Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Identifier

4782

Date

2016

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Education

Major

Leadership and Policy Studies

Concentration

Educational Leadership

Committee Chair

Reginald Leon Green

Committee Member

Louis Franceschini

Committee Member

Charisse Gulosino

Committee Member

Mary Keller Boudreaux

Abstract

The literature reveals a century-long acknowledgement of inconsistency within the grading process. Although scholars and practitioners ackowledge this inconsistency, teachers' subjective judgements continue to be a large factor when determining students' grades. The literature also highlights practitioners' lack of voice regarding the subject of grades. Through the use of surveys given to K-12 public educators, this research attempts to give voice to these practitioners.This research examined teachers' perceptions of their classroom grading practices. The researcher was interested in analyzing the relationships between effective teachers' thoughts on classroom assessment. Comparisons were made about teachers' on factors such as teacher effectiveness, training, and years of experience. Approximately 240 teachers were surveyed concerning their perceptions of prevailing grading practices.Data identifying teachers' perceptions of the prevailing grading practice have been securely collected, studied, and analyzed. The data has been analyzed using Pearson's Chi-Square Goodnees-of-Fit test. The Pearson's Chi-Square Goodness-of-Fit test compares an anticipated frequency to an actual frequency. In order to calculate chi-square goodness-of-fit, the researcher must develop the null hypothesis in which no statistical significance exists. The researcher must also determine a significance level, in this case 0.5, to determine if there are any data that render statistically significant results for an alternate hypothesis.The results of interest have been divided into three sections: highly effective teachers, formal assessments, and effort in grading.Highly effective teachers believe that students' grades are a reflection of their own instructional effectiveness. These results are similar to the Irreplaceables study conducted in 2012.Formal assessment training made no discernible difference in teachers' perception of grading. These results are interesting and highlight that higher education curriculum might not have the impact to affect change needed to the grading process.The majority of participants (79.8%) surveyed tended to agree with the fact that they considered student effort when grading. Researchers have argued that this is a questionable practice. They cite the fact that the perception of student effort is difficult to measure and varies from teacher to teacher.

Comments

Data is provided by the student.

Library Comment

Dissertation or thesis originally submitted to the local University of Memphis Electronic Theses & dissertation (ETD) Repository.

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