there is feedback on how they can improve. But SATs seem to be the weapon of choice for many governments across the globe.

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_WDfT46nijA

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Formal vs  Informal Assessment & Examples

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Rubric templates!

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A grading rubric template is a type of tool used for assessment. You can use it to express your expectations regarding the work of your students. In it, you'll define what you will assess. You'll also describe the criteria for how you will evaluate their work.

You can use this template to articulate what excellent work looks like. This would also help your students understand what they should work on.

It takes a lot of time and effort to create a superior rubric template. You can make one on your own or download a blank rubric template from here. The important thing is that you first decide what criteria you'll include in it.

Using rubrics will make it easier for you to assess the work of your students. With it, you can easily determine where your students excelled and where they need help. Although these templates are very convenient and effective, making them is another story.

If you make a template from scratch, you'd need a lot of time and effort. But once you've made or downloaded a template, your work becomes easier.

Rubric Templates

Where can you use rubric templates?

Teaching is one of the noblest professions in the whole world. But this job isn't for everyone. It involves a lot of patience, determination, time-management skills, and so much more. Although it's a highly fulfilling profession, there are times when it can be difficult.

As time goes by, curriculum change and methods for teaching are constantly revised. One effective method which teachers follow these days is the rubric method. This is a way to teach and assess the work of students easily and efficiently.

Grading rubric templates are quite popular with teachers. They can help teachers conduct an assessment of their student's work and performance. But you can also use such templates in different ways, not just for teaching. You can use such templates for:

Assessments

Basic analytics

Blank scoring

Courses

Decision-making

General math

Grading

Group activity projects

High school project presentations

Infographics

Interviews

Job interview scoring

Math

Math projects

Other alternate uses of templates are as follows:

Poster Grading

Projects

Project-based learning

Research papers

Research project presentations

Resume grading

Science project

Scoring guide

Standard evaluations

Student teaching portfolios

Teachers

Writing assignment grading

These are just some examples of how and where you can use such templates. A blank rubric template is a very useful tool which can make your life easier. If you're a teacher and you haven't even tried using such template, you should consider it.

Although it's time-consuming to make, using it will save time in the long-run. Besides, if you don't want to make the template yourself, you can download one from here.

Grading Rubric Templates

Basic components of a rubric template

In its simplest definition, a rubric is a tool for scoring. You use it to describe your performance expectations for a piece of work, a task or an assignment. The basic components of a rubric include:

The criteria which you'll use for the assessment. You need to describe all the aspects of performance you will grade your students on. You can also present the criteria as the objectives of the task that you'll evaluate.

Descriptors or words which will establish the effectiveness of your expectations. You need to identify the characteristics associated with your criteria. Do this by using the descriptors.

Also, include the performance levels. Present this as a rating or a scale which has 3-4 or even more qualifiers. You can use this scale to identify the level of mastery of your students. You'll give them a rating for each of your criterion.

You can use rubrics to give feedback to your students regarding their performance. It's a tool you can use for grading projects, papers, presentations, and more. Along with these basic components, you can also add other information.

Just make sure not to complicate the template too much. Otherwise, it won't be as easy to use as a basic rubric template.

Blank Rubric Templates

Advantages of using rubric templates

Aside from being very easy to use, rubrics also have other advantages. Their simplicity makes them very appealing. Using such templates would allow you to evaluate your students' performance. You can do this with much efficiency and ease. Here are some advantages of using rubrics:

Use them in analyses
Such templates can provide you with diagnostic information. In turn, you can provide your students with formative feedback. You can link the rubrics to the instructions for work easily.
When you use the rubrics for analyses, you'll be able to come up with a formative assessment. But with it, you can also come up with a summative assessment. Do this if you need to grade using your students' overall score.

They're holistic
When you use rubrics, you can perform scoring and assessment quicker. You won't need much time to use and understand the templates once you've filled them up.

They can be general or task-specific
Rubrics are very versatile. You can share them with your students. Do this to explain your instructions and your assessment methods. You can use the same blank rubric template for different assignments or tasks.
All you need to do is modify the criteria and other information.
You can also use the templates to ask your students to evaluate themselves. Also, you can even ask your students to help you construct your template. No matter how you plan to make or use the rubric, you'll definitely benefit from it.

Aside from these advantages, there are more for you to enjoy. A well-designed template can offer a lot of benefits to teachers. They can help you to:

1. Reduce the time you spend grading your students. You can do this by referring to the descriptors and the scale so you don't need to write long comments.

2. Help you identify your students' strengths and weaknesses clearly. Once you've done that, you can adjust your lessons or teaching methods appropriately.

3. Make sure that you're consistent across time and graders.

4. Reduce any uncertainty which can potentially come with grading.

5. Discourage any complaints about your students' grades.

6. Let your students understand your standards and expectations.

7. Give your students proper feedback.

8. Keep track of and evaluate the progress of your students. You can do this as they work towards the goals you've set for them.

As we've mentioned earlier, a lot of teachers are now using rubrics. They use it to communicate their expectations to their students. As a teacher, you can use the template to give your students feedback. Give them information on how they're progressing with their work. You can also use it to come up with your students' final grades.

Project Rubric Templates

Tips for creating a rubric template

A grading rubric template includes the criteria you will use to assess a specific task. This can be anything from writing a paper to giving an oral presentation, and more. Rubrics permit teachers to convey their expectations to students.

You can also use them to track the progress of a student from the start of the task to the end of it. It provides a reliability of grades which is why students appreciate them too. Here are some tips to guide you when you're creating a template for yourself:

Establish the purpose and goal of the task you'll evaluate
Before you start creating your rubric, you should establish the purpose and goal of a task. Go through the learning outcomes associated with the task you're planning to evaluate.
The template you create can only work effectively if you set clear goals. In doing this, you can monitor your students' progress as they work towards those goals.

Determine the type of rubric you will use
We've gone through some common uses of rubrics. This means that there are different types of templates you can create. Again, before you start, determine which type of rubric you will use for your assessment.
The type to use may depend on some factors. These include your intended learning outcomes and the nature of the task. Also, consider the kind and the amount of feedback you will give your students.

Establish your criteria
In order to do this, you must go through your learning outcomes again. Also, review the assessment parameters so you can determine the criteria to use. Think about the skills and knowledge your students will need to complete the task.
Come up with a list of criteria to evaluate outcomes across varying criteria. Make sure your criteria are distinct and clearly explained. Ideally, you shouldn't write more than 7 different criteria.

Establish the rating scale to measure the performance levels
The next thing to do is establish your rating scale. No matter what kind of scale you use, make sure it's clear and it can measure performance levels well.
Decide whether your scale will only have numerical values or descriptors as well. Usually, rubrics have 3-5 different levels in their rating scales.

Write the descriptions for each of your performance levels of your rating scale
When you're making your performance levels, include a descriptive paragraph for each. It should outline the expectations for the level.
You can also include an example of the ideal performance within the level. Create parallel, measurable, and observable descriptions throughout your template.

Test and revise your rubric if needed
Before you use your rubric with your students, you should test it first. Arrange for testing conditions. Perform this with a number of graders who can use your template together.
After they grade using your template, allow them to grade using a similar tool. Do this to ensure consistency and accuracy of the template you made.
After the testing, search for any discrepancies between the 2 grading tools. If there aren't any, then your template is quite accurate. Now you can share it (along with the testing results) with your colleagues.
Ask them to assess your template and give their opinions. If they give you any helpful suggestions for modification, use them.
You may also compare your template with templates your colleagues use. All these testing and modifying procedures are very important. Perform them to ensure the effectiveness of your own template.

Typically, your template should fit into a single page. This is ideal so you can quickly see all the criteria and descriptions. If you have a rubric with a lot of pages, you'd have to search through them to find the information you're looking for.

This would reduce its efficiency. Therefore, you should plan the template well so you can construct it well too.

Using your rubrics template

A grading rubric template is an excellent tool for assessment. We've gone through the different advantages of such templates. You can definitely benefit a lot from using them. If it's your first time to use rubrics, these pointers may help you out:

When using a rubric, you don't have to write long comments for each of your students.

If your student needs feedback regarding his/her performance, refer to your template.

Learn how to use the template properly. Do this so you don't have to feel uncertainty when grading your students' performances.

Use different templates for different tasks or assignments. Although it may take time to create a template, you can keep on using it. When you need a new one, simply revise your blank rubric template then use it.

You can also download a template here to save yourself time and effort.

When you assign your students to a task or project, you can give them a copy of the rubric. This way, they will have an idea of how you'll evaluate their performance.

You can use the rubric to save time and effort. All you need to do is give your students grades according to your criteria and rating scale.

Open your mind to the possibility of having to revise your template. If you discover that it doesn't work, you need to make the necessary changes. Do this so you can get the most out of your rubric template.

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46 Editable Rubric Templates (Word Format) - Template Lab

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A grading rubric template is a type of tool used for assessment. You can use it to express your expectations regarding the work of your students. In it, you'll define what you will assess. You'll also describe the criteria for how you will evaluate their work.