What’s in a grade? A multiple perspective validity study on grading policies, practices, values, and consequences
Dr. Liying Cheng (Principal Investigator), together with Dr. Christopher DeLuca (Co-investigator), are investigating the validity of grades by examining the policies, practices, values and consequences of teacher constructed grades in Canada and China. This study is funded by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC) Insight Grant (2015-2020).
Blind Date with Knowledge on What’s in a Grade with Professor Cheng
What’s is in a grade?
Grading, the process of summating student achievement using a numerical or ordinal scale, is a complex evaluative practice that requires teachers to make judgments about student learning. Grades are used, most notably, to make public statements to students, parents, principals, and other educators about student achievement. Grading is one of the most high-stakes classroom assessment practices, with significant consequences for student self-perception, motivation for learning, prioritization of certain curriculum expectations, parental expectations, and social relationships.
Why is this study important?
Grades are often used as the high-stakes decision-making tool for accepting students into Canadian universities. However, grades are not constructed or valued consistently across contexts internationally. Understanding differences in the learning culture of grading within and across these two countries is important to enable valid interpretations of student achievement based on grades. Given the use of grades for student promotion, mobilization, and admission into educational programs internationally, the purpose of this study is to investigate the validity of grades by examining the policies, practices, values and consequences of teacher constructed grades in Canada and China.
Theoretical Framework
Given that this study focuses on the validity of grading within and across two distinct learning cultures–Canada and China–we draw on a contemporary validity framework that examines socio-cultural and contextual evidence related to grading policies, practices, values, and consequences. We integrate the perspectives of teachers, students, parents, and principals to understand the socio-cultural factors influencing the validity of grades within and across Canada and China.
Research Method
This study employs a sequential mixed-methods design, featuring multiple iterations of data collection and analysis with multiple participants over five years.
Project outline
Year 1: What are the historical and contemporary grading policies? Scoping policy review of national, provincial, and school district grading policies in Canada and in China
Year 2: How do teachers construct grades? Focus group interviews of elementary and secondary teachers' grading practices (in total, n =120 teachers in 20 schools)
Year 3: How do teachers, students, parents and principals interpret the learning values of grades? Survey of stakeholders' perceptions of grading values (in total n=20 schools: 1 principal, 30 teachers, 300 students and parents per school)
Year 4: What are the consequences of grade use on the students? Survey of consequences on students' motivation and learning (in total n=2000 students at Grade 6,9, and 12)
Year 5: What validity evidence supports alignment of grading policies, practices, values, and consequences? Construct dual validity arguments followed by cross-argument analysis to compare Canadian and Chinese grading contexts
Research Team
Cheng, Liying
Professor of Teaching English as a Second/Foreign Language
DeLuca, Christopher
Associate Professor of Classroom Assessment
Yan, Wei PhD
Braund, Heather PhD
Valiquette, Adelina PhD
Rubaiyat Jabeen PhD
Amir H. Rasooli PhD
David Baidoo-Anu PhD
Publications
- Cheng, L., DeLuca, C., Yan, W., Braund, H., & Rassoli, A. (2020). Teachers’ Grading Decisions and Practices across Cultures: Exploring the Value, Consistency, and Construction of Grades across Canadian and Chinese Secondary Schools. Studies in Educational Evaluation, 67 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.stueduc.2020.100928
- DeLuca, C., Cheng, L., & Volante, L. (2019). Grading across Canada: Policies, practices, and perils. The EdCan Network https://www.edcan.ca/articles/grading-across-canada/
- Cheng, L., DeLuca, C., Braund, H., & Yan, W. (2018). Grading policies in Canada and China: a comparative study. Comparative and International Education, 47(1). https://ir.lib.uwo.ca/cie-eci/vol47/iss1/5/
- Cheng, L., DeLuca, C., Yan, W., Braund, H., & Rasooli, A. (under review). Fairness of Teachers’ Grading Decisions and Practices in Canadian and Chinese Secondary Schools. Asia Pacific Journal of Education.
- DeLuca, C., Cheng, L., & Volante, L. (in press). Grading across Canada: Policies, Practices, and Perils. Education Canada. https://www.edcan.ca/
- Cheng, L., DeLuca, C., Braund, H., & Yan, W. (2018). Grading policies in Canada and China: a comparative study. Comparative and International Education, 47(1) https://ir.lib.uwo.ca/cie-eci/vol47/iss1/5/
- DeLuca, C., Braund, H., Valiquette, A., & Cheng, L. (2017). Grading policies and practices in Canada: A landscape study. Canadian Journal of Educational Administration and Policy, 184, 4-22.
- Cheng, L., Yan, W., Mei, Y., & DeLuca, C. (2017). Grading policies in China: Are we assessing the learner or the learning? Assessment Matters, 11, 6-31. http://dx.doi.org/10.18296/am.0022
- Cheng, L., & Sun, Y. (2015). Teachers’ grading decision making: Multiple influencing factors and methods. Language Assessment Quarterly, 12, 213–233.
- Sun, Y., & Cheng, L. (2014). Teachers’ grading practices: Meaning and values assigned. Assessment in Education: Principles, Policy & Practice, 21, 326–343.
Presentations
- DeLuca, C. & Cheng, L. (2021). Grading as a Cultural Practice: Implications for Student Mobility and High-stakes Decision (paper). More Than a Mark: Understanding the Social and Cultural Dimensions and Consequences of Grading. Symposium presented at the Virtual Annual Conference of American Educational Research Association (AERA)
- Yan, W., Cheng, L., Braund, H., & Rasooli, A. (2020, April). Grade Interpretation and Use: A Comparative Multiple Stakeholder Study. Paper presented at the annual conference of American Educational Research Association (AERA), San Francisco, USA. DeLuca, C., Cheng, L., Braund, H., Yan, W., Rassoli, A., & Jabeen, R. (2019, April). Fairness of Teachers’ Grading practices in Canadian and Chinse Secondary schools. Paper presented at the annual conference of American Educational Research Association (AERA), Toronto, Canada.
- Cheng, L., DeLuca, C., Braund, H., & Yan, W. (2018, May). A Comparative Study of Teachers’ Grading Practices in Canadian and Chinese Secondary Schools. Paper presented at the Canadian Society for the Study of Education, University of Regina, Regina, Saskatchewan.
- DeLuca, C., Braund, H., Valiquette, A., & Cheng, L. (2017). Grading policies and practices in Canada: A landscape study. Paper presented at the 2017 American Educational Research Association (AERA), San Antonio, TX.
- Zhou, C., DeLuca, C., & Cheng, L. (2017). Examining the alignment of grading policies. Paper resented at the 2017 Canadian Association of Language Assessment (CALA) Annual Symposium, Toronto, ON.
- Yan, W. & Cheng, L. (2017). Grades across educational systems: Interpreting and using grades for Canadian high school admission. Paper presented at the 2017 Canadian Educational Researchers’ Association- Canadian Society for the Study of Education 2017 (CERA-CSSE), Toronto, ON, Canada.
- Cheng L., DeLuca, C., Braund, H., Mei Y., Valiquette, A., Yan, W., & Xing, D. (2016). The learning value of grades? Exploring grading policies in Canada and China. Paper presented at the 2016 Canadian Educational Researchers’ Association- Canadian Society for the Study of Education (CERA-CSSE), Calgary, AB.
- Yan, W., Cheng, L., Mei, Y., & Xing, D. (2016). Demystifying the grading policies: International implications across educational systems. Poster presented at the 2016 Canadian Assessment for Learning Network (CAfLN), Kingston, ON.
- Liu, X., Yan, W., & Cheng, L. (2015). Understanding Grading Policies in East Asian Contexts. Paper presented at the 2015 Canadian Educational Researchers’ Association- Canadian Society for the Study of Education (CERA-CSSE), Ottawa, ON.
- Yan, W. & Liu, X. (2014). Grading in Asia: An Examination of Government and School Policies. Poster presented at the 2014 Annual Rosa Bruno-Jofré Symposium in Education (RBJSE), Kingston, ON.
Thesis & Presentations
- Zhou, C. (2015). Examining the alignment of grading policies in the Chinese education system (Unpublished master’s project). Queen’s University, Canada.
- Liu, X. (2013). Investigating Factors Influencing Grading Decision among Teachers of Chinese to Speakers of Other Languages (Unpublished master’s thesis). Queen’s University, Canada.