Author ORCID Identifier

https://orcid.org/0009-0005-4121-9871

Document Type

Dissertation

Date of Award

2025

Degree Name

Doctor of Education (Ded)

Department

Curriculum & Instruction

First Advisor

Kevin Reins

Abstract

This dissertation examined the beliefs and perceptions of high school teachers and principals in two rural, Midwestern states to discover what they believed about the purpose and process of determining students’ grades. The aim of the research was to discover the discrepancies between stakeholders’ beliefs about grading and the implications of these discrepancies for policy and practice. A qualitative approach involving one focus group comprised of four principals, one focus group of four teachers, and two follow-up interviews with individual teachers was used to discover teachers’ and principal’s beliefs surrounding grades. Protocols included both direct questions and vignettes that allowed participants to reflect upon both their grading beliefs and practices. Four themes were ultimately constructed by the researcher: (a) grades as a record for accountability, (b) grades as a method of communication, (c) grades as an accurate measure of subject-specific knowledge, and (d) grades as a tool for raising human beings. Principals were found to view grades as measures of subject-specific content only and to be sensitive to the messages that grades communicated to diverse stakeholders, including parents, their community, other schools, and post-secondary institutions. Teachers viewed grades both as markers of subject-specific content knowledge as well as tools to incentivize and shape students’ effort and constructive behaviors. The research contributes to the ongoing debate surrounding grading reform and may potentially inform future policies that more accurately reflect the multifaceted purposes of grading in high school education.

Subject Categories

Education

Keywords

Assessment Case Study Grading High School Principals Teachers

Number of Pages

111

Publisher

University of South Dakota

Included in

Education Commons

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