Lesson 9: Grading and Reporting of Test Results PDF

# Lesson 9: Grading and Reporting of Test Results ## Suggested Timeframe: 6 hours **How should you assign grades and communicate their meaning?** ## Understand ### Desired Significant Learning Outcomes In this lesson, you are expected to learn how to: - assess and communicate learners' level o...

# Lesson 9: Grading and Reporting of Test Results ## Suggested Timeframe: 6 hours **How should you assign grades and communicate their meaning?** ## Understand ### Desired Significant Learning Outcomes In this lesson, you are expected to learn how to: - assess and communicate learners' level of achievement and performance through fair, accurate, and meaningful grading and reporting methods. ## Significant Culminating Performance Task and Success Indicators At the end of the lesson, you should be able to demonstrate your knowledge and skills in grading and reporting learners' level of performance or achievement. You are considered successful in this culminating performance task if you have satisfied the following indicators of success: | Performance Tasks | Success Indicators | | ------------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | | Assigning Grades | - Identify the different methods of scoring/grading test results. | | | - Assign grades that correspond to test scores to report learners' level of performance and achievement. | | Reporting Level of Performance & Achievement | - Report test performance and progress using different test scores. | ## Prerequisite of This Lesson Grading and reporting learners' test performance is a complex task and requires specific knowledge, skills, and experience. To perform successfully above culminating performance tasks, you should be able to understand the purpose of assigning grades, identify different methods of scoring and grading test results, differentiate the various types of test scores, and interpret test results based on norms and preset standards. ## Prepare Grading and reporting are fundamental elements in the teaching-learning process. Assignment of grades represents the teacher's assessment of the learners' performance on the tests and on the desired learning outcomes as a whole. As such, it is important that the bases and criteria for grading (i.e., scoring) and reporting test results are clearly established and articulated from the very start of the course. Besides, grades are symbolic representations that summarize the quality of learner's work and level of achievement. Teachers should ensure that grading and reporting of learners' test results are meaningful, fair, and accurate. To learn how to assign grades and report learners' test performance in a meaningful and effective manner, it is important that you review your prior knowledge and experiences, as well as the standards or policies used by your institution in grading and reporting learners' performance in the test and the course as a whole. You may also need to read books and other references on the topics to validate your a priori knowledge and to enhance further your knowledge and skills. ## What are the purposes of grading and reporting learners' test performance? There are various reasons why we assign grades and report learners' test performance. Grades are alphabetical or numerical symbols/marks that indicate the degree to which learners are able to achieve the intended learning outcomes. Grades do not exist in a vacuum but are part of the instructional process and serve as a feedback loop between the teacher and learners. They are one of the ways to communicate the level of learning of the learners in specific course content. They give feedback on what specific topic/s learners have mastered and what they need to focus more when they review for summative assessment or final exams. In a way, grades serve as a motivator for learners to study and do better in the next tests to maintain or improve their final grade. Grades also give the parents, who have the greatest stake in learners' education, information about their children's achievements. They provide teachers some bases for improving their teaching and learning practices and for identifying learners who need further educational intervention. They are also useful to school administrators who want to evaluate the effectiveness of the instructional programs in developing the needed skills and competencies of the learners. ## What are the different methods in scoring tests or performance tasks? There are various ways to score and grade results in multiple-choice tests. Traditionally, the two most commonly used scoring methods are number right scoring (NR) and negative marking (NM). ### Number Right Scoring (NR) Number Right Scoring (NR) entails assigning positive values only to correct answers while giving a score of zero to incorrect answers. The test score is the sum of the scores for correct responses. One major concern with this scoring method is that learners may get the correct answer by guessing; thus, affecting the test reliability and validity. **Example:** Solve for 3(X+8)-(X-12) = -28 a. X = 32 b. X=8 c. X = -8 d. X = -32 For the above item, the correct answer is **d (X = -32)** and this will merit a score. Responses other than d will be given zero (0) point. ### Negative Marking (NM) Negative Marking (NM) entails assigning positive values to correct answers while punishing the learners for incorrect responses (i.e., right-minus-wrong correcting method). In this model, a fraction of the number of wrong answers is subtracted from the number of correct answers. Other models for this type of scoring method include (1) giving a positive score to correct answer while assigning no mark for omitted items and (2) rewarding learners for not guessing by awarding points rather than penalizing learners for incorrect answers. The recommended penalty for an incorrect answer is 1/(n - 1), where n stands for the number of choices. For the above item, scoring will be as follows: Learners who chose letter **d** will be given a score, those who left the item unanswered will be given a zero (0) point, and those who chose **a, b, c**, or **e** will get a negative score. The total score is then computed by adding the scores (e.g., 1, 0, -0.25) across all items. For example, in a 10-item test, if a learner got six items correct, two items wrong, and left two items unanswered, then the total score is 5.5 (see below). | Item # | Score | | ------ | ----- | | 1 | 1 | | 2 | 0 | | 3 | -0.25 | | 4 | 1 | | 5 | 1 | | 6 | 0 | | 7 | -0.25 | | 8 | 1 | | 9 | 1 | | 10 | 1 | | **Total** | **5.5** | Both NR and NM methods of scoring multiple-choice tests are prone to guessing, which affect test validity and reliability. As a result, nonconventional scoring methods were introduced, which include: (1) Partial Credit Scoring Methods, (2) Multiple Answers Scoring Method, (3) Retrospective correcting for Guessing, and (4) Standard Setting Scoring Method. ### Partial Credit Scoring Methods Partial Credit Scoring Methods attempt to determine a learner's degree of level of knowledge with respect to each response option given. This method of scoring takes into account partial knowledge mastery of learners. It acknowledges that, while learners cannot always recognize the correct response, they can discern that some response options are clearly incorrect. There are three formats of partial credit scoring method: - **Liberal Multiple-Choice Test** - It allows learners to select more than one answer to a question if they feel uncertain which option or alternative is correct. - **Elimination Testing (ET)** - It instructs learners to cross out all alternatives they consider to be incorrect. - **Confidence Weighting (CW)** - It asks learners to indicate what they believe is the correct answer and how confident they are about their choice. For this type of scoring, an item can be assigned different scores, depending on the learners' response. This can be illustrated by one item below: **e.g,** Linda obtained a score of 55% in her Reading Test. What does her score mean? Justify your answer. a. Linda got 55% of the test items correct. b. Linda was able to answer correctly more than half of the items. c. Linda obtained a raw score lower than those obtained by 55% of his peers. d. If the test has 60 items, Linda would probably have 33 correct answers. For this item, each response option has an assigned score with its corresponding rationale. An example of how the item can be scored is shown below: | Options | Points | Rationale | | -------- | ------ | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | | a | 3 | Since the score was presented in percent, this is the correct interpretation. | | b | 1 | While the interpretation may be correct, it does not give a more specific meaning to the score. Besides, the same interpretation can also be applicable to scores higher than 51%. | | c | 0 | This interpretation is wrong as this interpretation is applicable to a score of 55th percentile rank. | | d | 2 | This interpretation gives an example how the score was computed. |