Grading with points: The determination of report card grades by high school science teachers

School Science and Mathematics, Mar 1998 by Feldman, Allan, Alibrandi, Marsha, Kropf, Aaron

The second instrument was a semistructured interview schedule that was employed to probe teachers' use of point systems, a type of grade determination mechanism appearing in significant numbers in the responses to Section 4 of the survey instrument. The interview protocol solicited information from the teachers on how long they had been using point systems, what the advantages and disadvantages of using point systems were, how students accumulated points, and whether they perceived that students understood points as rewards for completing school work or homework, being on-task, or behaving properly in class. Teachers were also given the opportunity to respond freely about their use of point systems.

Sample

The sample of teachers came from the population of high school teachers in the three counties surrounding the University of Massachusetts Amherst. These counties include urban, suburban, and rural school districts. The science department chairperson or other appropriate administrator in each of the 45 high schools in the region was contacted by mail to see whether the science teachers in their school would participate in the study. Fifteen schools agreed to participate: 3 urban, 7 suburban, and 5 rural schools. Several of the rural districts included old mill towns with high unemployment and, therefore, significant numbers of "rural poor."

The resulting sample consisted of 91 high school science teachers who completed 110 survey forms. Forty-three percent of the teachers were women (n = 39), and 57% were men (n = 52). Most of the teachers in the sample were highly experienced: 82% had more than 5 years experience (n = 75), while only three were in their first year of practice. The sample of teachers also varied according to the science subject taught: 30% biology, 16% chemistry, 12% physics, 10% earth science, and 32% other (including physical science, life science, environmental science, health, and math). When the surveys were analyzed, it was determined that 33 teachers used some form of point system. Seventeen of them had indicated on the survey that they would be willing to be interviewed. Because of a variety of contingencies, only 12 of this group were interviewed.

Data Analysis

Microsoft Excel (1995) software was used to analyze data from the multiple-choice survey questions, using standard descriptive and inferential statistical procedures. Initial data analysis indicated that t-tests and chi-square analyses could be used for testing of inferences. Twelve of the teachers who reported using point systems in the survey were interviewed about why they began to use them, how long they have used them, why they use them, and what effects the point systems may have on their students. The interview data was analyzed by reading through it several times to identify categories with which to describe it. Categories were derived inductively from the data, following the methods of the development of grounded theory (Strauss & Corbin, 1990). After transcribing the audiotaped interviews, the data were read through to look for comments the teachers made in response to questions about their grading practices. The data were then reread and coded to the emergent categories. Following the work of Miles and Huberman (1984), summarizing tables were used to display the results of the coding and to arrive at the findings discussed below.