These articles represent part of the literature review I conducted during my doctoral research on the relationship between grading practices and student motivation. Just because I'm permanently residing in ABD-land doesn't mean you might put the work to better use! Not all represent peer-reviewed research, but views from the field can be very instructive. Where possible, I have linked to a version that you can download and use. Links embedded in the title of the citation will take you to the article abstract and ordering information.

 

 

 

Airasian, P.W. & Jones, A.M. (1993). The teacher as applied measurer: Realities of classroom measurement and assessment. Applied Measurement in Education, 6(3), 241-254.

 

Allen, J.D. (2005). Grades as valid measures of academic achievement of classroom learning. Clearing House, 78(5), 218-223. (PDF)

 

Barnes, L.L.B (1997). Development of the faculty beliefs about grades inventory. Educational and Psychological Measurement, 57(3), 459-468.

 

Black, P. & Wiliam, D. (1998). Inside the black box. Phi Delta Kappan, 80(2), 139-148. (PDF)

 

Black, P., Harrison, C., Lee, C., Marshall, B. & Wiliam, D. (2004). Working inside the black box: Assessment for learning in the classroom. Phi Delta Kappan, 86(1), 9-21. (PDF)

 

Bonnesronning, H. (2004). Do the teachers’ grading practices affect student achievement? Education Economics, 12(2), 151-167.

 

Bracey, G. (2000). Applesauce gets spicier. Phi Delta Kappan, 81(5), 408-409.

 

Brookhart, S.M. (1994). Teachers’ grading: Practice and theory. Applied Measurement in Education, 7(4), 279-301.

 

Broussard, S.C. & Garrison, M.E. (2004). The relationship between classroom motivation and academic achievement in elementary-school-aged children. Family and Consumer Sciences Research Journal, 33(2), 106-120.

 

Butler, R. (1987). Task-involving and ego-involving properties of evaluation: Effects of different feedback conditions on motivational perceptions, interest, and performance. Journal of Educational Psychology, 79(4), 474-482.

 

Carlson, L.A. (2003). Beyond assessment to best grading practice: Practical guidelines. In: Measuring Up: Assessment Issues for Teachers, Counselors, and Administrators. Retrieved from ERIC. (PDF)

 

Colby, S.A. (1999). Grading in a standards-based system. Educational Leadership, 56(6), 52-55.

 

Conway, M.A. (1992). Why is it that university grades do not predict very-long-term retention? Journal of Experimental Psychology, 121(3), 382-384.

 

Côté, J.E. & Levine, C.G. (2000). Attitude versus aptitude: Is intelligence or motivation more important for positive higher-educational outcomes? Journal of Adolescent Research, 15(1), 58-80.

 

Cross, L.H. & Frary, R.B. (1999). Hodgepodge grading: Endorsed by students and teachers alike. Applied Measurement in Education, 12(1), 53-72.

 

Gaultney, J.F. & Cann, A. (2001). Grade expectations. Teaching of Psychology, 28(2), 84-87.

 

Guskey, T.R. (2001). Helping standards make the grade. Educational Leadership, 59(1), 20-27. (HTML)

 

Jongsma, K.S. (1991). Rethinking grading practices (research to practice). The Reading Teacher, 45(4), 318-320.

                                                                                                                                         

Juvonen, J. & Murdock, T.B. (1995). Grade-level differences in the social value of effort: Implications for self-presentation tactics of early adolescents. Child Development, 66(6), 1694-1705.

 

Kain, D.L. (1996). Looking beneath the surface: Teacher collaboration through the lens of grading practices. Teachers College Record, 97(4), 569-587.

 

Kaplan, A. & Middleton, M.J. (2002). Should childhood be a journey or a race? Journal of Educational Psychology, 94(3), 646-648. (PDF)

 

Kohn, A. (1994). Grading: The issue is not how, but why. Educational Leadership, 52(2), 38-41. (doc)

 

Krampen, G. (1987). Differential effects of teacher comments. Journal of Educational Psychology, 79(2), 137-146.

 

Lanphear, J. (1999). In support of grading systems. Education for Health, 12(1), 79-83.

 

Lee, P.W. (1999). In their own voices: An ethnographic study of low-achieving students within the context of school reform. Urban Education, 34(2), 214-244.

 

London, H. (1996). Do our grading systems contribute to dumbing down? NASSP Bulletin, 80(5), 117-121.

 

MacIver, D. (1988.) Classroom environments and the stratification of pupils’ ability perceptions. Journal of Educational Psychology, 80(4), 495-505. (PDF)

 

McClure, J.E. & Spector, L.C. (2005). Plus/minus grading and motivation: An empirical study of student choice and performance. Assessment & Evaluation in Higher Education, 30(6), 571-579. (PDF)

 

McMillan, J.H. & Workman, D.J. (1998). Classroom Assessment and Grading Practices: A Review of the Literature. Richmond, VA: Metropolitan Educational Research Consortium. (PDF)

 

McMillan, J.H., Myran, S., & Workman, D. (2002). Elementary teachers’ classroom assessment and grading practices. The Journal of Educational Research, 95(4), 203-213.

 

Napoli, A.R. & Raymond, L.A. (2004). How reliable are our assessment data? A comparison of the reliability data produced in graded and ungraded conditions. Research in Higher Education, 45(8), 921-929. (PDF)

 

Nottingham, M. (1988). Grading practices: Watching out of the land mines. NASSP Bulletin, 72(507), 24-28.

 

Ornstein, A.C. (1994). Grading practices and policies: An overview and some suggestions. NASSP Bulletin, 78(561), 55-64.

 

Patterson, W. (2003). Breaking out of our boxes. Phi Delta Kappan, 84(8), 568-574.

 

Pintrich, P.R. & DeGroot, E.V. (1990). Motivational and self-regulated learning components of classroom academic performance. Journal of Educational Psychology, 82(1), 33-40. (PDF)

 

Reeves, D.B. (2000). Standards are not enough: Essential transformations for school success. NASSP Bulletin, 84(620), 5-19.

 

Roderick, M. & Engel, M. (2001). The grasshopper and the ant: Motivational responses of low-achieving students to high-stakes testing. Educational Evaluation and Policy Analysis, 23(3), 197-227.

 

Tomlinson, C.A. (2001). Grading for success. Educational Leadership, 58(6), 12-15.

 

Wiggins, G. (1988). Rational numbers: toward grading and scoring that help, rather than harm, learning. American Educator, 12(4), 20-25, 45-48.

 

Wiggins, G. (1992). Creating tests worth taking. Educational Leadership, 49(8), 26-33.

 

Wiggins, G. (1994). Toward better report cards. Educational Leadership, 52(2), 28-37.

 

Winger, T. (2005). Grading to communicate. Educational Leadership, 63(3), 61-65.

 

Wood, L.A. (1994). An unintended impact of one grading practice. Urban Education, 29(2), 188-201.

 

Wright, R.G. (1994). Success for all: The median is the key. Phi Delta Kappan, 75(9), 723-725.

 

Zimmerman, D. W. (1993). A note on the inadequacy of percentage grading scales for almost all ability distributions. Canadian Psychology, 34(2), 198-200.