Grade Assignment Based on Progressive Improvement

Abstract

The NCTM's Curriculum and Evaluation Standards for School Mathematics states, “Evaluation is a tool for implementing the Standards and effecting change systematically” (1989, 189). Tests are one facet of evaluation, and we maintain that mathematics classes are strongly affected by the way in which test scores are used to generate final course grades. In the traditional secondary school mathematics class, current grading practices tend to drive instruction by putting constraints on specific course content and its organization. In turn, content and its organization affect testing and therefore grading. The interaction of these factors is an aspect of assessment that is not specifically discussed by the NCTM's evaluation standards. The purpose of this article is to examine the impact of grading on mathematics instruction and on the implementation of the curriculum and evaluations standards.