Evaluation
Evaluating is the act of judging the merits of a student's work. The teacher may evaluate how well a student has done in two basic ways: by comparison to other students (normative), or in relation to explicit performance criteria (criterion referenced or mastery). Each approach has advantages and disadvantages. Many teaches use a combination. One system or the other may be appropriate for a particular course. The teacher should make it clear to students and parents which type of evaluation is being used.
Every aspect of the student's evaluation should be clear to the student. Parents should also have access to this information. It is required that each student receive a copy of a "letter to parents" within the first two weeks of school or the semester course outlining the course, materials needed, grading, and class expectations. Established criteria for a letter grade must be presented to the class at the beginning of the year or semester. At parents conferences the teacher should be prepared to discuss grades and should bring his/her grade book. Most parent conferences are held to discuss student progress and evaluation.
The evaluative process should have some flexibility in it. Any evaluative criteria must be used in a positive manner, not for punitive purposes. The evaluation of students is affected by many factors and circumstances. It is anticipated the professional teacher's judgement will take precedence over any evaluative criteria. It is important that in the process of grading, students and parents know that they can discuss problems with the teacher. It is impossible to cover every contingency.
FEEDBACK
Feedback is the act of informing students how they are progressing toward the achievement of expected learning, by frequently describing, in specific terms, what the students have done correctly, what they need to do differently, and how they can improve their progress. Grades written at the top of papers and report card grades are usually summative, not formative. Students and parents need both. Most teachers provide feedback in the classroom with encouragement, monitoring, coaching, and correction in the course of a lesson. "In progress" evaluation also helps the teacher to gather data to judge progress and decide how to assist students who have not performed as well as expected.
MOTIVATION
Often grades are thought to motivate students. Grades can be motivators in two ways:
1. Grades motivate if they are rewards. If good grades are perceived as rewards - keys to good school, good jobs, and self-esteem. Since grades do not reward all students, they do not motivate all students.
2. Grades motivate only to the degree that they provide clear knowledge of results to students. A test paper returned two weeks later may have little meaning to a student.
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